Ali Smith

"Why are books so very powerful? What do the books we've read over our lives - our own personal libraries - make of us? What does the unravelling of our tradition of public libraries, so hard-won but now in jeopardy, say about us? The stories in Ali Smith's new collection are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they coax us endlessly to unexpected blossom; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make." -- Book jacket.

Public library and other stories

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nair

Because libraries have always been a part of any civilization they are not negotiable. They are part of our inheritance.

zilver 

4.5 stars. 

i loved the short stories and i loved the people explaining what libraries meant to them. how important they had been while they were growing up. because the public library next to our house was one of the most important places in my life for the 10 years we lived there. i'd come there daily, sometimes. the people working knew my name and smiled at me when they saw me come in. i participated in all kinds of reader programs. i love that library. (i wrote loved at first but that isn't true. just because i haven't thought of my love for that place in a while doesn't mean it doesn't exist anymore.)

i don't think i've been back there for a long time. while i was in school the pressure of having to read books inside a three week time span somehow felt like too much. 

it's been years since i have borrowed a book from an actual library. i have library friends now (you know who you are). but reading this book made me remember what an amazing place a regular library can be. how much it meant to me before. so i think i'll go visit soon when i get back home.

Eelke Bo van de Weerd

Kat Albanese

Nihar Yusoof 

Sonia Grgas

Ioana Kardos

Rachel D

Olivia Mitchell

Martin Ackerfors

Sara Holman

Rebecca Bream

Capucine Fachot

Patty M.

"Why are books so very powerful? What do the books we've read over our lives-- our own personal libraries-- make of us? What does the unraveling of our tradition of public libraries, so hard-won but now in jeopardy, say about us? The stories in Ali Smith's new collection are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make. Woven between the stories are conversations with writers and readers reflecting on the essential role that libraries have played in their lives. At a time when public libraries around the world face threats of cuts and closures, this collection stands as a work of literary activism--and as a wonderful read from one of our finest authors"--

Public library and other stories

Reviews