Fiction

Bookish People

Bookish People

  • Downloads：8255
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-09-01 11:21:45
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Susan J. Coll
  • ISBN：171367694X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Brandi Goff ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Am I the only person drawn to books about books？ Fiction about a bookstore？ Count me in。 As someone local to the DC area， it was nice to read a book that so thoroughly described some of the regional settings。 But on the same hand， I worried that this book will be quickly dated - if in fact it isn’t already。 From current （now recent past） events， such as the Charlottesville rally attack， to naming athletes long gone from a team， there was just something that I couldn’t get past。 I think it had to Am I the only person drawn to books about books？ Fiction about a bookstore？ Count me in。 As someone local to the DC area， it was nice to read a book that so thoroughly described some of the regional settings。 But on the same hand， I worried that this book will be quickly dated - if in fact it isn’t already。 From current （now recent past） events， such as the Charlottesville rally attack， to naming athletes long gone from a team， there was just something that I couldn’t get past。 I think it had to do with these specifics not being necessary for the plot。 Had this book leaned more political， or into a plot where timing and current events were necessary to set the scene， then it may have made sense。 But let’s talk about by favorite scene perhaps ever SPOILERS AHEAD- the chaos of the Chaucer poetry reading， Florence running in in a leotard and matches， Clemi essentially tackling her， Sophie shooting her self in the foot， and then beep boop boop Kurt Vonnegut Jr riding by on the Roomba。 Pure comedy。 **I received this advance copy free from Harper Muse， HarperCollins via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。** 。。。more

Leighellen Landskov ，

Sadly， this one wasn't for me。 It was a bit too dry and the plot a tad scattered。 I tried multiple times to finish this one but it started feeling like more of a chore。 I finally had to DNF at around 70%。 Sadly， this one wasn't for me。 It was a bit too dry and the plot a tad scattered。 I tried multiple times to finish this one but it started feeling like more of a chore。 I finally had to DNF at around 70%。 。。。more

Mandy Purvis ，

All it took was the title。 Bookish People。 I saw it on NetGalley and had to read it。That may be kind of sad， but I just knew that the people within its pages would be my kind of people， and I was right。Bookish People by Susan Coll introduces us to Mrs。 Sophie Bernstein and her bookshop in Washington DC。 The cast of characters is your usual suspects: the manager who has been working there far too long， the overworked events manager who is always frazzled with a very full email inbox， several teen All it took was the title。 Bookish People。 I saw it on NetGalley and had to read it。That may be kind of sad， but I just knew that the people within its pages would be my kind of people， and I was right。Bookish People by Susan Coll introduces us to Mrs。 Sophie Bernstein and her bookshop in Washington DC。 The cast of characters is your usual suspects: the manager who has been working there far too long， the overworked events manager who is always frazzled with a very full email inbox， several teenagers who love reading--you know the crew。 Sophie， unbeknownst to her， suffers from near crippling anxiety due to *gestures vaguely at America today* and she becomes somewhat of a secret doomsday prepper。I really wanted to enjoy this book， and while I did find Clemi to be interesting， unfortunately this story kind of fell flat for me。 It was enjoyable enough that I finished it， but I struggled。 It took me days to finish what should have been a ~4ish hour read， because I kept having to put it down--the story just didn't capture me， mostly because it got very rambling， very often。 For example， there were entire pages devoted to vacuum cleaners and ovens。 I get what the author was trying to do there， underlining the stress that the characters were under and making the reader feel their almost manic desperation， but it was too rambling that it got to be exhausting。It felt very low stakes， and there was never really a climax of the plot。 It felt more like you were sitting in on a week in these people's lives， and while it was admittedly a shitty week for the bookstore， it was also pretty mundane。Even though it wasn't my cup of tea， Bookish People did give me this beautiful， so relatable quote: "She sometimes thinks the world divides into two types of people， those who think books are for reading when there's nothing else to do， and those who avoid other things to do in order to read books--and unsurprisingly she's in the latter camp， but really， is that so awful？"No， no it's not。 If you're in any reading camp， you should give Bookish People a chance--it may be right up your alley。I'll leave you with a Doodle joke， as just about every one of Bookish People's "End of Day Reports" includes one:I drew my dog while I was on a boring phone call and I'm really proud of it！It's a golden doodle。 。。。more

