Book #10 Lost For Words

Lost For Words by Stephanie Butland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am always attracted to books that have a bookshop theme. Lost For Words is a great name for an independent shop, of which there are too few remaining nowadays. Loveday Cardew works in this York emporium. An independent woman who loves books, indeed has the first lines of several books tattooed on her body. She has a vulnerable side, a past she does not want to talk about.

Archie, who owns the shop, is a sensitive man who cares a great deal for Loveday and wonders about her past. Her father is dead, the whereabouts of her mother unknown. Or so it appears. Nathan is a poet, who becomes more than a friend to Loveday and helps in his own way as past events begin to come clearer….

A complex multi-layered story that is beautifully written as it slowly reveals events in Loveday’s past that help her come to terms with her childhood memories. An intriguing tale that draws you in…

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Book #65 How To Find Love in a Bookshop

How to Find Love in a Book Shop by Veronica Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The title could be an entry from a do-it-yourself manual. I fell in love with this beautifully written story. The story about Nightingale Books set in the romantic setting of Peasebrook in the Cotswolds, with a cast of lovable characters. Julius Nightingale's life has been an indulgence of books, in a shop loved by everyone who enters. They come to see Julius, this charming man who will help them choose the book most suitable for their taste and pass the time of day. His sudden death leaves a huge gap in so many lives and Sarah will secretly grieve his passing. His daughter Emilia returns to her hometown to rescue the family business, this wonderful business for book-lovers. Who wouldn't want to step into her shoes? Many customers have their own stories to tell and these are interwoven in the plot that at times is so sad it had my bottom lip quivering. Yes, and I'm a bloke, and it had that affect on me. Perhaps I am an incurable romantic!

I have read a number of books recently about bookshops, people who run them and own them. This has been the best by far. Veronica Henry has created a rich story that I became totally immersed in. It is a touching, warm-hearted read, it contains joy, sadness and redemption. Enter into the world of Nightingale Books, curl up with a cup of tea or hot chocolate, join these great characters in the cosy town of Peasebrook.

I would love to spend Christmas there....

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Book #8 The Little Paris Bookshop

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Enthralling - one of my all time best books. On a beautifully restored barge on the Seine, Jean Perdu (John Lost - perfect) runs a bookshop or as he calls it “a literary apothecary”, because the owner knows how to use books like medicine. The only person he is unable to cure - of heartache - is himself. This wonderful tale shows the power of friendship and love. Enchanting prose, evocative phrasing that had me reading and re-reading phrases, sometimes with tears pricking my eyes and a lump in my throat as Jean Perdu sets off for Provence on his little floating bookshop in search of a long lost love....

You love books, you will love this wise, book-loving gentle man as he takes a meandering journey of love and loss.

I couldn’t put this book down, couldn’t wait to finish it and yet - did not want it to end....


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It's Inevitable

I had to visit Brighton centre yesterday. My wife had two wristwatches that required new batteries and I wanted to purchase the Blue-Ray of the film 'Gone Girl'. This took me to Churchill Square for Goldsmiths - to install new watch batteries - and HMV for the Blue-Ray. It also took me close to the location of Waterstones, my favourite emporium....

I am a bibliophile. I cannot walk past a bookshop without slowing my step. I will linger at the window, gazing through the glass at stacks of books I have not yet read. I hover, telling myself I must read the pile on the bedside table before buying another. But I cannot resist the lure. Before long, I open the door, and that's it. I'm in, and I am going to be a while....

And so it was. There I was again, surrounded by thousands of books distributed over four floors. And of course I did. I bought a copy of "The Fish Ladder" by Katharine Norbury. It's her first book. According to Philip Pullman it is "a beautiful, strange, intoxicating and utterly unique story". Sounds good.

Meanwhile I must press on and finish reading "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel - all 674 pages and then I have to read "Bring Up The Bodies", the sequel to Wolf Hall. So, I am not watching the BBC TV adaptation, currently showing, as this would probably get very confusing. I shall buy the series on DVD when it is released on 2nd March.

And then tackle that pile of books on the bedside table, not forgetting "The Fish Ladder"...