Bookish People is a book about, well... bookish people. Set at an indie bookstore in Washington D.C. the week in 2017 which began with the white supremacist Unite the Right Rally of Charlottesville, VA featuring "very fine people" like neo-Nazis and Klansman, and Trump enthusiasts, et. al., and ended with the once in a century solar eclipse (what a week, huh?) The story features a cast of bookstore employees but primarily focuses on owner Sophie, who at 54 has recently been widowed and is grieving the loss of her husband while ever so subtly carving out a secret room behind shelves where she can go into hiding, and her much younger events manager Clemi, an aspiring author, who is hosting an event featuring a controversial poet who might bring protestors to their door and who might also be her absentee father, there's also a tortoise named Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

I didn't realize this going in, and I don't think I'm alone in this, Bookish People is a character driven work of literary fiction. I feel like perhaps the cover or synopsis may have given me a different impression, but once I caught the vibe I was really very pleasantly surprised by this story! It's very of the literary world, Readers will recognize some of the employees and customers (they may even find themselves within the pages) and humorously peppered with gems like describing a new buzzy author as "Lauren Groff meets Haruki Murakami meets Jodi Picoult" or fictional fiction such as a speculative work featuring Vice President Dan Quayle as an undercover narcotics agent, and of course, there's this seasons bestseller which everyone is reading and the store just can't seem to keep stocked: <i>The Girl in Gauzy Blue</i>.

The humor is sharp and sophisticated, the characters relatable and endearing, I just really enjoyed this book!

When I first read the description of this book I was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. While the setting was great, I found it hard to get into the plot.

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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

I was excited as I started reading Bookish People when I realized that Sophie, one of the narrators is Jewish. I am all about Jewish representation in books. However, I found Bookish People very difficult to read and Sophie very hard to connect with.

The narration in Bookish People distances the reader from the characters. The tone is straightforward and seems removed from the emotions Sophie and Clemi are feeling. In school, we are warned against “telling” rather than “showing” in writing, and there was a lot of “telling.” The reader is told that Sophie “does not wish to be at this party” rather than given description that reveals that fact.

I also struggled with all of the discussion of vacuum cleaners. There is almost an entire chapter where Sophie goes through every vacuum cleaner Sophie has ever owned. Through extensive description of Sophie bashing her current vacuum, I tried to figure out the symbolism. I could see Sophie feeling as those she’s become broken and obselete like the vacuum, but I do feel like description of every one Sophie has owned was overkill.

Bookish People takes place firmly in August 2017, right around the time of the “Unite the Right” protests in Charlottesville. Of course, as an American Jew, it was very disconcerting to see neo-Nazis expressing their views openly in the United States. Sophie immediately compares herself to Anne Frank and her family and starts preparing an annex in the bookstore for her to live in. You have to be very careful when comparing anything to Hitler’s actions, and I found this very off-putting.

Many bookstores have canceled readings by Raymond Chaucer due to his potential involvement in his wife’s death. Clemi and Sophie both struggle with whether or not to welcome him to their store. As soon as this is presented, the reader gets a chapter from Raymond’s point of view. I found it problematic that the reader is so quickly asked to get into the head of someone who has been set up as such a bad person. The chapter doesn’t do a lot to convince the reader otherwise either.

I really wanted to like Bookish People, but I really struggled with it.

Independent bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein is having a rough time right now. Still mourning the sudden loss of her husband, now she is faced with her favorite store manager leaving, the news is filled with all of the latest acts of racial injustice and hate crimes that are popping up all over the U.S., and she is worried about her only child’s lack of ambition. Meanwhile, renowned poet Raymond Chaucer has published a new collection, and rumors that he’s to blame for his wife’s suicide have led to national cancellations of his publicity tour. He intends to set the record straight—with an ultra-fine-point Sharpie—but only one shop still plans to host him: Sophie’s. Fearful of potential repercussions from angry customers, Sophie asks Clemi—bookstore events coordinator, aspiring novelist, and daughter of a famed literary agent—to cancel Raymond’s appearance. But Clemi suspects Raymond might be her biological father, and she can’t say no to the chance of finding out for sure. This big-hearted screwball comedy features an intergenerational cast of oblivious authors and over-qualified booksellers—as well as a Russian tortoise named Kurt Vonnegut Jr.—and captures the endearing quirks of some of the best kinds of people: the ones who love good books.
I really wanted to like this book. I am a big lover of any sort of book about books, libraries, or bookstores, so this sounded like it would be perfect for me. I also liked that it was described as a "screwball comedy". Unfortunately, this book fell flat in my expectations. It had way too many sub-plots, and the writing seemed to be all over the place, for one thing. None of the characters were likeable (except for the tortoise)., and there really weren't all that many funny parts especially considering the description given by the publisher. The best parts of the book were the parts with the tortoise, and the nightly memos that went out that summed up everything that went on during the day. The remaining parts of the book I spent constantly checking to see how much more I had left to read before I could be done, which is not how a book should be read. Altogether, this is not something I can recommend.

