90 ratings | 40 reviews | avg rating:4.11

more photos (3)

Charlie Lovett’s Followers (750)

More followers…

Charlie’s Bookshelves

read (120)
currently-reading (0)
to-read (0)
children-s-and-young-adult (8)
favorites (10)
lewis-carroll-reference (4)
writing-reference (1)

Charlie’s Friends (438)

Alex

1,015 books | 51 friends

Jessica McCann

926 books | 337 friends

Diane Challenor

1,129 books | 462 friends

Sasha

2,119 books | 299 friends

Scott James

1,501 books | 479 friends

Donna Backshall

4,850 books | 1,688 friends

Steve

2,400 books | 7 friends

Susan “Sam”

12,263 books | 207 friends

More friends…

Charlie Lovett

Goodreads Author

Born

in Winston-Salem, The United States

Website

http://charlielovett.com/

Twitter

CharlieLovett42

Genre

Historical Fiction, Mystery

Influences

A. S Byatt
John Irving
Charles Dickens
Robertson Davies
Jane Austen

Member Since

March 2013

edit data

I was born in Winston-Salem, NC and grew up as the child of an English professor. We spent our summers in the rural North Carolina mountains, so I felt an early affinity for the countryside. I was educated at Summit School, Woodberry Forest School (VA), and Davidson College (NC) and in 1984 went into the antiquarian book business with my first wife, Stephanie. About the same time I began to seriously collect books and other materials relating to Lewis Carroll, author of Alices Adventures in Wonderland.

When I left the book business in the early 90s, I continued to be a book collector, and now have a large (and growing) collection of rare (and not so rare) books and artifacts connected to Lewis Carroll and his world.

In 1997 I received my MFA I was born in Winston-Salem, NC and grew up as the child of an English professor. We spent our summers in the rural North Carolina mountains, so I felt an early affinity for the countryside. I was educated at Summit School, Woodberry Forest School (VA), and Davidson College (NC) and in 1984 went into the antiquarian book business with my first wife, Stephanie. About the same time I began to seriously collect books and other materials relating to Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

When I left the book business in the early 90s, I continued to be a book collector, and now have a large (and growing) collection of rare (and not so rare) books and artifacts connected to Lewis Carroll and his world.

In 1997 I received my MFA in Writing from Vermont College (now Vermont College of Fine Arts). During my work on this degree I researched and wrote Love, Ruth, a book about my mother, Ruth Candler Lovett, who died when I was two years old. Maya Angelou called the book “tender, sensitive, and true.”

After completing my MFA, I traveled with my wife, Janice, and daughter, Jordan, to England where we lived for six months in Kingham, Oxfordshire. We immersed ourselves in the culture and made lifelong friends. Ten years later, we purchased the cottage we had rented in 1997 and renovated it. My wife and I now spend about 6–8 weeks a year in Kingham, and have traveled extensively throughout the UK.

In 2001, my wife was hired to oversee the third grade drama program at Summit School. Bemoaning the dearth of good material, she asked if I would write a play. Thus began my career as a children’s playwright. For eleven years, as Writer-in-Residence, I wrote plays for third graders and for eighth and ninth graders. Nineteen of my plays have been published and have proved extremely popular and have seen over 3500 productions in all fifty states and more than 20 foreign countries.

During all my years as a writer, I have worked on writing fiction. I wrote my first novel-length manuscript in the early 1990s and, with luck, it will never see the light of day, but it did prove to me that I could write a book-length work of fiction. In 2008, my novel The Program, about an evil weight loss clinic, was published by the micro-press Pearlsong Press, which later published my YA novel The Fat Lady Sings.

But my big break-through as a writer came when I put together two of my passions—rare books and the English countryside—to write The Bookman’s Tale. It was a New York Times bestseller, a Barnes and Noble Recommends selection, and has been translated into several foreign languages. Parade Magazine called the book “[A] delightful tale of love and bibliophilia.”

My next novel, First Impressions, is another literary adventure, this one starring Jane Austen. People Magazine called it “a delightful novel that weaves together a modern love story and a literary mystery involving Jane Austen.”

2015 was a busy year for me, being the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I curated a major exhibition called Alice Live! at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I spoke at the international gathering of Carroll enthusiasts in New York and wrote the introduction to the new Penguin Books edition of Alice. 2016 also saw the publication of my Christmas book, The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, which USA Today called “[a] clever, merry, and, yes, convincingly Dickensian reimagining of this Victorian tale.”

