Gentle Reads Annotation -- The Bookshop on the Corner
“Because life is like that, isn’t it? If you thought of all the tiny things that divert your path one way or another, some good, some bad, you’d never do anything ever again” (Colgan 2016, p. 27).
Author: Jenny Colgan
Title: The Bookshop on the Corner
Genre: Gentle reads, relationship fiction
Publication Date: September 2016
Number of Pages: 332 pages
Geographical Setting: Scotland
Time Period: 2010s
Series: Kirrinfief series
Plot Summary: Nina has just lost her job as a librarian in Edinburgh. Desperate to continue a career in books, she sets north to Scotland to buy a van and convert it into a mobile bookshop. After moving to a quiet Scottish village, Nina peddles her books at local markets. Cozy moments and heartwarming villagers make Nina feel at home and part of their tight-knit, book-starved community. As she sells more books and becomes more involved with the (handsome) locals, she finds her heart looking for a romance like the ones in the books she reads. But will her business of connecting people with books they love survive through the long Scottish summer?
Elements of Gentle Reads:
Heartwarming tone: Nina befriends plenty of sweet locals who supply her with delicious food, helpful advice, and invite her along to fun festivals. She even gets the chance to help out a local family in need.
Quirky protagonist: The main character is a shy but funny former librarian who always has a book in her hands: “Nina Redmond, twenty-nine, bookworm… and a shyness that made her blush” (Colgan 2016, p. 3).
Small town setting and cozy detail: The imagery and setting in this book go hand in hand to make the reader feel warm and cozy: “Nina really loved wet and cold winter days; she liked to sit with her back to the radiator, listening to the rain hurl itself against the window panes as if it could breach them; she liked knowing she had nothing to do that afternoon, that there was bread to toast and cream cheese so spread and gentle music playing, and she could curl up cozy and warm and lose herself in Victorian London, or a zombie-laden future, or wherever else she felt like” (Colgan, 2016, p. 36-37).
No cursing or foul language, very low-stakes plot: Self-explanatory – nobody cusses, nothing foul happens (except a slightly steamy romance scene). The plot is very low-stakes with not much at risk – keeps you calm yet wanting to read more about what will happen to Nina’s book van!
Similar Authors and Works:
The three non-fic recommendations I have chosen all are books about books, similar to how this novel was a book about books! Explore the history of books, our relationship with books, and anything else you would never think to want to learn about books.
The three fic recommendations I chose are all books about books, and all share the common thread of being laidback, low stakes, cozy, easy reads. All three have traces of romance as well.
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:
Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence
The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin
The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
Much Ado About You by Samantha Young
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
References
Colgan, J. (2016). The bookshop on the corner. HarperCollins Publishers.
Okay, so even though this is not at all the type of book I would usually pick up, I definitely have to admit the whole premise sounds relentlessly adorable and wholesome. I was thinking: this is a story that’s just begging to be turned into one of those super earnest BBC made-for-TV movies that’s so sweet you can’t help but admit it.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm being honest, I only read this book because I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and read a genre I never do. Now I can assist some of my patrons who read these books a little bit easier than I could before! While I understand why some people gravitate to this genre (for an easy, fun read!) it is not necessarily my favorite. It definitely felt like reading a Hallmark movie, lol...
DeleteHi Megan, I did my annotation on the same book somehow! I thought the story was adorable and pulled me in, but was not exactly my favorite. All of the odd anti-modern library talk pulled me out a bit. But I thought it was fun how Nina was basically conducting readers advisory interview after readers advisory interview to help her patrons. I enjoyed reading your annotation!
ReplyDeleteWait no way!! The anti-computer and very vocal BOOKS ONLY talk was super off putting, I definitely agree. Also, did you catch all of the odd social media talk? Characters kept using social media as verbs in the wrong way -- one character suggested that someone else "Instagram the girl a picture," and at one point Nina "tweeted Surinder a message." Definitely had me laughing.
DeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteYou're the 2nd person I've seen on the blogs that have read this book; I am missing something obviously. Normally I am not one for gentle reads, but some of the books I have read have been gentle or at least in the sense. When I read my mystery read, I couldn't stop reading it and I was forever changed. So, this is a cozy and gentle read, that gives me some Hallmark movie vibes in the most positive way. Your other fiction works, are popular in my library I work at and now my list has gotten even bigger.
Great Work,
Bre
I know! This book must have been the top Google hit for a few of us when we were looking for a gentle read. Thanks Bre!
DeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteSo funny that you and Elizabeth read the same book and that I also read a Jenny Colgan book for my own annotation (Sweetshop of Dreams). She's clearly the queen of gentle reads. All hail Jenny Colgan!
Haha, yes, all hail Jenny Colgan! Our class really upped her circulation numbers this past week.
DeleteAs the comments say, a lot of people read this book! I can understand why reading you annotation, it sounds heavenly! It is the librarian's gentle read, leaving the patrons and computers behind to float around Scotland in a book mobile. What I want to comment on is your relevant works, which I thought were really clever. Books about books and easy reads about books is a really fun way to finish off this book about books!
ReplyDeleteI too have read this one. While not my favorite this book is a perfect example of gentle reads - it's easy to see the appeals that draw people in. Jenny Colgan has this market cornered! Full points and job well done!
ReplyDelete