Heartwarming. Life-affirming. Reminiscent. Excited. These are just some of the words I can use to describe the experience of reading James Patterson and Matt Eversmann’s THE SECRET LIVES OF BOOKSELLERS AND LIBRARIANS. It is not just a tribute to those in the book trade but a literary pat on the back to anyone who loves books.

The Author’s Note provides some eye-opening statistics about the current state of reading in this country. If you live in the US, you are among only one in five who can read a book and are actually in the habit of reading books. Only 15 percent of registered voters read books. It makes you believe that this beautiful pastime is on the brink of extinction. That is, until you check out the dozens of testimonies from book lovers that fill these pages.

"THE SECRET LIVES OF BOOKSELLERS AND LIBRARIANS is the best example of 'preaching to the choir' nonfiction reading that I can recall.... I applaud Patterson and Eversmann for doing the leg work and communicating with all of these book lovers to share their stories and views."

Alexis Sky speaks of the smell of books and how guests to her independent bookstore in upstate New York often comment on it as they enter. You just don’t get that scent when you visit one of the chain or big-box bookstores. She also reflects on her love of books and her supportive parents who allowed her to have her own library card. One day, their local librarian called with a friendly heads-up that Alexis had checked out an “adult” book. She asked her father what the word “ether” meant and then went on to describe the journey that the two characters were undertaking in the novel she was reading. When he realized that she was referring to Hunter S. Thompson’s FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, she indicated that it was like ALICE IN WONDERLAND for boys. He concurred and told her that when she was older, they would have a different conversation about it.

Lorrie Roussin is a middle school librarian from Texas. She surmises that this is the ideal place and perfect age for young people eager to explore the new worlds that reading opens up to them. They also are not as distracted as high school readers, who have so much more competing for their leisure time. Judy Blume, who is now 84 years old and the owner of a bookstore in Key West Florida, talks about the transition from book writer to bookseller. She feels that it is more important to share the wonder of reading with as many people as possible rather than locking herself away for years in the solitary exercise of writing a new novel.

Susan Kehoe from Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, discusses how she must ask non-book-related questions in job interviews to make sure that any prospective employee realizes that it is not all glamour. Her staff must be full-service to keep their doors open, and this includes cleaning the toilets and the daily task of sweeping up the sand that has been tracked in by patrons. What also makes independent bookstores unique are the occasional pets that become beloved fixtures there. Sally Brewster of Park Road Books in North Carolina recalls when a reporter contacted her to do a story --- not about the store, but about Yola, the extremely popular resident dog.

Nancy Moore from Barnes & Noble in Massachusetts talks about how her love of books has become a way for her to pass judgment on people she meets. She is instantly suspicious of a home where no books are visible or on display. The big chain bookstores serve an important role in reaching readers where there are no other options. Jessica Claudio of Barnes & Noble in Staten Island, New York, is the owner of the only bookstore on the island. Therefore, it plays the same role that a smaller bookstore might serve for the residents as the only game in town.

A neighborhood bookstore needs to reflect its community. This is seen at the Astoria Bookshop in Astoria, Queens. Owner and founder Lexi Beach fights an uphill battle to represent the oft-underrepresented borough in which she lives, especially in comparison to the more popular and artsy Brooklyn and Manhattan. People love to read local. Bookstores and libraries face the pressure of deciding what to make available on their shelves --- which is not an easy task when there is constant pressure from either the woke population or the government deciding what should be allowable. Denver librarian Dodie Ownes puts it best: “If we are going to carry THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK, then we also have to carry LGBTQ materials, and that also means that we have to carry something about Holocaust denial.”

The last bookseller I will cover is the store that is the most personal to me in this book. Sarah Galvin and her husband, Marc, run The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY. This town is an international Olympic village, and I began shopping there as a child. My sister, another avid reader, lives up there in the Adirondacks, and she attends this bookstore frequently. It makes me smile to know that it’s still there and supporting local authors like Jamie Sheffield, who regrettably passed away last month.

I wish that I could give time to everyone who contributed to this wonderful work. THE SECRET LIVES OF BOOKSELLERS AND LIBRARIANS is the best example of “preaching to the choir” nonfiction reading that I can recall. It celebrates what we, the readers, love about the experience of reading a great and memorable book. The connections it makes within a community, as well as to our own memories and past experiences, are immeasurable. I applaud Patterson and Eversmann for doing the leg work and communicating with all of these book lovers to share their stories and views. It gives me hope for the continued future of the world’s greatest way to pass the time.