I love bookish books, but I found this one to be unfortunately underwhelming. Though it had its cute moments, the cumulative story didn’t do it for me. It felt too directionless. Nonetheless, I appreciated the characters and their camaraderie.

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

I wanted so much more from this title, this cover, this description ! I was disappointed and rather sad after reading this book. Although it tries (hard) to be funny and kind of chaotic and madcap, it left me melancholy instead. If you are grieving, this may be a good book for you and/or want to read about everything going wrong that could wrong. I just wasn't in that mood, necessarily.

Bookish People comes out next week on August 2, 2022 and you can purchase HERE.

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 do in order to read books-- and unsurprisingly she's in the latter camp, but really, is that so awful?

Drawn to an intriguing premise, set in the confines of a bookstore in Washington DC, I was called to read Bookish People. We have Sophie, the owner of an independent bookstore, trying to find her footing on shaky grounds - her husband Soloman passes away, and the bookstore manager is leaving to pursue law, coupled with her unspoken anxiety about the life path of her only son. All she wishes to do is retreat from her surroundings. On the other hand, Clemi, the bookstore's event coordinator, is barely hanging on by a thread. She is dealing with roommates and her spontaneous mother and is close to learning the truth about her father. The bookstore is the epicentre for strange and hilarious situations. The book was fair for me; it had some laugh-out-loud moments with witty and sharp dialogues and narratives. However, I struggled to connect with the characters and the sub-plots were sometimes dragged, drawing parallel lines to the plot progression. I never give up on my books, and I'm glad I pressed through, for the book's second half was good! A 3-star read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

I was provided a free advanced copy of this book by @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Obviously as a bibliophile I am drawn to books about books, book stores, and bookish people. So it wasn't surprising that I was drawn to this one. However, it didn't quite work for me.
It follows two women who work at an independent bookstore in Washington D.C., and a renowned poet on the oust with many, except this bookstore who has not yet cancelled his event. The bookstore owner is dealing with her grief after losing her husband while also running her store. The bookstore's event coordinator is trying to work out her life, and has her own reasons for not cancelling the poet's event. And the poet is now being compared to Sylvia Olath's husband, including the similarity of possibly causing their wife's death. There is a lot of craziness, problems, and angst throughout. But some of the bigger problems (keys that got sucked into a vacuum cleaner) could be easily solved but continue to be a big issue throughout a large part of the book. There was some legit drama, but some big things could have also been easily solved. And I do understand that if you are not in the right mental capacity you may struggle with "simple" things, but with the above example the character Googles how to turn the vacuum on, but apparently can't Google (or ask a bookstore employee) how to open the vacuum. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Didn't make sense.
I struggled to connect with the characters and therefore struggled to get through the book as a whole.
This book is scheduled to be published Tuesday, 2 August.
#NetGalley #BookishPeople

Book was an ok read. I liked the bookstore setting. I appreciate the dilemmas and quandaries that an independent bookstore owner has to overcome. I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters, but I loved all the book talk.

Oh Sophie. The owner of an independent bookstore in DC, she's struggling with being a widow and with finding her place in the world, I had high hopes for this not only because it's set in a bookstore but also because it's set in DC. I'm a fan of Politics and Prose and Coll's best jabs in this almost satiric novel are no doubt grounded in her experiences there. The novel was too all over the place for me, however. A calmer tone would have made it a better read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

So, I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it either. There's a cute story in there with a promising dual POV narrative. However, I found there were too many confusing sub-plots that were distracting. I found something a bit off-putting about the character Sophie that just didn't connect with me - I think I just couldn't reconcile her personality and behaviors with a 50-something bookstore owner. I did like the ending and a peak behind the scenes of the book industry / running a book store - those descriptions were interesting. I think this has a lot of potential with a bit more cleaning up.

I really enjoyed the bookshop aspect of this novel. It was spot on in so many ways of how the publishing industry works etc. There were moments of sheer laughter as well. The vacuum cleaner in particular! lol! I will honest and say I felt the book was unnecessarily political and that actually distracted from the overall message of the book for me. But overall I found it very enjoyable read.

I so anticipated reading BOOKISH PEOPLE. This book by Susan Coll is set in Washington, DC, a city I know and love in the world of bookstores, books, and reading, again a known and loved place. Throughout, I struggled to connect with the main character Clemi and the others around her as they struggle through situations both typical and predictable as well as preposterous and strange. Sparkling bits of wit and observation kept me forging through the near-constant shifts in point of view and bits of backstory and explanation. I received an early copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Thanks to Harper Muse, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I read the blurb about this book and it's described as 'laugh out loud' but I would not describe it that way. I did chuckle my way through it but it's more darkly funny than outright hilarious. This is a well-written story set in an independent bookstore and centring around the owner, Sophie, who is depressed after leaving her husband and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and the Events coordinator of the store who is young and impressionable but has a bit of a spine of steel.

These two women are complicated and more than a little neurotic. While endearing, it's also a little frustrating to read. I don't want to give too much away, but I think this book would appeal to a specific reader when they are in the mood for something very literary and a wordy.

I did enjoy it, but there was just so much going on that I felt a little exhausted by the end. Still, one that I would recommend to lovers of all things bookish.

