Annie Spence

A Gen-X librarian's snarky, laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving collection of love letters and break-up notes to the books in her life.

Librarians spend their lives weeding--not weeds but books! Books that have reached the end of their shelf life, both literally and figuratively. They remove the books that patrons no longer check out. And they put back the books they treasure. Annie Spence, who has a decade of experience as a Midwestern librarian, does this not only at her Michigan library but also at home, for her neighbors, at cocktail parties—everywhere. In Dear Fahrenheit 451, she addresses those books directly. We read her love letters to The Goldfinch and Matilda, as well as her snarky break-ups with Fifty Shades of Grey and Dear John. Her notes to The Virgin Suicides and The Time Traveler’s Wife feel like classics, sure to strike a powerful chord with readers. Through the lens of the books in her life, Annie comments on everything from women’s psychology to gay culture to health to poverty to childhood aspirations. Hilarious, compassionate, and wise, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is the consummate book-lover's birthday present, stocking stuffer, holiday gift, and all-purpose humor book.… (mere)

An, engrossing love letter to libraries and books of all descriptions, an excellent source for recommendations on subjects you didn't even know you needed ("Books that Lead to More Books", "Good Books with Bad Covers", "Books about Librarians" etc.), and a just plain funny, relatable read, this book has anything and everything you could ask for. Read it to hear the author's thoughts on some of your own all time favorites, read it to find a new series, novel, or memoir to be obsessed with, or read it just to appreciate the wonders of the Public Library, whatever your motivations you need this book in your life. "Dear Fahrenheit 451" is insightful without being stuffy, humorous without being absurd, cathartic for librarians yet universal enough to speak to any reader who has ever lost themselves in an especially brilliant novel, story, or biography. Do yourself a favor, before your next visit to the library or trip to Barnes & Noble, peruse this brief love letter to literacy and I promise you'll have new titles to add to that ever expanding "to read" list, a renewed sense of joy in your reading, and a fresh appreciation for your local library.… (mere)

I love the library and I love librarians and I love books about libraries and librarians. Probably because I’m a librarian, but whatever. I don’t often quote books in my reviews, but there are three passages I need to quote here, which illustrate why I love this book. The first is: “Dear Pulitzer Prize-winning books, is it PULL-itzer or PEW-litzer? I never know. I hope it’s not the latter. It’s hard not to sound like a dick when you say it like that.” This quote sums up exactly how I feel about that word, which is also how I feel about the word “culinary.” The next thing I have to quote is: “Most of the books I truly love aren’t even on my shelves, because I loan them out to other people or get them from the library and have to return them.” This is totally me too! Especially fiction. I was at the annual book sale for my local public library recently and I didn’t even bother looking at the fiction even though I’ve mostly been reading fiction lately (present company excluded) because I pretty much always get fiction from the library. It takes a pretty special novel (or, usually, novel series) to make me buy it. And the last thing I’ll quote is: “Reading can get you more hot and bothered than a Tinder date, without the cost of drinks and with a lower frequency of unwanted dick pics.” I finished online dating well before Tinder was invented, but I have had my share of dick pics. This quote is from the section of the book that shares suggestions for what to tell people when you don’t want to go out and do stuff with them, but would rather stay home and read. Also relatable (as the kids today would say). And yes, I realize that two of my quotes have the word “dick” in them. Don’t read too much into it (heh). Anyway, all this by way of saying that Annie Spence is a very smart and witty librarian writer and I loved this jaunt through her personal literary history. It was a thrill when her reading tastes intersected with mine—which wasn’t often, but that’s okay. Although her many book lists became a little hard to read all at once, her suggestions are intriguing and make sense, so I will definitely keep this one around for when my holds list becomes depleted and the bottom drawer of my bedside table is empty, and I need something new to read.… (mere)