The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

The Bookshop of Yesterdays
by Amy Meyerson
narrated by Ann Marie Gideon

Published: 2019
Publisher: Park Row
Paperback: 400
Rating: 4
Contemporary, Mystery | Goodreads | Website
Travel destination: Los Angeles, CA
First sentence(s):
The last time I saw my uncle, he bought me a dog.

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.

When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books—now as its owner—she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store’s shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy’s last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy’s past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda’s mother has kept hidden—and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.

My two-bits:

Loved the tie-in with novels and scavenger hunt theme. Painful secrets eventually get revealed.

Makes me wonder if things are better off not said.

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* Listened to audiobook version

* part of Bookshops Challenge (here)

* part of ibc book club (here)

* part of Armchair Autumn Travel (here)

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin

The Little Bookshop on the Seine
by Rebecca Raisin

Published: 2020
Publisher: HQN
Genre: Women's Fiction, Holiday, France
Paperback: 416
Rating: 5
Goodreads

Little Paris Collection series:
The Little Antique Shop under the Eiffel Tower
The Perfume Shop off the Champs-Élysées
The Little Bookshop on the Seine

First sentence(s):
With a heavy heart I placed the sign in the display window.

Zombie sighting:
Here if you rushed anywhere people would think you were being chased by a killer plague of zombies or something.
-chapter 2

Le Vie En Rose

Bookshop owner Sarah Smith has been offered the opportunity to exchange bookshops with her new Parisian friend for 6 months! And saying yes is a no-brainer – after all, what kind of a romantic would turn down a trip to Paris? Even if it does mean leaving the irresistible Ridge Warner behind, Sarah’s sure she’s in for the holiday of a lifetime – complete with all the books she can read!

Picturing days wandering around Shakespeare & Co, munching on croissants, sipping café au laits and people-watching on the Champs-Elysees Sarah boards the plane. But will her dream of a Parisian Happily-Ever-After come true? Or will Sarah realise that the dream isn’t quite as rosy in reality…

My two-bits:

Christmas in July ;-)

Loved that this story was set in a bookstore.

I found this to be a delightful romance with Paris and its bookstore community moreso than focus on a couple.

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* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Bookshop challenge (here)

* part of Paris in July (here)

Bookshops Challenge

Bookshop in the title is an automatic draw.

I am going to keep track of bookshops I read on this post (on-going self-challenge).

The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted
by Robert Hillman
Historical, Jewish, Australia | my review | my rating: 5

The Bookshop of Yesterdays
by Amy Meyerson
Contemporary, Mystery | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
Contemporary, France | my review | my rating: 4

The Little Bookshop on the Seine
by Rebecca Raisin
Chick-lit, Christmas, Paris | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore
by Matthew Sullivan
Mystery, Thriller | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

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* image source: The Bookshop on the Heath

The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman

The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted
by Robert Hillman

Published: 2019
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Genre: Historical, Jewish, Australia
Hardback: 304 pages
Rating: 5
Goodreads
Website

First sentence(s):
She didn't stay long as far as marriages go, jut a year and then months.

Zombie sighting:
"… She has been six weeks at my apartment. Not a word. A zombie."
-chapter 35, page 280

Can one unlikely bookshop heal two broken souls?

It is 1968 in rural Australia and lonely Tom Hope can't make heads or tails of Hannah Babel. Newly arrived from Hungary, Hannah is unlike anyone he's ever met--she's passionate, brilliant, and fiercely determined to open sleepy Hometown's first bookshop.

Despite the fact that Tom has only read only one book in his life, when Hannah hires him to install shelving for the shop, the two discover an astonishing spark. Recently abandoned by an unfaithful wife--and still missing her sweet son, Peter--Tom dares to believe that he might make Hannah happy. But Hannah is a haunted woman. Twenty-four years earlier, she had been marched to the gates of Auschwitz.

My two-bits:

Loved the portrayal of books and the bookshop in this story.

Loved the Tom character and his gentle and loving ways.

Loved the description of how to make trifle.

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* weekly theme: Australia - country

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
narrated by Steve West, Emma Bering and Cassandra Campbell

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Publisher
BookExcerpt
Website
Facebook
Twitter @nina_george

Published: 2015
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Genre: Contemporary, France
Paperback: 368 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence:
How on earth could I have let them talk me into it?
The two general of number 27 Rue Montagnard—Madame Bernard, the owner, and Madame Rosalette, the concierge—had caught Monsieur in a pincer movement between their ground-floor flats.

The international bestseller, translated from the German by Simon Pare. On a beautifully restored barge on the Seine, Jean Perdu runs a bookshop; or rather a 'literary apothecary', for this bookseller possesses a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe the troubled souls of his customers.

The only person he is unable to cure, it seems, is himself. He has nursed a broken heart ever since the night, twenty-one years ago, when the love of his life fled Paris, leaving behind a handwritten letter that he has never dared read. His memories and his love have been gathering dust - until now. The arrival of an enigmatic new neighbour in his eccentric apartment building on Rue Montagnard inspires Jean to unlock his heart, unmoor the floating bookshop and set off for Provence, in search of the past and his beloved.

My two-bits:

A story of love and loss and love in Paris.

There is a road trip feel to this story (via boat) with each port of call that introduces characters and their individual stories of love and relationships.

Loved the concept of prescribing books for emotional ailments.

Also, loved the idea of a floating bookshop. Actually, there is a book barge in the U.K. that is currently floating around and selling books (here). It would be fun to visit someday...

About the author:

Nina George works as a journalist, writer, and storytelling teacher. She is the award winning author of 26 books, and also writes feature articles, short stories, and columns.

The Little Paris Bookshop spent over a year on bestseller lists in Germany, and was a bestseller in Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands. George is married to the writer Jens J. Kramer and lives in Hamburg and in Brittany, France.

--~ Book Giveaway ~--
WIN my review copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: October 31, 2016

TO DO:

TELL me the name and location of your favorite local book shop.

AND, leave your email.

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Contest has ended - (winner is here)

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* review copy courtesy of Blogging for Books

* part of Audiobook Challenge

* part of October Paris virtual book event (schedule)