The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

I love Jenny Colgan's writing, so I jumped at the chance to read The Christmas Bookshop during the holiday season. And, I was every bit as charmed and heart-warmed as I expected. 

Carmen has been working at a department store for years but it's been slowly going downhill. When it closes permanently, she's at loose ends and has no choice but to return to her parents' home. Her sister Sofia lives in a perfect house in Edinburgh with a perfect husband and they have lucrative jobs, both lawyers. Sofia is expecting her fourth child and when their mother asks Sofia if she can possibly find a job for Carmen, Sofia realizes that Carmen might be the person who can help a small bookstore owner, Mr. McCredie, at least get his business in enough shape to sell it as a going concern instead of an empty storefront. Mr. McCredie is more of a bibliophile hermit than a businessman and has frittered away his entire inheritance. He's about to lose everything. 

Carmen is not interested in living with her accomplished sister in her fancy house but a bookshop sounds like a decent place to earn a little money. What she finds is a disaster. The bookshop is dusty with mostly antiquarian books, no organization, and no hint at Christmas decor. Carmen's a little overwhelmed, at first, but then she gets to work cleaning, organizing, decorating and creating events to draw people in. While doing so, she meets two men who appeal to her. One is a famous author with perfect teeth and lots of money. The other studies and lectures about trees. 

Can Carmen draw in enough traffic and sell enough books to help Mr. McCredie's shop keep going? Or, will Christmas be the end of her job and the bookshop, entirely. And, what about those two guys? Will she let the wealthy man who writes inspirational books sweep her away? Or, will she find herself with a sudden interest in trees and man buns? 

Highly recommended - A lovely tale of friendship and love in snowy Edinburgh at Christmas, worth buying to save for next year if you're a Christmas book fan or downloading right now if you need a little upper. There's a lot of tension between sisters Sofia and Carmen so this book fit the "sisters who learn to get along" theme that I love (because I have a sister with whom I have little in common) but there's so much else I loved about this book. I loved taking an armchair visit to Edinburgh. Because she mentioned a lot of sights, I had fun looking things up on my phone. I loved visualizing the quirky little shop and seeing in my mind's eye what Carmen did to make it lovely and grab the interest of people passing by. I loved how Carmen interacted with her nieces and nephew, encouraging the one who was most like her, who was experiencing similar frustrations as a sister and student. And, I really want to see the giant tree that drew Oke, the dendrologist, to study in Edinburgh. I'm pretty sure I've read about that same tree elsewhere (it's about 2,000 years old) and I enjoyed reading about it again. I also adored the relationship between Carmen and Mr. McCredie, a wounded soul whose emotional and work life Carmen improved. 

In fact, I loved the world she built in Edinburgh so much that I really didn't want to leave it. But, The Christmas Bookshop has a perfect, lovely, satisfying ending so I closed it with a smile on my face and I may have shed a few tears. 

Many thanks to HarperCollins for the review copy! I will hang onto this one for a reread. I'm not big on reading seasonal books otherwise, but Christmas is a big YES. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Endless Beach by Jenny Colgan

A note up front: The Endless Beach is apparently a follow-up book to The Café by the Sea (I couldn't tell if there was only one previous book or more from the author's intro, but I suspect that it's the second book that takes place with the same characters). While the author did a good job of catching up readers who missed the first book, I think it would have been more enjoyable to read The Café by the Sea, first.

Flora is the proprietor of the small Café by the Sea, a little shop that caters to the needs of islanders on the Scottish island of Mure. Flora has been in a relationship with her former boss, Joel, since he followed her to Mure and she gave up her London job. Now, Joel is working for a fabulously wealthy man who has fallen in love with Flora's brother and is planning to open a hotel on the island. The job is taking Joel away to New York City for long stretches and Flora is beginning to have doubts. Is he really the man for her?

