*This book has been provided by the publisher to me via NetGalley for honest review of mine*

What an interesting way of introducing the concept of loneliness, longing, and the weight of personal expectations on an individual! This story is being told in emails, tweets, journal entries, and letters between the characters and in this way, we start knowing our curious bookseller Fawn and her life adventures in Pennsylvania suburb.

With 20 years of experience in bookselling, our protagonist Fawn in her fifties is running a second-hand bookshop in an old Victorian building with her 3 employees and a de-clawed cat Butterscrotch. She loves books, writes all her emails in a long literary fashion and isn't getting along well with her family. Her life immediately changes when a new fashionable, modern bookshop with coffee and beer stands opens just on the other side of the street and this is when we start seeing the whirl of emotions, small "sins", rivalry, and funny, but dangerous actions by Fawn to keep her face and status to prove herself she's a successful businesswoman not repeating her father's mistakes.

Fawn is unlikeable, she lies a lot, pictures a world to others she'd love to live, puts pressure on her employees in a negative way, flirts with married men by being insensitive, is not flexible and stuck to her past, thinks of asking for help being a sign of weakness. But the deeper the narration evolves, we can see the realities of her past haunting her present, her loneliness in every minute of her day despite being with hundreds of books and how she can't get away from this circle of failures.

With this narration style, it's how much we could get to know Fawn and her life, but I wish it'd have stronger background story with more vivid examples and the stronger side characters as sometimes they felt too flat. I wanted to get more of Mark, Gregory, her employees, etc. Also, the book name should have been "The lies of curious Bookseller" as we didn't get much of confessions (maybe 10% of this book?), but more of her imaginative "lies" to keep things going. And the cover is very cheerful which I think is not the true reflection of this story.

Overall, enjoyed this experience, had a strong empathy with Fawn, would love the story be more meaty.

Although it wasn't my favorite read of all time, I definitely did enjoy this book. It was a quick and easy sort of read. And being from Pennsylvania myself, I appreciated that the setting was in Philadelphia. I could picture the area that it was located in and that definitely drew me into the story. I wish that Fawn had more character development throughout the book instead of just at the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

Fawn, the protagonist is quite a similar character to Eleanor Oliphant, however the story is very different. Written in several different mediums including email, reviews and letters, it’s quite a tricky read. I also found it quite hard to warm to any of the characters in the book if I’m being honest.

I am sorry to say that I could not finish this book. As others have said, the protagonist was very hard to warm up to, with her lies and living in a fantasy of her own success. I am disappointed as the blurb was much more positive. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

It is so difficult to pull off a five-star epistolary novel; while Confessions of a Curious Bookseller is a good read, I can't give it five stars.

The story is told through letters, posts, and emails between the protagonist and the various people in her life: her mother, sister, business competitor, a pen pal, to name a few. Fawn Birchill owns a used book store in an old Victorian but her business is compromised when a new, shiny big bookstore opens up down the street from her (shades of "You've Got Mail."). Fawn's store has water pipe issues, plumbing issues, it apparently smells bad, the books have mold, and the basement floods. It's no wonder that customers prefer the new store which offers coffee, craft beer, and author readings.

There's a reason Fawn hangs on to her business and why she struggles so hard to make it work, but for me, that came just too late in the story and was anticlimactic. I found myself frustrated with her rather than sympathetic.

Negativity aside, I did enjoy the book but I just didn't love it. I feel like it might have been better had it been structured differently.

I'm thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was not a novel for me. It was written as a epistolary and it didn't work at all. It was a bit confusing and not quirky or funny at all. I DNF:ed early on.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for this DARC in exchange for my honest review. I've seen many low ratings on this book, and I'm not sure why. I loved the unique style, set in a series of emails, newspaper ads, web site reviews, etc. Yes, it's unique and different, but I loved it. The bookseller clearly had a history of a childhood she felt was neglectful. She makes up a life, and pretends to be what she isn't because she doesn't seem to feel like she is truly worthy. She comes across as quirky, old fashioned and very opinionated, but I feel like there were reasons she felt that way. The author did an admirable job with this very unique narrative, and I loved it.

Going in I was really excited to see where the book was going to go but was ultimately let down. The format of the book is done through a series of emails, reviews, social media posts, blogs, and/or journal entries, which started off as an interesting choice but quickly became monotonous. I thought the lead character Fawn Birchill, a struggling bookstore owner, went past the point of eccentric to over the top and unlikeable. I continued with the book, hoping for some redemption at the end, but ultimately was left unsatisfied. I think the book had potential, but it definitely missed the mark.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

I enjoyed the way this book was presented as letters and emails, rather than a narrative, and I did like the story. I'm looking forward to more books by Elizabeth Green.

An epistolary novel about the story of a woman who manages her bookshop, her love life and her family.. The Blurb and story and narrative(and i specially love epistolary novels) made me really like this book.. But the protagonist seems even more rude as the pages progress and to keep going just to find some redeemable (a tiny vestige) quality seemed futile after 30%
All I am going to say is.. The writing was great, some satiric One liners made me snort out loud, but it was just not worth it to keep searching for some reason behind why the protagonist was sooo very rude.. I hope it gets better, but i dont have high hopes..

