A.J. Fikry's life is not what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is failing, and his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. He is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island and from Amelia, the Knightley Press sales rep who refuses to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore that gives A.J. the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world.
The first book I’ve devoured in a single sitting in a very long time. It’s a story that cares about people who care about books, and those are my people.
Surprisingly disappointed by this one. It was fine, just nothing special and the ending fully pissed me off. I wanted more about the bookstore and less...sentimentality, I guess.
This book was so captivating. The characters are really well developed and the plot moves along quite well. Unexpectedly solid read - highly recommended.
Kjøpte denne fordi det var en roman om bøker, samtidig med broderen, som også liker bøker, og fordi jeg trodde det var en New York-roman. Den handlet om bøker, men ikke om New York. Dette er en lettvint og overfladisk lesehygge om en liten krets mennesker på en øy i Marthas Vineyard-landskap som opplever oppturer og nedturer og hvor det viktigste er å være greie med hverandre. Den er ikke så fæl som halvparten av anmeldelsene skulle tilsi, ikke så fantastisk som den andre halvparten skulle mene. Boken følger et grep som Amelia, en av hovedpersonene trekker fram tidlig i fortellingen: Ingen ting dukker opp i teksten som ikke skal spille en rolle før eller senere. Sånn er det også her, og litt av poenget med å lese boken er å gjette seg fram til hvilken rolle de ulike elementene kommer til å spille.
Fort lest, men noe sier meg …
Kjøpte denne fordi det var en roman om bøker, samtidig med broderen, som også liker bøker, og fordi jeg trodde det var en New York-roman. Den handlet om bøker, men ikke om New York. Dette er en lettvint og overfladisk lesehygge om en liten krets mennesker på en øy i Marthas Vineyard-landskap som opplever oppturer og nedturer og hvor det viktigste er å være greie med hverandre. Den er ikke så fæl som halvparten av anmeldelsene skulle tilsi, ikke så fantastisk som den andre halvparten skulle mene. Boken følger et grep som Amelia, en av hovedpersonene trekker fram tidlig i fortellingen: Ingen ting dukker opp i teksten som ikke skal spille en rolle før eller senere. Sånn er det også her, og litt av poenget med å lese boken er å gjette seg fram til hvilken rolle de ulike elementene kommer til å spille.
Fort lest, men noe sier meg at jeg ikke glemmer denne så fort likevel - på tross av dens utrepgede banalitet.
This is Reader Catnip. Protagonist lives in a bookstore. Chapters start with a note written to recommend a book. I loved that the characters were three dimensional. The ones I liked had flaws. The ones I didn't, had good qualities. And the characters do change and grow during the course of the book. Both heartfelt and very funny.
This may be one of the best books I have read in the last year (or more). I thoroughly enjoyed the humor, sadness, and humanity of the characters. In these times of stress and fear, this truly human book reaches into the soul and tells the tale of fallible, thoughtful, loving people. "We are, for as long as we are here, only love."
Heart-warming. Possibly because I picked it up at the right time, when I appreciate the value of a 'shared sensibility', and I'm rediscovering my book-nerd ways.
It took a few chapters to get into, but once I had I was hooked and then couldn't put the book down. It was a wonderful and breezy read. Books about books/booksellers are always fun to me since I have the same gentle madness that many of the characters seem to have (and I seem to have been finding a number of them in the last year or so -- [b:Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|13538873|Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|Robin Sloan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345089845s/13538873.jpg|6736543] and [b:The Thirteenth Tale|40440|The Thirteenth Tale|Diane Setterfield|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346267826s/40440.jpg|849453])
This had an interesting structure which only lightly foreshadows coming plot, but then very subtly without giving absolutely everything away. The small twist was fun and interestingly pulled the plot and characters all together toward the end.
This novel is a love letter to books. Go into it knowing it won't be heralded as High Literature. Forgive it its flaws and you'll find that there's a lot to like.
