Scan barcode
rachael_reading's review
5.0
ONE OF MY NEW TOP FAVORITE BOOKS. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN
A dream within a dream. This book had me held suspended between two realities for Katherine/Kitty. By the near end I did not know what was real and what was imagined. Not quite a love story, not quite a thriller... this book held a genre all its own for me and held my interest throughout the ENTIRE novel. I loved the characters and how the book drew you in deeper and deeper into them and then plunged you away like they could be strangers. Such an interesting concept, I have never read a book like this before. With the two different worlds you may think that things could become confusing, but the author did an INCREDIBLE job at keeping everything in line. This is definitely is added to my favorite books of all time list.
A dream within a dream. This book had me held suspended between two realities for Katherine/Kitty. By the near end I did not know what was real and what was imagined. Not quite a love story, not quite a thriller... this book held a genre all its own for me and held my interest throughout the ENTIRE novel. I loved the characters and how the book drew you in deeper and deeper into them and then plunged you away like they could be strangers. Such an interesting concept, I have never read a book like this before. With the two different worlds you may think that things could become confusing, but the author did an INCREDIBLE job at keeping everything in line. This is definitely is added to my favorite books of all time list.
toniclark's review
3.0
3.5 stars. I guess I liked this better than a lot of people. It sure grabbed me from the beginning and held my attention throughout. A rather ingenious tale, I thought, and for the most part, well executed. I could argue with a couple of the plot points which do strain credibility (and in one instance, the characters seemed quite out of character), but am willing to overlook them. Also, no quibbles with the writing (or the editing — which is unusual these days!). A very smooth and intriguing read. I love the way the two worlds of the novel began to blur and overlap — and in the end, the reasons for this.
Maybe we had more than enough of Lars’s sparkling blue eyes! ;)
Maybe we had more than enough of Lars’s sparkling blue eyes! ;)
judithdcollins's review
4.0
Cynthia Swanson’s debut, THE BOOKSELLER is a stunning, dreamlike, intriguing story of two worlds. One troubled woman in search of a different life. Caught between two mysterious worlds; confusing fact and fiction. This remarkable novel will transport you to another place. It is almost, spellbinding.
Katharyn (Kitty) operates Sisters, a Denver bookstore she owns with her best friend, Frieda. She is single, loves her apartment and her lifestyle. They have been friends for years and worked so hard to get the business loan; finally, their dream business.
For some odd reason, when Kitty/ Katharyn, sleeps she is dreaming of a different life. She is married to a man named Lars, a successful architect. She is a housewife with children. He is talking to her in bed. He seems kind, good-looking, and thoughtful. Her mom would be proud, she landed this one with beautiful children, possibly twins? However, she cannot imagine living this life and caring for other people. She likes being independent. Who are these children? Why is anyone depending on her? Who is the housekeeper? Why is she here? Then she recalls her mom and dad are on a trip. A plane? She misses her mom and needs to talk with her. The other world.
Set in the early sixties, everyone got married when they graduated from high school or during college. It was all about marriage before the ripe old age of 30. Here we have the main protagonist, Kitty/ Katharyn, a 38-year-old single woman who runs a failing bookstore with her life-long best friend and lives alone with her cat.
However, when did the bookstore start to fail? Everyone loved quaint bookstores? What is this about malls and the internet? As she drifts off to sleep, her world spins out of control. Which life is real; is she married to Lars and do they have children? What happened to her old boyfriend, Kevin from years ago? Why is she home and not at the bookstore? What happened to her best friend? Are they estranged? From fantasy to reality, she almost seems to float between the two worlds.
There is also a little boy named Greg, and she works with him creating stories of baseball as a children’s book. As the lines are blurred between single life and married life, she slowly begins to backtrack to piece together her life and when everything happened. As the dreams become more real, she recalls things in her life. There was a chance meeting. Does she need to choose which life she really wants?
