Books about books, bookshops, and booksellers - it's my favourite thing. Here's a small selection across most genres for those who loving reading about bookshops as well as shopping at them.
I have spent far too much time at home creating a ginormous collection of our books about bookshops. There's a complete collection here, but I thought I would also pull out a few favourites in a few categories.
General Fiction
We all loved Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow (not about bookshops but an amazing novel about game design!), however I think I loved Gabrielle Zevin's earlier novel even more - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. An absolute gem of a story about a grumpy bookstore owner who is going through a hard time in more ways than one, and who one day finds a small child sitting in his bookshop with a note asking for someone to take care of her. It's an absolutely beautiful story about books and bookshops and the power of human connection and one worth reading if you love Zevin's writing.
You can't go wrong with Louise Erdrich, an incredible writer and bookseller from Minneapolis, The Sentence is her book about a small independent bookshop haunted by a customer who just won't leave after passing away on All Souls' Day. There's incredible prose, wonderful characters, and a mysterious reckoning for the neighborhood.
Another fiction read that looks amazing and has immediately made its way onto my TBR is John Tottenham's Service - where a failing novelist and journalist in his late forties finds himself working in a bookstore in LA. It's a story of gentrification, and the role of literature in our modern age and it sounds so good.
“Nothing makes Penstemon happier than handing a favorite book to someone who wants to read it. I’m the same. I suppose you could say this delights us although ‘delight’ is a word I rarely use. Delight seems insubstantial; happiness feels more grounded; ecstasy is what I shoot for; satisfaction is hardest to attain.” ― Louise Erdrich, The Sentence: A Novel
Romance
Book Lovers by Emily Henry was the first book of hers that I read, and continues to be my favourite after reading everything else she's written. This is because the book is about a city literary agent falling for a small town grumpy bookshop owner and it's basically my ideal romance surrounded by books and bookshops. There's a new special edition version that I desperately need, it's STUNNING.
Speaking of beautiful special editions, I think I might have to buy myself the special edition of Laurie Gilmore's Cinnamon Bun Book Store, another amazing bookish romance this time about a mysterious message that appears in a book in the shop one day, and the hunky fisherman who has to help unravel a series of clues. Sign me UP.
Gracie Page is a new author to me but her book The Wildest Dreams Bookshop sounds glorious. A YA Rom Com about 17-year-old Anna who is staying with her Aunt in a bookshop by the sea after a disastrous end to the school year, this is the book for the hopeless romantic who wants to be swept up by a surfer by the sea whilst also reading books. It's also part of a series!
Lastly, I have to talk about The Last Bookstore on Earth, an apocalyptic story of queer love and survival set against the end of the world and centered on the shelter provided by a bookshop. Described as 'Station Eleven meets The Last Of Us meets All That's Left in the World', I just think this sounds absolutely unique and remarkable, and right up my bookshop loving, end of the world fearing, alley.
“Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.” ― Emily Henry, Book Lovers
Crime and Mystery
My go-to cozy crime recommendation for anyone looking for a wonderful new series that will transport them to small town New Zealand is Gareth and Louise Ward's Bookshop Detectives series. Written by booksellers, and set in a wonderful bookshop surrounded by interesting characters (and the odd murder or two), these are just excellent reads for those who love books as well as a good murder mystery. The bookshop is called Sherlock Tomes for goodness sake, what more could you want?!
Similarly, Murder at the Bookstore by Jen Dawson is a cozy crime thriller about a mystery writer who finds sanctuary in her local bookstore until the owner dies and there's a real-life murder to solve.
The Bookshop of Buried Pasts by Sarah Clutton is one that Bookshop Hero Hannah read and reviewed and ever since I have wanted to read it too. She said about it "The Bookshop of Buried Pasts would be a lovely rainy day read. We are drip fed details of a historic murder as Charlotte tries to solve the mystery of her sick grandmother, her dead father, and who is this Francis she has to find?". Full of suspense, enigmatic family secrets, and an antiquarian bookshop in a tiny Scottish village, this sounds just perfect.
