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ממש לפני חופשת הקיץ מקבלת מירנדה, מורה צעירה להיסטוריה, חדשות לא צפויות: הדוד שלה בילי, שאותו לא ראתה שש–עשרה שנה, נפטר. בילדותה נהגו לבלות הרבה ביחד בפתרון משחקי חידות שבילי המציא, אך אחרי מריבה מסתורית שפרצה בינו לבין אימא שלה, נערת רוק בעבר שהתמסרה לחיים הבורגניים - נעלם בילי מחייה. עתה היא מגלה שבילי השאיר לה את חנות הספרים שלו, שנמצאת על סף פשיטת–רגל, וגם משחק חידות אחרון שהמציא במיוחד בשבילה.
מירנדה נאלצת להשקיע את כל זמנה בניסיון להציל את חנות הספרים השכונתית, ואילו החידה של בילי מובילה אותה בעקבות ציטוטים מתוך ספרים אל שאלות על העבר: על מה רבו בילי ואימה? מדוע מעולם לא חיפש אותה שוב? ומי היא האישה המסתורית שתמונתה שמורה בדירתו? אט–אט מבינה מירנדה שהיא מתקרבת אל סוד נורא שכבר קרע את משפחתה פעם, ועתה עלול להרוס אותה ואת הוריה לתמיד.
מירנדה נאלצת להשקיע את כל זמנה בניסיון להציל את חנות הספרים השכונתית, ואילו החידה של בילי מובילה אותה בעקבות ציטוטים מתוך ספרים אל שאלות על העבר: על מה רבו בילי ואימה? מדוע מעולם לא חיפש אותה שוב? ומי היא האישה המסתורית שתמונתה שמורה בדירתו? אט–אט מבינה מירנדה שהיא מתקרבת אל סוד נורא שכבר קרע את משפחתה פעם, ועתה עלול להרוס אותה ואת הוריה לתמיד.
373 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2018
2720 people are currently reading
30641 people want to read
About the author
Amy Meyerson
7 books1,147 followersAmy Meyerson is the bestselling author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays, The Imperfects, and The Love Scribe. Her books have been translated into eleven languages, and her short fiction has been published in numerous literary magazines. Amy teaches in the writing department at the University of Southern California, where she completed her master's degree in creative writing. Her fourth novel, her first work of domestic suspense, will be published by Thomas & Mercer on January 1, 2026. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,820 reviews
June 29, 2018
2 stars--it was OK.
What I liked: The bookstore setting and literary "clues" were fun. The author clearly loves books and reading, and that shows.
What I didn't like: The main character, Miranda, was selfish and unlikable. Why was she with her boyfriend? They seemed to despise each other. Why was her best friend her best friend? They had nothing in common. She treated the people around her poorly, and I didn't see much growth by the end of the book. I really disliked her and her self absorption!
The mystery is entertaining, though predictable, but overall, this book didn't really impress me.
I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!
What I liked: The bookstore setting and literary "clues" were fun. The author clearly loves books and reading, and that shows.
What I didn't like: The main character, Miranda, was selfish and unlikable. Why was she with her boyfriend? They seemed to despise each other. Why was her best friend her best friend? They had nothing in common. She treated the people around her poorly, and I didn't see much growth by the end of the book. I really disliked her and her self absorption!
The mystery is entertaining, though predictable, but overall, this book didn't really impress me.
I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!
April 3, 2018
A FEW SET UP DETAILS BUT NO SPOILERS.... THIS BOOK IS AS DELICIOUS AS HOMEMADE PEACH ICE CREAM!...with mystery-literary clues sprinkled on top!!!
“Every family has its unspoken stories. Billy was ours. It didn’t matter whether or not it was sad”.
Miranda grew up in Southern California as an only child. Her mother tells her that she was named after one of the main characters in Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’. Miranda, the daughter of Prospero, was her mother’s favorite female literary character.
As a small child, Miranda thought of her Uncle Billy as her superhero. And when she was too old to believe in superheroes, she still believed in Billy. Billy made the world safer.
He was a seismologist. Miranda felt pride of his importance. He taught her almost everything she knew… giving her lessons in geology and biology and evolution disguised in adventures. He taught her about the world and how it collided and evolved, and how their lives were shaped by the movements at the earth.
Miranda had remembered the Northridge earthquake. It was one of those nights in Southern California that everyone remembered. Her best friend, Joanie was sleeping over. They were asleep when startled by books falling off the shelves. The night was chaotic. Mom and dad were screaming that they needed to get out of the house. There were aftershocks- broken glass on their hardwood floor - and the kids had bare feet. Joanie clung tightly to Miranda shaking and scared, but everyone was safe & sound.
Miranda said:
“ The earth had moved here, beneath my feet, and that meant Billy wouldn’t have to travel to some other distant land to study the damage. He would stay here with us. That was the best gift Billy gave me as a child. When ever the earth shook, I became excited once the confusion subsided. At some point, I’d stopped connecting that feeling to Billy, but it never went away. Even as an adult, I felt a guilty pleasure whenever the floor oscillated with the earth”.
Miranda thought the world of her Uncle— and he called her “my favorite girl”.
Besides being a seismologist, Billy owned a neighborhood bookstore on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. “Prospero Books” was his ‘fun’ job he told Miranda. Miranda loved the teen books she discovered and the scavenger hunts Billy planned for her.
“Prospero Books, where books are prized above dukedom”.
AGE AGE 12..... Miranda’s heart was broken. Uncle Billy and her mother had an awful falling out. Billy went away.....and she never saw him again.
The last words Billy said to her were:
“Things with me and your mom, whatever happens, I just want you to know it isn’t your fault”.
It never occurred to Miranda that it was her fault.... but she went through grief - loss - and anger. He left her with no explanation.
Her mother wouldn’t talk about it. Her father’s lips were sealed. — Everyone had secrets and hurts.
Yet.......for the next 16 years ..... Billy slowly became non-existent.
Then one day.........
Miranda was 27 years old, living in Philadelphia, teaching 8th grade history, and living with her boyfriend Jay.....( “testing the waters of cohabitation for the first time).
Miranda receives a package in the mail - later a phone call - that will bring her back to Los Angeles filled with curiosity- thoughts of Uncle Billy - her parents - carrying a message with her that she knows she’s heard some place before:
“Understanding prepares us for the future”.
Uncle Billy left a non-traditional legacy of understanding, inviting forgiveness and love , with literary clues..and pizzazz! It’s easy to fall in love with the characters.
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. Amy Meyerson is a terrific writer. I enjoyed many little details she created too. Miranda’s mother use to be a lead singer for a band called “Lady Loves”....her dad once owned 200 ties....
....and oh my gosh, the food that came out of this family’s kitchen made me hungry for good old fashion yummy foods before -gluten free - sugar free and no taste free....lol
Pancakes- French omelettes- steaming warm blueberry muffins- chocolate chip cookies- lasagna....even cool whip and strawberries!
Scrumptious-heavenly-and page turning heart-endearing reading!!!
Thank You Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Amy Meyerson
“Every family has its unspoken stories. Billy was ours. It didn’t matter whether or not it was sad”.
Miranda grew up in Southern California as an only child. Her mother tells her that she was named after one of the main characters in Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’. Miranda, the daughter of Prospero, was her mother’s favorite female literary character.
As a small child, Miranda thought of her Uncle Billy as her superhero. And when she was too old to believe in superheroes, she still believed in Billy. Billy made the world safer.
He was a seismologist. Miranda felt pride of his importance. He taught her almost everything she knew… giving her lessons in geology and biology and evolution disguised in adventures. He taught her about the world and how it collided and evolved, and how their lives were shaped by the movements at the earth.
Miranda had remembered the Northridge earthquake. It was one of those nights in Southern California that everyone remembered. Her best friend, Joanie was sleeping over. They were asleep when startled by books falling off the shelves. The night was chaotic. Mom and dad were screaming that they needed to get out of the house. There were aftershocks- broken glass on their hardwood floor - and the kids had bare feet. Joanie clung tightly to Miranda shaking and scared, but everyone was safe & sound.
Miranda said:
“ The earth had moved here, beneath my feet, and that meant Billy wouldn’t have to travel to some other distant land to study the damage. He would stay here with us. That was the best gift Billy gave me as a child. When ever the earth shook, I became excited once the confusion subsided. At some point, I’d stopped connecting that feeling to Billy, but it never went away. Even as an adult, I felt a guilty pleasure whenever the floor oscillated with the earth”.
Miranda thought the world of her Uncle— and he called her “my favorite girl”.
Besides being a seismologist, Billy owned a neighborhood bookstore on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. “Prospero Books” was his ‘fun’ job he told Miranda. Miranda loved the teen books she discovered and the scavenger hunts Billy planned for her.
“Prospero Books, where books are prized above dukedom”.
AGE AGE 12..... Miranda’s heart was broken. Uncle Billy and her mother had an awful falling out. Billy went away.....and she never saw him again.
The last words Billy said to her were:
“Things with me and your mom, whatever happens, I just want you to know it isn’t your fault”.
