Scan barcode
jweather23's review against another edition
2.0
2.5ish. It was not what I expected and I'm left feeling disappointed and unsatisfied. I did really enjoy that narrator and will listen to something else she reads in the future.
ameserole's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know about you... but I would love to own a bookshop and have these dreams..
The Bookseller was a pretty interesting book. I feel like I flew through the kindle version because it just kept reminding me of other little books. Sort of like Outlander, but not really. In this book, you will meet Katharyn and Lars. Whenever she goes to sleep, well she wakes up in this different world (sort of).
Maybe I should dive more into that? Same world but a different time zone is probably a bit easier to think about. When she is actually awake, she is a single hardworking woman who owns a bookshop and is painting her bedroom yellow. Hey don't hate on that sunshine-y color, because my bedroom at my dads house is yellow too. I wanted blue, but my dad compromised with yellow - close enough, right? Anyhoo, well when she goes to sleep.. she sort of wakes up to a husband and kids. Yup, you read that correctly.
Now Lars is a handsome fella and their kids are beyond adorable. However, she doesn't know anything about them or this new version of herself. She doesn't like her actual name and goes by Kitty in her real life.. but in this one her husband calls her Katharyn.
While reading this book, I'm so intrigued that she time travels while asleep - because sometimes dreams can seem so vivid. Yet, this is actually vivid for her. She remembers everything about it when she wakes up. I couldn't decide if this dream-like world would eventually become her real-life world.. or if she was going to get stuck in this dream forever. I just wanted to find out how it ended!!
If I could change on thing about this book.. it would definitely be how she treated Michael. He's one of her kids and autistic.. but I feel like she definitely treated him differently than her other two - which made me frown. Now I know that most people don't know how to deal with autistic people or kids but it doesn't help when everyone notices that you treat one differently than the other. Before ya get all mad at me and shit, my older brother is autistic and my parents never treated him differently. If you talk to my aunts and uncles, well yes - they did treat him differently when we would visit and it honestly annoyed all of us. He's my brother and that's all I'm going to treat him as - he's not made of glass. We annoy and nag each other just like every day siblings - of course I don't tolerate him being bullied and either would my sister.
Sorry about my little rant! Overall, it was a good and interesting book.
The Bookseller was a pretty interesting book. I feel like I flew through the kindle version because it just kept reminding me of other little books. Sort of like Outlander, but not really. In this book, you will meet Katharyn and Lars. Whenever she goes to sleep, well she wakes up in this different world (sort of).
Maybe I should dive more into that? Same world but a different time zone is probably a bit easier to think about. When she is actually awake, she is a single hardworking woman who owns a bookshop and is painting her bedroom yellow. Hey don't hate on that sunshine-y color, because my bedroom at my dads house is yellow too. I wanted blue, but my dad compromised with yellow - close enough, right? Anyhoo, well when she goes to sleep.. she sort of wakes up to a husband and kids. Yup, you read that correctly.
Now Lars is a handsome fella and their kids are beyond adorable. However, she doesn't know anything about them or this new version of herself. She doesn't like her actual name and goes by Kitty in her real life.. but in this one her husband calls her Katharyn.
While reading this book, I'm so intrigued that she time travels while asleep - because sometimes dreams can seem so vivid. Yet, this is actually vivid for her. She remembers everything about it when she wakes up. I couldn't decide if this dream-like world would eventually become her real-life world.. or if she was going to get stuck in this dream forever. I just wanted to find out how it ended!!
If I could change on thing about this book.. it would definitely be how she treated Michael. He's one of her kids and autistic.. but I feel like she definitely treated him differently than her other two - which made me frown. Now I know that most people don't know how to deal with autistic people or kids but it doesn't help when everyone notices that you treat one differently than the other. Before ya get all mad at me and shit, my older brother is autistic and my parents never treated him differently. If you talk to my aunts and uncles, well yes - they did treat him differently when we would visit and it honestly annoyed all of us. He's my brother and that's all I'm going to treat him as - he's not made of glass. We annoy and nag each other just like every day siblings - of course I don't tolerate him being bullied and either would my sister.
Sorry about my little rant! Overall, it was a good and interesting book.
yellowranger87's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised I liked this book as much as I did but I was ultimately disappointed by the ending.
rachael_reading's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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.