Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks

I enjoyed this book immensely!

In Dear Fahrenheit 451, each chapter is a letter to a different book. (Except the last few chapters, those are letters to the reader.) The letters range from disappointment (Wicked) to adoration (The Fledgling) to creeped out (Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis) - but they're all entertaining, and usually pretty funny. Some letters are explaining why she's culling them from the library's collection (too many copies, or bad condition, or haven't been checked out in years.)

The author has a wonderful writing style that makes me want to grab coffees and gab about books with her. It's also a great book to read when you don't have long periods of time to read - the chapters are short and self-contained, so there's no rush to find out what happens next. It will most likely add things to your TBR, though, as most books about books tend to do!

I really enjoyed this one - it's way better than My Life With Bob. Probably because it's actually about the books, where My Life With Bob was more of a memoir.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

Charming but unexciting. I've either read or already am solidly uninterested in most of the books she lists, and I don't think she has anything especially new to say about libraries. It was nice to read, but not something to reread.

4.5 stars.

Aaaaand now I have 26 books on hold at the library.

Thanks for that, Annie.

4.5: Annie Spence urges us all to read with her outrageous humor, accessible writing style, and expansive knowledge of books. Spence has me considering which books I would compose “love letters” or “breakup notes” for - and thinking of how many copies I will purchase for gifts this year! As Kirkus Reviews said, “A charming epistolary volume that begs to be read with pencil in hand.”

Sometimes you start a book at random. Like I did with this, you expect little ad go in blind. I was suprised to learn just how much I enjoyed reading this. All the small stories and talks about books. Ye I like it for sure

I'm not actually fully finished but the book talk section is KILLING my TBR list. I loved all the letters, I read a few of them to my book-loving partner (who appreciated the calculator one because we are of a certain age) Light, amusing, full of books I have read or now want to read. (my hold list is hurting)

Spence and I have a similar sense of humor and I related to her a lot. I was mildly amused through most of it, laughed out loud a couple times, and added a whole bunch of stuff to my TBR, since that's what you do when librarians recommend you read stuff. I listened to the audio, which was great - like listening to a friend - but the downside is since I was often doing chores while I listened, I didn't always catch either the book titles or authors, and so there are some books that sounded interesting that I couldn't find the name without listening to big chunks again. But I'm probably never going to make it through my existing TBR, so I figure it's okay to not add absolutely ever book that sounded intriguing.

I enjoyed this a lot, it was fun and fluffy and didn't require much brain power, and I like hearing people talk about books they like. 3.5 stars

3.5