Book Lovers by Emily Henry Buddy Read
The first week of July, Lavinia (on Instagram as @instaraygram) and I decided to buddy read Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Given how much both of us loved Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, we were confident we would love this story. We weren’t wrong. Seriously. Probably my favorite Emily Henry to date.
What’s it about? Here’s the official blurb, but basically Nora Stephens is a cut-throat literary agent in New York City and she adores what she does. She knows that IRL, she’s not the most loveable but with her clients she gets to be the hero. When her sister, Libby, suggests they go on a vacation together for a small-town sisters’ getaway inspired by a book written by one of Nora’s clients, Nora agrees if only to make sure she can take care of Libby who hasn’t seemed like herself lately. Only when Nora gets to Sunshine Falls, said small town, she repeatedly crosses paths with Charlie Lastra, a bookish and intolerable editor she’s had run-ins with in New York. The more time she spends with Libby, the more she realizes something is definitely wrong with her sister and the more time she spends with Charlie, the more she realizes she wants to spend with him meaning something is definitely wrong with her, but can Nora get out of her own way to figure both of those issues out?
In the back matter of Book Lovers is a set of reading questions for reading groups (and I highly recommend this book for a reading group. DO it!). Lavinia suggested we do them… so here are my answers (I don’t think there are any spoilers, so you should be able to read them and still enjoy the surprises in this book).
Nora sees herself as a villainess in someone else’s love story. Who are some of your favorite villainesses—whom you either outright love or love to hate.The villainess who popped into my head immediately is Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada, but I’m thinking specifically of Meryl Streep’s characterization of Miranda Priestly. She was so amazing in that role. I loved to hate her. If you’ve read Queen of the Tearling, the Red Queen is pretty amazing as a villainess, and I’m reading Claire Legrand’s Furyborn trilogy, and Rielle, the Blood Queen, and Eliana, the Sun Queen are amazingly complex characters that embody both hero and villain qualities.
Nora reads the last page of a book first. Libby likes to go in knowing as little as possible. How do you prefer to read?I WILL NOT read the last page first (*shudders), but I do like to read the blurb on the back. One thing I will do is DNF a book I don’t like. I give a book 100 pages to hook me. If I’m still struggling to be interested (or am frustrated by an aspect of the writing), I abandon it.
What was the book that made you fall in love (or fall in love again) with reading?Truthfully, I don’t remember not reading. I know my mom read to me when I was little and books have always been so important to me, but three books really stand out as formative in my youth: Beverly Cleary’s Ramona the Pest, Jean E. Karl’s But We Are Not of Earth, and Susanna by Candice F. Ransom. I then jumped into Christopher Pike horror books, Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High Books. By the time I was in high school, Stephen King, Thomas Harris, Lavyrle Spencer and Judith McNaught were favorites.
Would you rather spend a month in Sunshine Falls, or in Nora’s New York life? Why?As much as I would love Sunshine Falls, I feel like small-town living has been my life for the most part. Therefore, I would love to experience Nora’s New York City life, especially in the bookish world.
Have you ever felt like different places brought out different parts of you?I’m not sure I’m different when I go to a new place, but I do think traveling outside of my comfort zone makes me a bit more adventurous than what I would normally be at home.
As Libby and Nora grow, they have to accept that life is carrying them in different directions. Have you ever been through something like that with a friend or family member?I think I’ve been through this with friends, but I think that is probably true for many friendships. It certainly makes me appreciate the friendships who have weathered those changes even more.
Nora and Libby grew up together, and yet they experienced their childhoods very differently. Why do you think that is? Have you ever had this happen with a family member or friend?I can completely relate. I have two sisters. One is an older half-sister who was put up for adoption and we were recently able to find one another, and my younger sister is special needs. All three of our experiences have been so different.
Charlie initially set out to write and wound up editing. Nora wanted to edit and became an agent instead. Have you ever pursued something that led you in a different direction?When I was in college, I wanted to break into the publishing industry as an editor. I thought for sure I would be living in a big city like Nora, pursuing my writing life. Then I met my now husband and life took a 180 degree turn. I became an English literature and writing teacher. I’ve come back to my dream of a writing life, but it definitely looks different.
As children, Nora and Libby would change the endings of stories if they didn’t like them. If you could change the ending of one book, what would it be and how would you change it?The Queen of the Tearling Trilogy by Erika Johansen. That series was so freaking good . . . until the end, which ruined it. I never recommend this series for that reason alone, but I sure wish I could because the series up to that end was fire. There are so many books that I would edit more—popular books that are just over-written and I think: goodness, this needed some serious cutting.
All of Nora’s exes have ended up with partners who were seemingly totally different from them. Nora and Charlie, however, are peas in a pod. Do your favorite fictional couples tend to fall in one category or the other? Do you feel the same about real-life relationships?If the author is able to explore and develop relationships in a way that make sense and showcase healthy relatability, then I’m all for the grumpy-sunshine, the two-peas-in-a-pod, or even the enemies to lovers. I just can’t do the bullies, the co-dependency, or the hyper-alpha stuff that sets up younger readers ill-equipped to recognize the unhealthy anecdotes that often exemplify abusive relationships. No thank you on those.
One of Nora’s biggest struggles is finding the balance of how much to compromise in her life for those she loves. What role do you think compromise plays in love? What, to you, is uncompromisable?I think love is often about compromise, but compromise should be done by both people, not just one, and in a way that makes sense for them as a couple (not based on external expectations). I don’t think someone should ever compromise their boundaries or their identity for someone. But things like what to eat for take out, who’s washing the dishes or cleaning the bathroom, your place or mine, our jobs are in different places, how should we proceed are healthy ways to explore the give-and-take compromise. Compromising your needs shouldn't be negotiable.
What is your idea of a happy ending?
Nora and Charlie’s happy ending was pretty wonderful. I want an ending that gives me hope and makes me smile so when I close the book I press it to my heart and think: that was perfect. Well done Ms. Henry.
