The Uncommon Reader

As Maryellen says, "great book alert!" All you librarians out there simply must avail yourself of this little book which can be read in an evening. Alan Bennett, British author of the fabulous play later made into a movie, The History Boys, has penned a witty, sly little morality tale on the efficacy and danger of - you know it - READING! The premise is that the current queen of England, while out walking her dogs, comes upon the mobile library parked outside the service entrance at Buckingham Palace supplying the lowly kitchen help with leisure time reading material. Mortified that the dogs are romping around inside and curious about the vehicle she'd taken no notice of in the past, the Queen enters and her life is forever changed.

Between Mr. Hutchings, the librarian, and Norman, avid reader and dishwasher for the royals, the Queen is introduced to hoards of books on every subject and in every genre. As her reading tastes develop and mature her handlers grow increasingly uncomfortable with her affinity for actually offering opinions. Since they won't encourage her in her new-found habit, the Queen promotes Norman to personal assistant so that she'll always have someone to talk books with. This sets off a chain reaction behind the scenes that will pit the Queen against her counselors with laughably unintended consequences.

One hilarious scene has the Queen coaching from the castle to Westminster, totally caught up in the open book on her lap, waving absently to her subjects as the Duke mutters furiously under his breath. While she performs her duties with the privy council, the Duke has the book confiscated from the carriage where the Queen has hidden it between the cushions. Upon her return she confronts the security guards as to the whereabouts of her novel and is told that it was identified as a possible explosive device and likely destroyed. The Queen archly replies that a book is indeed an explosive device, one used to ignite the imagination. You've gotta love it!