The Bookseller: The First Hugo Marston Novel – Mark Pryor

AuthorMark Pryor
PublisherSeventh Street Books
Date9 October 2012
EditionKindle
Pages306 (print-edition)
LanguageEnglish
ASINB00C4B2LRI

“If peace had a smell, he thought, it would be the smell of a library full of old, leather-bound books.” (Quotation page 221)

Content

Hugo Marston, forty-two years old, a former FBI profiler and now security chief at the American embassy in Paris, loves Paris and old books. Therefore, on his first day of a vacation he did not ask for, he visits his friend Max, a bouquiniste who owns one of the traditional bookstalls on the bank of the Seine. His has to watch as Max is kidnapped at gunpoint. The Paris police does not show very interested in Marston’s observations, because some witnesses, other bouquinistes, confirm they had seen no violence. But soon more booksellers disappear and fortunately Tom Green, an old friend of Hugo Marston, former CIA agent, now kind of retired as he says, has come to Paris for a visit and together they immediately start their own investigations and researches. Is the disappearance of Max connected to one of his special antiquarian books, and who tries to take over the bookstalls? How can so many different traces fit together?

Theme and Genre

This first book of the Hugo Marston Series is a crime novel located in Paris. Themes are investigation, crime and books.

Characters

We meet different characters, they all have their own stories and background. Their actions and behavior are believable and plausible.

Plot and Writing

The story, based on crime and investigations, takes place within a tight time schedule and is an enjoyable mixture of action, researches and a lively description of Paris and everyday life in the vibrant, famous city Paris. The plot brings up different themes, some of them reaching back into the past, and has enough unpredictable turns to maintain the narrative tension.

Conclusion

An interesting, gripping crime novel with surprising twists, where some antiquarian books play an important role. Enjoyable read, not only for booklovers.

The Paris Bookseller – Kerri Maher

AuthorKerri Maher
PublisherReview
Date11 January 2022
EditionKindle
Pages318 (print-Version)
LanguageEnglish
ASINB097GF2B38
ISBN-13978-1472290786

“What if instead of a French shop in America, I open an American shop here in Paris? There seems to be a hunger here to read more works in the original language and no shop or library to supply them.” (Quotation page 28)

Content

Opening her own English bookshop in Paris, Sylvia Beach has made her dream come true. Together with Adrienne Monnier’s well known French bookshop, this literary cluster at rue de l’Odéon soon is highly acclaimed, well-known and almost daily visited by young and famous French and American writers of the 1920s and 1930s in a bohemian, sparkling Paris. When James Joyce tells her that his avant-garde novel Ulysses is officially banned and forbidden in America, before it even was published, she just has to do something, because she is absolutely convinced that readers could not be deprived of the possibility to read this innovative novel. There could be only one solution and she is ready to accept the challenge and risk everything.

Theme and Genre

This novel about Sylvia Beach, her friends and these exciting years between the two world wars in Paris is a very well balanced mixture between researched facts and fiction. It is about well-known bookshops, literature, artists, especially writers, but also about publishing, friendship, family and love.

Characters

Most characters are real and described in a vivid way, always based on reality.

Plot and Writing

The author tells the story of Sylvia Beach and her famous bookshop “Shakespeare and Company” during the most important years between 1917 and 1936, as these years are the years where Sylvia’s life as a bookseller and publisher takes place. This marvelous journey through literature, love and friendship is told from Sylvia’s point of view, but in the third-person-form, which made it possible to share not only Sylvia’s story, emotions and opinion, but add many other details that made the picture complete. Mostly written during the two years of the Covid pandemic, when libraries, publishing houses and bookstores with engaged staff made online events and information possible, this novel once again reveals the magic of books and reading.

Conclusion

A gripping, interesting, lively story about a famous bookshop, literature, artists und confident, modern women, set in the bohemian metropole Paris during the roaring twenties.

The Last Library – Freya Sampson

AuthorFreya Sampson
PublisherZaffre
Date19 August 2021
EditionKindle
Pages302 (print version)
LanguageEnglish
ASINB092S7S43D

„What these management consultants with their calculators and spreadsheets will never work out is that the library is about so much more than simply books. Libraries are like a net, there to catch those of us in danger of falling through the cracks.” (Quotation page 76)

Content

Beverly Jones had been the librarian of Chalcot Library and her daughter June was always found immersed in a book. Since ten years June herself works as a Library Assistant works at. She loves her work and the small little village Chalcot, but eight years ago, her mum has died and she still is missing her so much. Now June’s live is quiet, surrounded by books and her cat Alan Bennett, pretending to be happy alone with her memories. When it comes to the council’s announcement that there are six libraries to be closed in the county and Chalcot is one of them, June is asked to join the FOCL – Friends of Chalcot Library protest group, to start a campaign to save the library that means so much to everybody. But will she be able to finally make a step forward and open to real life?