It never occurred to Miranda that it was her fault.... but she went through grief - loss - and anger. He left her with no explanation.
Her mother wouldn’t talk about it. Her father’s lips were sealed. — Everyone had secrets and hurts.
Yet.......for the next 16 years ..... Billy slowly became non-existent.
Then one day.........
Miranda was 27 years old, living in Philadelphia, teaching 8th grade history, and living with her boyfriend Jay.....( “testing the waters of cohabitation for the first time).
Miranda receives a package in the mail - later a phone call - that will bring her back to Los Angeles filled with curiosity- thoughts of Uncle Billy - her parents - carrying a message with her that she knows she’s heard some place before:
“Understanding prepares us for the future”.
Uncle Billy left a non-traditional legacy of understanding, inviting forgiveness and love , with literary clues..and pizzazz! It’s easy to fall in love with the characters.
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. Amy Meyerson is a terrific writer. I enjoyed many little details she created too. Miranda’s mother use to be a lead singer for a band called “Lady Loves”....her dad once owned 200 ties....
....and oh my gosh, the food that came out of this family’s kitchen made me hungry for good old fashion yummy foods before -gluten free - sugar free and no taste free....lol
Pancakes- French omelettes- steaming warm blueberry muffins- chocolate chip cookies- lasagna....even cool whip and strawberries!
Scrumptious-heavenly-and page turning heart-endearing reading!!!
Thank You Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Amy Meyerson
July 15, 2018
3.5 Miranda Brooks adored her Uncle Billie. Anytime he spent time with her they had so much fun, treasure hunt ts, clues to follow, and his bookstore Prosperos where she loved spending time. Then on her 12thb birthday something happens between her mom and Billie. She would not see him again, but on his death she found d he left her his bookstore, a letter and clues to follow. Billie's story was not the joyous one she had always envisioned.
I enjoyed this, bookstore, clues left in beloved books, how could I not? So many fun characters inhabit these pages, quirky characters, and yes of course, many, many secrets. As Miranda tries to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, she uncovers Revelations that will change many things. I enjoyed the mysteriousness of this, new revelations, following Miranda on her journey. Although I guessed early some of these, there was more that I did not know.
I listened to this on audio, and there is still much to this format I have to learn. The narrator here was clear, her voice fitting for a younger Miranda, the Miranda full of danger and injustice. The same voice though as she grew older just didn't fit as well. I still find it hard to separate the voice from the words themselves. I'm working on it though. Despite those few kinks, I enjoyed this. It was both fun and poignant, full of family drama, heartbreak, and love. Reminded me a little of Tell the Wolves I'm home, which I read and liked a few years back.
ARC from Netgalley and Edelweiss.
I enjoyed this, bookstore, clues left in beloved books, how could I not? So many fun characters inhabit these pages, quirky characters, and yes of course, many, many secrets. As Miranda tries to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, she uncovers Revelations that will change many things. I enjoyed the mysteriousness of this, new revelations, following Miranda on her journey. Although I guessed early some of these, there was more that I did not know.
I listened to this on audio, and there is still much to this format I have to learn. The narrator here was clear, her voice fitting for a younger Miranda, the Miranda full of danger and injustice. The same voice though as she grew older just didn't fit as well. I still find it hard to separate the voice from the words themselves. I'm working on it though. Despite those few kinks, I enjoyed this. It was both fun and poignant, full of family drama, heartbreak, and love. Reminded me a little of Tell the Wolves I'm home, which I read and liked a few years back.
ARC from Netgalley and Edelweiss.
November 29, 2020
A young woman inherits a bookstore from her uncle and is sent on a mysterious scavenger hunt.
"Yays" for this story:
1. it had an interesting plot;
2. I enjoyed the use of various book titles and quotations as part of the scavenger hunt;
3. at 64%, things really started heating up; and,
4. Ann Marie Gideon was an enjoyable narrator of this audiobook.
"Nays" for this story:
1. I had little sympathy for the main character, Miranda (she won't listen to her friend, her anger towards her mother seems misplaced); and,
2. for a contemporary story, I was confused why people kept the secrets that they did (this would've made sense if the setting was over 50 years ago!)
Overall, I enjoyed the secrecy, betrayal, selfishness, forgiveness and self-discovery that this story had to offer!
"Yays" for this story:
1. it had an interesting plot;
2. I enjoyed the use of various book titles and quotations as part of the scavenger hunt;
3. at 64%, things really started heating up; and,
4. Ann Marie Gideon was an enjoyable narrator of this audiobook.
"Nays" for this story:
1. I had little sympathy for the main character, Miranda (she won't listen to her friend, her anger towards her mother seems misplaced); and,
2. for a contemporary story, I was confused why people kept the secrets that they did (this would've made sense if the setting was over 50 years ago!)
Overall, I enjoyed the secrecy, betrayal, selfishness, forgiveness and self-discovery that this story had to offer!
June 7, 2018
4.5 stars
“At the beginning, it seems like a play about vengeance but it’s really about forgiveness.”
–Amy Meyerson
The Tempest
Jane Eyre
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Frankenstein
Fear of Flying
Persuasion
The Grapes of Wrath
Bridge to Terabithia
“Whatever clue it held, wherever Billy wanted to lead me I didn’t want to follow anymore”-Amy Meyerson
As a young child, Miranda loved her uncle Billy. He always had the neatest ideas to keep her busy. Because Miranda was a clever girl, Billy often made up riddles for her to solve. Not the really easy kinds, but he often took her to his bookstore, introduced her to wonderful children’s books and made her think in literature.
“He’d bought me The Giving Tree perhaps to teach me about friendship or to assure me that whatever happened at school, he would be my giving tree”-Amy Meyerson
One evening after bedtime, Miranda wakes to her parents and Uncle Billy having an argument. This was definitely something serious. It turns out, it changes everything in her life and her mother is silent about the whole thing. After seeing her uncle only one more time after, he disappears from her life.
“Understanding prepares us for the future”-Amy Meyerson
…reads the card in the package Miranda receives 16years later without a return address. Now an adult, history teacher and in a relationship, she finds out her uncle Billy has passed away and left “Prospero Books" in LA in her hands….along with some clues to solve the riddle of his past and that fateful night, that changed their lives.
“Like Prospero, Billy wanted to tell me of his betrayal, the event that had exiled him from our family”-Amy Meyerson
***
This mystery kept me guessing and guessing. While the plot split between the family dynamics and Miranda’s thoughts, Billy’s mystery was a gradual slow burn that would not let up. This very creatively crafted riddle, slowly unfolded, while playing out Miranda’s relationship with her mother, boyfriend and all those she ends up meeting along the way from Billy’s past and "Prospero Books".
I very much enjoyed this touching book. It resolves into an unforeseen ending of love and forgiveness, as all the family members come clean and a big secret is revealed. The nostalgia of the bookstore was lovely and the title of the novel befitting perfectly as it makes all sense at the end. A lovely, touching novel.
I received a digital copy of ‘The Bookshop of Yesterdays’ from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!
For more reviews visit: https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/
“At the beginning, it seems like a play about vengeance but it’s really about forgiveness.”
–Amy Meyerson
The Tempest
Jane Eyre
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Frankenstein
Fear of Flying
Persuasion
The Grapes of Wrath
Bridge to Terabithia
“Whatever clue it held, wherever Billy wanted to lead me I didn’t want to follow anymore”-Amy Meyerson
As a young child, Miranda loved her uncle Billy. He always had the neatest ideas to keep her busy. Because Miranda was a clever girl, Billy often made up riddles for her to solve. Not the really easy kinds, but he often took her to his bookstore, introduced her to wonderful children’s books and made her think in literature.
“He’d bought me The Giving Tree perhaps to teach me about friendship or to assure me that whatever happened at school, he would be my giving tree”-Amy Meyerson
One evening after bedtime, Miranda wakes to her parents and Uncle Billy having an argument. This was definitely something serious. It turns out, it changes everything in her life and her mother is silent about the whole thing. After seeing her uncle only one more time after, he disappears from her life.
“Understanding prepares us for the future”-Amy Meyerson
…reads the card in the package Miranda receives 16years later without a return address. Now an adult, history teacher and in a relationship, she finds out her uncle Billy has passed away and left “Prospero Books" in LA in her hands….along with some clues to solve the riddle of his past and that fateful night, that changed their lives.
“Like Prospero, Billy wanted to tell me of his betrayal, the event that had exiled him from our family”-Amy Meyerson
***
This mystery kept me guessing and guessing. While the plot split between the family dynamics and Miranda’s thoughts, Billy’s mystery was a gradual slow burn that would not let up. This very creatively crafted riddle, slowly unfolded, while playing out Miranda’s relationship with her mother, boyfriend and all those she ends up meeting along the way from Billy’s past and "Prospero Books".
I very much enjoyed this touching book. It resolves into an unforeseen ending of love and forgiveness, as all the family members come clean and a big secret is revealed. The nostalgia of the bookstore was lovely and the title of the novel befitting perfectly as it makes all sense at the end. A lovely, touching novel.
