Library Lowdown - 15th May 2021

Now that the libraries have reopened their doors for browsing I am full of excitement and anticipation at the thought of all those books that I can now access. A quick visit yesterday saw me collect two books that I thought I would like to read.

Have you been back to the library yet? 

Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence

Have you ever wished you could tell your favourite books just what they mean to you? Or wanted to give a piece of your mind to the 'must-read' book that you wish you hadn't?

Librarian Annie Spence has done just that, writing letters to the books under her care, from love letters to Matilda and The Goldfinch, to snarky break-up notes to Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hobbit.

Annie's letters will make you laugh, remind you why you love your favourite books, and give you lots of new entries for you reading list. She's also on-hand to help out with your bookish dilemmas; recommendations for lazy readers; excuses to tell your friends when you'd rather stay home reading; and how to turn your lover into a reader.

Hilarious, compassionate, and smart, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is the consummate book-lovers book.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Empire Falls, Maine: once a thriving hub of industry, this small town nestles in a bend of the vast and winding Knox River, and has always been the empire of the wealthy Whiting family. Now the last Mrs Whiting presides like a black widow spider over its declining fortunes. She harbours a grudge against her employee Miles Groby, who runs the Whiting-owned Empire Grill, but hopes one day to own it himself.

Miles, gentle and hopeless, has other problems: his wife has run off with his worst customer, he frets about his adored teenage daughter, and his drunken father sponges off everyone.

As the novel builds to a shocking climax, Russo constantly surprises with characters who will disarm you, a plot with as many twists and falls as the Knox River itself, and an ending that will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.