Dear Fahrentheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks

by Annie Spence

A librarian's laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving collection of love letters and breakup notes to the books in her life.

If you love to read, and presumably you do since you've picked up this book (!), you know that some books affect you so profoundly they forever change the way you think about the world. Some books, on the other hand, disappoint you so much you want to throw them against the wall. Either way, it's clear that a book can be your new soul mate or the bad relationship you need to end.

In Dear Fahrenheit 451, librarian Annie Spence has crafted love letters and breakup notes to the iconic and eclectic books she has encountered over the years. From breaking up with The Giving Tree (a dysfunctional relationship book if ever there was one), to her love letter to The Time Traveler's Wife (a novel less about time travel and more about the life of a marriage, with all of its ups and downs), Spence will make you think of old favorites in a new way. Filled with suggested reading lists, Spence's take on classic and contemporary books is very much like the best of literature--sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes surprisingly poignant, and filled with universal truths.

A celebration of reading, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is for anyone who loves nothing more than curling up with a good book...and another, and another, and another!

• ISBN10: 1250106494
• ISBN13: 9781250106490
• Publish Date: 26 September 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 4 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I loved this book!  Annie Spence has a writing style that clicks with me completely, and I enjoyed her sense of humour immensely.   The first half of the book is a series of letters or notes that Annie, a librarian, has written to books over the years, either titles from her own shelves, or the ones that are getting weeded out of her public library's collection.  Some of these notes are poignant, (Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird), some are snarky (Coming Out Straight: Understanding and Healing Homosexuality) [I could barely write that title out without feeling snarky myself - ugh.], and while they're all pretty consistently hilarious, a few of them just made me laugh out loud (Cannery Row, written to a copy found in an all-men-sharehouse's bathroom, and My Truck Book); My Truck Book will be, in fact, the reason I'll be taking this book with me to coffee next week to show a friend of mine with a son currently in the "TRUCKS!" stage.   The second half of the book is a series of sections that are book recommendations and lists, based on topics like "Books I'll never break up with", and "Recovery Reads: A book lover's hair of the dog" and my absolute favourite: "I'd rather be reading: Excuses to tell your friends so you can stay home with your books", which she opens with this statement:   "If you're reading this, chances are you've experienced bouts of antisocial behaviour and 'read rage' outbursts towards friends and family.  Because, although you participate in society as much as necessary to convince your mom and the shrink your mom hired that you're not a shut-in, truth is, you'd rather be reading that doing just about anything.  Did you think it was just you?  It's not.  You've just never met any of the others, because we don't want to talk to you either."   Replace 'mom' with 'mother-in-law' and it's like she knows me.   I had a lot of fun with this book, it was fast paced and really well written.  I, of course, also have a handful of new titles to look for.  Hopefully, this is just the beginning of Spence's writing career; I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of her work.

[lovelybookshelf]

I enjoyed Annie Spence's thoughts on all sorts of books, her bookish matchmaking, as well as hearing about the quirkier tastes of some of her library patrons. I connected with her musings, maybe because we're of the same generation, but also, there were a number of well-loved books she *didn't* like and I felt, whoa, I'm NOT the only one who couldn't get into that one! Bookish nostalgia and commentary on books old and new, and oh my word the SUGGESTIONS (I especially appreciated her "recovery read" suggestions.) Rest in peace, TBR list.