I received a digital copy of ‘The Bookshop of Yesterdays’ from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!
For more reviews visit: https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/
June 24, 2018
What an insufferable main character. Kind of an interesting premise, but lacked any emotional or even logical resonance.
July 7, 2018
A memorable debut that reads like a love song to books and the people that adore them. Amy Meyerson blends family drama and a cast of characters so smoothly that I found this book really difficult to put down.
Miranda Brooks is a middle school history teacher, living in Philadelphia with her teacher boyfriend, when she receives a startling phone call from California telling her that her beloved Uncle Billy has died. A man that she hasn't seen in sixteen years. Miranda soon discovers that she has inherited Billy's bookstore and with it a whole bunch of family secrets that are ready to emerge from the past.
Aside from the fact that it didn't take very long for me to assume what the big climax of the story was going to be, The Bookshop of Yesterdays proved to be a glorious gem that I would likely recommend to other readers.
Miranda Brooks is a middle school history teacher, living in Philadelphia with her teacher boyfriend, when she receives a startling phone call from California telling her that her beloved Uncle Billy has died. A man that she hasn't seen in sixteen years. Miranda soon discovers that she has inherited Billy's bookstore and with it a whole bunch of family secrets that are ready to emerge from the past.
Aside from the fact that it didn't take very long for me to assume what the big climax of the story was going to be, The Bookshop of Yesterdays proved to be a glorious gem that I would likely recommend to other readers.
September 26, 2019
As debut novels go, this an excellent story crafted by an author who teaches writing at the University of Southern California. Heart warming, engaging and illuminating, Amy's tribute to book stores, authors and forgiveness is interesting, emotional and fun. Using scavenger hunt as means for back story, book quotes as metaphors along with characters passionate about storytelling, as the plot evolves, so do the characters. When Miranda slowly uncovers the meaning of clues, we're taken on a journey of discovery where pieces of her life never fathomed are revealed, some of them startling. To quote the author, "Sadness is like a maze. You make some mistakes along the way, but eventually you find your way out". This is a story for ALL BOOK LOVERS as well as those who cherish book stores.
June 5, 2018
3.75 ☕️ ☕️ ☕️
I won this ARC which publishes June 12 in a Goodreads giveaway. Yay!
My thanks to Harper Collins and the author.
Lately there is a trend in novels with bookshop in the title. At this point I’m surprised we haven’t seen one titled The Girl In The Bookshop. We all know why this is occurring—they know right where to point that bright red laser light. Did someone say the B word? 💥‼️
You want to know if it lives up to the word hype. The author teaches in the writing department at USC and it shows in this satisfying debut. One could say “average and predictable story and plot” and it did get a bit lukewarm in the middle, but for overall enjoyment I say “worth your precious reading time” because it goes down like cappuccino with chocolate sprinkles on top.
I won this ARC which publishes June 12 in a Goodreads giveaway. Yay!
My thanks to Harper Collins and the author.
Lately there is a trend in novels with bookshop in the title. At this point I’m surprised we haven’t seen one titled The Girl In The Bookshop. We all know why this is occurring—they know right where to point that bright red laser light. Did someone say the B word? 💥‼️
You want to know if it lives up to the word hype. The author teaches in the writing department at USC and it shows in this satisfying debut. One could say “average and predictable story and plot” and it did get a bit lukewarm in the middle, but for overall enjoyment I say “worth your precious reading time” because it goes down like cappuccino with chocolate sprinkles on top.
April 10, 2018
I received an advanced uncorrected copy from NetGalley for an honest review.
The Bookshop of Yesterdays is about Miranda, a history teacher on the east coast who's estranged uncle dies and leaves her not only his bookstore in LA but also the clues to a family mystery. The premise is interesting enough and I am always a fan of books about books. My two main problems with this story are the characters and the 'mystery' Miranda is solving . Beyond Miranda and her mother's character (somewhat) they all fall flat. No one feels like a fully fleshed out person. The people at the bookstore, both the workers and the regulars feel more like quirky character ideas of people than real people. They were funny ideas of people rather than whole fleshed out beings. The mystery was fairly easy to guess at. Which because this isn't a mystery novel wasn't bad just kinda boring. It again felt like drama for the sake of it. My main positive of this book is that you can tell the author loves books, reading and the culture that comes with it. I wish she had spent more time on the books she loves and the meaning they had to Miranda and her uncle. It might have helped give the story a denser flavor. Wouldn't recommend.
The Bookshop of Yesterdays is about Miranda, a history teacher on the east coast who's estranged uncle dies and leaves her not only his bookstore in LA but also the clues to a family mystery. The premise is interesting enough and I am always a fan of books about books. My two main problems with this story are the characters and the 'mystery' Miranda is solving . Beyond Miranda and her mother's character (somewhat) they all fall flat. No one feels like a fully fleshed out person. The people at the bookstore, both the workers and the regulars feel more like quirky character ideas of people than real people. They were funny ideas of people rather than whole fleshed out beings. The mystery was fairly easy to guess at. Which because this isn't a mystery novel wasn't bad just kinda boring. It again felt like drama for the sake of it. My main positive of this book is that you can tell the author loves books, reading and the culture that comes with it. I wish she had spent more time on the books she loves and the meaning they had to Miranda and her uncle. It might have helped give the story a denser flavor. Wouldn't recommend.
September 23, 2024
This is a story of secrets.
Of Books.
Of love lost.
Of love found, in very different ways.
It is a story of a young woman who inherits a bookstore from her estranged uncle, and with it, one final scavenger hunt, that helps her not only find the answers she needs – but something more.
We come to learn through the story the importance of scavenger hunts between a young Miranda and her uncle.
Even though I may have guessed what the secret could have been early on, I also wanted to crawl inside this book and go along on this journey with Miranda as she unraveled this mystery and why Uncle Billy chose to leave Prospero Books to her.
And even as I read through the night, (yes, this was one of those books), the novel kept me beautifully engaged.
It was a love letter to bookstores and reading with many references to famous works of literature interwoven through the story.
As readers we couldn’t help but be mesmerized by these references, and want to find ourselves amongst the classics.
We were anxious for Miranda to find her ending – or maybe her beginning?
Of Books.
Of love lost.
Of love found, in very different ways.
It is a story of a young woman who inherits a bookstore from her estranged uncle, and with it, one final scavenger hunt, that helps her not only find the answers she needs – but something more.
We come to learn through the story the importance of scavenger hunts between a young Miranda and her uncle.
Even though I may have guessed what the secret could have been early on, I also wanted to crawl inside this book and go along on this journey with Miranda as she unraveled this mystery and why Uncle Billy chose to leave Prospero Books to her.
And even as I read through the night, (yes, this was one of those books), the novel kept me beautifully engaged.
It was a love letter to bookstores and reading with many references to famous works of literature interwoven through the story.
As readers we couldn’t help but be mesmerized by these references, and want to find ourselves amongst the classics.
We were anxious for Miranda to find her ending – or maybe her beginning?
April 22, 2018
A young woman unravels her life one clue at a time after the death of a family member and finds a truth that changes everything. She slowly follows clues with literary ties, that tie in with a bookstore from her youth. She goes down the rabbit hole and does not come out the same.
This has been such a long read, interesting but dragged on with the drama. The author just took so long to get the mystery solved and didn't spend enough time writing about the books she obviously loves. The mystery was apparent early in the story, so that part of the story didn't hold my interest. I was reading to follow the clues because they had to have some really cool outcome, right ? The tricky clues so elaborate delivered after death must lead to an extraordinary truth. No, there was no great reveal I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or was annoyed more by the meandering slow pace. I was left wondering what happened to the emerald earrings, yeh that bugged me, they came into the story at a pivotal point and then just disappeared and nobody asked about them. There were at lot of dangling points in the story, I wanted more family history answers, or more book store. The two parts of the story felt separate, the book store part felt complete, leaving the family drama feeling incomplete.
This has been such a long read, interesting but dragged on with the drama. The author just took so long to get the mystery solved and didn't spend enough time writing about the books she obviously loves. The mystery was apparent early in the story, so that part of the story didn't hold my interest. I was reading to follow the clues because they had to have some really cool outcome, right ? The tricky clues so elaborate delivered after death must lead to an extraordinary truth. No, there was no great reveal I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or was annoyed more by the meandering slow pace. I was left wondering what happened to the emerald earrings, yeh that bugged me, they came into the story at a pivotal point and then just disappeared and nobody asked about them. There were at lot of dangling points in the story, I wanted more family history answers, or more book store. The two parts of the story felt separate, the book store part felt complete, leaving the family drama feeling incomplete.
March 27, 2018
Easily worthy of 4.78 stars!! Let's round it up to a nice round 5 stars. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
As I have read an advanced reader copy, I do not want to give away too much information. But, I want to go on record stating that The Bookshop of Yesterdays is destined to be one of this summer's great read! Amy Meyerson introduces us to very relatable characters who must navigate through love, loss, friendship and, of course, family drama. Through the heroine, Miranda Brooks, Meyerson asks us to consider how we define ourselves, our families, and our community. We follow Miranda as she walks through her own truth in order to define who she is. (Something that we all must do for ourselves). "Understanding prepares us for the future".
