There’s still time left to find a new favorite book to read while enjoying the sweet, sunny summer days. And what better way to scratch a literary itch than with a bibliophile’s beloved microtrope: books about books?
Three authors release their inner bibliophile in July’s special edition of Bookmarked: the Under the Radar Book Club.
Calls to ban books, shutter libraries and decrease funding for storytelling mark the backdrop of Indiana-based author Meg Anderson’s brainstorming process for her novel, “The Memory of Borrowed Books.”
“I really wanted to create a story that really showed what the library is, because I do truly believe that when we lose a library, we’re not just losing shelves and books — we lose a piece of our community,” said Anderson, whose debut novel comes out in October.
“The Memory of Borrowed Books” follows a librarian named Claire who is fighting to save her library from demolition. An element of magic enters the picture when Claire discovers a hidden room full of books containing the memories of past library patrons. Claire must figure out what the memories are telling her about her own past before it is too late, and the library closes for good.
Katie Holt is a New York City-based author who gained the inspiration for “The Last Page,” her new books-about-books romance novel, by working at the famed Strand bookstore in Manhattan. The story begins with Emma, a bookstore employee who is expecting to receive ownership of the store when the current owner passes away. Unfortunately for Emma, his time comes before he can change his will, and the store falls into the hands of his grandson, Henry. The two clash initially on how to run things but quickly realize that they must work together to preserve the indie bookstore.
“I thought there was something really special about being a bookseller and putting books into other people’s hands and kind of having a say in this life of a book,” Holt said. “And so I really thought a lot about what it would be like to fall in love in a bookstore.”
Holt is a Tennessee native but has embraced her new home in New York City. She idolizes writer and director Nora Ephron, who she said is one of the best at evoking the feeling of the audience being present in the story. Holt wants to follow Ephron’s lead with “the character of New York propelling the relationship between Ella and Henry.”
Kirsten Millercomes from a small town in North Carolina, an upbringing that assisted in providing the setting for her 2024 novel, “Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books.” In the book, main character Lula Dean believes she’s never received the attention she deserves in the little town of Troy, Georgia. So when she finds an erotic cookbook in the local library, she sees it as an opportunity to rise above her small-town detractors. She starts a little free library in her front yard, filling it with wholesome and mundane books. However, her arch-nemesis Beverly’s daughter begins stirring up trouble by replacing Lula’s picks with banned books. The townspeople flock to the free library, picking up titles that change their lives forever.
“You have one person who’s very dead-set on keeping things in the past and pulling them backwards, and another one who is doing everything that she can do to try to get her town to move forward,” Miller said about Lula and Beverly. “The book is really about encouraging all the good people in the South to find the courage and to stand up when somebody starts banning books. Do the right thing.”
In today’s divisive political climate, where certain titles are being buried across the country, the authors emphasized that censorship and book bans are an affront to everyone’s freedom.
“If all the books are on the shelves, then the decision about what to read is yours. You get to choose what you read. You get to choose what your small children read. And that’s yours. That’s your freedom to choose. But the moment books start getting taken off the shelves, you’re giving that freedom to somebody else,” Miller said.
Guests
- Katie Holt, romance author whose latest release is “The Last Page”
- Meg Anderson, debut author of “The Memory of Borrowed Books
- Kirsten Miller, author of “Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books.”
