I really enjoy reading books about books and libraries, and this one hit the spot. As the title points out, it is rare books that are the central part of the story. When the director of the library has a stroke is unconscious, it falls to his assistant to run the library and deal with opening a safe that only Christopher, the director, has the combination to. Liesl is an older woman who has worked there for 40 years but feels invisible and obviously doesn't have much respect from her male coworkers. But, she is put in temporary charge of the library and when she finds that there has been a theft of a new acquisition, she wants to go to the police.

Liesl has to deal with the president of the university and donors along with the staff. There are multiple themes in the book; mental illness, the glass ceiling, homophobia and discrimination in the workplace. There's also one character obsessed with Socialism. Just say, there's a lot going on in the novel besides the theft/disappearance of a book. There was a lot to love in the book abut I think it might have been better to not have quite so many things going on at the same time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the book.

I was really excited to read "The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections" by Eva Jurczyk. And, I thought the story started with great promise. I have tried to get through it twice, first reading 20% and thereafter 30% but the story did not move despite the attempts.

Nevertheless, thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

Where to start. I think the premise is fantastic. A university library and rare books. Cool. A mature, mid-life, female main character? Awesome. There is such a shortage of 50+ main characters and especially women. I so wanted to love Liesl.

Liesl who has spent her career as an assistant librarian to a stereotypical misogynist. When she must take over after he has a stroke, she is still dismissed by the other men in the department, still treated with condescension. Liesl who has a vast understanding of the books and her job, but who moves through the story with absolute morose resignation.

The story itself is rather depressing. Everyone is miserable, even without the mystery of the missing books. The character development is non-existent. There is none. So many characters and none that we really ever learn about in any significant way. There are so many issues: marital infidelity/conflicts, mental health struggles, LGBTQ+ discrimination, theft, misogyny.

While the mystery gets solved, the story never really redeems itself.

I enjoyed the parts about the care and treatment of old books, and the workings of a university library that depends on the donations of rich patronizing people.

I love stories about books and bookstores and libraries. I started the book in June and then set it down. It was nearly a DNF, but I was so hopeful that it would start to shine and redeem itself. This one should have been captivating, but instead the actual execution fell far short.

When Liesl Weiss is thrust into the role of department head after her boss’s stroke, she uncovers a missing manuscript, a colleague’s disappearance, and even more secrets. Jurczyk does an excellent job of portraying the complexities and bureaucratic intricacies of university libraries and archives, making this novel a must-read for book lovers and librarians alike.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk is a captivating read perfect for book lovers and mystery enthusiasts who will be drawn into the intricate world of rare manuscripts and libraries, where the lines between truth and deception blur, and the thrill of discovery awaits.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for arc.

Amazing premise and concept very poorly executed. Such as shame as I pushed it up my TBR pile

When I first heard about this book I was so excited. A book about books? I've learned that books about books don't necessarily mean that the book will be good. This isn't horrible, but it's nothing that I'll remember for years to come.

Liesl works at the library, specifically handling the rare books. When one book goes missing and the director of the library in a coma, Liesl is on the case to figure out what happened. Then randomly a co-worker of hers goes missing.

Sounds very mystery based right? Well it wasn't. I think if it leaned heavier on the mystery aspect maybe it would have been better but to me it was dull. It wasn't great, wasn't horrible, it just was.

In a Nutshell: A debut novel that tries to fit into too many genres and tackle too many themes. So it doesn’t work as well as it could have with a more streamlined approach. The plot is decent, but the character detailing is repetitive. Expected more from a ‘book about books.’

Plot Preview:
Leisl, who has been working as a deputy director at the titular library department, is suddenly called to fill in as the interim director when her boss Christopher ends up in a coma after a stroke. The issue is that key investors are coming to take a look at a new acquisition: the $500,000 Plantin Polyglot Bible, which is safely locked in the safe whose code is known only by Christopher. After a lot of effort, Leisl manages to open the safe, only to discover that it is empty. When Leisl tries to get her reporting head and her colleagues to take the matter seriously and report the theft to the police, no one takes her seriously. Soon, a fellow librarian also goes missing. Now it is up to Leisl to discover the truth, because the others are clearly hiding something.
The story comes to us in the third person perspectives of multiple characters over multiple timelines.

Bookish Yays:
📚 I enjoyed the bits about rare books, their care and preservation. The tidbits about the Polyglot Bible and the Peshawar manuscript (possibly based on the real-life Bakhshali manuscript) are interesting to read.


