Title: Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian's Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life

Author: Annie Spence

Publisher: Flatiron Books 2017

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 248

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR

If you love to read, and presumably you do since you’ve picked up this book (!), you know that some books affect you so profoundly they forever change the way you think about the world. Some books, on the other hand, disappoint you so much you want to throw them against the wall. Either way, it’s clear that a book can be your new soul mate or the bad relationship you need to end.

In Dear Fahrenheit 451, librarian Annie Spence has crafted love letters and breakup notes to the iconic and eclectic books she has encountered over the years. From breaking up with The Giving Tree (a dysfunctional relationship book if ever there was one), to her love letter to The Time Traveler’s Wife (a novel less about time travel and more about the life of a marriage, with all of its ups and downs), Spence will make you think of old favorites in a new way. Filled with suggested reading lists, Spence’s take on classic and contemporary books is very much like the best of literature―sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes surprisingly poignant, and filled with universal truths.

Finally! I grabbed this slim volume off the library shelves and read these delightful letters to various books. I really enjoyed Spence’s irreverent take on various books of classic literature as well as random surprise books from the stacks. Some of the letters made me laugh out loud. My least favorite section was the book recommendations at the end, but even those were interesting to see what she paired together. Overall, this is a book for book lovers. A delightful day’s reading.

Next up on the TBR pile: