The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading (Heroes Among Us, 4)

Beautiful stories from book sellers and librarians.

Book lovers sharing what they love about books and sharing that with others.

This book was okay. I can’t tell if these were personal essays that were submitted for publication, or if the booksellers and librarians shared their accounts with James Patterson and Matt Eversman, who then compiled them for the book. I would be interested to know how the stories were gathered, and wish that was explained in the book’s introduction. I have mixed feelings on the content. I really enjoyed and resonated with what some of the librarians shared about their field as that is the field I am in also. However, this book is full of musings that become repetitive after a while. I can’t say that I am shocked, because book lovers are all cut from the same cloth - but I can only read the statement “I’ve loved books since I was a child so it make sense I work with books!” so many times without getting bored despite sharing that sentiment. The most compelling story was Martha Hickson’s and I wish there were more like this. But my biggest “wtf” is HOW OFTEN JAMES PATTERSON PLUGS HIMSELF IN THIS BOOK. I admire Patterson’s advocacy for librarians and booksellers but damn, homeboy REALLY writes about how delightful he was at book signings. I just think that is weird.