Theme and Genre

This story is about loss, friendship, family and love. An important topic is life in small villages, caring about the needs of the inhabitants when investors in search for maximum profit are waiting who would change everything. Most of all it is about books, reading and the magic of libraries.

Characters

The different characters are likeable, a bit old-fashioned and sometimes quite funny with their tics. June is very shy, always trying to hide somewhere in the back, hoping to be overseen. But she cares a lot about the regulars coming to the library, offering much more than just perfect book recommendations.

Plot and Writing

The very-well-written story takes place during summer and early autumn and is told in a third person narrative perspective with June Jones as main character. It is a romantic, heartwarming plot that gets depth with themes like the social role of public spaces such as a library in small communities, politics, missing funds and personal courage.

Conclusion

An enjoyable, uplifting read – not only for booklovers.

The Bookshop on the Shore – Jenny Colgan

AuthorJenny Colgan
PublisherSphere
Date13 June 2019
EditionPaperback
Pages432
LanguageEnglish
ISBN-13978-0751575583

“They went past dark hedgerows and low-roofed outhouses, before The Beeches finally revealed itself. It was the spookiest place Zoe had ever seen in her life.” (quotation page 62)

Content

Zoe, a single mother of four-years-old Hari desperately needs a job and somewhere to live, because she cannot afford her flat in London any more. That is why she comes to Inverness to assist pregnant Nina with the bookshop in the vintage van. There also are the children of her new landlord Ramsay Urquart, two boys, twelve and five years old, and nine years old Mary. Zoe has to look after them in the morning and evenings, until the housekeeper arrives. The children are special, the house, more a castle, is dark and cold, but the nature was just breathtaking and her son Hari adores five years old Patrick. Would Zoe be able to bring about some changes, definitely needed in her new place?

Theme and Genre

Another chick-lit novel with substance and depth, a special genre, the author is famous for. It is about being different from others, about family, motherhood, fathers and children. Books are only a second theme.

Characters

Zoe is likeable, mostly down-to-earth and strong in there own way. We also meet again Nina, still known as the main character from “The Bookshop on the corner”, but she is now quite bossy. The characters are well described with realistic behavior, especially the children.

Plot and Writing

There are enjoyable descriptions of the beautiful Scottish landscape and the old, aristocratic country house, in urgent need of any kind of warmth and renovation. The story is well developed, gripping and has the right touch of romance and wit, but there are other novels by Jenny Colgan, I liked more.

Conclusion

An enjoyable read for cosy afternoons.

The Haunted Bookshop – Christopher Morley

AuthorChristopher Morley
PublisherJovian Press
Date19 January 2018
EditionKindle
Pages212 (Print edition)
LanguageEnglish
ASINB079559TY6

„That’s why I call this place the Haunted Bookshop. Haunted by the ghosts of the books I haven’t read.” (Original quotation pos. 1251)

Content

The main protagonists of Parnassus on Wheels, Roger Mifflin and Helen McGill, now are married and own a second-hand bookstore in Brooklyn. Roger Mifflin loves books and he definitely loves the art of bookselling. When Aubrey Gilbert, a young advertising agent visits the shop, he too fells under the spell of the books – and under the spell of Miss Titania Chapman, the new apprentice. Then some strange things happen – a special book Carlyle’s Oliver Cromwell, is missing, back the next day and missing again – is this bookstore really haunted?

Theme and Genre

This novel, published in 1919 as a sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, again is a story about books, readers, writers and literature. Again, there is also room for romantic, love and not only love for books and a mystic crime.

Characters

Roger and Helen are charming and likeable, as well as Titania and the sometimes a little bit clumsy Aubrey

Plot and Writing

The setting, Brooklyn just after the end of WWI, is described in a very vivid way, which makes this book an enjoyable, interesting read. A humorous authorial narrator tells the story, and the events that happen to our protagonists are unsettling but funny too.

