Still tying up my loose ends from last year – and when putting my Books of the Year list together, I was horrified to realise that there were three books read earlier in the year that I’d entirely failed to review. I suspect you might be thinking “forget it – just move on”, but I loved every one of them and feel rather guilty that they really should have been strong contenders for inclusion. I’ll apologise for covering three books in one post, and for the reviews being considerably shorter and content-light than usual – but if I don’t do it this way, there’s a danger I might not get round to reviewing them at all, and that really would be quite unforgivable. They’re all books I read with my real-life book group, on my kindle rather than listening to the audiobooks as I more often do – so, without further ado…
I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve ever read from Stephanie Butland since being an early reader of her first published book way back in 2014 – and was absolutely thrilled when my book group (with just a little push from me…!) chose to read Found in a Bookshop, published as an e-book on 30th March by Headline Review (available on all major platforms), and in paperback and as an audiobook on 27th April. This is the sequel to her much-loved Lost for Words – I’d really hoped to read them as a pair, but that sadly wasn’t to be – and I must thank the publishers for my reading copy, provided via netgalley, with apologies for the delay in sharing a review.
Loveday Cardew’s beloved Lost for Words bookshop, along with the rest of York, has fallen quiet. At the very time when people most need books to widen their horizons, or escape from their fears, or enhance their lives, the doors are closed. Then the first letter comes.
Rosemary and George have been married for fifty years. Now their time is running out. They have decided to set out on their last journey together, without ever leaving the bench at the bottom of their garden in Whitby. All they need is someone who shares their love of books.
Suddenly it’s clear to Loveday that she and her team can do something useful in a crisis. They can recommend books to help with the situations their customers find themselves in: fear, boredom, loneliness, the desire for laughter and escape.
And so it begins.
The first thing I should mention, I think, is that this book is entirely readable as a standalone – it might have been good to have read a little more about the background to Loveday’s vulnerability and how she came to be running the bookshop, but it certainly didn’t spoil my reading experience. And the second thing? This book is set during the Covid lockdown – you know, that period we all said we really didn’t want to see in the books we read. But this was a book I really loved, with the individuals at the Lost for Words bookshop in York issuing book prescriptions and making those important connections with others in the community in need of support, every one of them with their own story. Some of those stories are heartbreaking – George and Rosemary will live in my heart forever – but essentially it’s about the power of reading to ease the troubled mind and provide that escape that we readers understand only too well. It doesn’t pull any punches on the business or personal impact of that difficult time – and it’s full of “I’d forgotten about that” moments (and the occasional “phew – I wouldn’t have thought about that” moment too, as it deals with life’s realities…). But the characters are so wonderfully drawn that they live on the page, the whole book is just so gloriously warm and uplifting, and it’s a hymn in praise of the resilience of the human spirit and the books that often sustain us. Quite wonderful – and if this one passed you by, I’d recommend it really highly…
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods has been an unexpected bestseller this year – and I suspect no-one was more surprised about that than its lovely author. It was published by One More Chapter on 22nd June, and is available as an ebook (just 99p for kindle), in paperback, and as an audiobook – and, if you look at the Amazon page, it’s now gathered over 27,000 ratings, 86% of them four stars or above. I have read and loved a book of Evie’s once before – published as Evie Gaughan, The Story Collector (2018) was an absolute delight (you’ll find my review here), and anyone eagerly awaiting whatever she does next might just like to search that one out and give it a try. But let’s take a look at her latest… the e-copy I read was my own, purchased via Amazon.
‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’
On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…
For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.
But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.
Essentially a love story, with intertwining story lines, a wander through the world of treasured books, and more than a touch of the ethereal and supernatural, this book entirely blew me away. The writing is beautiful – and the characters quite wonderfully developed, each with their own well-told story. A lost Bronte manuscript ties the story together, but this is a book you really need to experience – and any qualms I might have had about the magic realism that permeates the narrative were very quickly set aside as the tree began to grow and take over Martha’s living space, and the realisation grew that there were layers to the linked stories that were going to be a joy to discover. One for the book lovers maybe – but also for anyone who likes their reading to be entertaining, highly original, and exceptionally engaging at an emotional level. Absolute magic, and I can’t wait to see what the author does next – this is one no-one should miss…
I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – yes, ok, I know it’s been a number one bestseller, but given its focus on gaming (I gave that up around the time of Tetris…) I guessed it was one for the TikTok generation, not for an oldie like me. How wrong can you be? If you don’t already have your copy, it was published by Vintage in July 2022 and is available in all formats – and, as I write, is still riding high in the Amazon bestseller charts. The e-copy I read was my own, purchased via Amazon.
This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It’s not a romance, but it is about love.
When Sam catches sight of Sadie at a crowded train station one morning he is catapulted straight back to childhood, and the hours they spent immersed in playing games.
Their spark is instantly reignited and sets off a creative collaboration that will make them superstars. It is the 90s, and anything is possible.
What comes next is a decades-long tale of friendship and rivalry, fame and art, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
This is indeed a story about love – but it’s so much more than that. And, although I could understand anyone who might be put off by its context, it’s one that really touched my heart. While the world of gaming – the initial ideas, the development process, the marketing and business side, the elements of competition – was unexpectedly fascinating (and, for other oldies out there, totally accessible whatever your level of knowledge), the book balances that with following the relationship between Sam and Sadie through the highs and lows of their complicated lives. There are so many themes and concepts I hardly know where to start – those many chances and restarts, the possibility that if you keep going you might be a winner, death being a chance to start again – but it also portrays so well how gaming can imitate and influence life and real-world issues (or is it perhaps the other way round?), while tackling head-on massive issues around sexism, race and the early days of same sex marriage. But essentially it’s a human story, deeply moving and tremendously engaging, that I thought was quite beautiful and entirely unforgettable.
I absolutely loved Found in a Bookshop and I’ll be looking for the other two, Anne.
Very much recommended Liz! And, by the way, I haven’t forgotten that I haven’t yet written reviews of your two lovely books, read just before Christmas – I enjoyed them every bit as much…
Loved Found in a Bookshop and I definitely recommend you read Lost for Words if you can possibly fit it in. Audiobook maybe? I loved it even more than the sequel.