--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/lemuriformes/read.py	Sun Dec 10 17:42:52 2017 -0800
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+"""
+deserialization
+"""
+
+import csv
+import json
+from .cast import isstring
+
+
+def dictreader(csv_file):
+    """read csv file into list of dicts"""
+
+    with open(csv_file) as f:
+        reader = csv.DictReader(f)
+        return [row for row in reader]
+
+
+def read_list_of_dicts(path, format):
+    """
+    read a list of dicts (not enforced)
+
+    format -- should be 'csv' or 'json'
+    """
+
+    assert format in ('csv', 'json')
+    assert isstring(path)
+    if format == 'csv':
+        return dictreader(path)
+
+    with open(path) as f:
+        return json.load(f)