Conclusion

A book that every booklover will enjoy, but also for readers who like a good story located in a bookstore.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays – Amy Meyerson

AuthorAmy Meyerson
PublisherHQ Digital
Date12 June 2018
EditionKindle
Pages368 (Print edition)
LanguageEnglish
ASINB078GBLX17

“Understanding prepares us for the future.” (Quotation pos. 433)

Content

When she was a child, Miranda Brooks loved it, when her Uncle Billy took her to his bookshop “Prospero Books”. The last time she saw him was on her twelfth birthday. After a serious argument with her mother, his sister, he just disappeared. After sixteen years, she gets a package with the book “The Tempest” inside. The same evening her mother tells her that Uncle Billy had died. He has left his bookshop to Miranda. She returns to Prospero Books, also to find out what had happened twelve years ago that had made Billy leave …

Theme and Genre

It is not only a story about reading, books (especially Shakespeare “The Tempest”) and the problems of independent bookstores, but about family and hidden secrets, lies and the importance to talk to one another. 

Characters

Miranda is a history teacher when she inherits Prospero Books and hopes to save it and not to have to close it down. She is a quite pleasant main character, but during the story going on, she got just too stubborn about the family secrets. Especially her conduct towards her mother was just too much drama for me and not understandable for a grown-up person. While Malcolm, the manager of the bookstore and the regular visitors of the store and included café are interesting and likeable.

Plot and Writing

The story is written in the first person, told by Miranda. There are some flashbacks included directly into to story, where necessary for better understanding. The family secret is slowly revealed during the plot and that makes the story interesting and gripping, even if the reader at a certain point might guess the truth. I definitely have enjoyed the parts about literature and books.

Conclusion

A fine-spun plot and gripping story about literature and family secrets buried in the past. Although not always happy with the main character, I really did enjoy the story that gives the reader some pleasant, entertaining reading hours.

Dieses Buch ist auch bereits in deutscher Übersetzung unter dem Titel „Ein Himmel voller Bücher“ erschienen. Schon der deutsche Titel macht für mich überhaupt keinen Sinn, wenn der Rest der Übersetzung von ähnlicher Qualität ist, sollte man wirklich das englische Original lesen. Es ist ein unterhaltsamer Frauenroman, sprachlich angenehm zu lesen.

True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop – Annie Darling

AuthorAnnie Darling
PublisherHarper Collins Publ. UK
Date18 may 2017
EditionKindle
Pages416 (Print edition)
LanguageEnglish
ISBN-13978-0008173142

“A life without passion is a life half-lived.” (quotation pos. 1706)

Content

Verity Love prefers to be on her own, as she has a problem with crowds of people. Her job as admin of the bookshop “Happy Ever After”, former “Bookends”, fits her well. Tired of friends and family who try to do some matchmaking, she invents a fake boyfriend, but because of a misunderstanding, she has to present a total stranger, as her boyfriend. His name is Johnny and luckily enough, he too needs a girlfriend as company during a season of weddings and birthday parties. Both are happy to just be friends – are they?

Theme and Genre

This romantic novel brings us back to Posy and her bookshop, which is now running, and a success. This time the main character is Verity, the admin and accountant, who is an introvert, having a problem with crowds and is happy to live alone with her tomcat. Maybe this is because she grew up with four sisters and family is an important topic of the story as well as being stuck for years in an unhappy love.

Characters

Verity is special, but with the background of her youth easily to understand. Normally down-to-earth if she gets enough time to stay for her own, Johnny´s personal situation for her is not always understandable, but she wants to help him.

Johnny is smart, good-looking but lost in his unhappy love. For me this character is quite unbelievable in his behavior regarding Marissa. 

Plot and Writing

The story starts with the idea of Johnny and Verity to present themselves to friends and family as couple in love so everybody stops to try any kind of matchmaking. As weeks pass by, the situation gets complicated and there are many misunderstandings between Verity and Johnny. Again, I was not really convinced by the story, but I liked this second book of the “Lonely Hearts Bookshop”-series more than the first one.

Conclusion

A story for fans of romantic fiction that is easy and entertaining to read, sometimes witty but with lengths regarding the endless misunderstandings between the two main-characters.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan

AuthorRobin Sloan
PublisherAtlantic Books
Date20 December 2012
EditionKindle
Pages304
LanguageEnglish
ASINB00A25NLOU

„All the secrets in the world worth knowing are hiding in plain sight.” (Pos. 3901)

Content

Clay Jannon, web-designer in San Francisco has lost his job and he finds a new one, working at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, but only the night shifts from 10 to 6. The shop looks quite small and offers a wide range of SF books, but deep in the background are huge shelves with very old, strange looking books. Clay notes that most clients do not buy books, but borrow one of these special books, bring it back and borrow another one. Therefore, this must be more than a normal bookstore. Together with his friends Mat and Neel, he begins with researches to reveal the story behind the bookshop that seems to be more a library, and its customers. However, not everybody likes these investigations and the organization in the background is powerful and dangerous.