Jill Dougher ，

~ NET GALLEY REVIEW ~ I received a complimentary copy of this book。 Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。 But my opinion is don't bother with this one。 I did not like a single character and none of them felt built out nor was the story really that wrapped up at the end。 The book feels like a pot of water that's warming， warming， warming and then BAM it's boiling and splish splashing over the pot and leaving water stains on your stove。 In other words， it's a stressful read。 You ~ NET GALLEY REVIEW ~ I received a complimentary copy of this book。 Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。 But my opinion is don't bother with this one。 I did not like a single character and none of them felt built out nor was the story really that wrapped up at the end。 The book feels like a pot of water that's warming， warming， warming and then BAM it's boiling and splish splashing over the pot and leaving water stains on your stove。 In other words， it's a stressful read。 You have Sophie who is losing her brain after her husband's death and thinks it's ok to build an annex of sorts for herself like Anne Frank。 Then you have Clemi a bookstore events manager who truly gets steamrolled throughout the whole book that you'll eventually shake the book out of frustration because she just needs to yell at people。 You have another kooky character Florence who。。。。honestly， I'm not sure the point of her。 And then we get a few chapters of a cancelled poet's POV where the moral is "give men a chance to correct the narrative。" I think the intention was more - hear both sides of the aisle， have discussion etc。 etc。 but it just fell flat。 Anywho， I wanted more out of this book but just didn't get it。 。。。more

Kelly ，

So bad it was。。。just bad。 So so bad。

January ，

Bookish People by Susan Coll8h 10m narrated by Alexa Morden 336 pagesGenre: Contemporary， Romance， Books About Books， Humor， Chick Lit， Adult Fiction， Realistic Fiction Featuring: DMV area， Bookstore， QuinquagenarianRating as a movie: PG-13 + 8% 38:03 Ch。 3 - This is boring gibberish， I may not continue and I love books about books and bookstores。Why I quit: This wasn't connecting for me。 I listened to chapter 1 multiple times trying to figure out if I missed something。 Chapter 2 was uneventful Bookish People by Susan Coll8h 10m narrated by Alexa Morden 336 pagesGenre: Contemporary， Romance， Books About Books， Humor， Chick Lit， Adult Fiction， Realistic Fiction Featuring: DMV area， Bookstore， QuinquagenarianRating as a movie: PG-13 + 8% 38:03 Ch。 3 - This is boring gibberish， I may not continue and I love books about books and bookstores。Why I quit: This wasn't connecting for me。 I listened to chapter 1 multiple times trying to figure out if I missed something。 Chapter 2 was uneventful and writing wasn't flowing for me visually。 There were a lot of characters but none of them stood out， Sophie was all over the place and I'm not in the mood for that。 I can watch political news in real life。Recommend to others？: Probably not 。。。more

Kristen McDougall ，

A solid 3 star read， nothing super special about it， but it was overall enjoyable。 The characters and storyline were very chaotic， but in a good way！

Laura Carter | Those Book Besties ，

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpermuse for the ARC digital copy。 My thoughts are my own。 Sophie Bernstein is an independent bookstore owner who is burned out on books。 She is mourning the death of her husband， the loss of her favourite Manager and her only child’s lack of aspiration。 At the same time， poet Raymond Chauser is releasing a new collection and there are rumours going around that he caused his wife’s suicide。 Sophie demands her Social Media coordinator， Clemi， cancels Raymond’s upcom Thank you to @netgalley and @harpermuse for the ARC digital copy。 My thoughts are my own。 Sophie Bernstein is an independent bookstore owner who is burned out on books。 She is mourning the death of her husband， the loss of her favourite Manager and her only child’s lack of aspiration。 At the same time， poet Raymond Chauser is releasing a new collection and there are rumours going around that he caused his wife’s suicide。 Sophie demands her Social Media coordinator， Clemi， cancels Raymond’s upcoming event in the store but Clemi refuses。 She is determined to find out if Raymond is her biological father。 What does the future hold for this threesome of characters？I have to fully admit that I did not love this book。 I am normally allllll about books about books but this one just did not hit the mark for me。 I found flipping between each of the characters' perspectives to be confusing。 I felt that there were too many characters and I couldn’t really keep up where each one was in the story。 Unfortunately the writing felt all over the place and I struggled with connecting with any character。 I wanted to love this book but it just felt flat to me。 Have you ever had a book you finished but you struggled reading？ Share your thoughts below。 。。。more

Sarah Donaldson ，

To say this book was eclectic… The dual POV was often unclear and the characters weren’t very likable。 Finished begrudgingly🤷🏼‍♀️

