39. A book that involves a bookstore or library

[Ruth]

My daughter reccomended The Invisible Library so I think I'll use that for this prompt!

If you're looking for kids' books, the Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians series is a great choice.

[Ruth]

Colette wrote: "Hi I am new to the "challenge". I have never even heard of these! I want to attempt to do this- at least a good effort. My question is do you all just go down the prompt list & fill in with books y..."

The first time I heard about it, in 2015 or 2016, I heard about it during the summer and I started by just seeing how many of the prompts I'd already fulfilled that year. I think somebody posted it as a meme on Facebook? Then I finished the challenge intentionally. Subsequent years, I started it earlier.

I generally don't pick out all my books ahead of time. I'm not buying books but taking them out of the library. So I start the year by just reading what's interesting and seeing what prompts each book can fulfill. By the middle of the year, I'm putting more conscious effort into finding books that fulfill each prompt. Generally, this means walking down the library shelf with the list of prompts with me, and I try to select books that will fulfill a prompt I haven't done yet. If I really get stuck, I ask on these message boards, then reserve a specific title.

I usually only figure out which books will fulfill each prompt AFTER I've read them, not before. Or at least, not very much before. My above post about The Invisible Library is an exception, and it's a book I'd have read soon even if there wasn't a prompt for it.

[Colette]

Thank you everyone!

[Anna]

[Floor]

Olivia wrote: "I think I'll see if The Librarian of Auschwitz fits into this."

I'm currently reading it and loving it so far! I think it fits in great with this prompt :)

[Thuc Anh]

I would say Shouldn't You Be in School? in All the Wrong Questions series because it involves a library being burnt

[Anna]

I can recommend the The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley

[Shelly]

I'm reading Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan. Any book that others describe as "fiendishly clever," gets my money.

[Caitlin]

I’ve heard really great things about The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. I think I’ll see what’s so great about it!

[Adeline]

Kafka on the Shore has a library that plays a huge part. I loved it. My favourite Murakami.

[Sarah]

What about The Bookseller of Kabul for anyone who would prefer non-fiction?

[Astrid]

Any Harry Potter books because Hogwarts Library.... :)

[Germaine]

Has anyone read this. Check out How to Find Love in a Book Shop by Veronica Henry

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2....

Trying to find the perfect book for the library/bookstore challenge

[Germaine]

I am looking for a book similar to "you've got mail" movie. I loved that movie and it would be fun to read a story that is similar. Any ideas? Also, has anyone read...
Check out How to Find Love in a Book Shop by Veronica Henry

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Beth]

The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry was good!

[SadieReadsAgain]

Yay, I have The Thirteenth Tale on my shelves!

[Karen]

The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

[Nicole]

I have read and enjoyed The Strange Library, The Bookshop, 84, Charing Cross Road. I'd recommend any of those books for this prompt.

I was thinking of reading Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, The Library at Mount Char, or The Thirteenth Tale. I'm not sure which one yet!

[Chinook]

The Library at Mount Char is really good so far - I’m a third into it right now.

[Amanda]

Summer Hours at the Robbers Library will be out February 27th. Easy read.

[Krys]

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino features a bookstore in the meta narrative.

[Edie]

Sarah wrote: "Yay, I have The Thirteenth Tale on my shelves!"

This was one of my favorite reads last year.

[Laura • lauralovestoread]

Another great prompt!

Like ones mentioned, I’ll read either of these
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
The Little Paris Bookshop
The Bookshop on the Corner
Swimming Lessons

[Kimberlee]

If you like middle grade novels then The Forbidden Library would work.

Also, Finding Serendipity and the rest of the Tuesday series are charming reads.

For adult non-fiction, along the lines of Dewey the library cat, try The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . . and the World.

[Teresa]

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

[Cindy]

Parnassus on Wheels

[Nicole]

for nonfiction:
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
The Bookshop Book
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History

there's also this list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

[Crumb]

Would the sequel to You, Hidden Bodies, work for this?

[Hanna]

I have not read it yet, but I recently received Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book for Christmas. This is the one I'm choosing for this prompt. I love everything Disney, so I'm excited about this one. It's about a book found in the Beast's library, so I'm saying it counts.

[Jacqueline]

Sat down last night (1/1) and read 84, Charing Cross Road. Loved it. It was an absolute delight. What a beautiful way to start the year.

Then I sat and watched Signed Sealed Delivered (2 episodes actually....Truth be Told and Impossible Dream) where they save the Army Ranger held captive in Afghanistan after decoding a letter she'd sent for her daughter. Well they didn't physically save her but they convinced a senate committee to send in people to get her.

Both the book and the TV show had me crying. Good crying.

[Heather]

[Miriam]

Words in Deep Blue

[Liza]

The Phryne Fisher story Raisins and Almonds is largely set in a bookstore.

[Cornerofmadness]

I just finished A Murder for the Books for this one which the amateur sleuth is a librarian and the murder happens in the library.

[Jessica]

I’m working on Paper and Fire the second book in The Great Library series for this one!!

[Chloe]

Some ideas:
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (although it is a personal library rather than a public one)
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King (one of the short stories in this collection is about a 'library policeman')

And some non-fiction:
Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles
Library Confidential: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert
The Library Book, a collection of essays and stories by famous writers about libraries

[Shelley]

One of my favorite books is The City of Dreaming Books. It's an entire city devoted to books! The third one is technically written, but the translation from German is on indefinite hold. The first can be read as a stand alone without any trouble if you don't want to start something that may not be finished (or I could learn German...)

[Juliet]

I finished my book for this prompt yesterday and I read Renegades. Big library involvement and it was fantastic!

[Emily]

Claire wrote: "A very different kind of read is You by Caroline Kepnes"

Yes!!! I am re-reading this one.

[Amanda Rose]

The Changeling
Main character is a book seller and meets his wife at a library

[Sharon]

Does anyone know if the sequels to The Shadow of the Wind:
The Angel's Game or The Prisoner of Heaven would count for this?

I would like to read Shadow of the Wind for the weather element prompt, so I was hoping maybe if I like it one of the sequels would fall into this prompt. Anyone knows?

[Shelley]

Sharon wrote: "Does anyone know if the sequels to The Shadow of the Wind:
The Angel's Game or The Prisoner of Heaven would count for this?

I would like to read Shadow o..."

They all definitely count. The cemetery of forgotten books appears in each of the books and some of the main characters own/work in a bookstore. I just finished the third one and, for all that my opinion is worth, I actually enjoyed the second one a lot more after I finished the third. The second seemed to be out of step with the first that I loved so much but the third one brought the two together really well.

[Juul]

I'm thinking to reread Umberto Eco's beautiful mystery The Name of the Rose.

[Crumb]

I'm pretty sure the sequel to You will work, Hidden Bodies

[Rhoda]

I recently read a book by Jenn McKinlay who has a whole mystery series revolving around a public library. I'm going to read Read It and Weep from that series. Library Lovers Mysteries

[Melissa]

I've had The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer on my list for a while....

[Shelley]

Melissa wrote: "I've had The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer on my list for a while...."

That's a good one! It's a nice combination of older history and (relatively) current events.

[Teri]

Camino Island by John Grisham - A mystery involving Princeton University's library and a bookstore on Camino Island

[Tina]

Reading Ink and Bone for this one, I think

[Federica]

The Neverending Story is a really really good book