I must acknowledge my husband, Leo, for bringing this ARC home about 3-4 months ago. Through his job, he received a copy of the book from Park Row books. Leo told me that once he read the premise and saw that a bookstore serves as the story's backdrop, he knew that he had to share The Bookshop of Yesterdays with me. There is no doubt that Park Row has a bestseller on its hands. I hope you get a chance to read this book. You will not be disppointed.
As I have read an advanced reader copy, I do not want to give away too much information. But, I want to go on record stating that The Bookshop of Yesterdays is destined to be one of this summer's great read! Amy Meyerson introduces us to very relatable characters who must navigate through love, loss, friendship and, of course, family drama. Through the heroine, Miranda Brooks, Meyerson asks us to consider how we define ourselves, our families, and our community. We follow Miranda as she walks through her own truth in order to define who she is. (Something that we all must do for ourselves). "Understanding prepares us for the future".
I must acknowledge my husband, Leo, for bringing this ARC home about 3-4 months ago. Through his job, he received a copy of the book from Park Row books. Leo told me that once he read the premise and saw that a bookstore serves as the story's backdrop, he knew that he had to share The Bookshop of Yesterdays with me. There is no doubt that Park Row has a bestseller on its hands. I hope you get a chance to read this book. You will not be disppointed.
July 6, 2018
The Bookshop of Yesterdays is a tribute to independent book stores and the impact of those stores on individuals and the community. As the novel opens, Miranda Brooks inherits a struggling bookstore, Prospero Books, from her estranged uncle. When she was young, he would create elaborate scavenger hunts for her to solve. After his death, she discovers that he has left her one last hunt which she endeavors to solve while trying to save the faltering store. The book’s message of the importance of community and its focus on how reading and bookstores are still very relevant made this a fantastic read for me. I really enjoyed it and look forward to her next book.
November 14, 2019
When you read physical books, it is only on very special occasions, like my birth month, that I receive or buy them new. I scored “The Bookshop Of Yesterdays” for about $1.00 locally! To jump in and read a 2018 release within a year was a treat and this is worthy at full price. It is a compelling personal mystery, not the typical drama about saving a bookstore. Amy Meyerson composed her début in an intricate cascade of interpersonal flavour, to delight everyone who follows her journey. Sticking to the protagonist and the main quest is the way to rivet readers. I wish I could discuss the intrigues of this compelling novel. I will highlight in obscure terms, some aspects that make this adventure sparkle.
A teacher in her thirties is content but not ecstatic. This justifies returning to Los Angeles from Philadelphia. Miranda’s childhood best friend is a delight. The store manager was an ass. Most of all: I never deem it plausible or right that anybody in real life, would refuse to discuss a late family member with children. You would show pictures and mention them. However, no critique diminished the five-star thrill. I am elated to locate adult novels that are about solving a mystery, instead of solving crimes! “The Bookshop Of Yesterdays” is all about the puzzle, the way I like it!
With space to acquaint settings, characters, and literature; the secret of Billy’s and her Mom’s fight and why he wants Miranda privy to it is riveting. As she deciphers each riddle location and personal history instalment, you are wound up about the secret getting answered. My first day with this book ceased in the morning, when Ron rose to go to work! The resolution was emotional and succeeds at garnering sympathy for their dilemma.
A teacher in her thirties is content but not ecstatic. This justifies returning to Los Angeles from Philadelphia. Miranda’s childhood best friend is a delight. The store manager was an ass. Most of all: I never deem it plausible or right that anybody in real life, would refuse to discuss a late family member with children. You would show pictures and mention them. However, no critique diminished the five-star thrill. I am elated to locate adult novels that are about solving a mystery, instead of solving crimes! “The Bookshop Of Yesterdays” is all about the puzzle, the way I like it!
With space to acquaint settings, characters, and literature; the secret of Billy’s and her Mom’s fight and why he wants Miranda privy to it is riveting. As she deciphers each riddle location and personal history instalment, you are wound up about the secret getting answered. My first day with this book ceased in the morning, when Ron rose to go to work! The resolution was emotional and succeeds at garnering sympathy for their dilemma.
July 30, 2018
Sounded so promising, but the narrator drove me more and more nuts the further I got into it. Cut my losses on p. 163 to move on to something I might enjoy.
September 7, 2018
[3.7] I am pre-disposed to like all books about bookshops and this is better than most that I've read lately. The heroine is smart, the writing is good, the mystery is engaging and the bookstore sounds fabulous. As GR friend Cathrine said "it goes down like cappuccino with chocolate sprinkles on top."
November 25, 2024
Like the Da Vinci Code if it was set in LA and only involved one family and their secrets; the obvious question is: why didn't Uncle Billy just leave a letter telling his niece what he wanted her to know after he died? Instead he sets up a "quest" for her that depends on her solving esoteric clues that would have stumped Robert Langdon. I liked the bookstore setting, but the niece is an annoying, self-centered tool. One of the characters even says to her, "Jesus, not everything is about YOU, Miranda" or something to that effect, which was my favorite moment in the book.
Once the mystery of Uncle Billy's quest was FINALLY solved, it was interesting even though it took such a long and convoluted path to get there and I was kind of embarrassed that I didn't figure it out sooner. But since I found Miranda so unlikeable, it didn't involve me emotionally at all, where it should have been heartbreaking and poignant. I didn't completely hate this book but I don't recommend it.
Once the mystery of Uncle Billy's quest was FINALLY solved, it was interesting even though it took such a long and convoluted path to get there and I was kind of embarrassed that I didn't figure it out sooner. But since I found Miranda so unlikeable, it didn't involve me emotionally at all, where it should have been heartbreaking and poignant. I didn't completely hate this book but I don't recommend it.
May 18, 2018
The Bookshop of Yesterday’s has a lovely cover of a pile of books on the cover so that is what drew me in right away! Miranda was always close to her Uncle Billy growing up until one day he just stopped showing up. Then one day he dies and she finds out all kinds of secrets about his life. Miranda inherits Uncle Billy’s bookshop and the apartment above it. Uncle Billy had always enjoyed hiding clues for Miranda to find. She had more clues to track down after his death. I really enjoyed this book and it kept me up reading way past my bedtime!!! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book with an honest review!! I loved it!
June 27, 2019
Books about books are often some of the most treasured amoungst those of us that read a lot. I certainly find I have a soft spot for them. Let's face it, who doesn't want to read about a character like themselves that is a voracious reader and where the setting is a bookstore!
Bookish Plot
The Bookshop of Yesterday takes us on a book themed scavenger hunt and touches upon many wonderful pieces of literature including Pride & Prejudice, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Picture of Dorian Gray . It also touches on some less loved classics (at least by me) like Grapes of Wrath and Persuasion; but each reference is no less interesting and propels us forward in the plot. The books lead us to an ultimate reveal of information that impacts our leading lady's decisions on what life she wants to live.
Family
At it's core Amy Meyerson has written a story that is about family. Who our 'true' family is and why we connect with them. Of course there are the traditional blood connections that matter; but we are also treated to the idea that family can come from many places. Our leading lady is led through the book scavenger hunt by clues left behind by her deceased (and mysterious absent since she was 12 years old) uncle.
The drama with our gal's Mother is a bit annoying to me as I didn't really 'get' why Mom was so coy with information. However, the one thing that I tried to keep in mind is that, past events are oft embarrassing; even when you're not at fault for the outcome or event. The imperfectness of the characters and family really resonated with me as truthful and made it easy to relate to the majority of the characters.
Ambiance
I loved the descriptions of all the events and regulars at the bookstore. The setting descriptions include: the smell of leather, paper, ink and dust of an old indie bookshop. Even the choice of Meyerson to set our leading lady apart from her existing (and awful) boyfriend, to really reflect on her life, is intentional and contributes to the overall feel of the story. Additionally all the supporting characters at the bookstore create a sense of calm and add to the romance of the entire story which helps lead our gal in a certain direction. Meyerson uses details about people and descriptions of elements to really bring you into the bookshop setting and made it so I felt like I was there each time I picked this book up.
Overall
I really enjoyed The Bookshop of Yesterday and would say it's a good little drama-mystery book for summer. There's some good real-life situations addressed here including: the dynamics of split families, living away from home, grudges and blame, romantic relationships, and the idea of 'finding yourself' in the most unlikely place.
Overall, my favourite part of the whole book is that, it ends in a way that I (mostly) expected and so it felt comfortable. This may seem like an odd thing to say (especially by someone like me who loves a good shock factor) but the entire book feels safe and so it fit well that it ends as you are likely to expect early on. Sometimes you just want a sweet, cute mystery, without too much intensity, that makes you smile at the end; this book is exactly that for me. I look forward to more from Meyerson (this is her debut novel!) in the future when I am craving something contemporary and sweet.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Bookish Plot
The Bookshop of Yesterday takes us on a book themed scavenger hunt and touches upon many wonderful pieces of literature including Pride & Prejudice, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Picture of Dorian Gray . It also touches on some less loved classics (at least by me) like Grapes of Wrath and Persuasion; but each reference is no less interesting and propels us forward in the plot. The books lead us to an ultimate reveal of information that impacts our leading lady's decisions on what life she wants to live.