My new novel, The Lost Book of the Grail, will be published on February 28, 2017. Set in an English cathedral library, and reaching through centuries of English history, it tells the story of bibliophile and Holy Grail enthusiast Arthur Prescott as he works to uncover a centuries-old secret about the cathedral’s history.

None of this could have happened without the support and love of my wonderful wife, Janice, and my fabulous children, Jimmy and Jordan. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Charlie Lovett questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Charlie Lovett’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 26,004 ratings · 4,508 reviews · 19 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Bookman’s Tale 3.75 avg rating — 15,470 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen 3.63 avg rating — 5,379 ratings — published 2014 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lost Book of the Grail 3.87 avg rating — 4,007 ratings — published 2017 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge 3.48 avg rating — 719 ratings — published 2015 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fat Lady Sings 3.59 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Program 3.22 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Olympic Marathon: A Centennial History of the Games' Most Storied Race 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1997	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love, Ruth: A Son's Memoir 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1999	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Escaping Dreamland really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Everybody's Guide to Book Collecting by Charlie Lovett (Goodreads Author), Jonathan Dixon (Illustrator) 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Charlie Lovett…

111 posts
Charlie Lovett's Blog

Some New Book Reviews

Since I launched my podcast, Inside the Writers Studio, in 2017, I have focussed on that medium for talking to you about writing, authors, and books. Ive recorded 41 episodes now, and if you havent listened it, I hope you will. But now that the podcast is well established, publishers send me books to see if Id like to have the authors on the show. They send me lots of books and pitch more autho...

Upcoming Events

No scheduled events. Add an event.

rss
Charlie’s Recent Updates

Charlie Lovett is now friends with Lucinda Jones
Mar 22, 2020 11:04AM · like
Charlie Lovett has read The Sentence is Death (Hawthorne, #2) by Anthony Horowitz (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
After falling in love with Magpie Murders, I have now read both of the Anthony Horowitz/Hawthorne books. I love the way AH plays with the line between reality and fictionmaking himself a central character and using other real people (not just his ...more
May 18, 2019 10:28AM · 11 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett has read Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I went through a big Agatha Christie phase in junior high school and I've been revisiting about one a year lately. The adaptation of this one on British TV was a different animal from the book, which, though it certainly feels dated and only ...more
May 18, 2019 10:25AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett has read Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 18, 2019 10:24AM · 30 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett has read In the Dark (DI Adam Fawley, #2) by Cara Hunter (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I discovered Cara Hunter's books when I booked her to appear on my podcast Inside the Writer's Studio. I devoured this on the plane to Englandshe does a great job of keeping you guessing and throwing in twists when you least expect it. It was fun to ...more
May 18, 2019 05:37AM · 4 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of In the Dark by Cara Hunter. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — In the Dark by Cara Hunter <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett rated a book really liked it The Word Is Murder (Hawthorne, #1) by Anthony Horowitz (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Magpie Murders, that's really an unfair yardstick, because Magpie Murders is one of the best reads I've had in a long time. I do love the way "Tony" Horowitz (you'll need to read the book to get that ...more
Jul 23, 2018 01:57PM · 8 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett rated a book really liked it A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Well, I read 100% of this book, I promise (this after once seeing an article that said the ratio of purchasers to actual readers for this book was greater than for any otherthat is, almost no one who bought it actually read the whole thing). Did I ...more
May 17, 2018 03:40AM · 7 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett rated a book liked it The Clocks (Hercule Poirot, #37) by Agatha Christie	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It's been a long time since I've read Agatha Christie (I went through a major phrase in about 8th grade), but I do remember that some of her novels are marvelous and others well . . . less so. This one seemed quite ordinary to me. It's not really a ...more
May 09, 2018 08:56AM · 3 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Clocks by Agatha Christie. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Clocks by Agatha Christie <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett rated a book really liked it The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Is it just because I used to be an antiquarian bookseller that I loved this book or because I've written novels starring antiquarian booksellers? I don't think so. Funny, revealing (especially about the devastating impact of Amazon), and full of ...more
May 06, 2018 08:58AM · 19 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Charlie Lovett rated a book liked it Time and Time Again by Ben Elton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Very enjoyable quick reading time travel adventure. Put me a little in mind of Replay, which I read back in the 1980s having picked it up in an airport. This is not great literature, but it is a well constructed and well-researched adventure. And it ...more
May 04, 2018 09:33AM · 3 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Time and Time Again by Ben Elton. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Time and Time Again by Ben Elton <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Charlie's books…

