This "celebration of the world of books" ( Kirkus ) from New York Times bestselling author James Patterson is a collection of riveting stories celebrating the heroic efforts of the people who are on the front lines getting our books into the world.​ To be a bookseller or librarian... You have to play detective. Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. An advocate. A visionary. A person who creates "book joy" by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, "You've got to read this. You're going to love it." "When the pandemic started, Patterson launched a movement, #SaveIndieBookstores [and] pledged half a million dollars, and, with the support of the American Booksellers Association and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, the campaign ended up raising $1,239,595 from more than eighteen hundred donors...Somehow, the bookstore outlived the pandemic. Why? The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians , compiled by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann, suggests a few reasons." – New Yorker