Tuesday, March 23, 2010

For Breda

I buy a lot of books. I far prefer to own them, rather than borrow them. But books tend to be expensive, so I buy used a lot. Plus, some of the stuff I buy is out of print, so I have no other option. Because of this, I use ABEBooks.com, an online resource to used book stores all over the world. They, of course, send me emails from time to time. Today's was quite interesting, or would be if I were a librarian:
Librarian Literature: Top 10 Books Written by Librarians

AbeBooks loves librarians. Librarians love AbeBooks. (And we think everyone else loves librarians too aside from the bean-counters who keep cutting their budgets.) This email salutes those great lovers of books, literacy and reading - the world’s librarian community - and we’re highlighting some wonderful books written by librarians themselves.

Who but a person surrounded by books could be better qualified to write? Many an author has been born and developed in the stacks. The list does not feature the following librarian/writers - John Braine, Lewis Carroll, Archibald MacLeish, Nancy Pearl, Kit Pearson, Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Okigbo, Marcel Proust, and Ina Coolbrith - but we could easily have included their books.

The Less DeceivedThe Less Deceived

Philip Larkin
The 1955 poetry collection that made his name - Larkin was a librarian at the University of Hull.






A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle

Her 1962 sci-fi/fantasy classic (rejected by many publishers) - L’Engle worked as a librarian in New York.
The Aleph and Other StoriesThe Aleph and Other Stories
Jorge Luis Borges

The Nobel Prize winner was a municipal librarian in Argentina - this 1949 collection is one of his best.


Little Big Man
Little Big Man
Thomas Berger

This 1964 novel became a movie in 1970. Berger worked as a librarian and journalist.
Star Man’s SonStar Man’s Son
Alice Mary Norton

A post-apocalyptic tale from 1952 - Norton was a librarian in Cleveland and the Library of Congress.


Out Stealing Horses
Out Stealing Horses

Per Petterson

An ex-librarian AND bookseller, Petterson’s novel was one of the NY Times’ books of the year in 2007.





The Accidental Tourist
The Accidental Tourist

Anne Tyler

This former librarian won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1985 with this novel.






The Middle Age of Mrs EliotThe Middle Age of Mrs Eliot
Angus Wilson

A librarian in the British Museum, Wilson’s 1958 novel won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
At Mrs Lippincote’sAt Mrs Lippincote’s
Elizabeth Taylor

Taylor was a governess, teacher and librarian - At Mrs Lippincotes was her debut novel in 1945.


Eagle in the Snow
Eagle in the Snow
Wallace Breem

Breem was a legal manuscripts librarian in London - a Roman General is the hero of this historical novel.

(PS - if you work as a librarian, please email your recommendation for the best book written by a fellow librarian to media@abebooks.com)
This one's for you, Breda.

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