There is so much to this complex, yet alluring tale so do not want to give away any clues or spoilers. I really found myself drawn to the story. The audiobook narrated by Kathe Mazur, intensified the mood, transcending you to another place, as her soft voice put you inside the mind of the narrator, her confusion, the setting, and the emotions. Her delivery enhanced the overall experience, leaving you in a dream like mesmerizing state of mind (like the novel).
If you are familiar with the sixties you will enjoy the books, music, clothing, and the scenes played out. Cannot put my finger on the book; however, for some reason I am strongly reminded of Ellen Meister’s The Other Life and Kristin Bair O'Keeffe’s The Art of Floating.
Cynthia Swanson did an excellent job of holding your attention, with easy flow narrative, keeping you glued to the pages as you slowly solve the mystery of Kitty/ Katharyn, in this provocative and hauntingly powerful debut novel of love, grief, tragedy, coping, fate, and life choices. Look forward to reading more from this author.
JDCMustReadBooks
Katharyn (Kitty) operates Sisters, a Denver bookstore she owns with her best friend, Frieda. She is single, loves her apartment and her lifestyle. They have been friends for years and worked so hard to get the business loan; finally, their dream business.
For some odd reason, when Kitty/ Katharyn, sleeps she is dreaming of a different life. She is married to a man named Lars, a successful architect. She is a housewife with children. He is talking to her in bed. He seems kind, good-looking, and thoughtful. Her mom would be proud, she landed this one with beautiful children, possibly twins? However, she cannot imagine living this life and caring for other people. She likes being independent. Who are these children? Why is anyone depending on her? Who is the housekeeper? Why is she here? Then she recalls her mom and dad are on a trip. A plane? She misses her mom and needs to talk with her. The other world.
Set in the early sixties, everyone got married when they graduated from high school or during college. It was all about marriage before the ripe old age of 30. Here we have the main protagonist, Kitty/ Katharyn, a 38-year-old single woman who runs a failing bookstore with her life-long best friend and lives alone with her cat.
However, when did the bookstore start to fail? Everyone loved quaint bookstores? What is this about malls and the internet? As she drifts off to sleep, her world spins out of control. Which life is real; is she married to Lars and do they have children? What happened to her old boyfriend, Kevin from years ago? Why is she home and not at the bookstore? What happened to her best friend? Are they estranged? From fantasy to reality, she almost seems to float between the two worlds.
There is also a little boy named Greg, and she works with him creating stories of baseball as a children’s book. As the lines are blurred between single life and married life, she slowly begins to backtrack to piece together her life and when everything happened. As the dreams become more real, she recalls things in her life. There was a chance meeting. Does she need to choose which life she really wants?
There is so much to this complex, yet alluring tale so do not want to give away any clues or spoilers. I really found myself drawn to the story. The audiobook narrated by Kathe Mazur, intensified the mood, transcending you to another place, as her soft voice put you inside the mind of the narrator, her confusion, the setting, and the emotions. Her delivery enhanced the overall experience, leaving you in a dream like mesmerizing state of mind (like the novel).
If you are familiar with the sixties you will enjoy the books, music, clothing, and the scenes played out. Cannot put my finger on the book; however, for some reason I am strongly reminded of Ellen Meister’s The Other Life and Kristin Bair O'Keeffe’s The Art of Floating.
Cynthia Swanson did an excellent job of holding your attention, with easy flow narrative, keeping you glued to the pages as you slowly solve the mystery of Kitty/ Katharyn, in this provocative and hauntingly powerful debut novel of love, grief, tragedy, coping, fate, and life choices. Look forward to reading more from this author.
JDCMustReadBooks
jkn303's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this. Partially, being a native Denverite, I loved visiting my city in a time when I wasn't alive. And I also really enjoyed the story.
My primary criticism is that Michael's behavior didn't ring true of an autistic child to me, or not all of it anyhow.
