To usher in National Library Card Sign-Up Month, we've collected a number of titles in which a library figures prominently. And we know that you'll want to put holds on some of these books, but unless you already have a Denver Public Library card, you won't be able to and will be sad... So do this - now! Sign up for a library card with our easy online eCARD service.
Done? Okay, now let's get going on that list of must-reads.
The Library Book by Susan Orlean - This is a book for every reader and every writer. It’s a masterful tribute to libraries, and, even better, it has a plot and a storyline. On April 29, 1986, a fire consumed or damaged more than a million books in the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. In exploring this tragedy, Orlean is led to histories of libraries and Los Angeles and to an exploration of the physics of how a book burns. There’s a suspected arsonist at the center of the story, but the hero is the library along with its collections of books, maps, menus, autographs and marionettes.
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman - This is a solidly crafted adventure story with book lovers running amok in an alternate universe where they have to deal with skin-stealing villains, cranky zeppelin pilots, and swarms of silverfish. The Library is a massive library that exists in its own time and space and which stores books from all realities. Irene is a librarian who is sent with a student, Kai, to retrieve a unique edition of fairy tales by an alternate reality version of the Grimm Brothers. The edition is on a world that combines magic and technology in a mashup that drives Irene right up the wall but delights and fascinates Kai. The book is at the center of intrigue and conflict between factions on the world, including The Fae, Vampires, a detective, and at least one rogue Librarian. Naturally the mission gets complicated. First in a currently six-book series.
Reading Behind Bars: a Memoir of Literature, Law, and Life as a Prison Librarian by Jill Grunenwald - In December 2008, twentysomething Jill Grunenwald graduated with her master’s degree in library science, ready to start living her dream of becoming a librarian. But the economy had a different idea. As the Great Recession reared its ugly head, jobs were scarce. After some searching, however, Jill was lucky enough to snag one of the few librarian gigs left in her home state of Ohio. The catch? The job was behind bars as the prison librarian at a men’s minimum-security prison.
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine - In a world where the ancient Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, knowledge now rules the world: freely available, but strictly controlled. Owning private books is a crime. Jess Brightwell is the son of a black market book smuggler, sent to the Library to compete for a position as a scholar, but even as he forms friendships and finds his true gifts, he begins to unearth the dark secrets of the greatest, most revered institution in the world. Those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn. Book one in a five-book series.
American Animals by Eric Borsuk - This true crime story starts out with a believable caper premise: a group of stoner college friends pull off the daring daytime heist of a rare book library and trigger a transcontinental caper involving the FBI, Christie’s auction house and dirtball Dutchmen. More drug-fueled crimes - car surfing and shoplifting - ensue before federal agents burst into their house, arrest the boys, and reclaim the artwork from a marijuana-filled basement. That’s where the book ends, but later they each spent seven years in prison. Borsuk smoothly combines humor with the ennui of being a truly lost boy.
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami - Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of Murakami's wild imagination. The story of a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plotting their escape from a nightmarish library, the book is like nothing else Murakami has written. Designed by Chip Kidd and fully illustrated, this small format volume is a treat for book lovers of all ages.
Now that you have that library card, learn how to supercharge it with one of our virtual learning sessions, Making the Most of Your Library Card!
