Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Sweet book about books, finding oneself, and love. Easy read to pass a lazy day.
Cute chic lit although her lack of a business plan annoyed me. I know not the point but just made her seem a bit airy.
4.5 ☆
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan is perfect for what it is -- fluffy, light, and chick-lit-esque but seemingly more substantial than most chick lit.
Set in England and Scotland, The Bookshop on the Corner follows Nina Redmond as she navigates losing her job in the library and seeks a new, but still book-centered, career.
As with other Colgan books, the characters in this novel are all approachable and pretty well developed. Nina is quirky and easy to empathize with, even though she is also maddeningly naive at many different points of the story. Surrinder is an amazing secondary character who functions well as a support for Nina's successes and mirror when she's reviewing her failures. Lennox is less defined, but more approachable toward the end of the book. He is absolutely a Darcy character, and while their initial relationship is somewhat toxic (especially as they begin a romantic attachment), they find their path forward without too many eye-roll moments.
I enjoyed the book - and it was perfect when I needed a light, low investment read.
Had I no soft spot for Colgan, having previously read her by-far best book, The Christmas Bookshop, I probably would have rated this one more critically. However, Colgan's skill at time and place, as well as ancillary character placement and development (the book buyers Nina runs into are really great), really make up for the book's flaws.
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan is perfect for what it is -- fluffy, light, and chick-lit-esque but seemingly more substantial than most chick lit.
Set in England and Scotland, The Bookshop on the Corner follows Nina Redmond as she navigates losing her job in the library and seeks a new, but still book-centered, career.
As with other Colgan books, the characters in this novel are all approachable and pretty well developed. Nina is quirky and easy to empathize with, even though she is also maddeningly naive at many different points of the story. Surrinder is an amazing secondary character who functions well as a support for Nina's successes and mirror when she's reviewing her failures. Lennox is less defined, but more approachable toward the end of the book. He is absolutely a Darcy character, and while their initial relationship is somewhat toxic (especially as they begin a romantic attachment), they find their path forward without too many eye-roll moments.
I enjoyed the book - and it was perfect when I needed a light, low investment read.
Had I no soft spot for Colgan, having previously read her by-far best book, The Christmas Bookshop, I probably would have rated this one more critically. However, Colgan's skill at time and place, as well as ancillary character placement and development (the book buyers Nina runs into are really great), really make up for the book's flaws.
I will try to remember to put a quote here after this book is published.
This is a book that I thought I wouldn’t like. There are a lot of stereotypes in this tale, including the main character. Nina is a librarian that is shy and has long hair that she probably puts in a bun. (I don’t remember that, but she is just so librarianish.) She also hoards books. I didn’t think I liked stories where authors rely on stereotypes.
Also the premise of this novel makes me sad. More libraries in England are closing because they aren’t considered relevant anymore. This means that Nina is losing her job. This is reality, but I don’t like reading about closing libraries. I chose to spend over 40 years working in libraries and I do think they are relevant.
However, once I let go of my complaints, I zoomed through this story. Colgan makes everything come out right and her writing carried me along. Yes, it is a fairy tale. However, I have already admitted that I believe in fairy tales. Sometimes you just have to let the story take you where it wants to go. I had a good time. I may have to pick up another book by Colgan.
This novel reminded me of a couple of things. First of all, stereotypes exist because they work and because they are often true. I don’t look like the “typical” librarian, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few people who fit the label.
Secondly, I have to be willing to accept a story where it is, not where I am when I start it. I may choose not to read something, but if I find a book enjoyable then I should just hang on for the ride.
I recommend this fun novel to anyone looking for an absorbing, entertaining read. Colgan likes to read and she apparently likes to write books that people will read for pleasure. There is nothing wrong with that.
Thank you so much to William Morrow Paperbacks and Edelweiss for sharing a book that I enjoyed.
This is a book that I thought I wouldn’t like. There are a lot of stereotypes in this tale, including the main character. Nina is a librarian that is shy and has long hair that she probably puts in a bun. (I don’t remember that, but she is just so librarianish.) She also hoards books. I didn’t think I liked stories where authors rely on stereotypes.
Also the premise of this novel makes me sad. More libraries in England are closing because they aren’t considered relevant anymore. This means that Nina is losing her job. This is reality, but I don’t like reading about closing libraries. I chose to spend over 40 years working in libraries and I do think they are relevant.
