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LA Library Patrons Love Checking Out Dan Brown
It's been a rough year for libraries in L.A., thanks to budget cuts, but patrons still used the Los Angeles Public Library's 72 branch locations to check out books. I asked the LAPL what the most checked-out book was in 2010: Book borrowing Angelenos spent last year following Robert Langdon as he worked to untangle the mysteries of Freemasonary in Dan Brown's novel The Lost Symbol.
The novel is the third in the series that kicked off with The DaVinci Code. In this story, though, hero Langdon is on US soil and probing the nation's capital. I'll admit that while I am a card-carrying LAPL member, I'm in the category of people who roll their eyes at the mere mention of Dan Brown (and, evidently, in the minority) and the most I've read of "The Lost Symbol" is in its review in the LA Times, which tells me that the book's plot contains "Alchemists, Egyptians and rabbi sages" and "the U.S. government's eavesdropping tactics in the war on terror, superstring theory and the New Agey-sounding study of noetics."
Apparently Angelenos dig this stuff, which is perhaps more fascinating than "The Lost Symbol" itself.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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