Book Reviews From the Vault: Dear Fahrenheit 451, Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks

Dear Fahrenheit 451, Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence was probably the most fun I ever had while reading. I laughed and learned a lot while reading the letters she wrote to the books that impacted her the most. I wanted to challenge myself while doing this review, so I hope you enjoy it.

NONFICITION–Spence, Annie

–Librarians

–Letters, Love

–Notes, Breakup

–Recommendations!!, So Many

—Twilight, Making Fun of

Dear Dear Fahrenheit 451, Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks,

A lady in the book club that I facilitate recommended you to me. I had heard of you prior, but after reading your blurb, I knew that I had to read you right away. And, it was worth all the laughs, thrills, and roasts that you did on over one hundred books.

As a person who works at a Metro-Detroit public library, I was delighted to learn that you were written by Annie Spence – a public librarian who lives in Detroit. Spence writes letters to various novels as she weeds them out of the library and her home. Through writing these notes, she confesses her innermost feelings about each of the stories she selects.

You are brilliant and well-made because of how enthusiastic you are about the novels that you cover. It is very clear that Spence had a lot of fun creating you since she injects her sassy and sincere personality into every book she writes epistles to from the ones that she wants to keep around forever (like The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides) to the ones that she wants to file restraining orders against (like My Truck Book). She even takes the time to mimic the wording from old cataloging cards for every entry (hence my example of her example at the top).

Even though I have not read most of the books that you mention, I enjoyed hearing your, I mean her, opinions about them (*scribbles note about reading The Virgin Suicides). My personal favorites were the entries of the novels that I have read in my lifetime. For example, I nearly rolled on the floor laughing when you/she describe(s) the Twilight series like this:

“Oh, he loves me! But he wants to kill me! But he really hates that about himself… But he loves me so much he’d rather die than be without me! But in order to keep him around I have to promise my mortal life to a vampire coven. Oh, look, we’re pregnant! This birth is going to break most of my bones and my baby daughter is going to start dating my werewolf ex-boyfriend. Well, we do crazy things for love!” (129).

Thank you for tearing that series into bits! These days for all I care, it can bite me!

It is also great that you cover books for all ages from Anna Karenina to the Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury. In that way, it allows the readers like me to remember how we read certain books as kids and then later as adults. In addition, it reminds us of what our book tastes were as said kids and how that has changed overtime.

I would definitely recommend you to everyone who enjoys reading as much as me and Spence do! When I mean everyone, I mean particularly adults since it is not exactly appropriate to expose children to titles like The One-Hour Orgasm: A New Approach to Achieving Maximum Sexual Pleasure. However, parents could skip that part if they are reading it with their kids. I would also recommend you to my fiancé as long as we are not having our alone time. In other words, you will become a close friend of mine, and I look forward to reading you as often as I can in the future.

                                                            Your Reader Friend and Fellow Library Colleague,

                                                                                                                                              Emily

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