We’ve all seen it on the news, city politics that pit people, services, and community against one another. In the end, the taxpayers bear the weight of the crisis through higher taxes and reduced services and the employees suffer, having to endure hostile working conditions. Library Lust by NS Navla takes readers on a nightmarish journey through a citywide political scandal centered at the heart of San Francisco’s public library system. Poor fiscal responsibility had inundated the library for many years. When Marcy Lanacia was promoted to Financial Director, she immediately went to work uncovering where the millions of dollars the library should have had, had gone. With the Mayor’s office up in arms, the press consuming the chaos, and employees fired, transferred, or quitting, Marcy knew there was only one thing to do: play by the book and find the underlying cause.

“Because Ester the level of incompetence perpetrated by the unions in this city is unequaled, and experts are rare.” Sharon gasps, and Ester stares.”

Despite having a misleading cover and title, Library Lust is a fast-paced novel filled to the brim with financial and political scandal, cover-ups, and the people who truly want what is right. Navla took a topic that could otherwise be difficult to understand or even boring, (accounting, budgeting, spreadsheet e.g.) and spun the story in such a way that anyone could easily follow what was being said, what needed to be done, and without ever having to stop the story to explain any of it in detail, and made it into a book readers will find difficult to put down. The focus remained on the characters and the situation at hand, leaving the minor details at bay. At times, Navla’s writing is overly descriptive, feels rushed and the dialogue is repetitive. This is easily overlooked, as it’s constantly moving, eliminating all predictability, and pulling readers into the book and alongside Marcy, truly making this book a real page-turner. You won’t regret picking up a copy of Library Lust.

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