Member Reviews
Grab the tissues, because this book will pull on your heartstrings. Natalie Harper inherits her mother's charming bookshop, but unfortunately this also comes with all the overdue bills attached to it. On top of that, she becomes caretaker for her grandfather, who is in bad health.
What happened to Natalie's family? A tragic accident takes not only Natalie's fiancé but her mother also. Can Natalie piece together the pages of her life? Natalie decides to sell the bookstore and move her ailing grandfather to a more secure living arrangement.
There's a catch, to sell the bookstore one must first repair the bookstore. In walks Peach Gallagher along with his adorable, book-loving daughter, Dorothy.
Natalie makes many connections throughout this book and some are good for her, but not all appearances are what they appear to be. Can you figure out the puzzle of Natalie's life before she does? This book is filled with joy, heartache and the happy ending we all crave.
Natalie Harper’s life turns upside down when tragedy strikes and leaves her motherless, without a fiancée and with the inheritance of a bookstore in the brink of bankruptcy and a grandfather in need of care,
I enjoyed the unveiling of the story, how it incorporates the building where the bookstore is located as one more character in the book by connecting it with the history of San Francisco, the earthquake and subsequent fire that ravaged the city at the beginning of the 20th century.
I liked the historical aspect of the book, the romance part was weak and needed more development.
Overall an enjoyable book.
I really enjoyed reading this story of love and loss. The way the book looked into the past, but also how important it is to live in the present time. I loved the characters and their interactions with one another. It made my heart hurt to see her grandfather slip away to the terrible progression of Alzheimer’s. At times the story felt a little slow. Over all a really good story with enjoyable characters.
The smell of freshly printed paper and binding glue filled the room as she opened the box of new books. Each cover glistened in the sunlight: historical fiction, romance, thrillers, and mysteries ready to find new homes on the shelves. A single tear dropped down her face as she lovingly lifted each book from the cocoon of the box. The shop was struggling and she wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to have these quiet moments.
The Lost and Found Bookshop was a cute read. As always, I enjoy a book centered around other books and bookshops. It was slow in spots, and a little repetitive, but I enjoyed the characters and the charm of the bookstore. I just wish there had been a tad more action throughout the book.
I found the romance to be a little rushed at the end, but overall it was a blending of lovable characters.
I recommend if you love books with this subject matter and a feel good story/romance. I will mention that there were some tough tragedies to read about, but the author penned these moments well, especially dealing with a loved one with dementia.
TW: Plane Crash, Death of Loved Ones, Loved One with Dementia, Infidelity, Divorce.
On the day that Natalie should be celebrating her promotion she finds out that her boyfriend and mom both died in a plane crash. She needs to go back home to San Francisco to take care of her mother’s estate including the bookshop she owned. During the process she starts to question her life and what she should do next. It is a story of resilience and coming to terms with grief. The character development and story is the perfect cup of comfort.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I should have known after trying to read another book by Wiggs that her style just isn't for me, but I wanted to give her another chance. Unfortunately I think this author is one I'll skip in the future. While cheesy and cute is something I often like, her writing and stories are far too saccharine and sweet for me. Her books are often compared to Hallmark movies, which I love, but am learning I don't appreciate that in my reading. If you're a fan of her books you'll like this one.
