For those who love bookshops, libraries, or book clubs, the characters in these books will probably feel like friends. Though I read a lot and all the time, I don’t always love books about bookish people. But sometimes, a book will encapsulate so perfectly why I love reading. The way books bond people together. The way they provide escapism, or advice, or mysteries to solve. And the way they can send us on adventures both in and outside our imaginations.
Contemporary Fiction
(#1) Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
This short novel follows a young woman who moves into the room above her uncle’s secondhand bookstore. She gets to know her new neighborhood and the people in it, the regular customers at the bookshop, and her own family.
This book was really charming. I borrowed it on a whim from the library and read it in two days. I especially liked seeing Takako falling in love with reading again. In summary, I enjoyed this book, and I liked its sequel even better.
(#2) The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
This Spanish thriller is about a book dealer looking into a Dumas manuscript. The manuscript leads him into a dangerous investigation, devil worshipers, travels around Spain and Portugal, and some people who might be too obsessed with books.
I loved this, and after reading it, I read pretty much all of Perez-Reverte’s other translated works. It’s one of those books I’m scared to re-read because I’m afraid I won’t be drawn in again the same way.
(#3) The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
This is a romantic comedy starring local bookstore employee Nina Hill, who discovers her family after her father dies. There’s also trivia, book clubs, and bonding over books.
I found the book to be a fun, if not particularly deep, read. There was some humor and positives vibes, which I appreciated.
(#4) The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn
In this German book, an elderly bookseller delivers books to his customers and a young girl decides to tag along.
This book spoke very beautifully to the impact of the written word on people. The story was cute and tied together quite well at the end. It was also the first German book that I read, and it reminded me to read outside of my usual categories of books.
(#5) Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum
This Korean novel is about a woman who leaves her corporate career to open a small neighborhood bookstore. It reads a little more as connected stories than one large plot running through the entire novel.
The book is pleasant to read and the characters are relatable. Plus, the bookstore was also a coffee shop, and cozy settings really don’t get any better.
(#6) What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
This is a series of interconnected short stories, connected by a library at a community center. The individuals in the short stories deal with small life problems—unfulfilling jobs, unhappy marriages, retirement—which are addressed through the books recommended by the librarian.
I liked that this book deals with problems that are essentially low-stakes, small, and insignificant in the grand scheme of things but feel very large to us. In our lives, our marriages and jobs are bigger in our daily lives than the problems on the national news. I liked that this book, one of my first introductions to the genre, showed characters making small changes that greatly improved their lives.
Historical Fiction
(#7) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Set in 1940s Barcelona, this Spanish novel follows a young man so drawn by an obscure book that he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the author and discovers dark secrets about the past.
I read this over a decade ago, when it felt like everyone was reading it. So if you missed this book’s heyday, I recommend giving it a chance.
(#8) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
This book is set in the years following WWII, when author Juliet Ashton connects via letters with a book club on Guernsey. She investigates the book club, wanting to write about their experiences during the war, when the island was under occupation.
This epistolary novel was so popular that Netflix made a film adaptation. I’d heard that the book had a charm that the movie lacked, and I agree.
(#9) The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
This historical thriller takes you on a journey across Europe to uncover the “real” Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, as the heroine investigates her own family’s history.
A lot of this book was heavy on the research and academia vibes, which I enjoyed. I’m frankly surprised this book is never included in lists of dark academia books. It doesn’t have the satirical edge necessary for a true dark academia novel, but the atmosphere is most certainly there.
Fantasy
(#10) Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
This fantasy novel is about a scholar obsessed with translating a mysterious book written in a language of thorns. She uncovers a mystery that’s somehow relevant to the political problems in her kingdom.
I never hear McKillip among the fantasy authors talked about these days, but she should be. Her prose is lyrical and her books feel like fairy tales.
Bonus Book
(#11) The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
This book takes you through the history of bookshops in America using specific bookstores as examples. It brings us right to the modern day landscape of both Amazon and resurgent independent bookstores.
For those who love books and bookstores, it might be interesting to read about the people who have been bringing books to us for the last couple of centuries.
If you’re looking for more book recommendations, check out my posts on Slice of Life Novels and Short Novels You Can Read in a Day.