Sarah Royce ，

This book follows the life of the book store workers over a few hectic days， easy read， evenly paced， decent storyline， overall a good book but wasn't blown away。 This book follows the life of the book store workers over a few hectic days， easy read， evenly paced， decent storyline， overall a good book but wasn't blown away。 。。。more

Jasmine ，

This was an interesting read full of complex characters。 So many book readers imagine working at a bookstore to be the ultimate paradise。。。 This book complicates that dream。

Dali ，

Bookish People is a standalone women’s fiction novel by Susan Cool。 It’s a story about charming， with witty dry humor and a dash of quirkiness。 A character driven story about “bookish people” whose lives are interconnected with an independent bookshop as an appealing backdrop。 It was a quick read that made me laugh but also faced more somber topics such as grief of a spouse。 ★ I received an ARC from the author via NetGalley。 The excerpts are from that copy。 I am voluntarily reviewing this title。 Bookish People is a standalone women’s fiction novel by Susan Cool。 It’s a story about charming， with witty dry humor and a dash of quirkiness。 A character driven story about “bookish people” whose lives are interconnected with an independent bookshop as an appealing backdrop。 It was a quick read that made me laugh but also faced more somber topics such as grief of a spouse。 ★ I received an ARC from the author via NetGalley。 The excerpts are from that copy。 I am voluntarily reviewing this title。 ★See all my book edits on Instagram 。。。more

Betty ，

Lots of fun。

Tracy Clark ，

2。5**

Ruth ，

I really enjoyed the quirky characters， the humor。

Molly ，

This book made me laugh out loud at several points。 An independent bookstore spirals into chaos and the protagonists come unglued。 Underneath the zany surface， however， there are darker currents - namely， the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and questions of freedom of speech。 Sophie， the book store owner， toys with creating her own survivalist nook within the book store， an idea that captures both the anxiety and the absurdity of the times。 Susan Coll is a wonderful comic writer， but th This book made me laugh out loud at several points。 An independent bookstore spirals into chaos and the protagonists come unglued。 Underneath the zany surface， however， there are darker currents - namely， the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and questions of freedom of speech。 Sophie， the book store owner， toys with creating her own survivalist nook within the book store， an idea that captures both the anxiety and the absurdity of the times。 Susan Coll is a wonderful comic writer， but there is always a subtext to the humor of more serious issues。 We aren't used to seeing comedy and anxiety combined in books these days， and she does it so well - both making us laugh and making us check our laughter。 。。。more

Rachael ，

CW: death of a spouse， Islamophobia， anti-Semitism， heart attack， suicide， adultery， mental illness， opioid abuse （off-page， mentioned）， bomb threat， panic attacks， asthma， fainting， accidental gunshotBookish People follows DC bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein and her event manager Clemi over the course of an eventful week at the store。 Sophie， a recent widow， struggles with keeping the store afloat among her ensemble of employees and worrying about her only child's ambition。 Clemi， an aspiring a CW: death of a spouse， Islamophobia， anti-Semitism， heart attack， suicide， adultery， mental illness， opioid abuse （off-page， mentioned）， bomb threat， panic attacks， asthma， fainting， accidental gunshotBookish People follows DC bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein and her event manager Clemi over the course of an eventful week at the store。 Sophie， a recent widow， struggles with keeping the store afloat among her ensemble of employees and worrying about her only child's ambition。 Clemi， an aspiring author， feels stuck working at the store while writing the next great novel。 When a controversial poet， Raymond Chaucer， is still scheduled to appear at the store， Clemi decides to keep him on the schedule to see if he's her biological father。 I had mixed feelings on this book， which I have listened as an audiobook。 While the narrator pacing was good， the audiobook felt long and tedious。 Somehow， the narrator ends up making Sophie and Clemi sound pretentious in the book and I wasn't a fan of that decision。 Additionally， the audiobook chapters were kind of long for me （I prefer to listen to short chapters in audiobook） and some of the characters kept dragging on for no reason。 I feel that the chapters could have been split up a bit to make it easier for people to listen to， especially when multi-tasking or have busy schedules。 Though， I may have scored this book differently if I read the print version of the book。 The plot was good since I loved reading about the daily hijinks of the bookstore。 If you are looking for a witty and quirky read about the everyday realities of owning a bookstore， this book might be perfect for you。 I just wouldn't recommend listening the audiobook and stick with the print book。 。。。more

