The Library Book by Susan Orleans

Synopsis:

This is a non-fiction book about a fire at the Los Angeles Central Library. It is also a history of that library and of libraries in general.

Review:

As a lover of books and libraries, I very much enjoyed this book and found it to be very interesting and engaging.

“A book feels like a thing alive in this moment, and also alive on a continuum, from the moment the thoughts about it first percolated in the writer’s mind to the moment it sprang off the printing press- a lifeline that continues as someone sits with it and marvels with it, and it continues on, time after time after time.”

“Once words and thoughts are poured into them, books are no longer just paper and ink and glue, they take on a kind of human vitality.”

“Our minds and souls contain volumes inscribed by our experiences and emotions; each individual’s consciousness is a collection of memories we’ve cataloged and stored inside us, a private library of a life lived.”

“A library is a good place to soften solitude; a place where you feel part of a conversation that has gone on for hundreds and hundreds of years even when you’re all alone.”