3.5 stars

In 2005, seventy-one year old Bob Comet leads a quiet life. Every day, the retired librarian wakes up in his mint-colored Portland, Oregon house, and spends his time reading, cooking, eating, tidying, and walking. Bob has no friends, no family, and feels no craving for company. Bob had a very fulfilling career, and now communicates with the world by walking through it and reading about it.

Then one day, Bob pauses in his daily walk to stop at a 7-Eleven for a cup of coffee. Inside the store, Bob sees a white-haired woman - who appears to be mesmerized - staring at the cold beverages. The woman has a laminated card on a string around her neck, that reads, "My name is Chip, and I live at the Gambell-Reed Senior Center." Bob guides Chip back to Gambell-Reed where he meets the manager, a friendly lady called Maria, who gives Bob a tour of the premises.

Bob becomes a volunteer at Gambell-Reed Senior Center, and gets acquainted with both residents and day users. These include:

Chip: the semi-catatonic woman Bob helped home from the 7-Eleven; Chip runs away as often as she can, but never very far or very fast.

Brighty: an inquisitive lady who's been married five times because she likes a big party.

Linus Webster: a lively fellow who whizzes around in a wheelchair; Linus was once as handsome as Paul Newman, but ruined his appearance with dissolute behavior.

Jill: a day visitor who can't feel her thumbs and likes to do jigsaw puzzles.

Bob's interactions with the people at Gambell-Reed greatly enrich his life, and provide some adventures as well.

Between scenes in the present, there are flashback's to Bob's past. These depict experiences that greatly influenced the librarian's life.

👨‍🔧 As a youth, Bob became friendly with a middle-aged autodidact named Sandy, who was a librarian. Sandy inspired Bob's ambition to become a librarian himself.

👨‍🔧 At the age of eleven, Bob ran away from home and had an exceptional adventure with two variety show artists named June and Ida.

👨‍🔧 When Bob was a young man, he fell in love with a woman named Connie and made a best friend called Ethan. The interactions among these three led to the best and worst times in Bob's life.

Everything comes full circle toward the end of the book, when Bob comes face to face with some surprising truths.

The novel is a bit slow-moving, but I enjoyed this character study that contains both comedy and drama.

Thanks to Netgalley, Patrick deWitt, and Ecco for a copy of the manuscript.

I loved this one! I found Bob to be such a relatable character and I loved how details of his life were slowly unraveled throughout the book in the best ways. I was so shocked by the reveal of how he reconnected with Connie at the senior center--I wasn't expecting it. I loved switching back between timelines, it was engaging and a fun way to develop the characters. This book is very dear to me because in my regular life I work with older adults and at senior centers and I love to learn more about their back stories and histories. It's amazing the stories they will pull out of nowhere and you come to cherish these memories. I loved all the characters in this book and library setting was perfect for book lovers, of course. Highly recommend.

This was a pleasant easy read that's perfect if you're looking for something without too much stress. There's a little tension, a bit of adventure, and a sweet resolution. It read to me like a mix of short stories, or maybe that some of this would have worked better as a mix of short stories rather than put together into a novel. I'm not sure this will stick with me, but I don't regret the reading experience.

This is the first book that I have read by Patrick DeWitt but I know that he is a beloved author and I am a sucker for books where an older main character looks back over their entire life. The Librarianist follows Bob, a simple librarian who by all measures has lead a very quiet life, and who stumbles into a home for the elderly while out on his daily walk. He is seventy himself so find companionship amongst the unique residents. As he gets to know these people better, he also looks back over his own life which includes some unusual adventures. I loved the writing style of this book as it felt very much like a book written seventy or so years ago. I also really liked Bob and felt that the author had created a real person. I have a lot of patience for a “quiet” book but I felt that at times, the slowness of the book veered into sluggishness and boredom. This book does inspire me to look into DeWitt’s backlist, though, and I am not sorry that I read it.

I received a digital advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was a joy to read, a beautiful story about a man coming to terms with the end of his life and trying to make his final days as fulfilling as all the days that came before. The moments of humor were paired perfectly with moments of honesty, compassion, and a beautiful showcase of humanity. Patrick deWitt has a way with words that I have yet to encounter with any other author and I always feel lucky to read another work of his.

A quiet man starring in a quiet story promised some insight into an introvert’s life. Divided into thirds, the first part about his current life situation as a 70+ year old was the most interesting to me. He demonstrated a caring and respectful personality, was likable, and I was curious to learn his background. However the second part concerning his young adult years showed an insecure, unbendable personality that was difficult to like. By the third part about a childhood incident, it seems only loosely connected to the earlier story. I felt little/no emotional connection which disappointed me. There were smile-inducing moments throughout which were a plus in this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC to read and review.