Jan ，

The characters are quirky， and the humor had me alternately snurfling and laughing out loud。 No way I'd try to summarize because my overwhelming response is laughter of one sort or another。 FUN！I requested and received an e-book copy from Harper Muse via NetGalley。 Thank you！ The characters are quirky， and the humor had me alternately snurfling and laughing out loud。 No way I'd try to summarize because my overwhelming response is laughter of one sort or another。 FUN！I requested and received an e-book copy from Harper Muse via NetGalley。 Thank you！ 。。。more

Peggy ，

I’m glad I read the glowing review of Bookish People in the Washington Post， along with the positive Library Journal and Kirkus reviews， before I saw the mediocre average rating on Good Reads。 I think the wildly different reactions are mostly due to packaging and expectations。 The bright yellow cover makes this look like a light rom-com set in a bookstore。 What I read - and greatly enjoyed - was a witty， satirical， and darkly humorous slice of life in a D。C。 bookstore during the summer of 2019。 I’m glad I read the glowing review of Bookish People in the Washington Post， along with the positive Library Journal and Kirkus reviews， before I saw the mediocre average rating on Good Reads。 I think the wildly different reactions are mostly due to packaging and expectations。 The bright yellow cover makes this look like a light rom-com set in a bookstore。 What I read - and greatly enjoyed - was a witty， satirical， and darkly humorous slice of life in a D。C。 bookstore during the summer of 2019。 4 stars rounded up to 5 just to help the average rating。 。。。more

Jakki （BizzyBookBish） ，

I was really excited to dive into this one。 I felt like the synopsis sounded good and I was excited to read a book about fellow bookish people。 Unfortunately for me this fell flat and seemed to lack any real purpose as far as plot movement。 It was quite slow at times and there were a few points that were brought up over and over that I really didn’t grasp the reason for。 Having said that though the the writing was quite good and easy to digest。 I enjoyed the setting and there were a few characte I was really excited to dive into this one。 I felt like the synopsis sounded good and I was excited to read a book about fellow bookish people。 Unfortunately for me this fell flat and seemed to lack any real purpose as far as plot movement。 It was quite slow at times and there were a few points that were brought up over and over that I really didn’t grasp the reason for。 Having said that though the the writing was quite good and easy to digest。 I enjoyed the setting and there were a few characters that I really enjoyed。 I also was particularly interested in the sorta subplot involving the poet and his wife。 In all this wasn’t really my cup of tea but it was a good cozy read。 。。。more

lynne ，

If you love bookstores and books this is for you。Sophie Bernstein owns and independent bookstore in Washington，DC。 She is not sure how long she can continue with it with the events going on in her life。In comes Clemi who has been promoted to events coordinator at the bookstore， while juggling her life。"I received a complimentary copy of this book。 Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。"Thanks to Harper Muse and Net Galley for a copy of an arc :） If you love bookstores and books this is for you。Sophie Bernstein owns and independent bookstore in Washington，DC。 She is not sure how long she can continue with it with the events going on in her life。In comes Clemi who has been promoted to events coordinator at the bookstore， while juggling her life。"I received a complimentary copy of this book。 Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。"Thanks to Harper Muse and Net Galley for a copy of an arc :） 。。。more

Wendi Rank ，

This is cute， easy to listen to， or read on a beach。The stunning feature is the incredibly poor narration。 While the voice is pleasant enough， I was stunned at the simple， everyday words that the Narrator was evidently unfamiliar with as she was unable to read through very simple， commonly used vocabulary。The book really is just simple fun。 There really is no point， nothing to learn， and the most interesting feature was the lovely cover。 Really， this Narration is absolutely below standard。 I lis This is cute， easy to listen to， or read on a beach。The stunning feature is the incredibly poor narration。 While the voice is pleasant enough， I was stunned at the simple， everyday words that the Narrator was evidently unfamiliar with as she was unable to read through very simple， commonly used vocabulary。The book really is just simple fun。 There really is no point， nothing to learn， and the most interesting feature was the lovely cover。 Really， this Narration is absolutely below standard。 I listen to several hundred books a year， in multiple genres， and with a common group of well regarded Narrators。 This narrator needs to go through her projects with a Director and be supervised until she shows the ability to pronounce the names of well known people and common speech， My three stars is for the cute little story， and ZERO for the performance。 。。。more