Family
At it's core Amy Meyerson has written a story that is about family. Who our 'true' family is and why we connect with them. Of course there are the traditional blood connections that matter; but we are also treated to the idea that family can come from many places. Our leading lady is led through the book scavenger hunt by clues left behind by her deceased (and mysterious absent since she was 12 years old) uncle.
The drama with our gal's Mother is a bit annoying to me as I didn't really 'get' why Mom was so coy with information. However, the one thing that I tried to keep in mind is that, past events are oft embarrassing; even when you're not at fault for the outcome or event. The imperfectness of the characters and family really resonated with me as truthful and made it easy to relate to the majority of the characters.
Ambiance
I loved the descriptions of all the events and regulars at the bookstore. The setting descriptions include: the smell of leather, paper, ink and dust of an old indie bookshop. Even the choice of Meyerson to set our leading lady apart from her existing (and awful) boyfriend, to really reflect on her life, is intentional and contributes to the overall feel of the story. Additionally all the supporting characters at the bookstore create a sense of calm and add to the romance of the entire story which helps lead our gal in a certain direction. Meyerson uses details about people and descriptions of elements to really bring you into the bookshop setting and made it so I felt like I was there each time I picked this book up.
Overall
I really enjoyed The Bookshop of Yesterday and would say it's a good little drama-mystery book for summer. There's some good real-life situations addressed here including: the dynamics of split families, living away from home, grudges and blame, romantic relationships, and the idea of 'finding yourself' in the most unlikely place.
Overall, my favourite part of the whole book is that, it ends in a way that I (mostly) expected and so it felt comfortable. This may seem like an odd thing to say (especially by someone like me who loves a good shock factor) but the entire book feels safe and so it fit well that it ends as you are likely to expect early on. Sometimes you just want a sweet, cute mystery, without too much intensity, that makes you smile at the end; this book is exactly that for me. I look forward to more from Meyerson (this is her debut novel!) in the future when I am craving something contemporary and sweet.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
November 28, 2018
I feel like I have been reading this book FOREVER. I did really like the bookstore itself, and the book quotes, but the “scavenger hunt” just bugged me, felt glacially slow and uninteresting and unlikely, and the Big Secret felt both unlikely and inevitable at the same time. I guessed it right away, but the reveal took so ridiculously long that I did doubt myself a little, and hoped maybe it would go somewhere more surprising. I did not like Miranda, or her relationship with her obviously-not-going-to-last boyfriend, or the way she interacted with her mother, or the way she failed to communicate over and over and over. This book felt like a YA coming of age trying to be a grown up chick lit and for me, it failed on both counts. Good book quotes, though. — PS I do get that she’s a flawed character damaged by her upbringing (or at least I HOPE that was the plan because if she’s supposed to be a normal relatable character, then this is an even bigger fail than I thought) but I just flat out didn’t like her and for me to enjoy a book with a main character that I dislike, that book has to be absolutely brilliant in at least one other way. This book is not.
November 2, 2020
I have to stop buying books with the word "bookshop" in the title. It usually ends up being a bad book. I think what killed me the most is that I did not find myself rooting for Miranda at all. She's selfish, she doesn't think about others (her boyfriend, best friend, or even her mother) and demands that people open up to her even when she's being nasty back to them. I was hoping that someone that liked history so much would actually not be a jerk, but there you go. I also didn't think that Meyerson did a great job with character development. Miranda goes on a scavenger hunt via her dead uncle and it just got tedious to read about. Especially since she wasn't a fiction reader and had to figure out clues via other people all the time. And I loathed the romantic pairing that is set up in this one cause neither of them are good for each other.
"The Bookshop of Yesterdays" follows Miranda Brooks. We start off with her as a 12 year old teen and we get to see an incident that ended up spelling the end of her and her uncle Billy's adventures together. Something happened between Billy and her mother and she never saw him again. Fast forward to 16 years later and Miranda finds out her uncle is dead. The same uncle who never reached out and answered her letters. Miranda is in a relationship and happy living in Philadelphia, but decides she must return to Los Angeles. Going to Billy's funeral solo (her parents passed on it) Miranda finds out her uncle left her his bookshop. His bookshop that is in the red and she can't afford at all, but hey Miranda is going to make magic happen and keep it open. Dealing with that is enough except Miranda is now on a scavenger hunt that her uncle left her. Clues about himself and her.
Ugh. Miranda is a nasty piece of work. I mean when you find out what is going on and everything that goes on she's just still terrible to her mother and still somehow defends her uncle. And bah. Can't go into it without spoilers. But it's not just her mother. Miranda is angry and jealous at her best friend for doing well in her acting career, for having a boyfriend that is into her. She even blows up inside when her friend's absent mother shows up along with her sister. I think most of this book is about Miranda being jealous and angry and demanding to know the truth about things and then just getting angry when not everyone stops to soothe her. She's also pretty terrible to her boyfriend back home as well.
I think the other thing is that Billy is pretty awful. I think only a handful of characters pointed that out to Miranda and she always bristled about it. I was hoping for her to get some self awareness about how she was acting and how it was similar to him, but no dice.
The writing was also really bad too. I was hoping this book would be a love story of sorts to book lovers and it was not. Probably didn't help that Miranda keeps saying she doesn't like fiction books and only nonfiction works. Which begs the question why in the world Billy left her literary clues. Did he just think she still read a lot of books or what? I don't care. Moving on. There are also some typos here and there that just annoyed me at one point because then I was ranting at myself for buying this book.
The flow was up and down and the whole plot after a while just gets ridiculous and stagnant.
The setting of this book is Philadelphia and Los Angeles (Silver Lake) and honestly one wonders if Meyerson has been to either cities. Philadelphia stays bland. I have friends who have lived around Silver Lake and this doesn't sound anything like where Meyerson sets the book. Another reviewer who is more familiar with the area took that to task in her review, see Lauren's review
The ending was a joke and a half.
"The Bookshop of Yesterdays" follows Miranda Brooks. We start off with her as a 12 year old teen and we get to see an incident that ended up spelling the end of her and her uncle Billy's adventures together. Something happened between Billy and her mother and she never saw him again. Fast forward to 16 years later and Miranda finds out her uncle is dead. The same uncle who never reached out and answered her letters. Miranda is in a relationship and happy living in Philadelphia, but decides she must return to Los Angeles. Going to Billy's funeral solo (her parents passed on it) Miranda finds out her uncle left her his bookshop. His bookshop that is in the red and she can't afford at all, but hey Miranda is going to make magic happen and keep it open. Dealing with that is enough except Miranda is now on a scavenger hunt that her uncle left her. Clues about himself and her.
Ugh. Miranda is a nasty piece of work. I mean when you find out what is going on and everything that goes on she's just still terrible to her mother and still somehow defends her uncle. And bah. Can't go into it without spoilers. But it's not just her mother. Miranda is angry and jealous at her best friend for doing well in her acting career, for having a boyfriend that is into her. She even blows up inside when her friend's absent mother shows up along with her sister. I think most of this book is about Miranda being jealous and angry and demanding to know the truth about things and then just getting angry when not everyone stops to soothe her. She's also pretty terrible to her boyfriend back home as well.
I think the other thing is that Billy is pretty awful. I think only a handful of characters pointed that out to Miranda and she always bristled about it. I was hoping for her to get some self awareness about how she was acting and how it was similar to him, but no dice.
The writing was also really bad too. I was hoping this book would be a love story of sorts to book lovers and it was not. Probably didn't help that Miranda keeps saying she doesn't like fiction books and only nonfiction works. Which begs the question why in the world Billy left her literary clues. Did he just think she still read a lot of books or what? I don't care. Moving on. There are also some typos here and there that just annoyed me at one point because then I was ranting at myself for buying this book.
The flow was up and down and the whole plot after a while just gets ridiculous and stagnant.
The setting of this book is Philadelphia and Los Angeles (Silver Lake) and honestly one wonders if Meyerson has been to either cities. Philadelphia stays bland. I have friends who have lived around Silver Lake and this doesn't sound anything like where Meyerson sets the book. Another reviewer who is more familiar with the area took that to task in her review, see Lauren's review
The ending was a joke and a half.
July 12, 2018
3.5 stars
Miranda inherits a bookshop from an uncle she hasn't seen for 16 years. Before that time they used to be close and she never understood what had happened to change that. The book starts off very well, but halfway the story it loses energy. Some of the characters are very selfish and annoying. Still overall I enjoyed reading this book and I'm glad I did.
Miranda inherits a bookshop from an uncle she hasn't seen for 16 years. Before that time they used to be close and she never understood what had happened to change that. The book starts off very well, but halfway the story it loses energy. Some of the characters are very selfish and annoying. Still overall I enjoyed reading this book and I'm glad I did.
