A Work in Progress

February Bookclub Reads

For a long time now I have gotten away from in-person bookclubs, instead I have a few very good virtual friends with whom my reading tastes overlap and we have picked books or short stories to read in tandem, which I thoroughly enjoy.  It's a way to connect with friends and broaden my reading horizons and always it is a very laid back way to read and chat about books.

However there is a local bookstore I frequent and where I buy my books, which is a charming place with lots of personality and a dedicated clientele.  I have become a member of a few bookclubs that the owner organizes.  Often the books chosen are not necessarily books I might generally reach for; this is not a bad thing to read outside my comfort zone.  To be honest, I think the bigger draw for me is to be around a pleasant group of readers whose passion for books matches my own.  So it isn't only about the books but about the social experience, too.  For an introvert, it is like having my own safe space.  

I tend to overextend myself too often when it comes to books, but it is hard not to be drawn into the possibility of a story that will captivate me.  These days, if a book doesn't work for me and I know it early on I will let it go with few qualms, but I still enjoy hearing the discussion.  More often than not, however, I do finish books and have come across some really wonderful new authors and genres.

So my eagerness occasionally gets the better of me (maybe that is true of all the members), so for February, we are tackling (three different groups mind you) several novels!  Sometimes we select a book that is part of a set or series and then we try and read all of them.  This does not always work well for me, being a very slow reader who is constantly grazing when it comes to books ... but I am always willing to try.

Our choices (made last December) that we will be meeting to talk about at the end of the month are: top to bottom:

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods is a gentle sort of read, a mostly enjoyable bit of escapism, though I found the storytelling maybe a little bit uneven.  It is narrated by three characters in two different timelines.  The story is set in Dublin and opens in the 1920s when the bookshop was established by a woman who fled an arranged marriage first to Paris, where she learned the bookselling trade from non other than Sylvia Beach, and then later to Ireland.  Her own passion was the Bronte family, in particular she hopes to find evidence of a purported manuscript written by Emily.  Fast forward to the present where a young woman flees an abusive marriage for Dublin and finds work as a sort of maid/helper to an eccentric older woman on an unusual street called Ha'Penny Lane.  Just the spot where there is rumored to have been a bookshop (the lost bookshop) that a British grad student is trying to locate.  The author manages to touch upon some difficult subjects in a way that is not too distressing that gets to a happy ending. 

Lyla Sage's Done and Dusted is perhaps not a book I might have gravitated to on my own.  I am more a reader of fiction--mysteries--historical novels that are big on characters and plots with a dash of romance that is more swoony than super spicy.  So I surprise myself in saying I quite enjoyed this cowboy romance.  The story is set in Wyoming where a young woman returns home after a bad fall from a horse.  Her plan is to work her family's ranch and not fall for her brother's best friend she grew up knowing but would not have imagined falling for (since most of the women in town already had).  But you know how that goes.  Sparks fly and some of them are quite sizzling.  I liked Clementine's spunky best friend who is likely to get a book of her own and I might have to pick up if I come across it.

I am now reading and very much enjoying the YA novel Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross.  Another genre I don't tend to pick up often is fantasy, but I was pulled into this story from the start.  There are gods and goddesses who have reawakened and have gone to war while raining down violence and fear on the humans who are in the way.  The rivals are two journalists who are competing for a position as columnist on a prestigious newspaper.  What I love about this story is the way the magic of the fantasy is quirky and charming and maybe not so otherworldly that it feels entirely foreign.  The rivals are connected to each other through their typewriters that magically send messages back and forth.  One of the rivals does not know who she is talking to and the other has already fallen for her and I fear he is setting himself up for some grief when she discovers his deceptions.  There is a sequel called Ruthless Vows and the idea was to read the pair of books by bookclub night, but I suspect I will be doing good to just finish the first book.  I do want to read the sequel, however.  Eventually.  

Bookclub is always an adventure!

In Search of a Little (bookish) Romance

Hello, reading friends.  I cannot tell you how many posts I have written in my head this year so far, and I have a real one in progress from last week.  I know.  Talk is cheap and once the world begins to really 'right' itself can I use life as we know it now as an excuse for my inertia?  Spring is coming (yes, those geese are flying north again).  The Women's Longlist of titles has been revealed.  I have a healthy and quite attractive (and in some cases very engrossing) pile of current reads.  I have some really good ones, and some I wish were better.