Bookish Mixed Bags:
📖 Using a senior woman as the lead character is a commendable choice. Leisl is at the age where she can legitimately be the deputy director of a library. However, the age factor is not properly utilised. We aren’t told Leisl’s exact age ever; all we get is cues such as “I’ve worked her for four decades.” Plus, hardly anything in her arc makes her sound like a senior woman. Her naivete as well as her physical prowess seem to fit a much younger woman. Not to forget that the cover is totally inaccurate in its depiction of Leisl.
📖 The variations in timelines and perspectives add depth to what would otherwise have been a straightforward plot. However, the flashbacks give a big spoiler about the mystery if you pay careful attention. Moreover, the segues into the past are quite random, and hence distracting.
📖 As is common with debut novels, this book suffers from the “kitchen sink syndrome”, with a multitude of unrelated themes thrown into the mix: mental health and depression, gender discrimination, LGBT discrimination, marital issues, obsessions over books, the glass ceiling, male gaslighting… In all this clutter, the key topic of rare books gets the least attention. I did like how the book handled the mental health issue – it was fairly realistic.
📖 Netgalley has this book marked as women’s fiction and a book club read. Goodreads users have tagged it a contemporary mystery. This disparity partially explains the lower ratings. The fact is, when there are missing books and a missing character within the first few chapters, no one will read this as a women’s fiction. But as a mystery, the book doesn’t really deliver because there is no investigation, and the ‘mystery’ itself is somewhat obvious. The story is more like a literary drama. It worked better for me once I stopped expecting a mystery.

Bookish Nays:
📕 The biggest issue is the lack of character development. No character grows over the course of the story. Leisl should have been the highlight considering her age and position, but she comes off as an ignorant newbie who has jumped in at the deep end and is now floundering to stay afloat. As she was already in a high position and had worked at the library for so long, her confused and underconfident behaviour didn’t make sense. Nor did her job profile – such a high post and all she did was handle admin-related work? Plus, the behaviour of her male colleagues towards her is abysmal. The constant gaslighting feels repetitive and overdone.
📕 Miscommunication too is a big problem. The book length could have been halved if everyone spoke the truth and/or called the police on time. But there is too much dillydallying. The men keep avoiding the issue whenever Leisl brings it up, and this feels very unrealistic considering the millions at stake.
📕 I didn’t get why every chapter was broken into subparts: Part 1, Part 2,… It made me feel like I was reading a textbook. A simple line/image separator would have been far less distracting.
📕 The eponymous department is supposedly based on an actual rare books library in one of the universities in Toronto. This book is also based in Toronto, but we see nothing of the city except the name. I wish the locational setting had been better established. An author’s note about the actual library would also have been welcome.


All in all, this isn’t a bad book, but it could have been much more. The characters as well as the plot had potential, but because of the plethora of scattered themes, the core plotline loses impact. It might work better if you read it as a character-oriented drama than as a mystery.

2.25 stars.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

There was a lot about this book that had me interested: a book about books, rare books, theft, potential murder. However, in the end, it just didn't captivate me in the way I had hoped. There was a lot of information about fundraising, which was a bit of a drag on the story as presented and slowed down the pace of the story. I did appreciate the acknowledgement of topics such as mental health and homophobia, and the book wrapped up well.

I didn't realize when I requested this book that it's a crime/mystery novel. Those normally aren't my jam, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It's incredibly witty and well written and the plot is developed to perfection. The ending is both satisfying and fascinating. It also helped that it sent up academia vibes.

What a fun debut novel by a new author, Eva Jurczyk. She is a librarian writing about libraries. What could be more fun for a bibliophile ???

This is a entertaining mystery novel without a murder. I kept waiting at the beginning for a murder but though there will be dead bodies at the requisite places in the story no one is murdered. So a love story about libraries and their dedication and devotion to their books and how far one will go to savior the desire to hold a rare and priceless book in their hands.

This is also an interesting discussion about preserving first editions and the science of carbon dating old manuscripts to find out their real origins.

Of course there is the plot of people's lives and how they interact. The people who work together for years and how well they know each other or maybe don't really know each other. The marriages, their ups and downs. Coming back to work as an older woman about to retire, Leisel takes over the library's rare book room while her former boss, Chris is in the hospital in a coma. Leisel has many important decisions to make as a rare book goes missing. Then a fellow employee is missing and the pressure is building from the University President and a group of major donors are waiting for the return of the missing book.

How Leisel and her fellow librarians handle the mysteries unfolding in the library keeps the reader interested in where all these problems will converge and how they will be resolved.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out really strong for me. I liked the humor and it seemed like the author knew a lot about working in academia. However, around the middle, the pace just slowed and didn’t pick back up. There was some bouncing around in the timeline to the past which didn’t always make sense to me. I did like how she broke the chapters up in parts. I thought that was an interesting writing approach. I did like the development of the characters. I just wish the pace was faster.

