06. A book where books are important

[Tiffany]

Tamula wrote: "♞ Pat wrote: "Lailah wrote: "The Sentence was my top read of 2022. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet!"

I read it, but struggled through it. Just really had a t..."

I started with Tracks and was hooked. I'll read anything she writes.

[Anna]

I read With Love from London for this prompt. It was not something I planned but came up for my digital book club and it fitted the prompt well.

[Jill]

What are you reading for this one?
I read The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

What would you recommend to others?
Not this one as it is so depressing

[Nike]

I'll read Kudos: A Novel by Rachel Cusk

[Joanne]

Went with The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman. #3 in the series The Invisible Library. The main character is a Librarian and has to find books in alternate worlds for various reasons.

[NancyJ]

I read The Reading List with my local bookclub and I really liked it. Like many books in this genre ("books about books"), it was a feel-good book in which books help people connect with other people or deal with difficult situations in their lives. There were some very serious events in this book as well, which gave it more depth. Trigger warning - depression and suicide.

I liked the book references. I read most of them and I thought the comments were very fitting. A few gave me some "aha" moments.

[Martha]

I went nonfiction for this prompt. I read Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times. It's on the initial BookTube Prize list and it's a book that caught my immediate attention.

[Rose]

I read The True Love Experiment, by Christina Lauren. I enjoyed the first one in this duology quite a bit, but I wasn't expecting to love this one so much. I was extremely touched by it and ended up giving it 5/5 stars. The MC is a romance author and her love and fierce defending of the genre was wonderful to read!

[Kristin]

All I can say is: brilliant!
Such a realistic point of view of Nazi Germany during that time period. What a humbling reminder of the awful things that went on. I absolutely loved it.
Full of emotion that I didn't ask for, but received anyways.

[Stacey]

I just finished The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. It's historical fiction -- a fascinating look at Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and first director of the Morgan Library & Museum way back in the early 20th c. Though Greene was Black, she was forced to hide her true identity throughout most of her life and illustrious career. The book makes you want to learn more about this extraordinary woman. Highly recommended.

[LeahS]

I read The Readers' Room by Antoine Laurain. It is one of those 'murders are committed in the same way as in a book' stories, but quite twisty and fairly light - with a little tongue in cheek nod to the power of books.

It would fit a few other prompts - book with a murder, novella, author from Europe, translated book.

[Dana]

I ended up reading More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell and I really liked it. It's a very funny book!

Can't wait to read the prequel as well. :D

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

♞ Pat wrote: "I read it, but struggled through it. Just really had a tough time making it make any kind of sense to me at all. I'm sure it's me and not Louise Erdrich, so I'm going to try another book by her this coming year.."

Try others- there are some books by her I haven't loved or even finished but the good ones are good. Except The Sentence which I really loved, except the Pandemic-BLM parts which I felt she hadn't had enough a chance to reflect on yet.

[Severina]

I read Hemlocked and Loaded by Annabel Chase. The main characters are researching how to reverse a curse

[Heather L]

Dana wrote: "I ended up reading More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell and I really liked it. It's a very funny book!

Can't wait to read the prequel as well. :D"


I just bought and am currently reading the first book. A lot of these idiocies apply to retail in general. It’s amazing how many people will argue with you about what type of products you carry. Even more astounding is the number of people who consider store employees as daycare workers/babysitters, allow children to climb on or hang from fixtures, or race wildly through a store (or restaurant) — and then try to blame the establishment if their child is injured, injures someone else, or breaks something. 🤯 If my sisters or I ever misbehaved like this in a store or restaurant, we wouldn’t be able to sit the rest of the day.

[Marie (UK)]

I read The Collected Regrets of Clover this may not seem, at first sight, to be about books but they were such an important part of the storyline. So many books mentioned fiction, nonfiction and also the notebooks that Clover kept thoughout the book

[Dana]

Heather L wrote: "Dana wrote: "I ended up reading More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell and I really liked it. It's a very funny book!

Can't wait to read the prequel as well. ..."

I totally agree with you!
I also worked in a book shop a few years ago, but overall it was a great experience!

[[deleted user]]

I can thoroughly recommend The Postscript Murders for this one, especially if you have Audible. 5 stars for sure!

[Ana O. ⭐]

451° Fahrenhait 4 stars.

[Denise]

If I thought of it sooner, I could have tried to complete the whole challenge just with books about books, bookstores, etc.
I think I will read Literary Cats by Judith Robinson and Scott Pack for this one.

But I have also read this year: The Ten Thousand Doors of January (used for 4 or more colors) and Cloud Cuckoo land (used for unusual title). I am planning to read A.J. Fikry (full name in the title) this summer

[Book Concierge]

I read

The Cat Who Saved Books – Sōsuke Natsukawa – 3***
This is a modern fairy tale and coming-of-age story that explores the long-lasting effects books can have on us. I really enjoyed this fantasy read. Rintaro is a great character, somewhat lost and needing to find his path on life’s journey, he is a person any reader can relate to. Set in a bookshop, the fable is full of literary references, which I greatly enjoyed.
LINK to my full review

[Denise]

I read My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. Lucy is writing (and publishes) a book and is also a fan of the author of several books

[LeahS]

The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley.

The author taught English to Albanian students in Kosovo, following the atrocities committed by Milosevic and his followers. A very thoughtful and thought provoking book. The author used The Old Man and the Sea as a teaching aid and the story resonated deeply with her students.

There's an interesting interview with the author here;
https://www.bookbrowse.com/author_int...