Theme and Genre

This novel is not only about books and bookstores, but also about important knowledge and mysteries, hidden in books. IT market players like Google, the people and researches behind is also a topic.

Characters

Clay Jannon is more than a book-nerd and he definitely changes, his self-confidence growing with the dangers. He and his friends are witty, likeable specialists.

Plot and Writing

The novel is written in the first-person point of view, told by Clay Jannon. The language is enjoyable and humorous. The story is interesting and thrilling and there is some magic and mystery woven into the plot. This together makes the book a real page-turner.

The author has also written a short prequel pf 112 pages about how Mr. Penumbra came to the bookstore: “Ajax Penumbra: 1969”, Kindle Edition, which I have read first.

Conclusion

A gripping story for booklovers, with mysteries and exciting turns and likeable protagonists. Perfect for a weekend lost in a book.

The Library at the Edge of the World – Felicity Hayes-McCoy

AuthorFelicity Hayes-McCoy
PublisherHachette Books Ireland
Date 17 November 2016
EditionPaperback
Pages464
LanguageEnglish
ISBN-13978-1473621053

“Everything in life has its time to happen. A time to plant, a time to grow and a time to harvest. And if you take things steady, you´ll bring your harvest home.” (Citation pos. 3113)

Content

Hanna Casey had lived in London, when she divorced after almost 30 years of marriage. Therefore, she came back to Crossarra to live with her mother and she works as librarian of Lissbeg Library. Her great-aunt Maggie had left her old house to Hanna, and with the help of old Fury O’Shea, a local builder, she is going to restore it and make it her home.

Conor is Hanna’s assistant at the library and in his opinion, the library could be really changed and successful. But Hanna would have to change things, be more relaxed about her stringent rules and open to new ideas.

When the Government plans to invest in the area, to close the library and move it to Carrick everything changes. In the convent garden of her former school, Hanna meets Sister Michael and step-by-step plans are developed how to fight back …

Theme and Genre

This is the story about a small village somewhere at the west coast of Ireland and the people living there. Different Governmental ideas about town and area development together with property speculations are an issue too. It is also about family, relationships between parents and children, between neighbors and inhabitants of small places, gossip and misunderstandings. It definitely is a story about books, readers and book lovers and about the beauty of nature of an Irish landscape.

Characters

The author introduces the reader to a quite complicated main character, Hanna, who still mentally struggles about her failed marriage. But as the story continues, Hanna slowly changes, ready to be more open to other people and ready to call Crossarra the place where she now belongs. There may still be many misunderstandings between her and her mother, but family always sticks together, when necessary.

We also meet different people living in the village community: Conor, the young book lover with modern ideas about networking and libraries open to everybody, Fury the builder, an old individualist, special but with a great heart and Sister Michael, the old nun, a wise and excellent strategist, and many others. Each of the characters is understandable and likeable.

Plot and Writing

As the story develops, it is interesting to see how everybody in the area starts to get together, the old-fashioned social networking as it was found for centuries in rural structures comes to life again, but combined with modern social media.

Conclusion

I have enjoyed every page of the book, there are no lengths in this story. I really liked the different characters and recommend this enjoyable, cozy read for a pleasant weekend, ready to be carried off to an imaginary trip to libraries and a small village in Ireland.

The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts – Annie Darling

AuthorAnnie Darling
PublisherHarper Collins Publ. UK
Date22 August 2016
EditionKindle
Pages400
LanguageEnglish
ASINB01A52IQ2Q

„With you at the helm, Bookends will start a new chapter in its life and I know that I couldn’t be leaving my beloved shop in better hands.“ (Quotation)

