5. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

Listened to eAudio/Chirp
narrated  by Lucy Price-Lewis
Unabridged audio (9:13)
2016, William Morrow/Harper Collins
384 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 1/10/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.85 - 41,335 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:   Birmingham, England, and rural Scotland

First line/s:  "The problem with good things that happen is that very often they disguise themselves as awful things."

My comments:  Set first in Birmingham, England, then moving shortly to the Scottish Highlands (and read beautifully with both British and Scottish accents) Nina purchases a HUGE van that she turns into a bookshop on wheels.  She's never driven anything like this, never mind a stick shift, but she has otherworldly luck in purchasing books everyone want for next to nothing, creating s huge  clientele, and actually making her new business a success.  Throw in a weird relationship with a midnight train, a Latvian immigrant, a gruff sheep farmer, and a cast of well-meaning characters and you have one entertaining - though somewhat unbelievable - story.  A simple, clean love story for book lovers.

Goodreads synopsis:  Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.
          Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.
          From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

4. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Listened to the eAudio which I borrowed from the library
narrated  by Emily Rankin
Unabridged audio (9:03)
2019 Berkley
352 pgs.
Adult RomCom
Finished 1/9/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.87 - 22,921 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary LA

First line/s:  "In which we meet our heroine and witness a crime of thoughtlessness. Imagine you're a bird.  You can be any kind of bird, but hose of you who've chosen ostrich or chicken are going to struggle to keep up."

My comments: Read (or listened to....) in one day.  Oh darn, it ended.  I didn't want it to end.  What a deliciously written (and narrated) book!  Ms. Waxman loves words and putting them together.  She's created a wonderful family, clever conversation, and the absolutely most perfect setting int eh word:  a cozy, busy, viable bookstore.  Then  she's loaded the story with people to care about, situations that are over-the-top funny ... and trivia, lots of trivia.  Long live Nina, her planner, her cat, Phil, (Tom, of course), and beautifully crafted bookshelves loaded with books.

Goodreads synopsis:  The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
          When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?
          Nina considers her options.
                    1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
                    2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
                    3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)
          It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

38. The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

Listened to audio - borrowed from CCLS
read by Imogen Church
Unabridged audio (8:58) borrowed from CCLS
2018 St. Martin's Press
304 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 4/11/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.06 - 8976 ratings
My rating:4.5
Setting: contemporary York, England

First line/s: "A book is the match in the smoking second between strike and flame."

My comments:  This story was told by hopping back and forth between 1999, 2013, and 2016.  Intricate characters were developed as the protagonist, Loveday Cardew told her story.  Abusive relationships, mental illness, foster care, grief and despair, forgiveness and love of all sorts are the main themes of the fascinating story  Another winner.  The only not-so-great part was that the reader's voice sounded much older than that of a 25-year-old.  Quite disconcerting, although she read it beautifully.

Goodreads synopsis:  The Lost for Words Bookshop is a compelling, irresistible, and heart-rending novel, perfect for fans of The Storied Life of AJ Fikryand The Little Paris Bookshop.
          Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you. Into her hiding place - the bookstore where she works - come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries. Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?

6. INK: A Love Story on Seventh and Main by Elizabeth Hunter

read on my iPhone
2018 CreateSpace Independent Publishing
288 pgs.
Adult Romance (Sizzle Factor:  2/4)
Finished 1/12/18
Goodreads rating:  4.04 - 2731 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: Contemporary Metlin, CA; central California

First line/s:  "Emmie Elliott lasted three breaths in the old bookshop, her measured exhalations stirring dust motes that danced in the afternoon light streaming from the large display windows that looked over Main Street."

My comments:   It's fun to throw a little romance in once in awhile, this one is sweet, entertaining,  AND it takes place in a bookstore....  The two twenty-something protagonists have great (sizzling?) chemistry, and the premise of having a bookstore and a tattoo parlor share a retail space is quite unusual and hard-to-resist.

Goodreads synopsis:  It’s everything but business as usual.
          Emmie Elliot hadn’t expected to come back to Metlin, California. She definitely didn’t expect to stay. She returned to her childhood home with a mission: Sell the building that housed her grandmother’s book store and move on with her life.
          But life doesn’t always go according to plan.
          To reopen her grandmother’s book shop, Emmie will need a hook. She’ll need a strategy. She’ll need an… Ox?
          Miles Oxford doesn’t have much interest in quiet bookstore owners. He’s a tattoo artist without a space to work, and the last thing he wants is to get involved with anyone after his last disaster of a relationship. Work and pleasure don’t mix for Ox, but since he doesn’t have any interest in the cute girl with the bold business proposal, he should be safe from any awkward complications, right?
          She sells ink. He tattoos it. Unusual? Yes. But a book shop/tattoo studio might be the ticket for both Emmie and Ox to find success on their own terms. As long as they keep their attention focused on business.
          Just on business.

98. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

Listened on Audible
2018, Park Row
368 pgs.
Adult mystery
Finished 12/8/18
Goodreads rating:  3.63 - 1119 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary LA, CA

First line/s:  "The last time I saw my uncle, he bought me a dog."

My comments:  Although I had a pretty good idea of where this was all leading, it was fun following the path of crumbs.  Good story.

