The Library Book

I ADORED this book. As a librarian it really spoke to me. Learning about the fire at Los Angeles Central was heart wrenching, but I loved the way that Susan Orlean framed it around the history of libraries, book burnings, and the thrill of seeking knowledge. Utterly fascinating; this book reads like a love letter to libraries and those that work in them. Told from three "perspectives;" one thread discusses the destruction of the LA Library by fire and the man who was "responsible" for it, another thread of the story discusses the history of the LA library, and the third thread of the story discusses the history and importance of libraries around the world; leading up to this moment in time. Wonderful and thought provoking.

Trip Highlights

Things I Can't Believe I Got To Do!
1. See works of art by Picasso, Da Vinci, Renoir, Monet, Degas, Caravaggio, Raphael, Matisse, and more! And I got to take pictures of them!
2. Get a behind a scenes tour of the Hermitage and it's amazing library!
3. Meet the director of the BAN (it would be like meeting the director of the Library of Congress!) and getting to see rare materials that aren't put on display (medieval manuscripts, papyrus, 2,000 year old maps, etc!). Talk about red carpet treatment!
4. See the final resting place of Anastasia and the rest of the last Tzar's family!
5. See Peter the  Great and Catherine the Great's tombs!
6. See books signed and authored by Benjamin Franklin!
7. See musical compositions handwritten by Bach, Mozart, and Schubert and get so close to them that you could touch them!
8. See a page from the Guttenberg Bible!
9. See the "8th Wonder of the World" the Amber Room!
10. See Voltaire's personal library shipped over from France!
11. Walk in palace's that the Nazi's once destroyed but have been painstakingly restored!

Things I Don't Want to Forget!
1. Beer with low alcohol content is popular among children
2. No car seats required for babies
3. Tepemok has the best fast food (crepes and borscht!)
4. Drivers are insane, if there are traffic laws, none are followed
5. The metro is mildly terrifying. It's more than 6 stories down and you have to take an insanely fast moving escalator to get to the bottom (it still takes over 4 minutes to get to the bottom though!)
6. Armenian and Georgian food is amazing!
7. Boxed moscato!
8. Brides are EVERYWHERE! They like to pose next to monuments and as such I saw at least a dozen in the city
9. The freaky dead babies in jars at the Museum of Curiosities
10. A typical breakfast consists of hot dogs and macaroni noodles
11. The trololo guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM
12. "The Diamond Arm" a hilarious soviet comedy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062759/
13. Women wear high heels everywhere, to not wear heels is a sin, I'm not even kidding
14. Mr short shorts guy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlN5LC3I4SE
15. My awesome new friends!!!