Content

When Lavinia Thorndyke dies at the age of 84, she leaves “Bookends”, her bookshop, to Posy Morland, who almost grew up in the shop and loves books and the shop means home for her and her younger brother. But “Bookends”, quite hidden at Rochester Mews, Bloomsbury, with old, now closed shops around, for years did not make any profit, with book chains like Waterstones just around the corner. Posy has only two years to make it a success, if not, it goes to Sebastian Thorndyke, Lavinia´s grandson. Together with her crew, Nina, Verity and Tom, she plans to rename the shop into “Happy Ever After”, paint it grey and pink as signature colors and to specialize on all kinds of romantic books, love stories, happy endings included. But Sebastian also found a new name for the shop “The Bloody Dagger”, painting it in black and red and selling only crime books …

Plot and Writing

This romantic novel is written in narrative form, with a personal narrator, focused on Posy. The story of Posy´s parents and of her childhood is given by Posy´s memories and flashbacks and leads to a better understanding of her character, behavior and acting. A special and witty story within the story is “Ravished by the Rake”, written by a very angry Posy.

The bookshop, the surroundings, the people of the neighborhood are well described and easily to imagine. The author finds a special personality for every member of the bookshop´s crew and together they are amiable.

At the age of 21, when their parents had died, Posy had taken the responsibility for her 8 years old brother and until today, eight years later, she still is firmly connected to the past and memories of her parents. She somehow is afraid of the responsibility for the bookshop and sometimes behaving like somebody much younger. I quite liked the character, but on the other hand I cannot understand why all female main protagonists since Bridget Jones have to be chaotic, messy, chubby biscuit eaters? In my opinion, the story with a just a little bit more self confident main character would have remained funny, enjoyable and romantic.

Conclusion

All in all, I have to say that I have enjoyed the book but as I love stories about books and bookshops, that I have read better ones and am a little bit disappointed.

Anyway, I am sure that readers and fans of Bridget Jones like books will love this one too, and enjoy a relaxed, entertaining reading time.

Deutsche Ausgabe: “Der kleine Laden der einsamen Herzen“, 9. Mai 2017, TB ISBN 978-3328100980

Lost for Words – Stephanie Butland

AuthorStephanie Butland
PublisherBonnier Zaffre Ltd.
Date20 April 2017
EditionPaperback
Pages352
LanguageEnglish
ISBN-13978-1785762598

„A bookshop keeps many secrets …“ (Quotation book cover)

Content

Loveday Cardew works in a bookshop in York. Due to a terrible childhood experience that made her lose her parents, she definitely prefers books to people. Archie, the owner of the bookshop and more fatherly advisor than boss, really cares without asking too many questions. Meeting Nathan, poet and part-time magician, and falling in love with him, seems to give Loveday new confidence to open up and learn to trust people. But hints from the past suddenly appearing in the bookshop mean for Loveday that she has to face up to the past. But can she?

I like stories that take place in bookshops or are about books. But in this case, the bookshop seems to be just the location of the plot, together with some books quoted, meanwhile the story, written in the first person, is about Loveday´s past. More than three quarters of the book give lots of hints, which begins to be a little bit boring because the reader soon has figured out what might have happened. As Loveday seems to be unable to trust people again, the plot also is about the problems of traumatic childhood expriences and how these influence the future life. Mostly, the plot twists only around a few main characters, I would have liked to know more about the setting, for example customers and their stories. The end was expectable but for me not coherent, considering the plot.

Conclusion

I would recommend “Lost for words” for readers who like stories about physical problems, inner moods and the struggles of a female main protagonist.

How to Find Love in a Bookshop – Veronica Henry

AuthorVeronica Henry
PublisherOrion
Date 22 September 2016
EditionPaperback
Pages384
LanguageEnglish
ISBN-13978-1409146896

“A town without a book shop was a town without a heart” (Quote)

Content – Blurb

Emilia has just returned to her idyllic Cotswold hometown to rescue the family business. Nightingale Books is a dream come true for book-lovers, but the best stories aren’t just within the pages of the books she sells – Emilia’s customers have their own tales to tell.

There’s the lady of the manor who is hiding a secret close to her heart; the single dad looking for books to share with his son but who isn’t quite what he seems; and the desperately shy chef trying to find the courage to talk to her crush . . .

And as for Emilia’s story, can she keep the promise she made to her father and save Nightingale Books?

Plot and Writing

A heartwarming story in cosy settings, not only about Emilia, who wants to keep going her father’s bookshop, Nightingale Books, after his death, but also about the other people living in the village. They all have different stories, but they are all somehow linked in Emilias bookshop.

Conclusion

A really enjoyable read about people you like, with a special main character, Emilia and last but not least a book about books and reading. Perfect for booklovers and a relaxed reading afternoon.