I was checking out a newsletter and noticed they recommended a murder mystery that takes place in a library. As someone who wanted to be a librarian growing up in the 90s I'm curious if there are any books where a library plays a central role or is the main location of a book? The genre could be mystery, romance, whatever.
by x058394446
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Mark Lawrence – the book that wouldn’t burn.
How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
OP, I think you want this book:
Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind (La Sombra del Viento)
I liked it decently, but others really rave about it
Nonfiction but The Library Book by Susan Orlean is a favorite. It has mystery, history, and is both entertaining and informative.
*The Shadow of the Wind* by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Bret Witter and Vicki Myron. If you like cats and books 📕 🐈
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Book on Fire by Keith Miller
Maybe [The Book Charmer](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/20da6dc4-0a19-442f-b175-f3c3f47e9d3a) by Karen Hawkins?
The strange library by haruki murakami
‘What You Are Looking for Is in the Library’ by Michiko Aoyama
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox
The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler
The Abortion: An Historical Romance by Richard Brautigan. Beautiful little book!
*The Name of the Rose* by Umberto Eco takes place in a monastery, with a mystery involving the secretive, labyrinthine library. It’s obviously a very different library from the kind you contemplated being a librarian at, but it’s a great book! There’s also a famous short story by Luis Borges called “The Library of Babel” which doesn’t have much of a plot but is an amazing visual. You can read it online [here](https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/226/2015/12/Borges-The-Library-of-Babel.pdf).
Also, there are oodles of picture books that take place in libraries, in case you want a jaunt into fiction for much younger readers. Here are three I like.
* *Library Lion* by Michelle Knudsen – a bit of a classic
* *The Midnight Library* by Kazuno Kohara – very sweet with woodblock-type illustrations (there is also an adult novel with this title but I don’t know anything about it)
* *Love in the Library* by Maggie Tokuda-Hall – true story of how the author’s grandparents met in a Japanese incarceration camp during WWII
Best book featuring a library ever (imo) – Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck
Contest by Matthew Reilly