The Lost and Found Bookshop is such a great read. I have to admit my bias that I absolutely adore books that take place in bookstores. There is something magical about living and working in a space with the inspiration of great writers all around you. The main character, Natalie, comes back to run the family bookstore after a tragic airplane crash that took the life of her mother, Blythe, and her boyfriend, who was getting ready to propose. At the funeral Natalie reads a quote from a famous poem that will become the biggest question for her own life. “Tell me, what is it you plan for your one wild and precious life?” Because her mom was such a free spirit, Natalie has always played it safe. What should she do now? Should she go back to the stable and predictable job she hated, or risk it all to save the bookstore? When she is at her worst, Natalie meets a handsome handyman named Peach that her mom had hired prior to her death to help tackle some of the projects required by the aging building. Readers will have an immediate soft spot for the handyman and his sweet daughter, Dorothy, who becomes a cheerleader to help rally sales for the bookstore. Readers will also love Natalie’s aging grandfather, Grandy, who lives in the store with Natalie despites his recent struggles with dementia and unknown health problems. This book reminds me of all the things I loved about the movie, You’ve Got Mail (charming bookstore, quirky booksellers, great recommendations / knowing what each person needs …). Like Meg Ryan’s character, Natalie is also trying to honor her mother’s legacy despite the financial challenges ahead. This book is also about the importance of family. Sometimes you have to make difficult sacrifices for the ones you love, but sometimes life gives you a second chance at love. I love how the author included the stories about the hidden treasures in this book. I would love to read more about why these items were hidden where they were found and the early history of the building and the impact of the earthquakes of 1906. I hope she will continue to explore these stories! Thank you to #netgalley and #William Morrow for the copy of this book. Highly recommended book club read!
Thank you to Harper Collins for my copy of The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs in exchange for my honest review.
This was my third book by Susan Wiggs, and I will definetly be reading more in the future. I would say anyone that enjoys Robyn Carr, Elin Hilderbrand, or Jamie Brenner would enjoy this book.
I was instanly intrigued by this one becuase of the bookstore/bookseller premise. And I did enjoy that part of the story too, but I would not say that it was the highlight of it. What I really loved about it was the way that Wiggs took on writing a story with grief at the heart of it. Natalie suffered such a loss, that she struggle with in heartbreaking ways, On top of processing that loss, she takes on the care of her ailing grandfather and her mother's financially troubled bookstore. And by taking all of that on, she gains the chance to discover more about her mother and herself.
This book is also rich with history. I loved hearing about intermingling life of Natalie's ancestors, strangers, and the old buidling that had so many stories to tell.
The realtionship between Natalie and Peach was sweet and healing and just right for the story. I do wish that part of the story wasn't wrapped up so quickly, it felt a little rushed and I would have liked to seen that drawn out more. Overall though, I did really enjoy the ending of this one!
When I saw this book available on NetGalley I was very excited to read it! As a bookseller I love books about bookstores, especially those that have a main character that works in/owns the store. The Lost and Found Bookshop fulfilled all of my wants in a book about bookstores and then some!
Overall the story was really well written and the cast characters was diverse and interesting. The plot was also well paced and made for easy reading.
As a reader I related to Natalie a lot. While dealing with the loses in her life I found a lot of her story very relatable to my own experiences with family illnesses and finances. I think a lot of readers will also be able to find themselves within these pages. Wiggs does an amazing job exploring the many emotions that come along with grief, and moving on, making for a heartfelt read.
While I enjoyed this book overall there were somethings in the book that seemed rushed and were not fully explored like I had expected. Several of the character stories end rather abruptly and I would have liked to have had those stories extended further. I also wasn’t super thrilled with the ending. While the ending was very practical it was also very disappointing. It also felt very rushed and there were aspects of the ending that just didn’t work for me or for this story in my opinion. Up until the last couple chapters I was really enjoying the book but those last few chapters were quite disappointing.
That being said readers who enjoy history and stories that explore grief and moving on will really enjoy this book.
I’ll also be reading more of Wiggs’ books in the future. The Lost and Found Bookshop was well written and definitely makes me want to read more of her books.
This was the first book I have read by this author and it won't be the last! I really liked this book. It was emotional, and heartfelt, and the perfect feel-good story. I would definitely recommend this book. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for somebody who loves books, history and is looking for something light to read.
I loved this book!! Great story!! It was so sad that she lost both her boyfriend and mom at the same time!! It was cool that she got the bookstore!! Read a few books by this author will read more of her books!!
Great book. Would recommend any of her books. Read this book in one day. Her books bringing you into the story. I can't wait for her next book. Thank you for great books especially in this hard time.
