Librarians In Fiction

The Dewey Decimal System of Love
Josephine Carr

Ally Sheffield, 40-year-old spinster librarian, woefully inexperienced, and 15 years celibate, is finally in love! So what if the object of her adoration is a world famous orchestra conductor-very married and totally unobtainable. Just watching him conduct makes her heart pound, her head light, and her stomach queasy. Naturally, the glow shows, and the first one to notice-and be stunned by it-is Ally's attractive boss, best friend at work, and, in her opinion, 'serial womanizer,' Gordon Albright. Carr's quirky characters, screwball sense of humor, and right-on descriptions are marvelous, making the journey to the satisfying ending well worth the trip. This hilarious romp through the stacks (complete with relevant DDC call number areas and selected titles) will definitely attract the library set. In addition, the zingy, thoroughly modern tone and the exceptionally appealing heroine should catch the attention of readers who like their romances lively, smart, and funny.
Library Journal Review; August 2003.

The Camel Bookmobile
Masha Hamilton

Yes, there really is such a thing as a camel bookmobile, and the image of unwieldy beasts laden with book-filled boxes provided inspiration for novelist Hamilton ('The Distance between Us', 2004) to compose a lush celebration of the productive--and destructive--power of the written word. Languishing in a dead-end job in a Brooklyn library, Fiona Sweeney, 36, feels time is passing her by. So when the opportunity arises to travel to Africa to manage an unorthodox mobile library, Fi jumps at the chance to influence a culture of nomadic people whose existence is dependent upon more basic human requirements, such as water, food, and shelter. With everything from Seuss to Shakespeare, Fi's regular deliveries of books elate the village women and children but intimidate tribal elders, who fear change and anticipate the loss of their ancient ways. When the bookmobile's one intractable rule is broken, the village turns on the emotionally and physically scarred teenager whose act of rebellion jeopardizes everything Fi has worked for. With a heartfelt appreciation for the potential of literature to transcend cultural divides, Hamilton has created a poignant, ennobling, and buoyant tale of risks and rewards, surrender and sacrifice.
Booklist Review; March 2007.

Stones From The River
Ursula Hegi

At the beginning of World War I, Trudi Montag, a dwarf, is born to an unstable mother and a gentle father in a small Rheinish town. Through the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich into the era following World War II she first struggles with--and later draws strength and wisdom from--her inability to fit into a conformist and repressive society. As the town's librarian and historian, Trudi keeps track of many secrets, revealing the universality of her experience. While Hegi's (Floating in My Mother's Palm, LJ 5/15/90) treatment of history and politics is engaging, her novel's appeal lies in the humanity of its characters. Particularly strong is her portrayal of, and insight into, the community of women and children as they react to changing conditions in the town. A sensitive and rewarding book.
Library Journal Review; December 1994.

Death Books a Return
Marion Moore Hill

This is the second book, following Bookmarked for Murder (2002), in Hill's series featuring Wyndham, Oklahoma, public librarian Juanita Wills. Juanita has two library assistants, Meador and Mavis, who are constantly feuding via a hilarious quotation war, and the members of her book club have to be some of the most intriguing people ever to discuss the classics. Of course, along with all the library high jinks, Juanita can't help but indulge her taste for amateur sleuthing, much to the chagrin of her policeman boyfriend, Wayne Cleary. This time Juanita follows up on an idea that was mentioned in passing in the first novel- -writing a history of Wyndham. Her research leads her to a 50-year-old unsolved crime that was racially motivated. As Juanita pursues the story, one of her contacts dies from one of the more imaginative poisons ever encountered in crime fiction. Once again, the 'scrappy librarian' puts herself in serious jeopardy as she tries to solve a brutal hate crime. This series bears watching, especially by library- loving mystery mavens.
Booklist Review; October 2008.

