If you are a book-lover, take a look at Bookish People by Susan Cole. It is a contemporary fiction novel with lots of humor mixed in with snippets of modern day mishaps and worries. The novel takes a peek at a week in the life of a thriving bookstore and its employees. At first, it was a little slow – but by the halfway point, I was caught up in the characters’ daily lives and found the second half of the book delightful!
Sophie Bernstein is the recently widowed owner of a bookstore in Washington D.C. She is troubled by political events occurring in the country and also feels overwhelmed by the day-to-day needs of her bookstore and her employees. Actually, Sophie would just like to hide away from life in her own little nook. Clemi is a bookstore employee and aspiring writer and is also in charge of events at the store. She has a troubling roommate, a difficult mother, a biological father she has never known and has scheduled several controversial book events for the week. There are other bookstore employees in the novel, as well as Sophie’s son, Michael, who add to the busy plot. Best of all, there is a tortoise named Kurt Vonnegut who joins the fun.
Bookish People was a quirky, fun change from my typical reading choices. I loved reading about the daily scene in an independent bookstore. As a book-lover and library worker, the customer interactions and antics of aspiring writers and pushy publishers were entertaining! (The scheduling, inventory and event issues were also very realistic.) (I read that the audiobook version of this novel is excellent, especially as it deals with the multiple characters in the store.)
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