Today, just something short. I am, as the title of my post implies, in the mood for a little romance.  Alas, the only real kind I am banking on actually finding is the fictional kind.  Even if I did not have social distancing and COVID to use as an excuse, I would not be optimistic of finding any other kind these days anyway.  But that's okay.  It is just a matter of finding a satisfying romantic story.  

I have been looking at books (and trying a few) that are actually in the romance genre, but none seems to be exactly the right tone or style or intensity (or maybe lack thereof) that I want right now.  So, I put my question to you, my bookish friends.  I have thought I could just turn to an old favorite, and I have a fair few number of books I find comforting and satisfying (in a contented sigh upon finishing) in my mental list.  But I am always in favor of looking for something new.  

So, let me mention a few of my top 'romantic' reads and see if you can suggest something similar?

Perhaps top of the list are a few books in particular by Clare Chambers (many times have I reread them), and yes, I am actually reading now her Women's Prize longlisted most recent novel (though a bit different from her previous titles I have in mind).

Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher might sway me, though it is quite a chunkster.

Almost anything by Mary Stewart!

Jennifer Robson's novels tend to have the right tone.

Yes, please, Katharine McMahon (I wish she had something new coming out).

I have a list or two of comfort reads that will give you a very good idea.

Life has, as we all well know, been so challenging lately and I feel like I am not holding up so well and so escapism is the key for me right now.  

So, if you have read something with a romantic slant that left you with a nice, warm feeling of contentment, please do share.  

And I promise to finish my semi-written post and also to let you know what I have been reading (and watching lately).  (And I Greatly appreciate all the lovely comments you have left and the emails I have received and I will respond, I promise).

I hope your reading is taking you to just the right place you need to go, too!

How to Find Love in a Bookshop, Veronica Henry

Veronica Henry's How to Find Love in a Bookshop is pretty much a delight from first sentence to last.  How can a book about books, bookshops and readers not strike a cord among fellow book lovers.  Even the slightly dramatic or heavier elements of the story don't bog down the mind of the reader too much as you just know things are going to be resolved happily in the end.  I don't think I give away anything by saying that the endings (yes, plural) are neat and tidy, since it is the various plots that make up the story that are what makes this book such a pleasure to read.

I think I could happily live in the fictional village of Peasebrook in the heart of the Cotswolds.  Imagine a picturesque hamlet amidst the undulating fields of green.  All those lovely cottages with loads of flowers out front and tiny twisty little streets.  A real little community where everyone knows everyone else.  One perfect little bookshop serving the village run by a man who has a love of literature and books and knows his neighbors so well that they pop in for a browse and a chat.  I'd book the lone table at Thomasina's little restaurant known as A Deux she runs on weekends out of her home and have a cider at the local pub, buy cheese at the shop where Jem works and maybe be friends with June who was once an actress but now has a beautifully decorated little cottage.  Oh yes, and be a regular customer at Nightingale Books.

Nightingale Books is the heart of the story even though this is not just about the bookseller and his shop but about the whole community of Peasebrook.  (I can imagine it being made into a TV series on PBS, but I'd rather it be a real place).  The bookstore was lovingly imagined by Julius Nightingale and his wife Rebecca.  The two, he a British student at Oxford and she an American on her way home, meet and have a whirlwind romance.  It wasn't meant to work out quite the way it did.  It all happened far too fast--their falling in love and the unexpected result of a baby.  They decide, since they essentially met in a bookshop and both have a deep love of reading that maybe they should open one themselves since everything about their relationship has been quick, almost accidental and very unexpected.  But tragedy strikes and Julius is left on his own, a young man with a baby girl to raise alone. 

This is where the magic really, begins.  Out of sadness comes Nightingale Books, which is the planet around which all the characters, the residents of Peasebrook revolve.  When the story opens, Emilia has been called home from abroad where she works as her father's health has been quickly declining.  She never knew her mother and she never expected to lose her father so soon.  He never held her back from following her dreams, but when he dies she feels it is the right thing to do to come home and carry on running Nightingale Books.  She was all but raised in the shop and books have always been a part of her life, but her dream of running it is not as easily achieved as she expects. 

