Bookish People

Name: Bookish People
Brand: Harper Christian
Availability: InStock
Author: Susan Coll
ISBN: 9781400234110

Author: Susan Coll

Narrator: Alexa Morden

Unabridged: 8 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Harper Muse

Published: 08/02/2022

Categories: Fiction, Women, Literary Fiction, Satire, Jewish Fiction

Synopsis

A perfect storm of comedic proportions erupts in a DC bookstore over the course of one soggy summer week—narrated by two very different women and punctuated by political turmoil, a celestial event, and a perpetually broken vacuum cleaner.Independent bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein is burned out on books. Mourning the death of her husband, the loss of her favorite manager, her only child’s lack of aspiration, and the grim state of the world, she fantasizes about going into hiding in the secret back room of her store.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.Praise for Bookish People:“A smart, original, laugh-out-loud novel . . . If you sell, buy, or simply love books, Bookish People is for you. I wholeheartedly recommend this quirky gem.” —Sarah Pekkanen, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Golden CoupleWitty, hilarious, and heartwarming contemporary book about booksStand-alone novelBook length: approximately 84,000 wordsAlso by the author: The Stager, Beach Week, Acceptance, Rockville Pike

About Susan Coll

USA Today and Washington Post bestselling writer Susan Coll is the author of eight previous novels, including The Literati, Real Life & Other Fictions, and Bookish People. Her other books include The Stager, Acceptance, Rockville Pike, and Karlmarx.com. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR.org, The Atlantic.com, The Millions, and other publications. Her novel, Acceptance, was made into a television movie starring Joan Cusack. Susan is the recipient of multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She works as an event consultant at Politics and Prose Bookstore and was the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for five years. Coll teaches workshops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Melany on April 09, 2022

I truly had high hopes for this book. The cover is adorable, the premise seemed spot on for me. However, the book fell flat. I think mostly it's the writing style that I couldn't truly adapt to. A bit confusing with the back and forth between the character's views and then the plot plus sub-plots. I......more

Goodreads review by Judy on July 18, 2022

I picked this book up because I like bookish type people and because the cover is so cute. Also, I'm a sucker for books about books. The setting is a very busy Washington, D.C. independent bookstore. Sophie Bernstein is the owner. She has run the bookstore for a long time and it seems her heart is n......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on July 26, 2022

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......more

Goodreads review by Shannon on August 02, 2022

I really, really wanted to love this book. Perhaps going into it expecting more of a romance than a women's fiction story with very little plot and a cast of quirky characters would have helped me manage my expectations. Just an okay read for me. I didn't love it or any of the characters/story line......more

Goodreads review by Karen on March 28, 2022

This had all the makings of a great read for me – a storyline about books, a bookstore and writers. Unfortunately, what was billed as a “big-hearted screwball comedy” started out very slowly in a depressing vein, evolved into a disjointed series of loosely-connected threads highlighting troubled peo......more

Quotes

A lightly fictionalized, highly exaggerated, and very entertaining look at the lives of beleaguered booksellers. The Washingtonian

A smart, original, laugh-out-loud novel that fans of Tom Perrotta will adore. If you sell, buy, or simply love books, Bookish People is for you. I wholeheartedly recommend this quirky gem. Sarah Pekkanen, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Golden Couple

An insightful and entertaining look behind the shelves and into the lives of the people who stock them . . . Coll's novel captures the fragmented overload of modern life so successfully . . . it's satisfying as a trip to your local indie bookstore. The Washington Post

Coll (The Stager, 2014) ably juggles chaotic details, turning them into hilarious running gags while making it completely clear why Sophie wants to bury herself in the book - though she can't, because the power went out. While this is full of nods to the publishing world that those in the know will appreciate, every reader who loves books will relish Coll's comedy of errors. Booklist

D.C.'s new 'it' novel . . . Bookish D.C. people will be amused by the abundant literary asides and scene-setting gold coins. Axios

Fans of novels with plenty of literary and political references or of relationship fiction will enjoy. Library Journal

Susan Coll's Bookish People is a delightful, hilarious, and utterly charming novel about a quirky bookstore and its motley crew--ridiculously lovable people who think way too much about words, writing, dead authors, customers' dogs, cats who torment birds, canceled author events, British ovens, readers, vacuum cleaners, and Russian tortoises. The perfect read for bookish people everywhere! Angie Kim, internationally bestselling author of Miracle Creek

Take a bookstore owner who is sick of books, a pompous poet who has managed to get himself canceled, and a crew of overqualified millennial employees, then add a week of political upheaval and a rare celestial event. The result is Bookish People, a sharp yet tender comedy of bookstore manners. Susan Coll has written a love letter to bibliophiles everywhere with too many hilarious parts to list--though the tortoise named Kurt Vonnegut Jr. may be my all-time favorite literary pet. Lisa Zeidner, author of Love Bomb

The wacky world of books and the people who love them, as seen through a week in the life of a Washington, D.C., bookstore. As much fun as Coll has with vacuum cleaners--a truly surprising amount--it's literary humor where she slays. Kirkus

There's not a wittier, zanier, smarter book about books and the people who love them than Bookish People. After reading about this single screwball week in the book biz, you'll want to hug your closest bookseller (and maybe apply for a job). Leslie Pietrzyk, author of Admit This to No One