Bookish People by Susan Coll is a humorous novel that takes place in an independent bookstore in Washington, D.C. The writing is so smooth and clear that I felt like I was sitting in a comfortable corner of the shop watching the unique and somewhat eccentric characters. They’re all book people, my kind of people.
Sophie Bernstein, owner of the bookstore, is still mourning her husband’s death, is about to lose her best employee, and is regularly frustrated with her young adult son. She yearns to hide away in a secret space behind a bookcase in the store.

The cover and title of this book EASILY drew me in, but sadly this book was really hard for me to get into. Other than the setting (a lovely bookstore in DC) and the writing, the only other thing i liked was the pet tortoise. I felt the book dragged, and the chapters seemed extremely long. Multiple pov’s are introduced, and I found it hard to connect with any of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for providing the ARC of this book. I’ve left my review voluntarily and honestly.

This didn’t land for me. I am down for a long description now and again, but these went on and on. I didn’t care for the main character comparing herself to Anne Frank. That is not something that resonated well with me. I am sure lots of folks will love this, and I thought I would but this is a pass for me.

3⭐️

I think this book can be pretty much summed up in two words: mundane chaos. It’s about a bookstore in Washington DC and all of the people who work there and what they put up with on a day to day basis. Sophie, the owner, has an interesting rivalry with the vacuum cleaner and it becomes a major plot point. Clemi’s organizing events at the bookstore and has booked a poet who is actually her father but he does’t know it, and he’s incredibly controversial because his wife recently committed suicide and people blame him. There’s so much going on in this book for just a bookstore. An enjoyable, quick and interesting read.

What the publisher describes as "A perfect storm of comedic proportions" is in essence a high-anxiety three-ring circus. It is told from the viewpoint of two of the main characters, both of whom are overwhelmed by what life and their jobs throw at them. And some of that stress is completely understandable, while other parts of it are simply their own fault.

As a reader, there is no respite. Bouncing back and forth between these two neurotic women is far from enjoyable or entertaining. And the chaos that ensues from the choices they make is far from comedic.

As a book person myself (avid reader, author, editor, and publisher), I typically love stories that are set in bookstores. But this one was painful to finish. I kept checking to see how much farther I had left, hoping it might somehow get better. Silly me...

Thank you to Susan Coll, Harper Muse and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Bookish People, by Susan Coll, is a cute and quirky story about the lives and interwoven relationships among the staff in a local bookshop. A character rich story that is both upbeat and humorous, while also tackling heavier topics such as grief of a spouse and the reemergence of nazism.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book just wasn't for me but that doesn't mean it was a bad book! I just found myself unable to get into the story and the characters. Thank you for an early read of this #Netgalley!

DNF - I shouldn't have requested this knowing the subject matter but I was hopeful that the presentation would be something different & that I might find myself really enjoying the book. Unfortunately, neither of those things proved to be true so, here I am.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

amazing storyline and entertaining, the only issue is that it felt just okay. nothing stood out of this book and made it feel outstanding. there were amazing characters and the plot was good just became a bit repetitive. i did find myself in need to drag myself to finish this and instead of sitting and continuing to update where i was i decided finishing it without stops would be the best option.

good and fun but not what i would’ve aimed at at first. thank you to Harper Muse for a copy this!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
It's an okay book. My main complaint is that I found the switching between POVs a little confusing, but thats completely personal. I think my problem was that I went in expecting something and it wasn't what I was expecting.
It's by no means a bad book, it just wasn't for me.

Came for the cool cover and DC setting and ended up with something completely unexpected. Written by an author who currently works at one of my favorite DC bookstores (Politics and Prose), set in a DC bookstore. Naturally, I couldn’t help but picture P&P while reading this.

Takes place shortly after the horrific 2017 march in Charlottesville where one of the employees is a victim. Reads like a stream of consciousness through different characters in different points of their lives while they cope with what is happening around them. Felt somewhat realistic as we have one character lose all hope in humanity, one character more worried about coparenting a turtle with a crush, and one character just worried about his reputation as a poet.

I felt no connection with the characters and plot, and there was entirely too much about a vacuum. Sadly, this was a no-go for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Had high expectations from this but the book unfortunately did not pick up for me and I struggled to find myself enjoying this. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this!

“She sometimes thinks the world divides into two types of people, those who think books are for reading when there’s nothing else to do, and those who avoid other things to do in order to read books—and unsurprisingly she’s in the latter camp, but really, is that so awful?”

I had high hopes for Bookish people and am generously giving it 3 stars. I'm disappointed by this book. I'm not sure if this book is too close to home- a Washington DC indie bookstore's ins and outs- when I use books to escape, or if it was Coll's weird hyper fixation on details/storylines I didn't think were that funny (re: the vacuum and aga). Similarly, the Charlottesville stuff felt forced (like the author felt like she needed to mention race in order to avoid being labeled racist). Sophie was unlikeable, and not in a quirky, funny, badass bitch way nor a satirical way, but in a sad, unrelatable way.

