By Jenny Colgan
Genre Adult chick-lit
Rating ⭐️⭐️
Synopsis
When she loses her job at the library, book lover and literary matchmaker Nina makes a crazy decision to buy a van, move to a small town in Scotland and sell books out of said van.
First Sentence
The Problem with good things that happen is that very often they disguise themselves as awful things.
I couldn't resist a book about books so when this one came up on Amazon as a daily deal I snatched it up. And that's the book's strongest attribute. It's about books. The author mentions dozens of books and talks about books so fondly you just know you could be friends with her.
I loved the idea of our MC buying a huge van she can barely drive and turning it into a bookshop. I also loved that she moved to a small little town where everyone knows everybody.
But that's about as much as there is to love in this one. You'd expect some pretty big issues to come up when starting a business but for Nina it just unfolded beautifully. There was no conflict getting in her way. She even moves to a town full of people that love to read...like all of them. I find that a little hard to swallow. I'd love if everyone loved to read as much as me. I think we'd all get along better if we had that one thing in common but most people I know don't like to read and never do. Sad but true. So the idea that everyone from shop owners to frazzled mothers to farm workers all love to read was a bit hard to swallow.
Maybe I took this one too seriously. Maybe it was supposed to be a low conflict story written to make you smile and escape your own complicated life but it felt a bit patronizing.
My biggest issue, however, was that for the first 50% of the book I thought it was self published. It FELT self published. Finally I looked it up and discovered that HarperCollins published it. I sat there shocked. It didn't feel like this book went through a mainstream publishing house at all.
And don't get me started on the "romance". Just don't.
Oh well. I did appreciate that the author obviously loved books and it came through loud and clear in her book.
Should you read it
Sadly, I think you won't be missing much if you skip it.
The cover and title alone would definitely get my attention. It'd be interesting to find some conflicts in this story and have them nicely wrapped up. That said, I like it that this is a book about books and reading. Perhaps I'll read it one day when the mood strikes.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does have that book about books thing going for it.
DeleteHa ha ha! I love reading your ranty reviews. They're so much fun when it doesn't break my heart. ;)
ReplyDeleteI never mean to break anyone's heart. It's just my opinion.
DeleteAh, you didn't like this one? I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Yeah, it's far-fetched, but like you said, that's to be expected in this kind of story. It's a cute, feel-good read but one you definitely can't take too seriously!
ReplyDeleteI know. I don't know why I was taking it so seriously.
DeleteUh oh. No conflict. This sounds very neat and tidy. I'm sorry it wasn't really the read you were hoping for.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess I wanted some conflict.
DeleteOh, come on, it wasn't that bad! I really liked this one. :)
ReplyDeleteHa ha! I know. These "no conflict" stories are making me look at myself in a new light. Why do they bother me so much. I'll have to do a discussion post.
DeleteAw that's a bummer. The cover is a definite winner and draws me in, and the premise is kinda cool, but yeah too bad it didn't work better. And yes- I know hardly any avid readers (other than book bloggers), which is kind of amazing when I think about it. So many people are ambivalent about books... it does seem far- fetched that everyone she encounters is a reader lol.
ReplyDeleteRight?! I wish everyone loved reading as much as us but sadly, they don't.
Delete