My primary criticism is that Michael's behavior didn't ring true of an autistic child to me, or not all of it anyhow.
djlang's review
5.0
Loved it. I literally couldn't put it down. Read in about 7 hours. Though the dual reality device has been used before, here the author created a very interesting set of circumstances and characters.
jocebee's review
3.0
Took awhile for me to get into this one but overall it was a good, albeit sad, read. It was a good choice for our book club and I'm looking forward to hearing about everyone's "what might have been" moments.
lisawreading's review against another edition
5.0
The Bookseller is the touching and intriguing story of one woman living two lives.
As the book opens, we meet Kitty, a single career woman in 1962. 38 years old, she and her best friend Frieda own a small bookshop in a no-longer-thriving neighborhood of Denver. Kitty lives alone with her cat Aslan, enjoys the sister-like company of her friend, and thrives in a loving relationship with her devoted parents. She's happy, and really doesn't regret the life choices she made that brought her to this point in her life.
But when Kitty goes to sleep, she wakes up in a strange bedroom in a lovely home, beside a loving man names Lars who refers to her by her full name, Katharyn. It's 1963, and she appears to be married to her soulmate, living in a comfortable house in a newer Denver neighborhood, a stay-at-home mother to triplets.
Kitty is absolutely confounded by this dream world of hers. When she wakes up again, she's haunted by how realistic this imaginary world seems, and is struck by the thought that she's encountered the unusual name Lars before. She remembers that in her real life, she'd almost had a first date with a man named Lars eight years earlier, but he stood her up and so they never met.
Each time Kitty goes to sleep, she crosses from one world to another. Her dream world is vivid and distinct. She discovers an enormous depth of feeling for her husband Lars, and she loves her adorable children, despite being confused and somewhat frustrated by her son Michael, who is, apparently, autistic. Sadly, in this dream world, Katharyn and Frieda have fallen out years earlier, although she has no idea why.
Gradually, the lines begin to blur. Each world feels real and seems to want to claim her. The more time Kitty spends in her dream world, the more memories come back to her... but so much still remains elusive. Finally, Kitty has to sort out which is her real world, where she truly belongs, and which life is the one she must let go.
... And let me just pause here from providing plot summary and say -- wow. What a book.
With hints of Sliding Doors as well as certain points that reminded me of The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer, The Bookseller asks us to pass from dream world to reality and back to dream world right along with Kitty. Both lives are rich and detailed. Both are filled with people who matter to her. Could she really have forgotten a life in which she's a wife and mother? But how can all of her memories be about her life in the bookstore with Frieda, if her other life with Lars feels equally real?
I loved the construction of this emotion-packed novel. We flow right alongside the main character as she shifts abruptly, never entirely sure of when or where she'll wake up in a different life, sometimes in the middle of a scene, so to speak, already under way. The writing is matter-of-fact, yet startling at times, as when Kitty gazes into the face of her dream husband for the first time or is suddenly struck by the knowledge that she has children.
The 1960s setting works magnificently here. The author weaves in all sorts of small details that make the time period seem real, from the admiration of Jackie Kennedy's fashion sense to the fears of the Cuban Missile Crisis to the simple joys of listening to Patsy Cline and checking out the newest books by J. D. Salinger and Katherine Anne Porter.
It's also a marvelous tribute to the choices available to a woman at that time and the courage needed to chart her own course. Staying single, owning a business -- these are not easy paths, and certainly not common or expected. Likewise, the challenges facing a young mother are daunting. Despite being well-off and with a supportive husband, dealing with three children is all-consuming. The medical world was only just waking up to the meaning of autism at the time, and the only resources Kitty can find on the subject pin the "blame" squarely on the mother, with no guidance available on finding ways to connect with the child or even how to provide him with an education.
The Bookseller had me hooked from the first chapter, and I truly loved the main character. Her two lives, as Kitty and Katharyn, each offer her something special -- but each is missing some key element that makes the other life hard to turn away from. Her confusion and pain feel real, as does her love for Lars and her children, her parents, and Frieda.
I highly recommend The Bookseller. Its shifting reality twists will absolutely keep you guessing! With an engaging yet mysterious plot, a well-earned resolution, and emotions that ring true, this book should appeal to anyone who enjoys stories about strong women confronting unusual and unpredictable challenges. Check it out!
