bookstores

This Book Made Me Think of You

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This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

This was a special and memorable book for me. Love and loss, starting over, bookstores and reading, re-connecting and making new memories, learning to live and love again; full of adventure, travel, and self-reflection.

Set mostly in London, in a small, cluttered flat and in a charming bookstore; Tilly Nightingale has spent the last six months grieving for her late husband, Joe. She hasn’t tidied his desk or even put away his running shoes. Especially sad for a book editor, Tilly hasn’t been reading, other than the celebrity memoirs she works on.

Then Tilly gets a phone call from Alfie at Book Lane. Joe had met with Alfie last year and arranged for the gift of one book a month for a year. Alfie isn’t allowed to give Tilly all the books at once. It’s almost February before Tilly gets around to reading the first title, a children’s book. She discovers that each book, a variety of fiction and non-fiction, includes a letter from Joe, which are shared with the reader.

Tilly’s heart slowly thaws and starts to heal. She goes to Paris and at a bookstore there, connects with a group of others struggling with loss. There are other trips, including to New York City. Tilly re-connects with a few people, has a falling-out with another, takes up new hobbies, and becomes friends with bookseller Alfie.

While the plot is slightly predictable, Tilly’s journey makes for wonderful, feel-good reading. That much of the story is set in a bookstore is an extra bonus. A list of book recommendations for each month adds to the appeal.

Brenda

The Air Raid Book Club

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The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons

This is a heartwarming historical novel, set during World War II, on the Home Front in England. My sister suggested the book to me, and her book club is planning to discuss it later this year. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jilly Bond. I took three weeks to savor the audiobook, and found myself thinking about the characters and the story at other times. It is very British, and often funny, even though it’s set during the war.

Gertie Bingham misses her late husband Harry so much that she is thinking of retiring and moving to a beach side town with her dog, Hemingway. She wants to sell Bingham Books, on the outskirts of London, to another bookseller, but her realtor hasn’t found the right buyer. Gertie’s assistant Betty is continuing to run their longtime book club, but Gertie’s stopped participating. Gertie’s Uncle Thomas, who owns a bookstore in London, is dismayed at her plans, as is her longtime friend Charles. Instead, Charles wants Gertie to consider fostering one of the Jewish children he is helping rescue from Germany. Reluctantly, she agrees, but only if the child is a girl who can already read. Enter Hedy Fisher, a serious young teen. First there’s the language barrier, and Hedy’s homesickness for her parents and brother Arno. Hemingway the dog and Betty become Hedy’s friends. Gertie and Elsa, Hedy’s mother, correspond, and gradually Hedy and Gertie learn to understand each other. When war is declared between Germany and Great Britain, all Hedy’s family can send are 25-word telegrams. Then the air raids begin in England.

The community comes together in the war effort, and they discuss books in the bookstore’s air raid shelter. A few women in the neighborhood are prickly types, but have soft hearts underneath. There are some romances and a few wartime marriages, and the book club extends its reach by mail all over Europe. While there are dark days in plenty here, the war violence is off screen. I won’t share more of the plot as it might take away from the experience of reading this deeply satisfying and engaging story. Gertie and Hedy, along with Hemingway, should win the hearts of many readers.

Brenda

Bookshops & Bonedust

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Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Have you read Legends & Lattes yet? Then you’re in for a treat, and you don’t need to be a coffee drinker to enjoy it. This new novel, due out November 7, is a prequel.

Viv, an orc, is at the beginner of her career as a mercenary here. Recovering from a severe injury, Viv is stuck in the seaside village of Murk until Rackham’s Ravens return. While occasionally following the doctor’s orders, Viv is bored. So very bored. Constant questions from Gallina, a young gnome who wants to join the Ravens, doesn’t help. But Fern and her shabby bookshop do. One book, suggested by savvy readers advisor Fern, leads to others. Viv, with the help of Pitts, a poetry loving orc who hauls things, help make the bookshop more welcoming. Then there’s Maylee, a dwarf who runs the local bakery. Baldree writes so lovingly of scones and pastries in both books that you’ll want to make a quick trip to a local bakery or bake some scones, cookies, or muffins yourself.

Many cozy mysteries are set in bookstores or bakeries. I start quite a few, finish some, and am delighted by only a few. Baldree’s cozy fantasy books featuring Viv, though, are awesome. Besides an injured orc and a bookshop that needs spiffing up, there’s also a gryphet, a reclusive romance author, some sweet kisses, and a greatsword belonging to an evil necromancer. Also, a gray man, smelling of ice and death, has Viv and the local guard on high alert. What could possibly go wrong before the Ravens return? This is a charming read, well worth savoring. These books can be read in either order. More, please!

Brenda