Ellen’s Pick of the Week: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

“And at that moment the alligators burst into the room.” The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

As a spy for the mysterious  Invisible Library, Irene has assumed many identities and when we first meet her, she’s working as a housekeeper in a boy’s boarding school. Her job is to find and then ‘harvest’ (because Librarians would never ‘steal’!) unique books in a variety of alternative worlds and add them to the Invisible Library’s vast collection. Along the way, however, lie many unknown and often dangerous obstacles, like magical alarm systems, attacking alligators, fae folk, dragons and, she’s starting to think, someone else looking for the same books– someone sinister who seems willing to kill Irene and anyone else in his way.

Scheduled to be published June 14, this rollicking fantasy, originally released in the UK last year, is the first in a (so-far) four part series and will appeal to adult fans of Dr. Who and teen fans of Harry Potter and anyone else looking for a fun summer read. Cogman has created an intriguing gaslight world and filled it with heroic and snarky librarians who will go to any length to protect and preserve the unique books of all the alternative worlds from those who seek to use them for their own nefarious purposes. This book was great fun and I can’t wait to read the next book in this darkly humorous fantasy series. A perfect summer read for adults and teens. (The second book in this series, entitled The Masked City, will be released in the US in September 2016.)