"The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections" by Eva Jurczyk takes readers on a literary adventure filled with intriguing characters and unexpected discoveries. While the novel offers a unique and engaging premise, the pacing at times felt uneven. It's a worthwhile read for those who appreciate books about books and the magic of rare collections.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Books about libraries can be either hit or miss for me. Sadly this one was a miss, I found the MC to be hard to relate too and the plot to be scattered.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is available now.

If you have read my blog for a while, you can probably guess what drew me to this book: I’m a sucker for books about books. The fact that it’s marketed as a mystery, as opposed to a slice of life, made me even more interested in reading The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections (Whew, that title is a mouthful!).

This book features Leisl, who has always been a quiet and experienced cog, taking care of rare books and leaving the prestige of the job to be gobbled up by others. When her boss has a stroke, she ends her sabbatical to take over in the interim, unexpectedly encountering both a theft and a disappearance which she winds up trying to solve.

Leisl is a slightly older main character, which I found to be a breath of fresh air. Not that I have anything against younger main characters, but variety is the spice of life. Leisl’s more advanced age gave her a unique perspective not always found in books. She was also a bit of a doormat, which I went back and forth on. It gave an interesting dynamic, but there were a few times when I desperately wanted her to find a backbone. As a person who has been known to reach doormat status herself from time to time, I understand that this is often easier said than done.

While I expected a mystery, this book really is more of an exploration of character dynamics. There was quite a lot of time spent on relationships, how women are often viewed in the workplace, and a little bit on mental health. Normally, I appreciate mental health being talked about in books, but I felt that it was sort of thrown in and not done very well. That being said, while I didn’t expect the mystery aspect to take such a back seat, the time spent on other things wasn’t necessarily a waste. I personally would have just preferred the mystery to be a bit more of a mystery. I wonder if I might have enjoyed this book more had it been marketed differently.

The writing was solid, although the pacing was slow. There weren’t any twists and by the end was I comfortably aware of where the book was going. The book kind of went back and forth between timelines, which I wasn’t a huge fan of. It jarred me out of the book on a few occasions, right when I was beginning to be invested.

It probably sounds like I hated the book, but I really didn’t. I just didn’t love it. It definitely wasn’t what I expected and I’m sure I would have liked the book much better had it matched the blurb, but it wasn’t poorly written. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections would be a good match for people not looking for an edge-of-your-seat mystery, who enjoy reading about workplace dynamics and the concerns of everyday life.

Also, Leisl- stand up for yourself!

I’m not sure how much I can say about The Department of Rare Books and Special Editions, because I’m honestly not sure I got it. If you asked me what genre it was in, I’m not even sure I could tell you. Maybe Mysterious Literary Fiction would be a good choice, but even that doesn’t feel quite right. I grabbed it from Netgalley, and because I’m the weirdo who likes to wait until I forget what books are about before reading them, I let it sit for a while. Once I had completely forgotten what little I had read about it, I headed in and gave it a shot.

I was, honestly, a smidge disappointed. It’s a book set in a library, which would be cool, but it also felt disjointed, like it was trying to tell 5 different stories, and didn’t quite succeed at any of them.

One of the things I love the most about books is the evolution and growth of the characters. When I get to the end of a book, and the main character feels the same as at the beginning, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. When I’m reading a book, I love to imagine what the characters would look like, and what they would sound like. I couldn’t really come up with a good image for Liesl. I’m not even sure I want to invite her to my imaginary tea party.

I felt like the book rushed in many ways, but on the other hand, I felt like it dragged. The author had a really good idea, which was a mystery surrounding a missing book, and the person in charge of the book unavailable. I also love the idea of books happening in libraries, so there’s always people to suspect when mysteries arise.

In the case of The Department of Rare Books and Special Editions, however, the number of suspects never really grew, and although Liesl was very smart, and had the ability to make smart decisions, she allowed herself to waver under the director’s instructions not to contact the police about a missing, multi-thousand-dollar, rare book. Her waffling back and forth about whether to contact them took up way more of the book than it should have, and I felt like it stole away from the potential intrigue.

What surprised me most about The Department of Rare Books and Special Editions was how much I just wanted to find out what happened. The twists in the story weren’t earth-shattering, but they did frustrate me just enough to keep me reading. I wish I could tell you that I either hated the book, or loved it so much I couldn’t put it down, but I really just felt kind of “meh” about the whole thing. I guess that surprised me more than anything. I wasn’t bored, but I wasn’t incentivized to keep reading, either. I’m proud to say, I finished the book, and I received a reward for finishing, in the form of a solved mystery, but don’t we all kind of expect that from a book in the mystery genre?

This is a very slow moving mystery that I had a hard time staying interested in. The main character's co-workers are so awful to her, and she never stands up for herself.

I could not get into this, despite thinking it sounded very interesting. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book for review!

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Loved it. I wish that there was more books like this.