Since 2018, the Mississippi Mills Public Library has run the “Mississippi Mills Reads” survey asking patrons for their favourite books of the year – and every year we have had a clear winner: Louise Penny. In 2018 the favoured book was Kingdom of the Blind; in 2019, A Better Man; and in 2020, All the Devils are Here.

Because we know how much our community loves Louise Penny and her books, we wrote her a thank you letter and, to our surprise, she replied immediately!

Below is the library’s thank you letter and Louise’s reply (with permission to share).

“Dear Ms. Penny,

I reach to you from Mississippi Mills, a community neighbouring Ottawa with a couple of library branches, the main one in Almonte. The library is lucky to have a great reading and library-going community and, since 2018, we have run a survey asking our patrons for their favourite books of that year. By a large margin, the community has invariably chosen your books as the best book of the year since we started. In 2018 the best book of the year went to Kingdom of the Blind, in 2019 to A Better Man and in 2020 to All the Devils are Here.

Not only that, our patrons, who follow you on social media and read your newsletters, keep us up to date with any news and know before us the dates for your new books. The moment you announce a new book, our waiting list (months long) begins! You books are constantly being checked out and the few people that have not read them yet are being sent to the library by their friends to pick them up and read them.

All of us librarians that have witnessed this over the years want to sincerely thank you for all the joy that you bring to our community, and to let you know how much your books mean for so many people.

And, if you ever happen to be in this part of the word and feel like it, please visit us, Mississippi Mills would love to show you how much they care.

On behalf of Mississippi Mills Public Library’s staff,

With kindest regards”

What an incredibly generous and supportive message!  Thank you.  Thanks to all the librarians (who are my heroes).  Thanks to your patrons.

I love libraries.  I know without my neighbourhood library I would never have lost my heart (and mind) to books.  To reading.  To stories, and the worlds they brought right into my bedroom.

As a thank you, I would like to send an autographed copy of The Madness of Crowds, when I get my supply.

I’ve copied My Assistant Lise here.

Lise, can you perhaps make a note if this?

Again, Berta, thank you for reaching out.  Kindness is always, always appreciated.

Louise

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Louise Penny’s new book The Madness of Crowds will be published on Aug 24th 2021, and we cannot wait to see what Armand, Clara, Ruth, Gabri, Olivier and company are getting into this time.

If you are interested in following her newsletter or participating in online events, check Louise Penny’s website www.louisepenny.com/books.htm to find all the information you need.

Again, thank you Louise for all the joy that you bring to your readers and for being so kind.