This is one I’m going to keep short because the story didn’t live up to the idea behind this book. It felt like a lot of run on sentences/ramblings of my grampa when he started a story and ended up somewhere completely different than you would have expected it to go 😂 I think it’s meant to be an off the wall comedy, and I guess in some ways it is, but it’s more off the wall than comedy.
Sophie runs a bookstore with her employees and now that her husband has passed, she’s left feeling a bit adrift and overwhelmed. The employees are all young and have new ideas and while she knows they’re valid, she’s not sure what to make of them because they mean change. The biggest change is the Querk vacuum. There’s a lot about the vacuum. Be prepared for it. I think the highlight is the pet turtle that rides around on the roomba. There’s a sentence you don’t write very often.
Thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐
Bookish People by Susan J. Coll is a light, humorous bookish book that takes place in a large bookstore in Washington, D.C.

Sophie Bernstein owns a large bookstore in DC and is ready to call it quits and just hide. She’s still mourning for her husband, she’s frustrated with her only son’s life choices and she’s about to lose her manager as he pursues a law degree. She just wants to hide from life, in a small hidden room in the bookstore.

Clemi, Sophie’s event coordinator for the bookstore has booked Raymond Chaucer, a controversial poet for an event in the store. Raymond has been accused in the media of killing his wife, however, he has not been charged with murder by the police. Most of his events were canceled because of security reasons, and no other bookstore wants to be associated with a possible murderer.

Sophie asks Clemi to cancel Raymond’s book event, but, Clemi can’t bring herself to cancel because she has other reasons for wanting to see the famous poet. She decides to hire extra security for the event, but that also backfires. Will Sophie find peace in her little room? Will the author event be successful?

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I love a bookish book, but this one was slow to get into. First of all, there was a lot going on in this book, and it was difficult to keep track of all the issues of these characters. Second was the characters themselves. I only found one character that I was rooting for, and that was a tortoise named Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The other characters all were too self-involved or just not sympathetic. I can understand that we don’t always like every character, but I would have wanted some more relatable and sympathetic characters in a book of this genre, that is marketed as a rom-com.

After a slow and somewhat confusing start, the story did pick up a bit and the ending was funny and satisfying. Kurt, the tortoise, was really the star of this book, in my opinion! I did enjoy the bookstore and the descriptions of the store and some of the customers. I’m glad I read the book, as I found it overall a good book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really wanted to love this book based off the cover alone. The cover is what drew me in first and then the description sounded good.
However, I did have a hard time getting into this book. There was alot going on at once with many different side stories. I had a hard time keeping track. I also didn’t get very commited to any of the characters.
The story follows a woman named Sophie who owned a bookstore in Washington DC. She is struggling with the recent loss of her husband. The recent news stories and protest really have her on edge. She decides she wants to live in the bookstore where there is a secret hide away. She packs her things to slowly move in.
Aside from that, Clemi, the event coordinator books a controversial poet to come the store. There had been riots and protests at each bookstore around the country because of this poet so every store was cancelling his event…except Clemi. She believes the poet is her father so she is determined to find out.
I did enjoy the daily report of random things that have happened around the bookstore. The vaccum cleaner update was my favorite, but this was not enough to keep me captivated in the story.
Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Muse for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I am unable to finish reading "Bookish People" at this time. I've tried downloading the digital copy through Kindle, Pocketbook and NetGalley Shelf, but all of the apps have the Harper Muse logo appear hugely in the middle of almost every page. It splits up paragraphs and is incredibly distracting. I'm going to try to get a physical arc so I can complete the book and update my review at a later time.

Thank you to the author, Harper Muse and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A book about books, a bookstore and people who love books - should be completely my jam, but I had trouble connecting with this one. The beginning was dark and depressing, and that atmosphere kept popping up at odd moments. Yes, there was a lot of madcap humor, but also a lot of confusion, uncertainty, strange tangents and utter chaos too. The constantly changing POVs didn't help, nor did the contradiction between the impression given of a crumbling independent bookstore on its last legs, and the huge volume of books being ordered. Overall, a bit of a hot mess, although very funny in parts.

I so so rarely dnf because i believe in giving all books a chance. Mainly because writers take sooo long to pen down their stories, it is the least qe readers can do right? But for this one and for the sake of my not falling into a slump, i actually DNF-ed. Sadly.

I mean, the beautiful cover and premise of a story within a bookstore totally sucked you in. About a middle aged woman who owns an independent bookstore and who recently lost her husband, losing her drive for life and for running her business. Insert her event's manager who seem to have alot going on in her life too. Main plot is basically about how they were supposed to cancel a booktour of a scandalous and controversial poet but things took a different turn somewhat.

So i don't know what happened in the end because where i left off, about 60% into the book, nothing and everything was happening all at once. Nothing pertaining to the main plot but everything else that involved a truckload of sub characters was going on. The writing in a way has this messiness like Backman, where he can talk about 652 things at one go in one chapter but you totally can feel it. However, this messiness here didn't work out. I couldn't get my mind into what was happening at all.