Meanwhile, the café is beginning to struggle. After Flora caters a wedding, she has difficulty getting the bride to pay up. And, her low prices are starting to hit the bottom line hard. At the same time, whales have been seen off the coast of Mure. They're considered a bad omen and Flora is feeling uneasy.

What will become of Flora's relationship with Joel? What is his fabulously wealthy boss's crushing secret? And, will Flora be able to save the café?

There are other things going on in The Endless Beach. It has a bit of a soap opera feel (which I love), like you're a part of this little community and become invested in everyone's life. The local doctor, for example, left a wife and two children behind in Syria and a teacher and friend of Flora's has fallen for him. But, when he hears news about his family from a social worker, his world is turned upside-down and the teacher is left torn.

Highly recommended - I suggest reading The Café by the Sea, first, because I had a little difficulty understanding where the characters were coming from, in spite of the fact that the author catches you up nicely on events that occurred in the previous book. If you can't get your mitts on the first book you'll be fine; reading the first will just acquaint you with the characters and the background of the second book better. I love that feeling that you're swept into the happenings of the island and get a feel for the community, not just the main characters. And, I love Jenny Colgan's writing, in general. It leans "cheerful", even when the characters are facing challenges.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

Have I ever told you about my chick lit obsession? Back in the 1990s, when I was writing feverishly and belonged to a romance writers' group (because it was the only writing group that was active, although I didn't fancy myself "into" romance), I began reading romance to try to understand what my friends in the group were all about. That led me to chick lit and the discovery that I only like British chick lit, not American and definitely not Irish. At that time, Jenny Colgan was one of my absolute favorite authors. And, then I started to move away from romance when I stopped writing and left the group. I've occasionally seen Jenny Colgan's name amongst the offerings from publishers but didn't think the stories sounded right for me . . . till The Bookshop on the Corner.

I'm sure just about everyone reading this review looked at that cover and thought, "Oooooh." How could you not love it? A window crammed with shelves of beautiful books, the word "bookshop" in the title, and an author I happen to already know I enjoy were all it took for me to say, "Yes, please," to reviewing The Bookshop on the Corner.

Nina Redmond is about to lose her job as a librarian. Thanks to budget cuts, the library in Birmingham is closing and everyone is being encouraged to apply at a media center, whatever that is. Nina can't let the books be sacrificed, so she piles them into her car and begins taking loads of them home. But, her roommate, Surinder, is not happy. There are books piled everywhere in their shared flat. Then, Nina gets a brilliant idea. She'll create a rolling bookshop and sell them! That way the books will find a new home and Nina will have an income.

Unfortunately, the only van big enough to fit the task is in Scotland. After buying the van, Nina discovers Scotland is a perfect place to sell her books and she moves into an updated barn on a farm, near a grumpy landlord in the midst of a divorce. After nearly being stricken by disaster on a train track, Nina falls for a train conductor who loves poetry. Meanwhile, she's working hard at learning how to fit in with the locals. Will Nina's business survive and thrive or will she be forced to return to Birmingham? Is the train conductor the love of her life or just a diversion? And, what about those Scots?

Highly recommended - I think The Bookshop on the Corner is as much a love song to Jenny Colgan's second, adopted home in Scotland as it is a romance and a story about books. Frankly, I loved everything about it. Light-hearted writing, great characters, a sweet romance, tons of book chatter, and a dip into Scottish culture make The Bookshop on the Corner a charming, escapist read, especially great for reading on a plane or beach, or any other time you're looking for something especially light to read.

Warning: You may find yourself looking up and possibly even buying titles mentioned by Nina in the process of selling her wares. I came out of the book with only a single title on its way to me (still waiting for it to arrive) but I would have likely ordered more if there'd been a bit more detail provided. At least one book was mentioned repeatedly but without mentioning the author. Argh, frustration! I really want to look up that particular book, even though Nina keeps saying it's "rare". At any rate, there's a bit of danger to reading a book about books. I just thought you ought to know.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.