I did love Clemi and the other bookstore employees. I also have an inherent soft stop for a book about books. I admire the characters love for literature and storytelling and the ethics of it all. The questions of separating the art and the artist both in consumption but also advertising is one I'm also confronted with. Same with the conversation of capitalism- are some things sort of exempt from capitalist guilt (like cool, indie bookstores that are relatively pure and in some ways fighting against capitalism). Some moments were funny and while the relatability was a turn off in some ways, it was also an aspect I liked about the book. Coll referencing niche experiences among those who work in bookstores made me feel like I was in on a joke or in an elite group.

Lastly, how do we have an entire book about indie booksellers without having multiple overtly queer characters?

3/5 stars

I really really wanted to like this book because I LOVE books about books and this book cover is amazing but this book just feel flat for me.

Sophie, the main character was good and relatable and I loved all the bookish talk about owning a book store.

The writing was a bit armature and didn't have much depth. This book talked about political and social controversial topics that seemed a bit out of place for this book. I was also a bit confused when the book switched from one point of view to the other. I wanted to DNF this book but I don't DNF much at all.

I will give this author another chance but sadly this one fell flat for me.

Thank you Net Galley for a copy of Bookish Peoustart read for me. I found the book depressing. The story line uninteresting.

This wasn't a hit or a miss for me, just somewhere in the middle.


I love books and I love books about books, but this one didn't grip me! I found Sophie to be a believable 50something, but I didn't find her younger counterpart to accurately be "aged" well - clemi also read like an older woman.

It wasn't bad but wasn't overly memorable

I so truly wanted to love this book - it's fun, quirky, bookish, etc. - but it was lacking a certain oomph & cohesive feeling. I found myself willing it to be over and I just never fully connected with the characters. It reminded me of if Sally Rooney wrote The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and while it didn't work for me, I do think that others will enjoy it.

3.5 stars. Bookish People is the perfect example of why you should never judge a book by its cover. So many other reviews for this book mention how adorable the cover is, and it definitely is -- but this is not what I would call an "adorable" book, and I don't think it's supposed to be. What Bookish People is, really, is a darkly funny, heartfelt, character-driven work of literary fiction about the book world. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Set in an independent bookstore in D.C. during the week in 2017 bookmarked by the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, VA, and the total solar eclipse, Bookish People is mostly the story of two women: Sophie, the owner of the bookstore, who is grieving the loss of her husband and wants to quite literally retreat into a hidden room full of books; and Clemi, her events manager, who has recently learned that she is likely the illegitimate child of a controversial British poet who may or may not have caused the death of his wife. Surrounding these women is a cast of quirky characters, employees and customers and authors alike, as well as a Russian tortoise named Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

It took me a while to get into the flow of this book. The narrative jumps around a lot, and there isn't really a cohesive plot; it's written more as a series of vignettes which come together to paint a portrait of one tumultuous week in a bookstore. Bookish People is a sharply satirical look at the book world, covering everything from the inner workings of a bookstore to the season's hottest book with "girl" in the title, The Girl in Gauzy Blue. Although character-driven, it does feel like Susan Coll keeps many of her characters at arms' length, most likely due to the fact that there are so many of them. And if the book feels unfocused at times, it makes up for that by culminating in an uproariously funny, chaotic conclusion that more than earns the "screwball comedy" designation it's given in the blurb.

If you love books, I think you'll find something in Bookish People that you relate to. You may even find yourself in it.

This was an enjoyable story. I finished it all in a day. I loved the theme of the book based around a bookshop and the people who make up its community. While reading this book though I couldn't get it out of my head that I had read something very similar before years ago. That took away a bit of the enjoyment for me.

There was a very varied variety of people in this book and they definitely brought out different emotions while reading. I also enjoyed that some were very relatable. This was a nice medium paced book. I enjoyed reading it and I am glad I did but it just wasn't anything special for me. You might feel very different so you could always read a sample. I have to mention how much I loved the cover. This must be one of the nicest Covers I have seen this year.

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this enjoyable story. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/bookish-people-by-susan-coll-hartpermuse-3-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Overall I really enjoyed it, and pictured it as a sit-com if it was a TV show/movie. Liked many of the quotes/thoughts by various characters. Especially how the world is divided based on reading styles.

Portraying a 53 year old as elderly though was a bit off putting. As a grieving widow, yes spot on, but elderly at 53 not so much. Maybe that aspect just hit me, since I am in my early 60's lol.
However the quirky characters and what goes on in a bookstore were quite enjoyable (even if some strained credulity). It was a humorous book, that lifted my mood.

I liked the characters and the author's writing. The story itself was ok. Part of the storyline is around one of the bookshop employees. She is determined to have a controversial poet at the store because she believes it is her father. But when it got to that point there was a brief encounter with her mom and the poet, but it quickly ended. The storylines of the main characters in the story felt this way. Over just as quick as it began. At times it felt like there was too much going on.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for the opportunity to read and review this book.