Gentle Reads Annotation: The Bookshop on the Corner

 

Author: Jenny Colgan

Title: The Bookshop on the Corner

Genre: Gentle Reads

Publication Date: September 20, 2016

Number of Pages: 368

Geographical Setting: Birmingham, England and Kirrinfief, Scotland

Time Period: Modern

Series (If applicable): Kirrinfief, #1

Plot Summary:

When her library suddenly downsizes, Nina Redmond is shoehorned out of her perfect job and into a rush of interviews for a tangentially related position at a different library; one that she doesn’t really want. During one particularly eye-opening team-building class, Nina gets the idea to open a mobile bookshop. She finds the perfect van for sale out in a small town, Kirrinfief, in the Scottish Highlands, and relocates upon finding out that the town is need of books. In Kirrinfief, Nina meets a variety of locals and strangers including Marek, a handsome, mysterious train engineer; Ainslee, an equally mysterious teenager with a love of books; and Lennox, Nina’s surly (but handsome) landlord. Gradually, Nina falls in love – with her bookshop, the countryside, and the people who live there.

Subject Headings:

Librarians — Fiction.

Books and reading — Fiction.

City and town life — Fiction.

Gentle Reads Appeal:

Resolved and Satisfying Conclusion: The end of the book is predictable in a way that gentle reads typically are. Yes, Nina sorts out her feelings; yes, her bookstore is spoiler alert successful; yes, the gruff farmer turns out to be a big softie and man of ~feeling~.

Internal Journey: Most of the conflict Nina faces is internal; her struggle to identify what she wants—and who she wants—in life, her doubts about her choices, her feelings towards the people she meets.

Optimistic Outlook: Overall, the stakes of this story are pretty low, and you can sense from the beginning that things will turn out alright for Nina.

Unhurried Pace: Looking back on the 368 pages I read, not a lot actually happens narratively. The pace is mainly driven by Nina’s character arc.

Richly Detailed Setting: It’s not hard to tell that the author is from Scotland, and loves it dearly. She describes the countryside in such a perfectly dreamy way; I actually think that is the best part of the book.

3 terms that best describe this book:

Atmospheric, Quirky, Romantic

 

Relevant Nonfiction Works and Authors:

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book is the autobiographical story of how Elizabeth Gilbert quit her job and traveled the world. It’s on a larger scale than Jenny Colgan’s book, but has the same ideas of quitting your old life and starting anew somewhere foreign.

 

 

 

Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

“Bookshop Romance” could be a genre unto itself. The three books below feature assorted meet-cutes all somehow involving books.

 How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

 

 

 

 

The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

 

 

 

 

 

Relevant Films:

Notting Hill (1999)

 

An English bookstore owner. A beautiful customer. A meet-cute. Fans of The Bookshop on the Corner couldn’t ask for more.