A review by lucececece
The Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham

3.0

This was a relaxing and often charming read, I particularly enjoyed the first section about "comfort reads". However, I feel that in this book Latham attempted to achieve both intimate memoir and grand history. Both ends fell slightly short of the mark for me. The more historical sections tended to brush over interesting ideas whilst trying to cram in as many names, examples, and anecdotes as the wordcount allowed. The descriptions of relationships and encounters which were much more personal for Latham were the most successful, for sure.

Perhaps I made a mistake in trying to read this in a few sittings rather than over a long period of time. But it felt at times to be a slog, reading more like a checklist of facts than a "tale".

This wasn't a bad book. I was drawn to it as I browsed in Topping's in Edinburgh, and if nothing else it is a reminder of my trip there. The cover art is stunning and it would make a lovely gift for any book-obsessive. It's certainly not groundbreaking, and I don't think it tried to be.