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I was only half-interested in chapter 1, but chapter 2 really hooked me! Exciting, and stunningly well told. And the start of chapter 3 brought tears to my eyes.

Many of the books in libraries can be replaced easily enough. We don't like to think of it, but libraries destroy a lot of books in the normal course of their operations. (When books become too stained or marred, or when there is an unsellable surplus.) If there had been no fire, by 2019, most of the normal collection would have been disposed of and replaced anyway. But there were irreplaceable losses as well. Chapter 2 mentioned "theater programs of every play produced in Los Angeles since 1880" -- what a historical record! -- "a quarter million photographs of Los Angeles dating back to 1850". What was lost there could just be lost forever. The development of the theater scene in L.A., the physical changes to buildings and streets, all that record, gone, and senselessly.

Can you imagine if you had books checked out of that library during the fire, overdue books that you'd meant to return but never got around too? What an irony that your procrastination might have saved a few books.

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The actual tick tock of the library going up in flames was one of the more stomach-turning sequences I’ve read in a while, I think in part because I legitimately did not know to what extent it would be a total loss. I felt like all the credit she built up earlier by describing what exactly was in the library — in any other book, basic “look at how cool this library is” stuff — paid out when the careless, undiscriminating destruction of the fire actually goes down. Would it hit the Shakespeare folio? The patents??

Was not expecting to be on the edge of my seat during a book about libraries and yet here we are!

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My favorite line: "The cookbooks roasted." The imagery of the conflagration was beautifully described.

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It brought to mind the massive fire at the Brazilian Museum recently, which received coverage but only if you were paying attention. Contrast with the fire at Notre Dame, which was covered "live" most places. We all know what Notre Dame looks like, have seen it in movies forever -- that fire felt so "real". It is much harder to have a visceral reaction to a library fire. The author does an incredible job of making it as real and gut-wrenching as CNN coverage of Notre Dame.

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My favorite words" "Always Harry Potter."

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I have to admit this selection was the last one I would have voted for but I decided to participate anyway because I wanted to join the club. I’m so glad I did. I’m enjoying it. I have not been to a library since cramming for exams in college many years ago. I just signed up for a NYC library card and look forward to visiting a branch very soon.

The description of the fire was intense. The sense of loss portrayed through the employees is overwhelming.

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I initially thought the book was a novel and was a little disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I was hooked on the story. I loved the descriptions of the books themselves. The smell of the paper pages and the cracking sound of the spine. I am the kind of person that has to physically hold a book everyday!!! E-books are good in a pinch, but a REAL book is a must. Chernobyl was a horrible disaster for the entire world, but the loss of irreplaceable books is also horrible. I physically felt pain in my chest while reading the part about HOW the books burned. The description of the intensity of the fire was shocking to me. Especially the description of the white & blue flames, instead of orange/red flames. The thought of the fire intensity being as much as 2000 degrees boggles my mind.

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Oct 11, 2019Liked by Book Club by Numlock

I too just started the book. I too dod not realise it is non-fiction. I thought it was historical fiction an was trying to seperate her life story with the factual events. I am interested to see the book to the end to see her story also.

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My mom, dad, I and eventually my younger brother would all go to the library every other Saturday morning after breakfast to return books and sign out new ones. It was a ritual of sorts that was maintained until I was in high school and got my drivers license and 1st job. The thing I remember most about this is that when we got home everyone would excitedly tell each other about the books they got while we ate lunch.

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If you mean stories like the Rubik's Cube mosaic with Prince Harry's face on it that broke a Guinness record, the World Rugby Cup is in full swing or that the cast of SNL this season is the weakest in ages (Can Eddie Murphy host the whole season?!) than yes an important news event in the Ukraine has overshadowed stories I wish got more attention.

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Yes Chernobyl exploded, but I think we still wouldn't have heard that much about it unless you lived on the West Coast, especially back then during the pre-OJ 24 hour news coverage. Even today there's still an East Coast bias of sorts. Just ask the Pac 12 or Dodgers & Giants fans.

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The description of the fire itself was captivating. I lived in D.C. and remember both this and Chernobyl, but the latter was much bigger news. The fire disappeared from my mind, perhaps because of prolonged Chernobyl coverage combined with SNL’s great comedy skit about it. No one parodied the library fire.

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My favourite chapter by far is the one on the history of book burning. The calculated viciousness with which the history of entire societies and civilizations has been obliterated really puts the Library Fire into perspective. Yes, it’s devastating and heart breaking that over one million books were lost or damaged. But when one considers that there are maybe a dozen Mayan codices left in existence, the loss of the written word feels even more impactful. It made me wonder what ancient (and not so ancient) thinkers have been wiped off the face of the earth and how our world have been depleted by what is missing. What civilizations could have existed that we know nothing about. There is no way to ever regain that knowledge, there is no way to ever remember those people. What are we missing? That chapter really made me see how powerful the tool of book burning really is and how with one sweep history can be entirely rewritten.

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Did anyone else find the description of the stacks confusing? I mentally pictured something like wide cylindrical chimneys with bookshelves rising up within but I wish I could see an actual photo. I’ll do some googling...