Quotes by Charlie Lovett

“A good book is like a good friend. It will stay with you for the rest of your life. When you first get to know it, it will give you excitement and adventure, and years later it will provide you with comfort and familiarity. And best of all, you can share it with your children or your grandchildren or anyone you love enough to let into its secrets.”
― Charlie Lovett, First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen

tags: books

45 likes

“If you mail a rare stamp it becomes worthless. If you drink a rare bottle of wine, you're left with some recycling. But if you read a rare book it's still there, it's still valuable, and it's achieved the full measure of it's being. A book is to read, whether it's worth five pounds or five thousand pounds”
― Charlie Lovett, First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen

30 likes

“What he wanted was to find that world-within-the-world where he could be himself by himself.”
― Charlie Lovett, The Bookman’s Tale

tags: introvert

20 likes

See all Charlie Lovett's quotes »

Polls

August ~ BotM Nominations-(Dusty Read) 1st Poll

Top 5 Books move on to the 2nd Poll!!!

Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese

8 votes, 12.5%

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer

8 votes, 12.5%

The Golem and the Jinni

by Helene Wecker

6 votes, 9.4%

Between Shades of Gray

by Ruta Sepetys

6 votes, 9.4%

We Need to Talk About Kevin

by Lionel Shriver

6 votes, 9.4%

Middlesex

by Jeffrey Eugenides

5 votes, 7.8%

The Lost Wife

by Alyson Richman

5 votes, 7.8%

The Dry Grass of August

by Anna Jean Mayhew

4 votes, 6.3%

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3 votes, 4.7%

The Boy in the Suitcase

by Lene Kaaberbøl

3 votes, 4.7%

Strip Tease

by Carl Hiaasen

3 votes, 4.7%

The Power of One

by Bryce Courtenay

2 votes, 3.1%

French Lessons

by Ellen Sussman

2 votes, 3.1%

The Bookman’s Tale

by Charlie Lovett

2 votes, 3.1%

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

by Cathy Lamb

1 vote, 1.6%

Corduroy Mansions

by Alexander McCall Smith

0 votes, 0.0%

Summer and Bird

by Katherine Catmull

0 votes, 0.0%

64 total votes

1 comment

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2013 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC!	2831	730	May 31, 2013 09:02PM
Fiction Fanatics: December Nominations - General	31	72	Nov 24, 2013 06:16PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2013: Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE POSTS)	2505	605	Nov 30, 2013 09:01PM
North East Readers: A-Z Challenge 2014	10	14	Feb 24, 2014 01:48AM
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2013: Completed Tasks (Do Not Delete Posts)	2511	623	Feb 28, 2014 09:00PM
College Students! : Fall/Winter 2013-14: Leader Board and Completed Tasks	254	170	Apr 01, 2014 12:39PM

More…

Charlie Lovett’s Followers (750)

Add New
Videos

Charlie’s Bookshelves

Charlie’s Friends (438)

Charlie Lovett

Goodreads Author

Learn more
Ask the Author

Popular Answered Questions

Combine Editions
Charlie Lovett’s books

111 posts
Charlie Lovett's Blog

Some New Book Reviews

Upcoming Events

rss
Charlie’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

See a Problem?

Preview — Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

See a Problem?

Preview — Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

See a Problem?

Preview — In the Dark by Cara Hunter

See a Problem?

Preview — The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

See a Problem?

Preview — A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

See a Problem?

Preview — The Clocks by Agatha Christie

See a Problem?

Preview — The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

See a Problem?

Preview — Time and Time Again by Ben Elton

Quotes by Charlie Lovett

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

recent posts
Charlie’s Groups

Charlie’s Friend Comments

Flag Abuse

Charlie Lovett

Goodreads Author

Popular Answered Questions

Upcoming Events

rssCharlie’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

See a Problem?

Preview — Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

See a Problem?

Preview — Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

See a Problem?

Preview — In the Dark by Cara Hunter

See a Problem?

Preview — The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

See a Problem?

Preview — A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

See a Problem?

Preview — The Clocks by Agatha Christie

See a Problem?

Preview — The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

See a Problem?

Preview — Time and Time Again by Ben Elton

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Flag Abuse

rss
Charlie’s Recent Updates