However, once I let go of my complaints, I zoomed through this story. Colgan makes everything come out right and her writing carried me along. Yes, it is a fairy tale. However, I have already admitted that I believe in fairy tales. Sometimes you just have to let the story take you where it wants to go. I had a good time. I may have to pick up another book by Colgan.
This novel reminded me of a couple of things. First of all, stereotypes exist because they work and because they are often true. I don’t look like the “typical” librarian, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few people who fit the label.
Secondly, I have to be willing to accept a story where it is, not where I am when I start it. I may choose not to read something, but if I find a book enjoyable then I should just hang on for the ride.
I recommend this fun novel to anyone looking for an absorbing, entertaining read. Colgan likes to read and she apparently likes to write books that people will read for pleasure. There is nothing wrong with that.
Thank you so much to William Morrow Paperbacks and Edelweiss for sharing a book that I enjoyed.
I had never read anything by this author and really enjoyed this book!! I really liked the journey Nina went on; the story is about her finding herself and a place where she belongs. As an added bonus, she's a fellow book lover and I felt an special connection with her character.
Another delightful read by Jenny Colgan. Who doesn't want to drop everything, buy a huge honkin' van, fill it with books, and then move to Scotland, find and rent a beautiful barn-apartment from a hot Scotsman? Um... if I weren't married.... Yes, please! lol This was a great read. Loved the heartwarming romances going on in this one, the laughs it gave me throughout the book, and the descriptions of Scotland... say no more! Very cozy, very bookish, and very entertaining. I agree that the end of the book wrapped things up pretty quickly... but I didn't mind that.
She felt suddenly as if she hadn't been breathing, not properly, for a long time. It was as if her entire body was exhaling.
She felt suddenly as if she hadn't been breathing, not properly, for a long time. It was as if her entire body was exhaling.
One word: awww!
This book was warm and fluffy, like a blanket in the winter. God, I loved it. I loved Nina, I loved her love for books, I loved the Scottish atmosphere and the book bus. Everything about this book was perfect. I wish I was brave enough to run off to Scotland.
This book was warm and fluffy, like a blanket in the winter. God, I loved it. I loved Nina, I loved her love for books, I loved the Scottish atmosphere and the book bus. Everything about this book was perfect. I wish I was brave enough to run off to Scotland.
This has been on my TBR pile for a while and it was fine. It turned out to be more romance than I was looking for but it was still entertaining.
Whenever I get on a plane, I have to have a Jenny Colgan book to read on-board; in fact, it's now something of a habit, along with passing out Chupa Chup lollies to keep our ears from popping on take-off.
In this book Jenny takes us once more up to the highlands of Scotland and, my goodness, it's somewhere I want to be as soon as she starts describing the rolling hills, the fresh breeze and the endless views. Our heroine, having lost her job as a librarian in Birmingham city centre, decides to take the plunge and open up a bookshop van, quite unexpectedly making her home in a faraway Scottish village. There is much of a feel of Jenny's more recent books (those set on the fictional Scottish island of Mure) to THE LITTLE SHOP OF HAPPY EVER AFTER, and for me that's no bad thing. The sense of place is just wonderful, and the characters who form the communities in Jenny's books are brilliantly drawn.
I don't often think of books as "escapist" - although more often than not, that's what they are - but for me Jenny's books always tick that box. From the minute I start the story I am fully immersed in the story, picturing myself in that place, desperate to see what the characters do next. Her endings never disappoint - I only ever wish they were just a little bit longer!
In this book Jenny takes us once more up to the highlands of Scotland and, my goodness, it's somewhere I want to be as soon as she starts describing the rolling hills, the fresh breeze and the endless views. Our heroine, having lost her job as a librarian in Birmingham city centre, decides to take the plunge and open up a bookshop van, quite unexpectedly making her home in a faraway Scottish village. There is much of a feel of Jenny's more recent books (those set on the fictional Scottish island of Mure) to THE LITTLE SHOP OF HAPPY EVER AFTER, and for me that's no bad thing. The sense of place is just wonderful, and the characters who form the communities in Jenny's books are brilliantly drawn.
I don't often think of books as "escapist" - although more often than not, that's what they are - but for me Jenny's books always tick that box. From the minute I start the story I am fully immersed in the story, picturing myself in that place, desperate to see what the characters do next. Her endings never disappoint - I only ever wish they were just a little bit longer!