Also any idea how other large library systems store their “stacks”? I’ve occasionally put holds on stuff listed as being in the stacks and I always imagined something like the scene at the end of Indiana Jones where they file away the Ark.

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This is stunningly evocative! It brought back forgotten memories of how I loved the library as a kid - I checked out every book in the scool library at least once. And then I was barely breathing thru the fire until it was controlled.

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I definitely thought the whole building would come down, and was surprised that nobody died, considering the intensity of the fire. The description was gripping, and I was particularly impressed with Orleans’ style of mixing in facts about the building, the city, and fire itself. I think it definitely built tension, but in a natural, not artificial way.

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Chilling beginning of the book when we are first introduced to the arsonist. Also the attention to detail and build up to the fire was tremendous. I'm hooked!

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Lively prose that put me in the moments being described. My first trip to the library, when I was 8 years old, led me into a new world full of wonder. I went home with a number of books about the west, Zane Grey, Max Brand and others. The writing was over my head but my Dad ate them up. Looking forward to the next 81 pages of THE LIBRARY BOOK.

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There was quite a bit to unpack in these first pages: The role libraries paid in the author's life; glimpses of how libraries function; lack of public funding for anything in the '80's; the timeline of the fire itself; the coverage, or lack thereof, of the fire by the national media. I enjoy well-crafted narrative non-fiction and so far this one is keeping me engaged. Libraries and books have played a large role in my life and I share many of the author's experiences. I like that she has brought those memories to the forefront.

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I did not know about the fire and I searched to see if it had been covered by any of our local papers. The New York Times didn’t bother to mention it until the day after it had been extinguished, and only then as an aside, on Page A14. I picked up a hard copy of the book after calling 3 libraries. I now have a mini I-Pad which I received as a no-occasion surprise gift & was told that I could download books from the library. I could feel myself becoming tense as the discussion begins about the fire and, as the horrifying details were described, I thought I was not breathing. The description of the employees was beyond sad. The loss was so overwhelming. I do not believe that anyone was ever arrested for a such a horrifying event.

I do know that it took several years for the library to be renovated and I keenly look forward to reading how that was accomplished.

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I am amazed at how the author was able to use language to evoke my experiences 74 years ago at the Albina Branch of the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon. I could actually feel and see what the library was like. My mother was a Volga German immigrant from Russia, who had a lifelong love of books. We didn’t have money to buy books but we had access to a library, which enabled me to eventually get a BA then a JD. Without the educational supplement of the library which enlarged my experiences beyond my narrow background, I would not have been able to achieve what I have. Like the author, in college I became addicted to buying books. My granddaughter told her husband that I had a book on every available surface. But what she didn’t know is that I also have an extensive library on my iPad. Which is better?

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"Goodbye Charlie"! The description of the fire was extraordinary. High tension at it's finest. I couldn't read fast enough to find out what happens. Who knew a book about libraries would have me on the edge of my seat?! Besides a bit shaken and sad about the library it left me with so many questions like How was nobody killed? How did the whole building not come down? Can't wait to find out about the who, what, when, why and how of this fateful day at the library.

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Just had an opportunity to start this book. The writing of the fire was truly gut wrenching. I did not know about this major event. I still love the smell of libraries and old books. I have book cases in almost every room, and enjoy reviewing their titles. I so enjoy a book that starts off strong. Hate to wade through 50 pages before it gets interesting. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

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Initial impression: I like the story telling a lot so far. I was on the edge of my seat too when it came to the fire. I'm also very curious about Harry Peak and excited for his part of the story to return.

I'm not a huge fan of the memoir components. The library ritual was a perfectly fine intro to set the stage, but I'm not super invested in Orlean (yet anyway). However, I am veeeeeerry curious if this is Orlean's usual style. I love the movie Adaptation (based on Orlean's The Orchid Thief). If Orlean typically inserts herself into the narrative (arguably more than is essential), then I have a whole new appreciation for Adaptation as a film. Has anyone read The Orchid Thief or another work and can confirm whether Orlean is frequently an active participant in the narrative?

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Her description of going to the library as a child definitely provoked vivid memories of going to the Green Township branch of the Cincinnati Public Library as a kid. My mom always took us to sign up for the summer reading program, which I was way too competitive about. I loved filling up every line of my worksheet with what books I read that summer. At least a few lines were usually filled with Redwall books. I often read 50 library books during the summer break. Now I'm lucky if I read 50 in a year. I rarely set foot in the library anymore, because I borrow all of my books through Libby and read them on my tablet.

I too, was on the edge of my seat during the description of the fire. I'm pretty sure my mouth was actually hanging open when she described how the fire was so hot you could barely see the flames. I learned more about libraries and the physics of fire from that one chapter than I did in multiple decades of schooling.

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The destruction of a library seems to me to be a kind of social or community form of Alzheimers. Memories in the form of documents are lost forever. Sure, most books can be replaced, but, as others have pointed out, not the local archives. While reading of this tragedy, I could not help but think of the burning of the great library of Alexandria. The fire started by Julius Caesar was said to have accidentally burned 40,000 scrolls. The library survived, but continued to decline over the centuries. Eventually all the scrolls were destroyed and the library disappeared. Then when a scroll or book burned, it was quite possible that it was the only copy. I got shivers when I read the author’s experiment in burning a book.

