The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

By: Eva Jurczyk

Narrated by: Hannah Cabell

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Midnight at the Bright Idea Bookstore meets The Bookshop of Yesterdays in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: What holds more secrets in the library - the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long - and about the people who care for and revere them - shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.

©2022 Eva Jurczyk (P)2022 Recorded Books

Well worth the read.

What an interesting and thoughtful story. I really enjoyed then entire story. Fascinating to learn of some of the intricacies of running a library… it’s not just to check our a book. Thank you.

Fascinating Look Inside Library Operations

This book in audio form drew me in. At times the situation seemed improbable but eventually made sense. A lot of pondering by the main character on multiple layers. I eventually couldn't put it down.

4

A fine mystery for the discriminating reader.

1st) I loved seeing the secret world of
Rare Books and Collectibles -- sub basements and
cages, esoteric cataloging using stubs of paper
with numbers sticking up from each volume

2) I liked the intramural politics of a huge university Library.

3rd) The mysteries were so subtle that I missed them. Yikes.

It got a 4 from me because sometimes the non-
library stuff lost my interest

Nothing to learn here

Story doesn’t offer anything that any adult hasn’t experienced in their workplace. I couldn’t get attached to any of the characters. Nothing meaningful at all.

Realistic Portrayal of the Rare Book World

Pros:

Realistic Portrayal of the Rare Book World ( I know this from personal experience).

Descent mystery writing.

Female protagonist

Cons:

Slow moving at times.

Too Long

The characters weren’t well developed and I couldn’t relate to them. There were odd unnecessary details that didn’t add to the story. The story could have been told in half the pages/time.

Slow

Very slow with too many twists and turns for no apparent reason. Just tell me the story.

Why?

Look, I try not to be a snob about books, which is hard as an English professor. But why in the hell is it that every book written about a librarian or a bookseller is written by a person who seems to understand neither profession? Cue to future readers: if a book describes itself as a "love letter to readers" or a "love letter to books" or some nonsense like that, it's going to be weak in narrative and dialogue. Go read something good that actually accomplishes some kind of comment on the nature of humanity. This is a beach read masquerading as literary fiction and I'm mad at myself for finishing it. I could have been listening to a Lorrie Moore collection.

Be prepared for off-colour language

I was surprised at the first instance, disgusted at the second, and stopped the book and returned it at the third. Just unnecessary. So unpleasant.