The Bookshop on the Corner
Jenny Colgan
2016, 368 pages
Fiction
Nina Redmond is stuck. She’s just lost her job as a librarian in a London library branch where she excelled at matching readers with their perfect read. When she’s given the opportunity to take a new job within the same library system, she just can’t muster the energy to pretend that she wants to do anything other than read and recommend books (hardcovers and paperbacks – not those pesky eBooks). But, other than in her mind, Nina’s never been like the characters in her favorite stories; she’s not an adventurer. So, it’s a surprise to us all when she starts scouring the internet for a large, industrial van and finds herself in the Scotland Highlands test driving said van while being laughed at by the locals.
What happens next is nothing but every book lover’s fantasy. Nina turns her van into a traveling bookstore. She also finds herself clandestinely meeting with a poetry reading train conductor who breaks the rules to transport books from the big city to Nina. And, of course, there are baby lambs and rolling green hills and an angry Scottish landlord who may help Nina along the path to getting unstuck.
Give yourself enough time to read this in one sitting – it’s not easy to put down.
Nicole SchulzeConcord Public Library
Visit CPL at concordpubliclibrary.net.