For the classic spy thriller readers, John leCarré's Silverviewis for you - a novel from one of the masters in the genre about a man who leaves his city-life to run a bookshop in a small English town by the sea. Sounds lovely and relaxing, until someone turns up and brings his past to his front door.
“Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.” ― Emily Henry, Book Lovers
Fantasy & Magical Bookshops
The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill is such an inventive story about a man who moves back to his home town, and slips through time thanks to the bookstore he worked at in high school. It's magical realism and a little bit of time travel, as well as a queer story of growing up and coming face-to-face with ourselves.
In Travis Baldree's Bookshops & Bonedust you have a cozy fantasy story set in a struggling book store that needs a refresh and it's delightfully good and brimming with wonderful characters (like Viv, the young orc who needs a brief respite from battle) and second-hand books. It's a prequel to the gorgeous Legends & Lattes, which means you can read it first even if you haven't been lucky enough to already find out how wonderful Baldree's books are.
Another cozy fantasy story that is bookish in the best ways is The Baby Dragon Bookshop, a charming novel about getting funding for a failing bookstore and trying not to fall for a rival at the same time. It's bookshops but if they also involved pet dragoons.
The Moon Glow Bookshop is like a strangely wonderful dream, perfect if you love the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. A mysterious bookshop on Earth has opened, and guests who visit are served magical drinks and dishes that take them back to their most regrettable moments. Sounds stressful, but it's actually quite a healing story about life and the stories we tell ourselves.
A special shout out to a series that is about a library rather than a book store, but Mark Lawrence's Library Trilogy is worth a shout out. The Book That Wouldn't Burn (Book One) set in a giant labyrinthine library where stories weave through different worlds and times. My husband loves this series and I definitely need to read it too.
“Every book is a little mirror, and sometimes you look into it and see someone else looking back.” ― Travis Baldree, Bookshops & Bonedust
Non-Fiction
You can't go wrong with Ruth Shaw's incredible memoirs about her life and her bookshops down at the very bottom of the planet in Manapouri, Aotearoa. She has led a fascinating life so far, and her stories about not only her own life but that of the many wonderful and weird humans who come to visit her bookshop are delightfully entertaining, as well as sometimes bittersweet.
If Bookshop Memoirs are your thing then Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire is worth a look too. It takes us behind the scenes to an antiquarian bookshop and shares the eccentric experiences of those who come to buy and sell rare books, in one of the world's oldest bookshops established in 1761.
Every Day I Read is a warm collection of musings and essays about reading, and language, and the importance of books in our lives. It's not so specifically about bookshops themselves but about book-lovers, and I couldn't not include it.
Everyone in the team is talking about A World of Bookish Places, an encyclopedia for book lovers and a dangerous guide to all the many many places around the world that we need to visit, including the spectacular and special bookshops as well as places like bookish landmarks, literary cafes and more. This would make the perfect gift, not just for me but for any bookworm.
“There are how-to books out there introducing 'hacks' to increase reading speed, and when we've just made up our minds to get into the habit of reading, it's easy to fall into the impatience of wanting to read quickly and read more. But reading is about understanding the world and ourselves, not finishing as many books as possible. We aren't reading to become faster, but to feel and understand more.” ― Hwang Bo-Reum, Every Day I Read
I know, I know, there are a couple of genres missing - but hopefully this little literary tour of bookshop-related books will get you started and help you find a new favourite read.
Let us know what your favourite books about bookshops are so we can grow our collection!
Lizzy makes sure the Book Hero bookstore is an integral part of our local Hobsonville community, welcoming readers of all ages with a genuine kindness and love of books. The Fantastic Mr Fox ignited her passion for books as a child, and now she’s read thousands of books and loves matching the right book to the right reader - both in our bookstore and online. When she’s not recommending her next favourite read, she’s enjoying life’s small joys and adding to a home library so large her husband Edd is constructing a massive bookshelf to try and keep up.
