Helpful Score: 7
There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remediesI mean booksthat were written for one person onlyA book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: thats how I sell books.
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the countrys rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.
This was a book lovers pure delight! The wording was just so true, lovely and perfect. At first I thought the setting was a tad strange but then realizing that the bookshop was an old barge the guy had --- add boats to books and Im in heaven! The owner of the bookshop only sold books to people who could match them! It was delightful, loving, entertaining and at times downright funny. Get three guys rambling around on an old barge that hadnt been moved in 20 years with books all aroundjust heavenly!
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the countrys rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.
This was a book lovers pure delight! The wording was just so true, lovely and perfect. At first I thought the setting was a tad strange but then realizing that the bookshop was an old barge the guy had --- add boats to books and Im in heaven! The owner of the bookshop only sold books to people who could match them! It was delightful, loving, entertaining and at times downright funny. Get three guys rambling around on an old barge that hadnt been moved in 20 years with books all aroundjust heavenly!
Helpful Score: 4
Well I loved the cover and the concept-books being prescribed for readers based on emotions or feelings they were dealing with. I also loved the idea of a boat bookstore! Those concepts were there in the book but as for the core story line I felt drained along with Perdu. You feel his emotions, grief, and all the in between. I wouldn't recommend this one unless a person was mourning the loss of a great love and in search of how to start over. I didn't care for the theme throughout that one person can not be enough and faithfulness isn't important. It seemed the author conveyed that those who were faithful (Catherine) lost a part of themselves in being so and that to be truly alive and in the moment (Manon) you had to be open to not committing to one person. I don't agree. Anyway it is a sad story about loss, love, and starting over [with a fair amount of adultery thrown in].
An ARC received from Goodreads for an honest review ~~
The floating barge bookstore...what a marvelous idea!
Monsieur Jean Perdu is hiding from the world -he has shut himself off from everyone - except for his bookstore. He spends his time matching books to customers to heal whatever ails them. Problem being he cannot heal himself. Years prior the love of his life disappeared and with her his reason for living.
Perdu decides to pull anchor and take his bookstore down the river. At the last minute he is joined by a new acquaintance, a novel-paralyzed best selling author, who cannot come up with a current project. Perdu is headed to the last place he knew his love had been, taking with him the yet unopened letter he had received from her years prior.
This novel of lost love is the story of facing your fears and your past. Acknowledging your mistakes and seeing yourself for who you can be, forgiving yourself and moving on.
Quaint little story - easy to read - in the beginning it grabs you and keeps you turning pages to find out what happens. There are parts however that seem to lag, or really have no bearing on the development of the story. There are some journal entries that seem to lose steam as the book progresses. There are some really good quotes in this heartfelt little ditty, but it also has a feeling of disconnect to it.
The floating barge bookstore...what a marvelous idea!
Monsieur Jean Perdu is hiding from the world -he has shut himself off from everyone - except for his bookstore. He spends his time matching books to customers to heal whatever ails them. Problem being he cannot heal himself. Years prior the love of his life disappeared and with her his reason for living.
Perdu decides to pull anchor and take his bookstore down the river. At the last minute he is joined by a new acquaintance, a novel-paralyzed best selling author, who cannot come up with a current project. Perdu is headed to the last place he knew his love had been, taking with him the yet unopened letter he had received from her years prior.
This novel of lost love is the story of facing your fears and your past. Acknowledging your mistakes and seeing yourself for who you can be, forgiving yourself and moving on.
Quaint little story - easy to read - in the beginning it grabs you and keeps you turning pages to find out what happens. There are parts however that seem to lag, or really have no bearing on the development of the story. There are some journal entries that seem to lose steam as the book progresses. There are some really good quotes in this heartfelt little ditty, but it also has a feeling of disconnect to it.
Charming book that is a valentine to France, books, and love. It is about life and love after a loss. Recommended to Francophiles and readers who enjoyed books like 'Major Pettigrew's Last Stand' and 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.'
it is a great read...!!!