This is a gem of a book, with characters you love and a compelling story. I ADORE the little girl who brings our lovers together and I want to be in this bookstore, exploring the shelves. My only concern is with 2-3 pages where the dialog grows very coarse and is uncharacteristic for the couple you've come to know through the book. It's as though an editor told the author to "toss some smut in there to make it sell." Really, skip those pages and you'll love this book.
Let’s start off by saying this book had me at the title. I love bookstores! I wasn’t very far into the book when I started thinking I wouldn’t mind being the main character and inheriting a bookstore or moving and owning my own.
This book pulled me in and took me on a very nice journey. The setting is in San Francisco which was the perfect setting for this novel. If you like rich, well-developed characters, some mystery, romance, history, and intrigue thrown in with an underlining love of words and books, this is the book for you.
I enjoyed this book very much. I loved the characters and I was pulled in. To me, that’s a sign of a good book. It made me think and feel and I very much wanted to know how things would work out for everyone. I didn’t want the book to end.
I think most people could relate to this book. It is satisfying and entertaining.
Thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Such rich characters, they felt like friends. Very enjoyable read with some mystery entwined. Thank thought the overall premise as woven into the story very well
Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.
This was a lovely cozy tale of Natalie and how she was able to overcome a double tragedy. The characters and plot are rich.
Natalie is faced with tragedy early in the book and she works through this while at the same time working to save her grandfather's lifelong home and business.
This book sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the end. Of course you don't want it to end because you are so invested in the characters and their lives.
Wonderful!
"Women's fiction" appears to be my lot in life this summer--somehow I keep picking up examples of it to read!--but as long as they have some kind of romance subplot, I won't complain. Much ;)
(To be honest, it was the word "bookshop" in the title that grabbed me. Who's with me? I know I'm not alone!)
The Lost and Found Bookshop is the story of Natalie, a woman whose "safe" life is essentially turned upside down in a single day. Can she get back to the life she had? After everything she does and learns, will she even want to?
Overall I liked Natalie--she isn't terribly happy with her life at the beginning of the book, but she also didn't really realize that she wasn't at first, and I think that helped to make her more relatable. It took her mother's death (not really a spoiler, if you've read the blurb carefully) to force her to make some immediate changes and to begin to confront her past so that she could work toward a better future. Throw in some lovably quirky characters (her grandfather, a sexy handyman, and his precocious daughter, among others) and a lovely old bookshop as a setting and you've got the ingredients for an engrossing story about life, love, and learning.
The one thing earlyish on that I found a tad bit unrealistic (other than the magic parking spots--i haven't lived in a city in decades--when I did, I was a small child--and even so, I know street parking is a rare and wonderful thing) was how long it took Natalie to figure out that her hot handyman wasn't married. I get her making the assumption early on, but why on earth did it persist when she dragged him out of bed in the wee hours of the morning for an emergency repair and he brought his daughter with him? If he had had a wife back in that bed, the daughter would have stayed with her. And if it had been a case of her being out of town, etc., that would have been part of the "I have to bring Dorothy with me" explanation. I mean, that went on so long it bordered on silly, and it made the romantic subplot a veeeerrrrrrrry sllllllllooooow one.
Later on there were a whole lot of coincidences and convenient plot points that all came together to bring us the HEA--overall I didn't mind *too* much, because it was a sweet ending and I did want things to turn out well for all of the characters--but still, there were an awful lot of historically significant items hidden in that building ;) Overall, Ms Wiggs did a decent job of giving us plausible reasons for each coincidence, but still...some suspension of belief may be warranted.
Rating: 4 stars / B
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
This was such a sweet and charming read. What’s not to love about a book about a charming bookstore? The main characters were great as well. I could really relate with Natalie in making tough decisions that affect family members. Her Dad was one of my favorite characters! Peach and Natalie were perfect for each other.
Great story! I needed some escapism in my life and this was just the ticket. I've always related to escaping in book stores so this book was great. Nice story and well written.