Caryn Zdan ，

It was pretty boring。 I picked this one up because i love books and i really liked the cover but it was not at all what i thought it would be。 If i wasn’t listening to it， i would not have finished it。

Robyn ，

I'll admit， as both a bookstore and library worker I had high expectations for this book。 Although it was entertaining enough， it just did not meet those expectations。 I liked the story concept but the writing was amateur and didn't flow well。 Also the collection of eccentric characters didn't really come together for a cohesive story。Overall， it just fell flat for me。Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the DRC of this title。 I'll admit， as both a bookstore and library worker I had high expectations for this book。 Although it was entertaining enough， it just did not meet those expectations。 I liked the story concept but the writing was amateur and didn't flow well。 Also the collection of eccentric characters didn't really come together for a cohesive story。Overall， it just fell flat for me。Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the DRC of this title。 。。。more

Pam Masters ，

Thank you， NetGalley and Harper Muse， for the opportunity to read Bookish People！ But sadly， it was a DNF for me。 I did manage to read just over half of the book， but nothing was holding my attention。 I did not care for any of the characters， The idea was good， but the execution was not there。

Chris Leuchtenburg ，

After listening to an hour and a half， I hadn't connected with any of the characters and hadn't detected a plot。 So， dnf。 After listening to an hour and a half， I hadn't connected with any of the characters and hadn't detected a plot。 So， dnf。 。。。more

Shannon ，

DNF - listened to about 13% of the book and just couldn't continue。 It had too many tangents and too many social justice warrior rants。 It was like every hot topic that could be pushed into an opening book， was。 And it makes the bookstore ownership look doggy and like a crap job。 DNF - listened to about 13% of the book and just couldn't continue。 It had too many tangents and too many social justice warrior rants。 It was like every hot topic that could be pushed into an opening book， was。 And it makes the bookstore ownership look doggy and like a crap job。 。。。more

B | crumbledpages ，

Read the full review on my blog！When a book has a cover like this and the words “Bookish People”， automatically I will have high expectations from that book。 However， this book was such a let-down。Firstly， I was not immediately hooked with the story。 It took me about 30% to get into the story。 I was even contemplating DNFing this book but I carried on and once I got interested in the story I carried on， hoping it would get better。The bookstore owner， Sophie Bernstein， was grieving but it didn’t Read the full review on my blog！When a book has a cover like this and the words “Bookish People”， automatically I will have high expectations from that book。 However， this book was such a let-down。Firstly， I was not immediately hooked with the story。 It took me about 30% to get into the story。 I was even contemplating DNFing this book but I carried on and once I got interested in the story I carried on， hoping it would get better。The bookstore owner， Sophie Bernstein， was grieving but it didn’t feel like she was grieving。 She was acting in a weird way。 I mean， everyone deals with grieve in a different way but I don’t know， her actions felt off to me。 Another main character was Clemi who was in her 20s but she felt like she was an old woman。Another thing about this book was it described more about vacuum cleaners than it did about the characters and their relations。 Why was there so much details about vacuum cleaners and ovens？ The characters felt very two- dimensional。Also， there is a pet turtle in the book and he was mentioned many time。 So my question is why isn’t there any turtle on the cover but instead， this dog？ I mean， I love dogs， but I don’t remember anyone from the book having a pet dog。 It was a turtle！ There should’ve been a turtle on the cover！One of the major plot points of this book is related to a famous poet， Raymond Chaucer， who Clemi assumes is her biological father。 That aspect felt kind of unresolved and what was even the point of it all？Another thing， this book is about a BOOKSTORE！！ Our most favorite place in this world。 It is a magical place。 The author should have been able to make the bookstore come alive but it was not properly done at all。Overall， I did not enjoy my time reading this book as much as I wanted to。 Even though this book was not that boring， it was still a bland and lukewarm story。 I did not get attached to any character at all。 The only character I cared about was that poor turtle who was tossed around。 It deserved better caretakers。 There were few funny moments here and there but unfortunately they were not enough to save this book。 。。。more

Liz Muehl ，

I love books about bookshops， especially independent ones， and libraries so this one grabbed my attention。 At times it really entertained me and sometimes it fell flat for me。 What I really liked most though was the descriptions of the booksellers interactions with various customers。 It really made me laugh and think twice about how I act in a bookshop！

Jess ，

I was hoping the reviews were wrong， but I couldn’t get through this book and sadly this is a DNF for me。The writing， the subplots…it was just too all over for me。I received a complimentary copy of this book。 Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。