Goodreads synopsis:  A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.
          Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy's bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda's twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda's life. She doesn't hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy--and one final scavenger hunt.
          When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books--now as its owner--she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store's shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy's last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy's past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda's mother has kept hidden--and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.
          Bighearted and trenchantly observant, The Bookshop of Yesterdaysis a lyrical story of family, love and the healing power of community. It's a love letter to reading and bookstores, and a testament to how our histories shape who we become.

65. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

listened to on Audible
2017, Scribner
336 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 11/13/17
Goodreads rating: 3.81 - 7705 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary Denver

First line/s:  "Lydia heard the first flap of paper wings as the first book fell from its shelf."

My comments: A couple of friends of GoodReads liked this book, so I thought I'd give it a try.  The story slowly pulled e in.  Took me awhile to get into it, but once I did I didn't want to put it down.  I really like the way it was written, it reminded me of gently folding a dry ingredient into a wet one when baking.  It had many, many layers to it, especially a well-flushed-out cast of characters.  The setting, Denver, Colorado, is almost like one of the characters.  As the tragic story unfolds, one gets a strong feeling about which way it's headed, but there are still many surprises, twists, and turns.  This is not a police procedural or any sort of murder mystery.  It's a solid psychological mystery and I very much recommend it.

Goodreads synopsis: “Sullivan’s debut is a page-turner featuring a heroine bookseller who solves a cold case with clues from books—what is not to love?” —Nina George, author of The Little French Bistro, and the New York Times bestselling The Little Paris Bookshop
          When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this fiendishly clever debut novel from an award-winning short story writer.
          Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.
          But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?
          As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. Bedazzling, addictive, and wildly clever, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a heart-pounding mystery that perfectly captures the intellect and eccentricity of the bookstore milieu and will keep you guessing until the very last page.​

23. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend - Katarina Bivald

Translated from Swedish by Alice Menzies
Library book - large print because all the regular prints were on a long reserve list
2013/2016 Kennebec Large Print
394  pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 4/9/16
Goodreads rating: 3.60
My rating: 3, I liked some of it a great deal
Setting: Contemporary Broken Wheel, Iowa

First line/s: "The strange woman standing on Hope's main street was so ordinary it was almost scandalous.  A thin, plain figure dressed in an autumn coat much too gray and warm for the time of year, a backpack lying on the ground by her feet, an enormous suitcase resting against one of her legs."

My comments:  I think I'm going to have to congitate on this one a bit before I give it a "rating."  It reminds me of another book, but for the life of me I can't think of which one it might be.  The premise is terrific - a 30-something "nobody" from Sweden has come to Nowhere, Iowa to meet the much-older penpal she's been trading books - and life stories - with for two years.  The town is dying/dead, but a small group of stalwart souls still inhabit and... run....the town.  Quirky folk, to be sure.  Enchanting.  Real?  Hmmm.  And Sara, the protagonist, is from Sweden.  She must speak flawless English, but this is never EVER referred to in any way.  Of course, when she arrives, her penpal is dead, having never mentioned that she was bedridden when she invoked the invitation.  If you read this with tongue-in-cheek, never taking anything too seriously, it's a great read.  Just a little too sugar-coated for me in places, I guess.

Goodreads synopsis: Once you let a book into your life, the most unexpected things can happen...
          Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy's funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don't understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that's almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend's memory. 
          All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town. Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is a warm, witty book about friendship, stories, and love.

66. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin

2014, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
HC $24.95

260 pgs.

Adult CRF

Finished 10/20/2014

Goodreads rating: 4.01

My rating:    (5) Awesome 

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary Alice Island (a fictional island off Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts)

1st sentence/s:  "On the ferry from Hyannis to Alice Island, Amelia Loman paints her nails yellow and, while waiting for them to dry, skims her predecessor's notes.  'Island Books, approximately $350,000.00 per annum in sales, the better portion of that in the summer months to folks on holiday,' Harvey Rhodes reports.  'Six hundred square feet of selling space.  No full-time employees other than owner.  Very small children's section.  Fledgling onn-line presence.  Poor community outreach.  Inventory emphasizes the literary, which is good for us, but Fikry's tastes are very specific, and without Nic, he can't be counted on to hand-sell.  Luckily for him, Island's the only game in town.'

My comments:  I loved this book.  I loved the way it was written. I loved all its references to books and short stories. I liked the format.   And I adored the characters. I appreciated all the "hints" in A.J.'s notes of what was to come, how you slowly realized what was going to ultimately happen.  The plot unfolded perfectly. It's been a long, long time since I've stayed up so late into the night to finish a book.  My favorite character?  The chief of police, Lambiase.  Biggest problem?  How to pronounce "Lambiase" and "Fikry." Super story.  I've listed the short stories that begin each chapter below.

Goodreads book summary:  On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.
          A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.
          And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, but large in weight. It's that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; 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; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

 Short stories mentioned:
Dahl -  "Lamb to the Slaughter" (1953)
Fitzgerald - "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (1922)
Harte -  "The Luck of Roaring Camp" (1868)
Bausch - "What Feels Like the World" (1985)
O'Connor - "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1953)
Twain - "The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County" (1865)
Shaw - "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" (1939)
Paley - "A Conversation with My Father" (1972)
Salinger - "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" (1948)
Poe - "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843)
Bender - "Ironhead" (2005)
Carver - "What We Talk about When We Talk about Love" (1980)
Dahl - "The Bookseller" (1986)