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A review by alyxbeau
Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller by Oliver Darkshire
3.0
This is in a genre I do not read often, so it would never really get lower than a three for me just because ive subjected myself to something I dont normally enjoy- I dont want to steer people away by the number alone if they like memoirs. If I rated it as I normally would, it would probably be a 2.5 rating.
This was what I can only describe as cozy adjacent? If I had read this as the premise for a novel, I would have probably loved it to death. Instead the anecdotes from the author were a little off for me, for the most part. I wanted desperately to be in the middle of things as they happened, not a recitation of events. I did connect to our author on some level though, having been a bookseller at barnes and noble. I know this is nothing like antique and rare books, but there were similarities in customers - some which were deigned cryptid like- and we certainly had our own store cryptids and regulars.
The book was nice, sweet, and short. I just cant find a word for what it was lacking to make it really engaging for me.
This was what I can only describe as cozy adjacent? If I had read this as the premise for a novel, I would have probably loved it to death. Instead the anecdotes from the author were a little off for me, for the most part. I wanted desperately to be in the middle of things as they happened, not a recitation of events. I did connect to our author on some level though, having been a bookseller at barnes and noble. I know this is nothing like antique and rare books, but there were similarities in customers - some which were deigned cryptid like- and we certainly had our own store cryptids and regulars.
The book was nice, sweet, and short. I just cant find a word for what it was lacking to make it really engaging for me.