This was my first Patrick deWitt book and I found his writing style to be very slow. The book seemed to jump around and things were written about that ultimately didn’t add to the story line. Overall not a book for me.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I enjoyed certain parts of this book but not too much of it. I really had to force myself to finish it.

A retired librarian starts volunteering at a senior center which triggers a remembrance of his past.

This book wasn't quite as expected (though I can't really say what I *did* expect it to be), and not in a good way. It wasn't exactly bad, but also wasn't particularly enjoyable. It WAS very well-written, which made it easier to power through and get it finished. I have no doubt there will be plenty of readers who fall in love with The Librarianist, though.

I have never read anything by Patrick DeWitt, but I certainly will in the future. As a retired librarian, I found the back-stories of the protagonist's life so poignant and could relate to his love of books. Surrounded by an eccentric group of characters at the senior center, his ordinary life turned out to be so not ordinary after all.

Bob is a retired librarian who finds himself volunteering at a senior center after helping a resident back home. He makes friends with the residents there and his story is revealed.

This gave me of The Storied Life of AJ Fikry vibes in terms of writing style and tone. I think fans of that book will enjoy this one too.

A retired librarian’s story of his life, his dreams, his failures, and his regrets. Told through his volunteer connections with a Senior Center and Ok, I found that depressing.
Bob Cornet’s story probably has a certain charm that encompasses the good and the bad. For all this I failed to connect with him and his story. Others obviously did.

An Ecco ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

I really loved Bob Comet, one of those deWittian weirdos that populate his books. As a librarian(ist) myself, I was initially drawn to the title and then so pleased that Bob's profession wasn't the main point of the book.

Thank you to Ecco Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication. I was excited to hear about this book - I think I got news of it from Netgalley directly. It should be a book I love - a book about books, a librarian trying to win over a new community, a bit of historical fiction, and funny and thoughtful prose. However, after 15% of pages read in this book (more than 50 pages), it's not really drawing me in. It reminds me a little of A Man Called Ove, which I did like, but for some reason this one is not captivating my attention. (Either that, or I have a book hangover from Fourth Wing and nothing is satisfying me at the moment!). I do think this one is well written and it should draw an audience of those who love quieter books, but it's not typically my jam.

The story of a sad little man, told mostly in flashbacks. The actual plot is the story of a few days in the man's life, as he comes out of his lonely home to volunteer at a nursing home once a week. He meets characters, learns about himself, etc. The flashbacks tell the most of the story, and build the tension/drama.


What sells this book is deWitt, his writing, his characters. We meet a teenage girl spurned by a teenage boy and see the girl's anger, sadness, fear, relief, a tornado of emotion in only a couple of paragraphs. We meet two thespians/lesbians and in a few pages we know the hardships they've survived and what they're willing to tolerate in what's left of their life. Each character brings their own story to add to the story for the sad little man.

They come to life quickly and fade just as quickly, making room for more stories.


If you've read deWitt, this is more of the same style and excellence. If this is your first time with deWitt, this is a good place to start.


**I received this book and audiobook from NetGalley, this is an honest review.

I think the only reason I could believe these library stories is because I to happen to be a Librarian. But for general readers it might be hard to believe. But these stories do indeed happen.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for making this available for pre-publication review. There is only one quarrel I have with Patrick DeWitt…that Bob’s age is given as 72 and the details are of a much older man. Maybe that is true only from the perspective of this 72 year old reader? At any rate, a quiet story thoroughly laced with humor and compassion and the ordinary events that have happened in a most extraordinary life.

I absolutely loved this book from the moment I picked it up. I cannot wait to recommend it to customers looking for a good book!
The story focuses on a retired librarian who is very set in his routines and the life he has built for himself reading books at home. A chance encounter leads him to a volunteering at a Senior Living community where he finds real joy and purpose.
This is the kind of story that quietly steals readers hearts as it examines the tiny moments in our lives and the humanity found in them.

Bob Comet is a retired librarian who is solitary and finds himself wanting to fill up his days with a purpose. On one of his walks, he stumbles upon a woman who is stuck in a market, unable to orient herself. He accompanies her back to the senior community center where she lives and he decides to start volunteering there. Much of Bob's background is a mystery and it is slowly rolled out over the course of the book. It first goes back in time to his early years as a librarian where he meets his future wife as well as his best friend, and then goes further back in time to his childhood. I found Bob quite interesting as a character. The section about his relationship with his wife and his friend was the strongest section of the book, and I was less invested in his earlier life. Because the latter half of the book was less engaging, I was a bit mixed on this one.

Thank you to Ecco via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.