Time for another book list. I figure people who are interested in book lists are interested in libraries, so that’s my theme this time around. I haven’t included instructional books about how to use a library or decode a particular classification system, but I did find a fair amount of non-fiction to include.
Fiction
Applied Mythology
by Jody Lynn Nye
What will become of the not-so-mythical-after-all creatures who inhabit the basement of the university library when the old building is torn down?
Bibliophilia: a Novella and Stories
by Michael Griffith
Humor and sex and shushing all in one book.
The Body in the Library
by Agatha Christie
A Miss Marple mystery.
The Burglar in the Library
by Lawrence Block
Not a Miss Marple mystery, but a mystery nontheless. Bernie Rhodenbarr, actually but I like the way “Miss Marple mystery” sounds so much I made up an excuse to repeat it twice.
The Case of the Missing Books
by Ian Samson
Mystery. Where could 15,000 missing library books have gone in an Irish village?
The Destruction of the Books
Mel Odom
Sci Fi. It’s up to the librarians to save the world. Just as in real life.
Ex-libris
Ross King
A quest to track down a missing library book. Set in the 17th century England.
The Geographer’s Library
Jon Fasman
Smugglers involved in alchemy operate secret libraries? This is one I’ve got to read.
Instant Karma
Mark Swartz
Conspiracy theorist and potential terrorist stalks the Chicago Public Library.
Library: No Murder Aloud
Susan Steiner
Mystery. I guess if they’re kept quiet, it’s okay.
Lord of the Libraries
Mel Odom
SciFi. Odom knows how to pick heroes. It’s the librarian to the rescue again.
Miss Zukas and the Library Murders
Jo Dereske
Mystery. What is a research librarian but another form of detective, really?
Mobile Library Mysteries – series
Ian Samson
Mystery. Series.
Murder at the Library of Congress
Margaret Truman
Mystery. And all over some old diary by a guy named Columbus.
The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco
14th Century Monastic library, heresy, murders.
Open and Closed
Mat Coward
Mystery. Library advocates – can the threatened closing of their favorite facility lead them to murder?
The Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog
Doris Lessing
Want to save civilization? Find a library.
Non-fiction
At Home With Books: How Booklovers Live With and Care for Their Libraries
Estelle Ellis
The art and style of the home library.
Banned in the U.S.A.: a Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries
Herbert N. Foerstel
Fairly self-explanatory I think.
Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Vicki Myron
Again, the synopsis is in the title.
Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper
Nicholson Baker
Who will save the historical newspapers? Nicholson Baker. Or at least he’ll try his darndest.
Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library
Don Borchert
Hilarious and alarming all at the same. And I’m in a position to tell you none of it seems exaggerated from an insider’s perspective.
Home Office: Library and Den Design
Tina Skinner
You got those books and things. How ya gonna organize ’em?
Homes and Libraries of the Presidents
William G. Clotworthy
U.S. Presidents, that is.
The Ideals Guide to Presidential Homes and Libraries
Peggy Schaefer
Again, U.S. presidents.
Interlibrary Loan Sharks and Seedy Roms: Cartoons from Libraryland
Benita L. Epstein
Really funny cartoons for those who frequent or work in libraries.
Libraries in the Ancient World
Lionel Casson
Starting with clay tablets.
Library: an Unquiet History
Matthew Battles
Viva la revolu – er, library!
The Library at Night
Alberto Manguel
Life = reading. Reading = life.
Patience and Fortitude: a Roving Chronicle of Book People, Book Places, and Book Culture
Nicholas A. Basbanes
An exploration of bibliomania and bibliomaniacs.
The Raven King: Matthia Corvinas and the Fate of His Lost Library
Marcus Tanner
A book about a Hungarian king and the place he and the library he built occupy in history.
Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian
Scott Douglas
Memoir from a library employee. More about the people than the books.
Reading Rooms: America’s Foremost Writers Celebrate Our Public Libraries with Stories, Memoirs, Essays and Poems
Publisher: Doubleday
An anthology, in case you hadn’t figured that out.
Unshelved Collection:
Bill Barnes
Cartoon series on library matters.
Nomadic Noesis 