August 1, 2018
I fished this audio-book against my better judgement. The only positive in the book was that, in the beginning, the "mystery" or "secret" that the main character was trying to discover was interesting. I guessed at the answer very early on, though. I kept reading because the author made you believe that there was more to be revealed. In reality, once you know the big secret, there is very little left in the book that was interesting.
Now, for the negatives. First was the profanity. It was extremely offensive and so totally unnecessary. It was just thrown out at you in a very abrupt and offensive manner. Because of this I will never read another book by this author.
Second was the unlikeability of the main character. She was selfish, self-absorbed and childish. She constantly made herself out to be the victim and never took responsibility for her own actions. She was a very irritating character.
I feel like it was a waste of time to read this book and am gladly moving on to something else.
Now, for the negatives. First was the profanity. It was extremely offensive and so totally unnecessary. It was just thrown out at you in a very abrupt and offensive manner. Because of this I will never read another book by this author.
Second was the unlikeability of the main character. She was selfish, self-absorbed and childish. She constantly made herself out to be the victim and never took responsibility for her own actions. She was a very irritating character.
I feel like it was a waste of time to read this book and am gladly moving on to something else.
October 8, 2018
I skipped to the end just to see if they strangled each other in frustration. From the awkward way in which to write dialogue, to the "mysterious" clues left to unravel to truth of your own existence & the attempt to compare her life to The Tempest, it was just painful. Talk to your family.
January 7, 2019
Spoilers - This story is not great in a number of disappointing ways, and some of them involve spoilers.
I liked the premise. The writing was decent (except the POV issues I'll discuss later). The subject matter of a mystery in a bookshop, made me think of Mr. Prenumbra's 24 Hour Book Shop. It was not.
1. Everyone in this book is an asshole. Every. Last. One.
Selfish and stupid and lying for no good reason. More on this in item 2, below.
2. Miranda was dense. She's supposed to be a book person, having spent all of her summers off from teaching reading books, a love of reading that goes back to this bookshop and her "uncle" Billy. He left her clues to solve related to books. They were easy, especially in a contemporary novel where the internet exists. And she struggled with them for MONTHS. How many weeks did it take her to figure out Frankenstein? That's where she lost me, when she couldn't figure out Frankenstein. And this allegedly "literate" person doesn't recognize Jane Austen from the name Fitzwilliam? Moron.
After we've established that Miranda is so dumb she couldn't navigate her way out of a damp paper bag, we get to the "big mystery" that Billy's treasure hunt is having her unveil. Only, I figured out the big secret more than a 100 pages before Miranda's slow turning of the mental cogs. So boring to watch her not figure it out. Yes, Billy was your DAD, not your uncle, and you were raised by your aunt and uncle, not your parents. Dolt.
And why the heck did it take her MONTHS and a freaking clue in a book to tell he to track down Lee, the former manager of the bookshop who knew all about Billy from back when Miranda was a child. She remembered Lee, who had called her mom when she showed up looking for Billy that last time when she was 12. Oh no, let's not try to find Lee. Let's sit on our ass all summer not looking for him instead. But then, I would have skipped 8 steps ahead on this little treasure hunt of pain. Because I'm not dense like Miranda and don't have the patience for all of this bullshit. It took her all of 10 minutes to find him when she finally got pointed in the right direction to look, but it was obvious to the readers that Lee was the key from the Prologue, which for this book had a pretentious title of Epigraph because Prologue wasn't enough of a pretense for this book. Lee could have told her straight out. As could Billy, either before he died, like a human being would do, so she'd have a chance to know him as her father, or afterwards in his will like a normal person who doesn't set up demented treasure hunts to torture his whole family after his death.
Which leads me back to point 1 again. All of the people in this book are assholes. According to the timeline in this book (which is also jacked up, see below), Miranda is 28 years old. How long is her "mom" and "dad" going to continue with this lie? Until Miranda is eligible for social security? Extended infancy is a problem these days, but this, she's 28! Tell her already. It was stupid enough they hadn't told her at her 12th birthday when everything hit the fan. She would have understood then. I have a 12-year-old son. They are not nearly as dense as Miranda's character here. Normal people would have told her then. Or when she turned 18. or 21? or graduated and moved across the country. NO, we'll keep lying forever because we're all ASSHOLES. There is no other logical explanation for everyone in her life to keep lying for decades.
3. Not only is everyone an asshole, they have really no clue about money and the finances involved in running a small business. I MIGHT have been able to forgive the book these First World Problem oversights if the rest had made more sense, but nope, I'm not.
Follow me here. The bookshop is losing money. They will need to shutter the door and declare bankruptcy and liquidate the assets, ,with all the employees losing their jobs. Unless they can turn it around and find new revenue sources AND/OR cut expenses.
Wait, there is no discussion of cutting expenses. In fact, dumbass Miranda quits her job and then, what, starts drawing a salary and benefit from the failing business? As a 28-year-old adult, she can't get medical coverage from her parents AND you don't get unemployment when you quit your job becuase you want to hang out with books, WHEEE!. Real life, people, takes a freaking salary unless you're already wealthy. And her parents seem pretty well off, but if Miranda is also, then, um, there's the money you need for the business.
What else should people do while this business (which, mind you, is in global decline, bookstores, thanks to online retailers) is trying to get into the black and afford to keep running?
Let's buy MLB tickets to Dodger games! Wait, Miranda had already talked about how the employees at the bookshop are making low wages (teacher level low - the horror!). So Malcolm is buying these pricey tickets - he had SEASON TICKETS. Those cost thousands of dollars. He's making very little money. Billy was losing money. But yeah, when things start going well for Miranda and Malcolm, why not, let's buy more tickets to Dodger games, because that's where small business owners and managers spend their evenings, not AT THEIR STORE which is open during the evening. So annoying.
Oh, what else ludicrous thing should a struggling business do? Yes, let's change the name of the store. Let's go through the completely unnecessary work and EXPENSE of filing a new name, changing all the records with all the government agencies, getting new signs, stationery, change your ads, change your online social media which they had JUST GOT GOING under Prospero. Dumbasses.
So they have one party and they suddenly don't have money problems any more and Miranda and Malcolm can hire extra staff (besides their own salaries, which are large enough to be Dodgers season ticket holders) to work all the nights they are out not running the store. Whatever.
4. Never has an allegedly middle class person cared less about a job or money than Miranda. She quits her teaching job on short notice because the STORE can support her? But then, she finds every excuse to not be working at the store. And, let's not forget, Dodger games with the store manager? That whiff of privilege and disconnect to what people who actually need jobs to live experience was grating. I wish authors who had actually worked jobs could get more publishing contracts, as this is definitely a theme in traditionally published works, characters who have no clue what working a job entails.
5. Now let's get to the writing, which was pretty strong except for whatever in the world was happening with the POV perspective with the flashbacks that intruded in every chapter. I get it. Miranda is solving a mystery with all the clues leading to events that happened in the past. She is talking to people about the past, trying to solve the big f-ing mystery. Instead of, EVERYONE, her parents, Billy before he died, Malcolm, anyone with a brain just telling this grown ass adult the truth.
Anyway, the story is told in FIRST PERSON POV by Miranda. Which means we should only know what Miranda knows, sees, remembers, etc. But then she talks to these stories which lead to flashbacks. By THEM, not Miranda. These aren't her memories, but the people she's talking to. A normal writer would have the person tell the story in dialogue. Or cut to a different scene from a different POV. But NO, in this story we head hop on over to that person's memories without changing POV, back and forth like a freaking ping pong match. Over and over, as every chapter almost had one of these flashbacks. And, it's worse than that, because at one point, while talking to Lee, Miranda narrates a flashback of a scene between Billy and Evelyn in which there is no indication that Lee was there. So she's have a flashback of a flashback that Billy had told Lee? Seriously, terrible.
Then let's talk about the timeline just for a minute. It's hard to write contemporary, as publishers don't want writers to "set" a contemporary book in a specific year. But, the numbers are all there. The year in 2013. Miranda was born in 1985. Her uncle and mom fought in 1997 at Miranda's 12th birthday. They hadn't talked to him in 16 years. It's 2013. As if we can't do math, the letter from Billy to Miranda after he knew he was dying also supports this, as it was dated in 2012 when he got the diagonsis and set up this demented wild goose chase.
I get that trying to get a book published takes years. But, edit this shit, as this came out in 2018, five years after the "now" of the book. Pissed me off, as I was mad trying to figure out whether Miranda was 28 (12 + 16) or whether she was 32 (2018 - 1985) when I was decrying the immaturity and need for everyone to protect this 28 or 32 year old woman-child.
Not only is the timeline off, but the sense of timing is off. Near the end, there is a scene where Miranda is talking about the efforts to boost the bookshop's financials in September to meet their big October mortgage payment or whatever (they were frustratingly non-specific on this). She talks about a book event in which an author goes to her parents house - which makes zero sense. And then the author breaks a mirror and cuts himself. In Sept of 2013, right? And then she says the author told her dad he got a great idea for a book. And the book went on to win a Pulitzer. What? You're in Sept of 2013 and you know this as of yet unwritten book will in the future win a prize. Unnecessary and annoying as all get out given the other jumping around and nonsensical actions of the characters in this book.
