A chronological account of the depiction of books, libraries, and reading in fiction from the medieval period to the present. Books and libraries appear in fiction from the earliest times onwards, in works for all age groups, in canonical literature, and in books that form part of popular culture. Fiction enables writers to teach readers how to read, but it can also portray subversive acts of reading that engage with contemporary cultural anxieties or moral debates. The reading material of fictional personae is part of their characterization; we are often reading readers. Drawing on approaches from literary studies, book history, library history, and theories and histories of reading, Books, Readers and Libraries in Fiction examines what fictional representations of reading tell us about changing cultural attitudes to different reading practices, and the use (and abuse) of books beyond actual reading, both in the context of specific works and about the reception of books more widely. Through detailed case studies from primarily British fiction that address common themes such as gender, genre, and the relation between reading and writing itself, this collection catalogs the ways in which authors of fiction mediate and interpret books, libraries, and the act of reading to their own readers.   This is a valuable and wide-ranging collection of essays which provides fascinating new insights into the topic of reading within fiction. I would recommend this book to literary scholars and historians of reading; it will be of interest to both for the new light it sheds on books, readers and libraries in fiction. -Katherine Halsey, Professor of English Studies, University of Stirling Karen Attar is the curator of rare books and university art at Senate House Library, University of London, and a research fellow at the Institute of English Studies, University of London. She is the reviews editor for Library & Information History and edited among other works the third edition of the Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland .  Andrew Nash is a reader in book history and director of the London Rare Books School, Institute of English Studies, University of London. His most recent major publication is T he Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, Volume 7 , co-edited with Claire Squires and Ian Willison. He was an editor of The Review of English Studies from 2011–20 .