Note: Thank you to the publisher and to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a review copy of this book. This review also appears at Bookshelf Fantasies.
As the book opens, we meet Kitty, a single career woman in 1962. 38 years old, she and her best friend Frieda own a small bookshop in a no-longer-thriving neighborhood of Denver. Kitty lives alone with her cat Aslan, enjoys the sister-like company of her friend, and thrives in a loving relationship with her devoted parents. She's happy, and really doesn't regret the life choices she made that brought her to this point in her life.
But when Kitty goes to sleep, she wakes up in a strange bedroom in a lovely home, beside a loving man names Lars who refers to her by her full name, Katharyn. It's 1963, and she appears to be married to her soulmate, living in a comfortable house in a newer Denver neighborhood, a stay-at-home mother to triplets.
Kitty is absolutely confounded by this dream world of hers. When she wakes up again, she's haunted by how realistic this imaginary world seems, and is struck by the thought that she's encountered the unusual name Lars before. She remembers that in her real life, she'd almost had a first date with a man named Lars eight years earlier, but he stood her up and so they never met.
Each time Kitty goes to sleep, she crosses from one world to another. Her dream world is vivid and distinct. She discovers an enormous depth of feeling for her husband Lars, and she loves her adorable children, despite being confused and somewhat frustrated by her son Michael, who is, apparently, autistic. Sadly, in this dream world, Katharyn and Frieda have fallen out years earlier, although she has no idea why.
Gradually, the lines begin to blur. Each world feels real and seems to want to claim her. The more time Kitty spends in her dream world, the more memories come back to her... but so much still remains elusive. Finally, Kitty has to sort out which is her real world, where she truly belongs, and which life is the one she must let go.
... And let me just pause here from providing plot summary and say -- wow. What a book.
With hints of Sliding Doors as well as certain points that reminded me of The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer, The Bookseller asks us to pass from dream world to reality and back to dream world right along with Kitty. Both lives are rich and detailed. Both are filled with people who matter to her. Could she really have forgotten a life in which she's a wife and mother? But how can all of her memories be about her life in the bookstore with Frieda, if her other life with Lars feels equally real?
I loved the construction of this emotion-packed novel. We flow right alongside the main character as she shifts abruptly, never entirely sure of when or where she'll wake up in a different life, sometimes in the middle of a scene, so to speak, already under way. The writing is matter-of-fact, yet startling at times, as when Kitty gazes into the face of her dream husband for the first time or is suddenly struck by the knowledge that she has children.
The 1960s setting works magnificently here. The author weaves in all sorts of small details that make the time period seem real, from the admiration of Jackie Kennedy's fashion sense to the fears of the Cuban Missile Crisis to the simple joys of listening to Patsy Cline and checking out the newest books by J. D. Salinger and Katherine Anne Porter.
It's also a marvelous tribute to the choices available to a woman at that time and the courage needed to chart her own course. Staying single, owning a business -- these are not easy paths, and certainly not common or expected. Likewise, the challenges facing a young mother are daunting. Despite being well-off and with a supportive husband, dealing with three children is all-consuming. The medical world was only just waking up to the meaning of autism at the time, and the only resources Kitty can find on the subject pin the "blame" squarely on the mother, with no guidance available on finding ways to connect with the child or even how to provide him with an education.
The Bookseller had me hooked from the first chapter, and I truly loved the main character. Her two lives, as Kitty and Katharyn, each offer her something special -- but each is missing some key element that makes the other life hard to turn away from. Her confusion and pain feel real, as does her love for Lars and her children, her parents, and Frieda.
I highly recommend The Bookseller. Its shifting reality twists will absolutely keep you guessing! With an engaging yet mysterious plot, a well-earned resolution, and emotions that ring true, this book should appeal to anyone who enjoys stories about strong women confronting unusual and unpredictable challenges. Check it out!
Note: Thank you to the publisher and to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a review copy of this book. This review also appears at Bookshelf Fantasies.