Novels set in bookshops

 

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald - post here.

 

 

 

Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan - brief summary here.

 

 

 

The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - bittersweet, slick, funny.

 

 

    I recommend all of the above (and they remind me that I've still to read this one!), but can you think of any other novels set in bookshops?

Comments

[Jill Mansell]

An Offer You Can't Refuse, by me, Jill Mansell. I loved having my main character working in a book shop and asked all the book shop staff I knew for plenty of anecdotes beforehand. Sooooo many fabulous ones!

[Cornflower]

Super! Thank you, Jill.

[Dark Puss]

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is one I have read that springs to mind. Also one I've read is The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger but perhaps you think that isn't really a good match to your challenge.

[Cornflower]

I don't know The Night Bookmobile, but I have read The Shadow of the Wind; shall we say that for me it was not a 'keeper' ...

[Lory @ Emerald City Book Review]

Don't forget Parnassus on Wheels, by Christopher Morley -- what is more fun than a traveling bookshop? And there's The Neverending Story by Michael Ende...not exactly set in a bookshop, but has a memorable scene there.

Will try not to comment multiple times this time...sorry.

[cath]

Charing Cross Road 84 by Helene Hanff and The Emperor of Paris by C.S. Richardson are both featuring booksellers, does that count?

[Cornflower]

It's a pleasure to have your comments, Lory! Off now to look up the titles you mention.

[Cornflower]

I must read The Emperor of Paris, and Helene Hanff's book is an old favourite.

[ctussaud]

Kate Carlisle's bibiophile maysteries; the heroine Brooklyn Wainwright is a book restorer.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=kate+carlisle+bibliophile+mysteries&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Akate+carlisle+bibliophile+mysteries

[Audrey]

The Love Letter, by Cathleen Schine.

[Cornflower]

They sound fun! Thank you, Curzon.

[Cornflower]

Another one I hadn't come across! Thanks, Audrey.

[Nicola]

Doesn't The Thirteenth Tale start off in a bookstore? Sorry that's all my brain can come up with!

[Mystica]

The Novel Bookstore Laurence Cosse

[Margaret Powling]

Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise Walters (and excellent it is, too!)

[Susan in TX]

Not a novel, but a memoir -The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee was one I really enjoyed. Someone already mentioned Parnassus on Wheels, but Morley's sequel, The Haunted Bookshop is also a nice read.

[Mary Ronan Drew]

I loved The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler.

My review is at: http://maryslibrary.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/09/the-bookstore-by-deborah-meyler.html

[Simon T]

I came to suggest Parnassus on Wheels, but see I've been beaten twice over! There are plenty of bookshop scenes in Miss Hargreaves, of course...

More authors should set novels in bookshops, as it is such a draw for many readers!

[Jane Jazz]

I was going to say 'The Thirteenth Tale', but Nicola got there before me! It does start off in a bookshop, and the protagonist does keep returning home to the shop so I think it must count.

I don't know if anyone's visited 'The Haunted Bookshop' in Cambridge? That always seems like the perfect setting for a creepy novel...

[Erika]

Not centered in a book shop but Elizabeth Goudge's "City of Bells" has a delightful young man setting up a new bookstore in a cathedral city. the books he chooses and the customers who come, plus the previous tenant-- who are important characters to the story.

[Frances]

Was going to go for A Novel Bookstore but was too slow. I just started Tom Rachman's new novel The Rise and Fall of Great Powers and I think that that is one that we will remember instantly in this context in the future.

[Rebecca]

That was my title, too! I really enjoyed that novel--much more than I expected to.

[Erika]

Oh, and Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series--light and racy and good fun.

[Cornflower]

It's ages since I've read it, but I think you're right, Nicola.

[Cornflower]

I enjoyed the bookshop scenes/setting very much - could have done with more of them.

[Cornflower]

Yes! On the tbr pile.

[Cornflower]

I haven't read Lewis Buzbee's book but based on reviews I did give a copy to a friend a few years ago. Time to get one of my own!

[Edwina]

This is one of my favourite books and films for a lazy afternoon!