It had so much potential from the premise. It could have used some editing and been more readable. But, I'm not sure I'll ever be all-in when the main plot is a treasure hunt for the truth which grown ass adults should just tell each other. I guess I am not the right demographic for this book.
I liked the premise. The writing was decent (except the POV issues I'll discuss later). The subject matter of a mystery in a bookshop, made me think of Mr. Prenumbra's 24 Hour Book Shop. It was not.
1. Everyone in this book is an asshole. Every. Last. One.
Selfish and stupid and lying for no good reason. More on this in item 2, below.
2. Miranda was dense. She's supposed to be a book person, having spent all of her summers off from teaching reading books, a love of reading that goes back to this bookshop and her "uncle" Billy. He left her clues to solve related to books. They were easy, especially in a contemporary novel where the internet exists. And she struggled with them for MONTHS. How many weeks did it take her to figure out Frankenstein? That's where she lost me, when she couldn't figure out Frankenstein. And this allegedly "literate" person doesn't recognize Jane Austen from the name Fitzwilliam? Moron.
After we've established that Miranda is so dumb she couldn't navigate her way out of a damp paper bag, we get to the "big mystery" that Billy's treasure hunt is having her unveil. Only, I figured out the big secret more than a 100 pages before Miranda's slow turning of the mental cogs. So boring to watch her not figure it out. Yes, Billy was your DAD, not your uncle, and you were raised by your aunt and uncle, not your parents. Dolt.
And why the heck did it take her MONTHS and a freaking clue in a book to tell he to track down Lee, the former manager of the bookshop who knew all about Billy from back when Miranda was a child. She remembered Lee, who had called her mom when she showed up looking for Billy that last time when she was 12. Oh no, let's not try to find Lee. Let's sit on our ass all summer not looking for him instead. But then, I would have skipped 8 steps ahead on this little treasure hunt of pain. Because I'm not dense like Miranda and don't have the patience for all of this bullshit. It took her all of 10 minutes to find him when she finally got pointed in the right direction to look, but it was obvious to the readers that Lee was the key from the Prologue, which for this book had a pretentious title of Epigraph because Prologue wasn't enough of a pretense for this book. Lee could have told her straight out. As could Billy, either before he died, like a human being would do, so she'd have a chance to know him as her father, or afterwards in his will like a normal person who doesn't set up demented treasure hunts to torture his whole family after his death.
Which leads me back to point 1 again. All of the people in this book are assholes. According to the timeline in this book (which is also jacked up, see below), Miranda is 28 years old. How long is her "mom" and "dad" going to continue with this lie? Until Miranda is eligible for social security? Extended infancy is a problem these days, but this, she's 28! Tell her already. It was stupid enough they hadn't told her at her 12th birthday when everything hit the fan. She would have understood then. I have a 12-year-old son. They are not nearly as dense as Miranda's character here. Normal people would have told her then. Or when she turned 18. or 21? or graduated and moved across the country. NO, we'll keep lying forever because we're all ASSHOLES. There is no other logical explanation for everyone in her life to keep lying for decades.
3. Not only is everyone an asshole, they have really no clue about money and the finances involved in running a small business. I MIGHT have been able to forgive the book these First World Problem oversights if the rest had made more sense, but nope, I'm not.
Follow me here. The bookshop is losing money. They will need to shutter the door and declare bankruptcy and liquidate the assets, ,with all the employees losing their jobs. Unless they can turn it around and find new revenue sources AND/OR cut expenses.
Wait, there is no discussion of cutting expenses. In fact, dumbass Miranda quits her job and then, what, starts drawing a salary and benefit from the failing business? As a 28-year-old adult, she can't get medical coverage from her parents AND you don't get unemployment when you quit your job becuase you want to hang out with books, WHEEE!. Real life, people, takes a freaking salary unless you're already wealthy. And her parents seem pretty well off, but if Miranda is also, then, um, there's the money you need for the business.
What else should people do while this business (which, mind you, is in global decline, bookstores, thanks to online retailers) is trying to get into the black and afford to keep running?
Let's buy MLB tickets to Dodger games! Wait, Miranda had already talked about how the employees at the bookshop are making low wages (teacher level low - the horror!). So Malcolm is buying these pricey tickets - he had SEASON TICKETS. Those cost thousands of dollars. He's making very little money. Billy was losing money. But yeah, when things start going well for Miranda and Malcolm, why not, let's buy more tickets to Dodger games, because that's where small business owners and managers spend their evenings, not AT THEIR STORE which is open during the evening. So annoying.
Oh, what else ludicrous thing should a struggling business do? Yes, let's change the name of the store. Let's go through the completely unnecessary work and EXPENSE of filing a new name, changing all the records with all the government agencies, getting new signs, stationery, change your ads, change your online social media which they had JUST GOT GOING under Prospero. Dumbasses.
So they have one party and they suddenly don't have money problems any more and Miranda and Malcolm can hire extra staff (besides their own salaries, which are large enough to be Dodgers season ticket holders) to work all the nights they are out not running the store. Whatever.
4. Never has an allegedly middle class person cared less about a job or money than Miranda. She quits her teaching job on short notice because the STORE can support her? But then, she finds every excuse to not be working at the store. And, let's not forget, Dodger games with the store manager? That whiff of privilege and disconnect to what people who actually need jobs to live experience was grating. I wish authors who had actually worked jobs could get more publishing contracts, as this is definitely a theme in traditionally published works, characters who have no clue what working a job entails.
5. Now let's get to the writing, which was pretty strong except for whatever in the world was happening with the POV perspective with the flashbacks that intruded in every chapter. I get it. Miranda is solving a mystery with all the clues leading to events that happened in the past. She is talking to people about the past, trying to solve the big f-ing mystery. Instead of, EVERYONE, her parents, Billy before he died, Malcolm, anyone with a brain just telling this grown ass adult the truth.
Anyway, the story is told in FIRST PERSON POV by Miranda. Which means we should only know what Miranda knows, sees, remembers, etc. But then she talks to these stories which lead to flashbacks. By THEM, not Miranda. These aren't her memories, but the people she's talking to. A normal writer would have the person tell the story in dialogue. Or cut to a different scene from a different POV. But NO, in this story we head hop on over to that person's memories without changing POV, back and forth like a freaking ping pong match. Over and over, as every chapter almost had one of these flashbacks. And, it's worse than that, because at one point, while talking to Lee, Miranda narrates a flashback of a scene between Billy and Evelyn in which there is no indication that Lee was there. So she's have a flashback of a flashback that Billy had told Lee? Seriously, terrible.
Then let's talk about the timeline just for a minute. It's hard to write contemporary, as publishers don't want writers to "set" a contemporary book in a specific year. But, the numbers are all there. The year in 2013. Miranda was born in 1985. Her uncle and mom fought in 1997 at Miranda's 12th birthday. They hadn't talked to him in 16 years. It's 2013. As if we can't do math, the letter from Billy to Miranda after he knew he was dying also supports this, as it was dated in 2012 when he got the diagonsis and set up this demented wild goose chase.
I get that trying to get a book published takes years. But, edit this shit, as this came out in 2018, five years after the "now" of the book. Pissed me off, as I was mad trying to figure out whether Miranda was 28 (12 + 16) or whether she was 32 (2018 - 1985) when I was decrying the immaturity and need for everyone to protect this 28 or 32 year old woman-child.
Not only is the timeline off, but the sense of timing is off. Near the end, there is a scene where Miranda is talking about the efforts to boost the bookshop's financials in September to meet their big October mortgage payment or whatever (they were frustratingly non-specific on this). She talks about a book event in which an author goes to her parents house - which makes zero sense. And then the author breaks a mirror and cuts himself. In Sept of 2013, right? And then she says the author told her dad he got a great idea for a book. And the book went on to win a Pulitzer. What? You're in Sept of 2013 and you know this as of yet unwritten book will in the future win a prize. Unnecessary and annoying as all get out given the other jumping around and nonsensical actions of the characters in this book.
It had so much potential from the premise. It could have used some editing and been more readable. But, I'm not sure I'll ever be all-in when the main plot is a treasure hunt for the truth which grown ass adults should just tell each other. I guess I am not the right demographic for this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2018
Schoolteacher Miranda Brooks reaches a crossroads in her life when she learns of her Uncle Billy's death. He was a big and very important part of her childhood years, but a family rift resulted in her not seeing him for over a decade. Her mother, unable to find forgiveness in her heart, does not attend her brother Billy's funeral, so Miranda goes alone. With promises to her live-in boyfriend Jay, she embarks from their home in Philadelphia, on what she thinks will be a visit home lasting about a week.
When she was a child, Uncle Billy would take her on adventures. These adventures were usually didactic and often included riddles. Frequently, they ended up at Billy's bookstore, Prospero Books. Miranda always loved it there, and Billy would let her choose a book every time. Miranda was named for the Shakespeare character in the play "The Tempest". The bookstore's sign showed a picture of Prospero holding his staff in one hand and a book in the other.
