Happy National Book Lovers Day to all our bookworms out there! To celebrate this day so near and dear to us at The Strand, here are a few of our favorite mysteries and thrillers books…about books! Either being set in a library, having books as a motif, or having books be an important part of the story, all these stories and novels have a common denominator: highlighting the importance of books and literacy in our lives.
The Midnight Library
A fantasy novel with mystery elements by Matt Haig, The Midnight Library, surrounds Nora Seed, a woman unhappy with her life and wants to commit suicide. However, her plans are foiled when she finds herself in her school library with none other than Mrs. Elm, the librarian. She is in purgatory, between life and death, and goes through the library to try and find the life that makes her the happiest. Definitely a book perfect for reading in an office library surrounded by books.
The Body In The Library
For a true mystery fiend looking to celebrate this holiday, Agatha Christie’s “The Body in the Library” is sure to be a great way to go about it–not too heavy but still a great journey. It’s the second in the Miss Marple series surrounding the murders of two similar teen girls–one of whom was found in a library–with one of the girls being the heir to a wealthy man’s fortune. Miss Jane Marple starts to suspect the other heirs to the fortune and investigates. A classic Christie staple!
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Winner of the Alex Award, named NPR’s Best Book of the Year, and a New York Times Bestseller, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan follows down-on-his-luck web-design employee Clay Jannon during the Great Recession. He gets a new job at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and finds that not is all as it seems in the bookstore, with the customers never actually buying any books but instead checking out large volumes from shadowed corners of the store. He begins to piece things together with his friends, but when he brings his conclusions to Mr. Penumbra, he finds that he has discovered more than he expected to find.
Days At The Morisaki Bookshop
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa follows a woman, Takako, after her boyfriend, Hideaki, confesses he’s been cheating on her and plans on marrying the other woman. Takako, stunned and unsure what to do, receives a surprise phone call from her uncle, Satoru, and decides to take the opportunity to live in the room above the bookshop in exchange for helping around the store. She begins to fall in love with Japanese literature, makes new friends, and meets a man who is going through his own breakup. However, her idyllic present is shattered by her past when Hideaki appears and forces her to face her true desires, and Satoru’s own life begins to get messy. Together, they work to understand themselves and each other, get over their preconceived notions of each other, and attempt to live lives true to themselves.
Read A Book
However you are planning on celebrating today, the best thing you can do is crack open a book and read a couple of pages, regardless of its contents. And perhaps tomorrow you can drop by Barnes and Noble and pick up some of the books from this list. Keep reading!