I love stories about quirky characters and those stories tend to be my very favorites. But Confessions of a Curious Bookseller fell short. It didn't even get close to the target of quirky. Green wrote her main character, Fawn, in to an obnoxious self-centered woman who was plain rude. I kept reading thinking that Fawn would evolve in to a likable character but it never happened.

It takes a lot for me to give such low reviews but this book just rambled on and on with no characters that I could root for and instead I just wanted the book to be over.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. All thoughts & opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley for providing to me a free digital edition of this book in return for an honest review.
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A heartening and uproariously funny novel of high hopes, bad choices, book love, and one woman’s best—and worst—intentions.

Without question, Fawn Birchill knows that her used bookstore is the heart of West Philadelphia, a cornerstone of culture for a community that, for the past twenty years, has found the quirkiness absolutely charming. When an amicable young indie bookseller invades her block, Fawn is convinced that his cushy couches, impressive selection, coffee bar, and knowledgeable staff are a neighborhood blight. Misguided yet blindly resilient, Fawn readies for battle.

But as she wages her war, Fawn is forced to reflect on a few unavoidable truths: the tribulations of online dating, a strained relationship with her family, and a devoted if not always law-abiding intern—not to mention what to do about a pen pal with whom she hasn’t been entirely honest and the litany of repairs her aging store requires.

Through emails, journal entries, combative online reviews, texts, and tweets, Fawn plans her next move. Now it’s time for her to dig deep and use every trick at her disposal if she’s to reclaim her beloved business—and her life.
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This is a hard one for me to review. First of all, I want to address the cover and the title, neither of which fit the book. The title suggests a light, easy read, which this is not, and the cover suggests a younger main character, while she is described as being in her fifties with grey or white hair (I can't recall which). This doesn't detract from the book, but it does mean that you can't judge this book by its cover.

I initially found this book very funny. The first 20% or so (I read it digitally) had me laughing out loud in several places. It was written as a series of emails between the main character and several others, as well as some entries from her journal, and I enjoy books of that format. However, as I traveled further into her story, I found it to be less funny and more sad in an, "I really feel sorry for this person," kind of way. We see her go through some rather ludicrous situations, pushing the boundaries of even my "It's fiction; accept it," state of mind, and then the book comes to a bit of an abrupt end with a convenient solution that I can say I didn't see coming. I did find it to be an enjoyable read, but it didn't capture me in a way that made me itch to get back to it anytime I had a moment free. That said, I am glad that I read it and would certainly check out other work from this author.

The format of this book made it difficult to engage with any of the characters. I found Fawn to be a quite unlikable and more than a bit OTT. For this reason, I can't rate this book as highly as I'd hoped to be able to.

“Confessions of a curious bookseller” has the premise of a light-heart book, but as pages pass one is left with the sense of reading something that has no purpose at all, The way Elizabeth Green forms her narrative, via emails and letters, starts as an interesting method but soon it proves to be a really boring one for the reader. As I was reading the book I felt that this book is basically a superficial copy-cat of “Confessions of a shopaholic” that one really has to struggle to finish. With a protagonist that one can not sympathize with and a narrative that makes readers suffer, unfortunately, I would not advise anyone to read it unless it is the only book left in a remote hotel in a desert island! Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

DNF at 15%. Fawn is harsh and pompous. A bookstore opens near Fawn's store - though she is presenting an unconcerned front.
The narrative told by email exchanges, reivews written by customers and Fawn elaborating as needed.
I just couldn't get past Fawn and her unlikable character to care about the story.

I struggled with this book, despite the main premise.

Fawn was just not a likeable character and while, at times, that works well for a storyline, it did nothing here.

The writing was okay, but the characters tanked it.

Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to recieve a free copy of this book. To be honest, it was quite boring. I was hoping the story would pick up but it didn't really go anywhere. I wouldn't recommend it for my library.

2.5 STARS

I wanted to to enjoy this book - and in a way I did - but it was SO ANNOYING at times. At times I laughed a lot, and I do really enjoy the emails as a form of narrative storytelling style, but the protagonist, Fawn, is (purposefully) an awful person and it took more than half of the book to get used to her narrative voice.

If Fawn had been just 10% easier to like I think this book would have been more enjoyable. As it stands, the book was quite funny but unfortunately when it came to the less whimsical plot aspects about Fawn's relationship with her family I struggled to sympathise with her because she is - to be entirely blunt about it - just a massive Karen.

What a gem of a book !! Feeling a little down and struggling to get into books I came across this read and couldn’t put it down ... I loved the main character Fawn and the way the book was written as emails/blog entries. Fawn runs a run down charming bookshop in her own eccentric way new bookshop on the block run by Mark opens and the story unfolds. We learn a lot about Fawn her childhood, relationship with her father and the ‘fake’ world she presents but beneath this you also learn the harsh reality of why she acts as she does. I didn’t want this book to end and we could surely see the further adventures of Fawn I feel in a sequel

Read this book in one sitting, and though the format it was written was mostly through email, posts, etc, I was not bothered by it. The author was able to carry on the story smoothly and without confusing the reader. At times the main character Fawn was a bit annoying or I just felt like I wasn’t really getting to know her, just her annoying habits and her overall sometimes mean demeanor. I enjoyed the book and always enjoy books that pertain to bookstores, librarians or book sellers.