"Billy called seismology his real job, Prospero Books his fun job."
Miranda learns that Billy has left her his beloved bookstore, Prospero Books, which is located in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. Some would say that her inheritance is more of a burden than a windfall. Like many independently owned bookstores, Prospero Books is struggling to make ends meet.
"We had competing recollections of the past, but one wasn't more right than the other".
It seems that Billy has one more adventure for Miranda. One more riddle to solve. He leaves his obscure clues in books scattered throughout the store. She befriends the store's meagre staff, including the taciturn though handsome manager, Malcolm. As she attempts to fend off creditors, and keep the store open, Miranda repeatedly delays her flight back to Philadelphia. She and her mother aren't speaking, and she feels she can't leave with things as they are. Whilst trying to mend her relationship with her mother, she finds out some life-altering family secrets.
Meanwhile, her trip home keeps getting delayed...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miranda's story was engaging, though predictable. I guessed what the big family secret was, which somewhat marred the reading experience for me. I was impatient for Miranda to realize what I had already guessed. I very much enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel with its charming bookstore and myriad book references. I felt that the riddles were too obscure for most readers, but that the novel was well rendered on the whole.
This is a novel about family secrets, forgiveness, new beginnings, and the destructive nature of miscommunication. A worthy debut novel that I enjoyed enough to look forward to what this author writes next.
When she was a child, Uncle Billy would take her on adventures. These adventures were usually didactic and often included riddles. Frequently, they ended up at Billy's bookstore, Prospero Books. Miranda always loved it there, and Billy would let her choose a book every time. Miranda was named for the Shakespeare character in the play "The Tempest". The bookstore's sign showed a picture of Prospero holding his staff in one hand and a book in the other.
"Billy called seismology his real job, Prospero Books his fun job."
Miranda learns that Billy has left her his beloved bookstore, Prospero Books, which is located in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. Some would say that her inheritance is more of a burden than a windfall. Like many independently owned bookstores, Prospero Books is struggling to make ends meet.
"We had competing recollections of the past, but one wasn't more right than the other".
It seems that Billy has one more adventure for Miranda. One more riddle to solve. He leaves his obscure clues in books scattered throughout the store. She befriends the store's meagre staff, including the taciturn though handsome manager, Malcolm. As she attempts to fend off creditors, and keep the store open, Miranda repeatedly delays her flight back to Philadelphia. She and her mother aren't speaking, and she feels she can't leave with things as they are. Whilst trying to mend her relationship with her mother, she finds out some life-altering family secrets.
Meanwhile, her trip home keeps getting delayed...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miranda's story was engaging, though predictable. I guessed what the big family secret was, which somewhat marred the reading experience for me. I was impatient for Miranda to realize what I had already guessed. I very much enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel with its charming bookstore and myriad book references. I felt that the riddles were too obscure for most readers, but that the novel was well rendered on the whole.
This is a novel about family secrets, forgiveness, new beginnings, and the destructive nature of miscommunication. A worthy debut novel that I enjoyed enough to look forward to what this author writes next.
February 10, 2019
When I started reading this book I had high expectations as it was a book about a bookstore and I am a sucker for books about books. Alas, after getting rather well into the book my disappointment was beginning to build. The bookstore does play into the plot but not to the degree I was hoping for. What there is in the book is a 28 year old woman named Miranda that was raised in L.A. but who now teaches history in a middle school in Philadelphia. There is also a now dead Uncle Billy that hasn't been seen or heard from in 16 years, a dark family secret concerning Billy's estrangement from his sister, Miranda's mother, a quest Billy has created for Miranda involving several literary references, an inherited bookstore, and more information about traffic on the L.A. interstate highway system than any reader would care to read about.
My disappointment grew the more I read about the characters in this book and the plot the author has created. What bothered me was that the plot would fall completely apart if the characters simply behaved in a manner consistent with the personalities the author had created for them. This flaw is most clear with the character Miranda who is an independent and intelligent woman that knows she is being lied to by people that shouldn't be lying to her. However, Miranda fails to confront these people with their attempts at distraction and diversion and insist on learning what it is they are hiding. Then there is the dark secret which I thought was very predictable and hardly much of a secret. I was sure that my personal opinion of the book would earn it a two star rating. However, the author is clearly talented even if I thought the plot overly dramatic and smacked of a novel written for bookclub ladies. The book would certainly be popular and it is entertaining so I was probably going to give it a grudging three stars. Having finished the book I am giving it 4 stars. Why?
Miranda's quest is completed earlier than I expected it would be, there was probably more than a hundred pages left in the book. The secret was revealed, the truth was learned, and now consequences for deception needed to be meted out, or did they. The book is not about the bookstore or Miranda's quest. The book is about interpersonal dynamics, it's about family, and forgiveness. As Miranda states in the book you don't have to like your family but you do have to love them. You also have to learn how to forgive them. We're not family but I hope the author forgives my initial criticism of her work as once I read the entire book I realized what I considered sloppy writing was actually a demonstration of talent.
My disappointment grew the more I read about the characters in this book and the plot the author has created. What bothered me was that the plot would fall completely apart if the characters simply behaved in a manner consistent with the personalities the author had created for them. This flaw is most clear with the character Miranda who is an independent and intelligent woman that knows she is being lied to by people that shouldn't be lying to her. However, Miranda fails to confront these people with their attempts at distraction and diversion and insist on learning what it is they are hiding. Then there is the dark secret which I thought was very predictable and hardly much of a secret. I was sure that my personal opinion of the book would earn it a two star rating. However, the author is clearly talented even if I thought the plot overly dramatic and smacked of a novel written for bookclub ladies. The book would certainly be popular and it is entertaining so I was probably going to give it a grudging three stars. Having finished the book I am giving it 4 stars. Why?
Miranda's quest is completed earlier than I expected it would be, there was probably more than a hundred pages left in the book. The secret was revealed, the truth was learned, and now consequences for deception needed to be meted out, or did they. The book is not about the bookstore or Miranda's quest. The book is about interpersonal dynamics, it's about family, and forgiveness. As Miranda states in the book you don't have to like your family but you do have to love them. You also have to learn how to forgive them. We're not family but I hope the author forgives my initial criticism of her work as once I read the entire book I realized what I considered sloppy writing was actually a demonstration of talent.
January 7, 2019
Netgalley #24
Many thanks to Amy Meyerson, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Who wouldn't want to own a bookstore??? Ok! YOU! You're off GR now! The rest of you can read my review.
Miranda, names after Shakespeare 's heroine in The Tempest, loves her Uncle Billy. Until he isn't around anymore and then she feels abandoned and betrayed. Fast forward about fifteen years and Billy dies leaving Miranda his bookstore! Wow
But times are tough and she may want to sell it even though it was her favorite place as a child. And then she finds the clues to a scavenger hunt Billy left for her. What could this mean for her and her future?
I loved the idea of the scavenger hunt back to Billy. The clues were well thought out and clearly spaced. There was no rush to the finish line, and Miranda had time to process each find. I figured out the romance angle, but I think Meyerson wanted the reader to. It was just too neat not to work out that way. I was more than satisfied with the ending too-couldn't have been happier.
Meyerson wrote a good story. Anything involving a bookstore is okay with me.
Many thanks to Amy Meyerson, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Who wouldn't want to own a bookstore??? Ok! YOU! You're off GR now! The rest of you can read my review.
Miranda, names after Shakespeare 's heroine in The Tempest, loves her Uncle Billy. Until he isn't around anymore and then she feels abandoned and betrayed. Fast forward about fifteen years and Billy dies leaving Miranda his bookstore! Wow
But times are tough and she may want to sell it even though it was her favorite place as a child. And then she finds the clues to a scavenger hunt Billy left for her. What could this mean for her and her future?
I loved the idea of the scavenger hunt back to Billy. The clues were well thought out and clearly spaced. There was no rush to the finish line, and Miranda had time to process each find. I figured out the romance angle, but I think Meyerson wanted the reader to. It was just too neat not to work out that way. I was more than satisfied with the ending too-couldn't have been happier.
Meyerson wrote a good story. Anything involving a bookstore is okay with me.
May 19, 2019
“It helps, knowing we’re still happy somewhere.”
I think we can all agree that books are magic. So, give me a story about an old bookstore and a little family mystery and I'm hooked. Anything with "book" in the title is bound to fulfill all of our bookish desires, right? Unfortunately, the excitement wore off for me quite quickly and I found the story to be a little underwhelming. It was still a pleasant read overall and I think some people might enjoy it a lot more than I did. I might just be emotionally drained from reading 4 books in the last 18 hours, haha.
Actual rating: 3.5/5 stars
I think we can all agree that books are magic. So, give me a story about an old bookstore and a little family mystery and I'm hooked. Anything with "book" in the title is bound to fulfill all of our bookish desires, right? Unfortunately, the excitement wore off for me quite quickly and I found the story to be a little underwhelming. It was still a pleasant read overall and I think some people might enjoy it a lot more than I did. I might just be emotionally drained from reading 4 books in the last 18 hours, haha.
Actual rating: 3.5/5 stars
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