Julius was always more about community and passing on a love of literature to his friends and customers.  It was run with love and not with an eye solely for profits, so when Emilia takes over she finds the shop is riddled with debts that she is not sure she can pay off and turn Nightingale Books around to turn into a successful business she can make a living from.  A local property developer has had his eye on the bookstore and hopes to convince Emilia to sell but she is determined to try and make a go of it with a little help from friends.  Nothing is ever as easy as it looks, however.  

Emilia and Nightingale books may be at the center but there are many threads running through this story.  Many loves and dreams of the community that makes this such a magical read.  I found myself swept up into the daily dramas and heartbreaks, all the storylines are interlinked and they all come to satisfying resolutions but it is always the journey there that makes for the pleasant reading.  And of course the story is peppered with book and literary references.  This is perfect escapist reading to tuck away into your bag when you go to the beach or on vacation (or just sitting in your favorite chair or at your favorite coffeeshop).  Many thanks to Penguin Books for sending this my way, I had a feeling it would be right up my alley, and indeed it was.  It looks like Veronica Henry has an admirable backlist of books which I think will be fun to explore.  

Act Like It by Lucy Parker

It's rare that I gravitate towards a novel that is pure romance.  I don't mind a mystery or a literary novel or a comfort read that has a bit of romance in it, as a matter of fact I often like it when a story has that element, but it always needs to have something more as the main focus or the action driving the plot.  So when I was reading one of Book Riot's newsletters and Lucy Parker was mentioned as a writer of romance for people who don't necessarily read the genre, I decided I should give her a try. 

Her first novel, Act Like It has sat for some time on my TBR pile waiting for just the right mood, which finally surfaced recently.  It's what you might call a Rom-Com of a story.  I knew what was coming, but it was fun getting there--more of a build up of the story and light on the detailed romance-y bits, so it offered just the right tone and distraction I was in need of.

The story is set in contemporary London's West End, the heart of the theater district.  If I am going to read a romance story I kind of like the sort with two characters who would rather not be together and spend a good part of the story sparring wits and words.  There's a general mistrust that maybe even verges on dislike before they decide that, indeed, there is maybe a spark of something more there they had not anticipated.  A 'wait a moment, what's going on here' climax and then the inevitable coming together but then drama and maybe misunderstanding ensues before a happy resolution.  Okay, so it sounds pretty formulaic and maybe the arc of the story is on the predictable side, but the journey is so much fun it is hard not to just lose yourself in this book and enjoy the ride.

Mix one very condescending, attractive, successful actor with a talented, socially conscious actress who likes her chocolate and you get a perfect pairing of opposites.  Richard Troy may be a star headliner, but he's thrown one too many tantrums in public and his image is beginning to tarnish.  Significantly.  He aspires to a position in the RSPA (Royal Society of Performing Arts) but his chances seem to be diminishing at the same rate as his public escapades increase.  Lainie Graham is the theater world's sweetheart.  She's just come off a bad relationship with a fellow actor, so her social calendar is open.  Lainie has an easy going nature and a warm sense of humor but it belies the sadness her family has endured.  She spends as much of her free time raising money for a cancer charity and is always looking for opportunities to add to their coffers.

Maybe you see where this is headed?  Two actors--one whose reputation is sullied the other's whose shines?  A little public romance would do wonders to help shore up Richard Troy's ratings with the public.  Fans always love a good love story and what does it matter if they don't actually like each other.  They just need to act like it.  There is always more to a person's story than the story on the surface.  And there is more to Richard Troy and Lainie is as delightful as she appears.  The course of true love never did run smooth and it doesn't for Richard and Lainie, but they discover a few things along the way.

This is as fun and charming and enjoyable a read as it sounds.  If you think you don't like romance novels, but you're willing to give the genre a try, you might like this.  I enjoyed it so much I have her second book and there is currently a third out as well with a fourth anticipated.  So she is my go-to romance novelist now.  She writes a series set in the theater world called the London Celebrities Series (opposites attract comedies), which I think are going to be one of my happy discoveries this year.