In the Stacks

Librarian Cart (Tomorrow Land) gathered these 19 stories about what he calls 'the many-splendored universe we call the library.' What is impressive is the list of writers: Italo Calvino, Ray Bradbury, Ursula Le Guin, Isaac Babel, Alice Munro, John Cheever, Jorge Luis Borges, and more are represented in these pages. A librarian's love of books is dramatically demonstrated in Le Guin's 'Phoenix,' where the librarian risks his life to save some precious examples from fire, and in Anthony Boucher's 'QL696.C9,' the call number is a clue to a mystery. Librarians and romance are subjects in Sue Kaufman's 'Summer Librarian' and Francine Prose's 'Rubber Life,' while other stories focus on the value of the library itself. Calvino's 'A General in the Library,' the strongest story in the collection, reaffirms the power of books as a general is told to clean out all the politically incorrect books in a library and ends up wanting to read them all. Frustratingly, while most of the stories praise the library and books, the librarians portrayed often fit the stereotype of the lonely, timid character that librarians have been struggling to overcome.
Library Journal Review; May 2002.

Running Hot
Jayne Ann Krentz

Grabbing readers from the get-go with a sizzling murder that's the perfect setup for what's to come, this latest in Krentz's unique centuries-spanning paranormal 'Arcane Society' series (she writes the 19th-century stories as Amanda Quick) pairs a bitter, wounded ex-cop- turned-bartender with an emotionally guarded genealogy librarian. The pair set off to Maui on a routine reconnaissance mission for the shadowy Jones & Jones agency that quickly turns into something else, then the sexy sparks and paranormal high jinks fly. Flawlessly matched protagonists (even their auras are in sync) are here joined by a cadre of psychically gifted characters ranging from a delightfully quirky retired landlady with a secret past to a lethally unbalanced coloratura with a killer voice. This arresting tale combines witty humor with clever plotting to weave an exceptionally memorable romance that is funnier and a shade less dark than the author's earlier Sizzle and Burn. A winner that, while part of a series, stands beautifully on its own.
Library Journal Review; December 2008.

Oh Pure and Radiant Heart
Lydia Millet

What if Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard, the primary physicists from the Manhattan Project, returned to contemporary America to survey their atomic legacy? That question forms the heart of Millet's excellent fourth novel, in which the souls of the three take earthly form in the present-day Southwest. Ann, a New Mexico librarian, spots the reincarnated Oppenheimer and Fermi at a restaurant near her home; Szilard soon joins them; Ann persuades her garden-designer husband, Ben, to take them all in. Subsequent trips to Los Alamos and (with the help of a rich UFOlogist) Japan to view the monuments at Hiroshima persuade the three to work for disarmament. Army surveillance ensues; at one rally, shots are fired; and Christian Fundamentalists try to take things in a more rapturous direction. It takes considerable talent to pull off a conceit like this, and for the most part Millet makes it look easy, drawing full-blown, dead-on portraits of the three scientists that don't diminish their characters or their work. Her threads on weapons buildup, the topsy-turvy mosaic of contemporary American political culture and the difficulties of marriage feel realistically motivated and nicely argued. Millet gives a whimsical conceit real depth, and the result, if a bit pious in spots, is a superb, memorable novel.
Publishers Weekly Review; May 2005.

La Cucina
Lily Prior

Food and Italy are certainly popular subjects for novels and memoirs these days. Prior jumps on the 'Tuscan Sun' bandwagon with her own contribution, this one about Sicily. Rosa grew up the only girl in a peasant family in rural Sicily. When the Mafia murders her first and only love, she turns to cooking for solace. Eventually, she leaves rural existence for good and begins a new life as a librarian in Palermo, Sicily's capital. Her life there is staid, but she continues to cook, with a reputation to boot. When she meets a mysterious Englishman, a chef and a writer, in the library one day, she knows she is about to fall madly in love. Her premonitions are correct, and the Englishman shows Rosa that food is only one of many sensual delights. Librarian readers will probably tire of the clichéd description of Rosa: an overweight, undersexed spinster, chided by her staff and revolting to her patrons. However, the food she cooks is fabulous.
Booklist Review; November 2000.