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I’ve been thinking about the list of books at the beginning of each chapter. It’s a cute hook. Unfortunately some are dated post-fire — I was secretly hoping they were books/knowledge that were lost in the first.

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So far I am really enjoying this book! The first chapter reminded me of how much I loved our library trips, although I remember there being a cost involved - having to decide which books to check out and which to leave for next time. I could only check out 5 books at a time but I don't remember if the rule was my mom's or the library's. All I know was that it was never enough and I would ponder my decision with great seriousness.

The book describing the library fire itself was suspenseful and heartbreaking as well. It was evocative of the fire at Notre Dame with the same sinking horror as the story of the fire spread. Hope the next section is as captivating. I remember enjoying The Orchid Thief so I suspect it will be.

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I find her storytelling riveting. Her description of the fire was so vivid. I've never been in that library but I could picture those shelves of books being destroyed. What hit me most were the historical works and first editions lost. The books make me sad but those irreplaceable works are what really got me. I think the fire would be covered more thoroughly now with our penchant for live news all the time. Libraries are different now and are thought of as more of a community center than back then. They're not just a place for books and research, they offer a wealth of information, access to the outside world, and offer a wide variety of programs.

I'll be that guy... Every single day lately, there's a Ukraine story that overshadows everything else happening locally and around the world. A couple of days later, I find mention of something closer to home that would have been good to know about when it actually happened. It's still more immediate than the library fire coverage was.

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I think the first two chapters help set the stakes involved and a sense of the loss.

I have the same memory of going into libraries and just having a joy in finding a set of books to check out (but probably only casually review, but not fully read). As a full grown adult I find myself doing the same at Barnes and Noble now but I am a lot better in actually reading most of the books.

I do enjoy the fact that almost immediately you know who did it (or do we?).

Let’s see where this goes ...

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I have no idea where this book is going, but I'm all in. I certainly relate to the family trips to the library as a kid. I remember when I was finally allowed to check out books from the adult section -- a rite of passage! In our small town, we as teens would congregate there to work on our school projects, or at least pretend to, between gossiping and flirting with each other. Now as a city person, I still go to the library, and it is still packed after school with students gossiping and flirting. Details from this book just stick with me -- the firefighters unable to get the larger hoses through the stacks, the librarian tossing his chili dog out the window to dash back, the volunteers sending the books to the fish freezers. And yes, as noted below, the cookbooks "roasting". Loved that line.

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This is the first time I've read one of Susan Orlean's works. The first two chapters of the book revealed a detailed and informative story telling style that felt really immersive. It got me hooked and I couldn't put down the book. I'm really looking forward to reading through to chapter 11.

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I'm a bit late to the party (doing some catch up reading), but the description of the events of the fire was almost sickening.

I honestly can't imagine how I'd feel if that had happened to the library I grew up with.

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Looking back at one of the notes I had written down for Chapter 2, Page 31. There was one particular piece of information that I was curious about and I forgot to mention:

"It had required 1,400 tanks of air; 13,440 square feet of salvage covers; [...] ninety bales of sawdust " before the fire was extinguished.

It's clear what the other stuff was used for, but the "sawdust"? To my understanding sawdust is considered fuel for fires— as such was the cause for many of the warehouse or factory fires that show up in the local news.

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It's interesting, and I never realized it until I read the authors description of her family's desire to not own any books when they can be borrowed, I followed a similar trajectory. She also said that when she left to college she started to OWN books. Looking back, I certainly entered a strained relationship time with the library when I left for school. Being a culinary school the library was a place for research, but to own those cook books, write notes and recipe corrections and not be held accountable for staining the pages, I neglected my old friend. It was not until I had kids that we reconciled and the relationship was renewed. It was renewed with a feeling of rediscovery and excitement.

The telling of the fire was tragic. The feel of the book weaves between fiction and non-fiction. Though I only read the first 30 pages (and bought the book) I intend to read the rest in the library.

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I never thought I would like a book about libraries but I really liked this book. It is surprising, it has information that I would not have sought out but relevant to me. Author does seem to be changing subjects in a way that I could not understand the flow but I don't mind it. Interestingly, this was in Numlock news today:

College Libraries

While colleges throw fortunes at ramping up their library offerings to include the latest in education technology and electronic book access, overwhelmingly kids still prefer physical texts. A 2015 survey found 92 percent of college students preferred paper books to electronic versions. New evidence leads researchers to believe that physical books are better at conveying information than digital formats, and a 2016 survey of Webster University students found that just 18 percent of students accessed ebooks with any degree of frequency while 42 percent never used them at all. And sure, 3-D printers are cool and VR headsets are neat, but a Duke University survey found that students were mainly interested in solid Wi-Fi.

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really enjoyed the details and descriptions about the fire. Also fascinating learning the magnitude of the library system. Looking forward to the future chapters.

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I'm really enjoying the book and glad I joined in the book club. What a horrible thing to have experienced. I felt so sorry for the employees there.

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