The Living Library

by Donald Shinn

Diana thought spending a week in a cabin at the Jersey shore sounded like a fun idea. She just wasn't expecting this Jersey shore. A one mile walk to the mucky bay, a three mile walk to the ocean, no boardwalk, no arcades, no frozen custard or salt water taffy. The bay more resembled a swamp and the beach at the ocean was small and dotted with prickly plants designed to keep the sand from blowing away. Even worse, there was no Internet or cellular service. Just her parents and their friends the Gundersons, who owned the cabins. There was no air conditioning despite stifling heat and humidity. Desperate for relief Diana sets off to find someplace cooler and stumbles upon a small, old library with a working air conditioner. The cool darkness under a library table becomes too much for her to resist, so she lies down to take a nap. When she awakens she finds herself locked in the library and an odd cast of characters have emerged from their books. Cleopatra, King Arthur, Don Quixote and Romeo have assumed human form and are offering to help her. Has she gone mad? Don Quixote pulls Dr. Freud from his biography to assure her she's sane, which doesn't reassure her at all. The characters do what they can to assist Diana in escaping the library and along the way she learns their stories and she also learns more about herself.

This is a fun, short story that can be read in about an hour.

50 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 20, 2019

Reviews

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

On vacation and bored, went for a walk and found a library with air conditioning. Fell asleep under a table and when she woke up, Cleopatra and Don Quixote came out of the books. She met many more. Weird funny book.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the idea of the characters coming out of books and interacting with each other very much. Maybe there will be a future continuation of the story with the granddaughter as the main character. Very clever idea that I think would appeal to book lovers.

[Elizabeth du Fresne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Treat for Bibliophiles

A nonreader teen is taken for a vacation on a deserted portions of the of the Jersey shore. It was a miserable week -- until it wasn't. Trapped in a soon to be demolished library the young woman spends an unexpected night in the library and is changed forever by the experience. She lives a long life shaped by that long ago night. The magical story is sure to fascinate those who love books.

[Beth Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all thoses readers who've felt like a character in a book is just as real as the people around them, here's your story. A fun conversation with some of our favorite fictional and historical characters.

[Antonio Gallo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appena possibile ne scriverò ...

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun little story, built on a very interesting concept. I enjoyed it very much!

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

this would be a really great movie!

Great book. Enjoyed it immensely. I certainly hope it is made into a movie in the future. I would love to see it.

[Linda barris · Rating 5 out of 5]

thoroughly enjoyable

What fun it would be to visit this library. Imagine the people you would meet and the ideas you could debate. I cried at the end. Highly recommend.

[Cindy Cunningham · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had so much potential as an idea and I just wish it had been executed well....any character from any book could come out to play and chat at night....but what do they do with this....?

[Deborah Ortega · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Living Library

It brings stories to life and I have always enjoyed reading a lot of books. It even brought me to tears at one point. A thoroughly moving story. I really enjoyed this book it is a short story and can be read in an hour.