I love this anthology! Not usually a fan of short stories, but each of these has been a wonderful read. As a librarian, it is the perfect addition to my bookshelf. In particular, Lorrie Moore's "Community Life" is a story I could read over and over again, and I consider a flawlessly written story. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys, books, libraries, or short stories that can easily be read in one sitting. ( )

This anthology opens with a delightful short story by Ray Bradbury – a late-night conversation between a soldier on leave and his hometown librarian. The anthology closes with another Bradbury short story, one with a slightly darker note to the narrative, but displaying Bradbury’s very evocative writing. In between there are selections from Seneca to Helene Hanff, from Reading Lolita in Tehran to The Well of Lost Plots. There were extracts from books I had never known existed, including the touching account from Everyman Remembers of how the Everyman’s Library book series got started. This in particular delighted me as I have a very real fondness for the series with multiple editions sitting on my shelves and had in fact wondered in passing about the history. For the record, I don’t think I will be passing this one on to a little Free Library anytime soon. I want to hold on to it (despite the fact that they went artistic on the book design, using a book cloth in a distressing seafoam shade rather than in the burgundy, navy or evergreen that is more traditional). I heartily recommend this. For me, the choices included in the anthology touched all the right emotional buttons. Some new (to me) content, some comfortably familiar content, a number of worthwhile extracts that I might never have thought about when reading the original texts. So I want in particular to acknowledge the editorial work of Jane Holloway in this volume. Artfully considered and well done! ( )