This was a mess of a book. A bunch of characters with tenuous links at best, a lot of filler about the most mundane things, uninteresting and one-dimensional characters. I'm guessing the author was attempting some sort of stream-of-consciousness writing at certain points, but never managed to actually land on what she wanted this book to be.

When the best thing about a book is its cover, you know it's time to move on.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book spoke to me on a personal level and i highly recommend this!

This book is about a bookstore owner, who is going through a rough time, and decides she wants to shut herself off from society in a secret nook at the back of her bookstore. Well, say no more! I am in! I have always wanted to live in a bookstore!

This book is considered to be a screwball comedy with an intergenerational cast of characters who are problematic and flawed but ultimately have one thing in common: They all love good books!

Cute romance with a bookish storyline. It was ok. There are others that I'd recommend with more interesting characters and storylines. I finished it and enjoyed it.

This book wasn't necessarily for me, but that doesn't make it a bad book! People looking for a lighthearted book for bibliophiles will find a lot to enjoy here.

The cover of Bookish People was what drew me in. A quirky story set in a DC bookstore, we follow Sophie's journey through life. This story was just okay for me. It wasn't what I was expecting when I jumped in and unfortunately, it didn't hold my attention for long.

I couldn't figure out if the fact that the bookish people of the title being so high-strung and slightly neurotic is what was supposed to make it funny, but it didn't work for me. It just came across as one of those stories where things would have never gotten so out of hand if the leads just talked to someone else and asked for help when they were feeling overwhelmed.
Both Sophie and Clemie are too deep into the stresses of their lives and quickly moving towards chaos that's centered on Sophie's little bookstore in DC where it looks like everything that could possibly go wrong in one day will go wrong. It's a series of not-so-smart decisions made by two very competent women that lead to chaos simply because they both refuse to talk to anybody or ask for help.
There are a couple of chuckle-worthy moments and the ending is very satisfying, it's just that I never managed to really care about what happened to the characters.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the read!

The life of Sophie, a DC bookstore owner in her 50's, is getting to be a bit overwhelming. She is still grieving her husband, trying to have a grown up relationship with her son, manage her staff, deal with protests over a controversial author, and deal with employees hiding a turtle.

There is a lot going on in this book, but it was a fun read. It reminded me a bit of Anxious People. Not everyone's cup of tea but it was memorable!

Sophie Bernstein's been rereading The Diary of Anne Frank and the turmoil in the world around her is causing her to consider building her own hideaway in her bookstore. She's mourning the death of her husband and everything around her seems to be falling apart. The only logical solution is to isolate herself. But her bookstore demands much more of her. Told in alternating perspectives between Sophie and her employee Clemi, this novel is heartfelt, funny, and thought-provoking.

This was one of those books that had all of the makings of one that I would really like, however the pacing was off and the individual stories of the characters were not conjoined in a way that made it make sense to the overall purpose of the book which I am still trying to figure out. There were a few fun moments, however these were overshadowed by the musings and drivel of characters that did nothing to propel the plot. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book was a hot mess. It sounded like a great idea - the bookish setting and could have been really fun. But, instead, it jumped all over the place, the characters didn't engage me. I wasn't invested in what happened to them. The book just fell flat for me.

And I also hated reading an eARC with a watermark on every page.

Overall not great at all.

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

This was a cute romance novel and it was a fun read.

I REALLY wanted to like this book A LOT. It has the makings of my kind of story - I’m a sucker for books about books - should’ve been perfect. But for some reason this fell a little flat for me. I had a hard time getting into the writing, and the changing POVs were more confusing to me than it was a useful tool in getting the story across.
It was sweet, I did finish it, but I had higher hopes.

The cover of the book looks amazing, and certainly the whole general idea, but I found the chapters a little too long and with a lot of information. I couldn't follow the writing style.

Thank you si much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Books about books are typically my jam, but this one fell flat for me. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters, and it felt like we were just chasing too many subplots at the same time. I loved the premise of this book - I just don’t think the writing style was for me!

I had this downloaded on my kindle to read but wasn’t able to because of the formatting issues. The premise still sounds interesting and I’d probably pick it up now that it’s released!

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and NetGalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Oooohhh! So good!

2.5 stars

I'll pretty much pick up any book about bookstores or libraries. I'm an avid reader but also a lover of books as objects and collectibles so, out of the gate I'm usually going pretty favorable (or at least highly intrigued) towards anything that will revolve around them.
Unfortunately, this book about a Washington D.C. bookstore (and its owner, Sophie Bernstein, and employees) was something I had to make a concerted effort to finish. In the past, when I've encountered a book that was trying and I considered DNFing, there was some resolution to the plot that I would hold out hope for. In this case, there weren't high enough stakes or a thread of the plot that captured me, so I pushed through on pure willpower (and it's a very light and quick read).

The bookstore is a hot mess and chaos swirls day after day as they host many book signings and readings (organized by Clemi), are perpetually understaffed, and vacuum and animal problems abound. It was almost stressful to read about the level of madness constantly challenging the characters, with an owner who's MIA both literally and, many times, in frame of mind. Some of the characters got muddled in my mind amongst the messiness of issues that were always being chased.

Too much going on but not enough happening.

The highlights of the book were the End of Day reports by Autumn T., which were a fun way of grounding some of the busy bits.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I absolutely adore books about books and book lovers and this one‘s premise sounded perfect and the cover is adorable but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. It wasn‘t too bad, but I had higher expectations which weren‘t met.
The different character pov‘s and plots were confusing and the writing wasn‘t really good for keeping up with the book so at parts, I was actually ready to DNF it.
Nevertheless, the characters were really likable and even though the execution falls flat. Some scenes and moments were absolutely amazing, others just weren‘t.

meh. I found the story a bit boring. I lost interest about halfway through and had to make myself finish it. I am sure others will like it, but not my cup of tea.