January: NonFiction Pick
Susan Orlean is a highly readable nonfiction writer. You may have read her book The Orchid Thief. This one is also eminently readable. It tells the tale of a serious fire at the Los Angeles Central Library in April 1986, exploring how it may have started, a lot about the building and the evolution of the LA library system. Actually, it weaves a thread of stories about libraries, how they have changed with the times, stories about people who have worked in them. It ends with a touching statement about the meaning of libraries, to Susan Orlean, and perhaps to all of us.
Judith