Loved this little gem and don't know why I let it languish on my bookshelf for so long. Basically, this is a story about, Jean Perdu, who grieved for over twenty years for his lost love, Manon Basset. He was so hurt when she left that he never opened a letter she left for him. When he does all over twenty years later he knew what an egotistical fool he had been because he found she was dying. Now he sets out to repair his heart and find a way to live the rest of his life, traveling with his barge to the areas where Manon grew up and once lived.
Fascinating characters include Catherine, a neighbor whose husband put her suitcase outside the door and locked it; Luc Basset, Manon's husband; Cuneo, a fellow traveler looking for his lost love; and Samy, the author of a book that helped Perdu, through the years. As the trip unfolds, Perdu visits Manon's family, who share her diary with him so he has insight into her last days. Cuneo and Samy fall in love and Jean realizes he must reconnect with Catherine, his charming neighbor.
The author shares so much wisdom about life. Let me share just one with from page 188: "I became myself when my son died," he said falteringly, "because grief showed me what's important in life. That's what grief does. In the beginning it's always there. You wake up and it's there. It's with you all day, everywhere you go. It's with you in the eveing; it won't let you go at night. It grabs you by the throat and shakes you. But it keeps you warm. One day it might go, but not forever. It drops by from time to time. And, then eventually...all of a sudden I know what's important - grief showed me. Love is important. Good food. And standing tall and not saying yes when you should say no."
Fascinating characters include Catherine, a neighbor whose husband put her suitcase outside the door and locked it; Luc Basset, Manon's husband; Cuneo, a fellow traveler looking for his lost love; and Samy, the author of a book that helped Perdu, through the years. As the trip unfolds, Perdu visits Manon's family, who share her diary with him so he has insight into her last days. Cuneo and Samy fall in love and Jean realizes he must reconnect with Catherine, his charming neighbor.
The author shares so much wisdom about life. Let me share just one with from page 188: "I became myself when my son died," he said falteringly, "because grief showed me what's important in life. That's what grief does. In the beginning it's always there. You wake up and it's there. It's with you all day, everywhere you go. It's with you in the eveing; it won't let you go at night. It grabs you by the throat and shakes you. But it keeps you warm. One day it might go, but not forever. It drops by from time to time. And, then eventually...all of a sudden I know what's important - grief showed me. Love is important. Good food. And standing tall and not saying yes when you should say no."
What I liked about this book - the bookstore owner knows and matches the perfect book to the person, he picks certain books to heal peopleâs emotions. The bookstore was a barge which sailed on the river and took on interesting characters. What I didnât like - romance not my favorite genre, writing was too wordy and descriptive, boring in parts. This book is a 50-50 gamble! Half the people love it & half are not too excited about it! Take a chance
I really looked forward to reading this book as I recently visited Paris and fell in love with this magical city. And I'm a book lover, so what a perfect title for me to enjoy. Sadly, the story started out great, reading about Jean Perdu and his ability to 'prescribe' a book to cure the reader's illness/needs. And being docked on the Seine, how marvelous! But the story disconnects when Perdu reads a long-lost letter from his former lover, pulls up anchor and sails thru numerous canals to the south of France to mend his heart. Story somewhat rambles, I lost interest but slogged thru, hoping for redemption at the end. Nah, it just turns into another love story. A little sad, somewhat enjoyable though disconnected so I just can't give a lot of praise.
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a story about a love affair with books that turns into the story of a romance. The book starts off in a beautiful Paris setting with a bookstore named the Literary Apothecary on board a barge in the Seine a perfect start for book lovers. Unfortunately, it veers off into a tale of Monsieur Perdu's romance, which is not nearly as engaging.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/06/the-little-paris-bookshop.html
Reviewed based on a publishers galley received through NetGalley
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/06/the-little-paris-bookshop.html
Reviewed based on a publishers galley received through NetGalley
not a great fan...it was entertaining enough but never got to love the protaganist
Story of a grief stricken French bookseller who gradually emerges from his self-imposed shell. Well written, and it has it moments, but I would have liked this story much more had it been set in the 1800's rather than modern day. Can't stop thinking the main conflict in the book should have/could have easily been resolved with a simple phone call.
