Libraries in Fiction

These are a few titles featuring libraries and librarians in fiction.
Updated September 21, 2022
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The Time Traveler's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
Paper Book
The love story of Henry and Claire whose lives are punctuated by Henry's disappearance to different points in time--sometimes even back to visit Claire as a young woman. When Henry meets Claire, he is twenty-eight, and she is twenty. He's a hip, handsome librarian; she is an art student with...
The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Paper Book
"Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post "Wondrous...masterful...The ...
The Midnight Library
Matt Haig
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year "A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."--The...
The Uncommon Reader
Alan Bennett
Paper Book
From the author of The History Boys and The Clothes They Stood Up In   A deliciously funny novella that celebrates the pleasure of reading. When the Queen in pursuit of her wandering corgis stumbles upon a mobile library  she feels duty bound to borrow a book....
The Body in the Library
Agatha Christie
Paper Book
A young, blond woman is found dead on the floor of Colonel and Mrs. Bantry’s library. Nobody seems to know who the woman is, let alone how she wound up murdered in the Bantry’s home. Jane Marple is called in and the chase is on.
The Starless Sea
Erin Morgenstern
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world--a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont...
The Invisible Library
Genevieve Cogman
Paper Book
Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure--the first in the Invisible Library series!   One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...   Irene is a professional...
The Library at Mount Char
Scott Hawkins
Paper Book
Neil Gaiman meets Joe Hill in this astonishingly original, terrifying, and darkly funny contemporary fantasy. Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. She's sure of it. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. She even...
The Giver of Stars
Jojo Moyes
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER |  A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK   "A great narrative about personal strength and really captures how books bring communities together." --Reese Witherspoon   From the author of the forthcoming Someone Else's Shoes<...
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Kim Michele Richardson
Paper Book
RECOMMENDED BY DOLLY PARTON IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE! A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A USA TODAY BESTSELLER A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER A PBS BOOK PICK The bestselling historical fiction novel from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy...
Ink and Bone
Rachel Caine
Paper Book
In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.... Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is n
The Strange Library
Haruki Murakami
Paper Book
From internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami--a fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library.   Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of best-selling...
Sorcery of Thorns
Margaret Rogerson
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! "A bewitching gem...I absolutely loved every moment of this story." --Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series "If you loved the Hogwarts Library...you'll be right at home at...
The Paris Library
Janet Skeslien Charles
Paper Book
An instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller--based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II--The Paris Library is a moving and unforgettable "ode to the importance of libraries, books, and...
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict
Paper Book
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world as she helps build a world-class collection. But...
The Borrower
Rebecca Makkai
Paper Book
In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake,...
The Library of the Unwritten
A. J. Hackwith
Paper Book
In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.
The Cartographers
Peng Shepherd
Paper Book
USA TODAY AND LA TIMES BESTSELLER Finalist for the LA Times Book Prize! "The Cartographers is one of those brilliant books you have to read twice." -- Washington Post "There are echoes of Borges and Bradbury, Pynchon and Finian's Rainbow, but Ms. Shepherd's...
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
Fiona Davis
Paper Book
1913. When Laura Lyons applies to the Columbia Journalism School she finds herself involved with the Greenwich Village Heterodoxy Club, a radical feminist group that makes her question her role as wife and mother. When valuable books are stolen from the library, she's forced to confront her...
The Reading List
Sara Nisha Adams
Paper Book
NOW A LILLY'S LIBRARY PICK! "The most heartfelt read...a surprising delight of a novel."--Shondaland An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London...
The Library of Lost and Found
Phaedra Patrick
Paper Book
From the author of Rise and Shine Benedict Stone, now an original movie on Hallmark. "Sweet and resonant." --People, "Best New Books" Pick A librarian's discovery of a mysterious book sparks the journey of a lifetime. ...
The Woman in the Library
Sulari Gentill
Paper Book
USA TODAY BESTSELLER "Investigations are launched, fingers are pointed, potentially dangerous liaisons unfold and I was turning those pages like there was cake at the finish line." --Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times must-read books for summer 2022 Ned Kelly award winning author Sulari...
The Library at the Edge of the World
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Paper Book
"Heart-warming . . . reminiscent of Maeve Binchy and Roisin Meaney." --Irish Examiner In the bestselling tradition of Fannie Flagg and Jenny Colgan comes Felicity Hayes-McCoy's U.S. debut about a local librarian who must find a way to rebuild her community and her own life in this touching...
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Eva Jurczyk
Paper Book
Anxious People meets the delights of bookish fiction in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask- what holds more secrets in the library-the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who...
Murder at the 42nd Street Library
Con Lehane
Paper Book
This first book in an irresistible new series introduces librarian and reluctant sleuth Raymond Ambler, a doggedly curious fellow who uncovers murderous secrets hidden behind the majestic marble façade of New York City's landmark 42nd Street Library. Murder at the 42nd Street...
The Librarian Spy
Madeline Martin
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER--for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz! "Readers will be on the edge of their seats....  A brilliant tale of resistance, courage and ultimately hope."  -Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author of The...
Silence in the Library
Katharine Schellman
Paper Book
Lily Adler has just started to feel settled into her new London home when her semi-estranged father arrives, intending to stay with her while he recovers from an illness. To placate and avoid him, she takes his place in a social visit with Lady Wyatt, a woman she doesn't know. But then Lady Wyatt's...
The War Librarian: A Novel
Addison Armstrong
Paper Book
1918. Timid and shy Emmaline Balakin lives more in books than her own life. That is, until an envelope crosses her desk at the Dead Letter Office bearing a name from her past, and Emmaline decides to finally embark on an adventure of her own as a volunteer librarian on the frontlines in France. But...

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