In the tradition of The Cookbook Collector comes a funny, romantic novel about a young woman finding her calling while saving a used bookstore.
Maggie Duprès, recently "involuntarily separated from payroll" at a Silicon Valley start-up, is whiling away her days in The Dragonfly's Used Books, a Mountain View institution, waiting for the Next Big Thing to come along.
When the opportunity arises for her to network at a Bay Area book club, she jumps at the chance -- even if it means having to read Lady Chatterley's Lover, a book she hasn't encountered since college, in an evening. But the edition she finds at the bookstore is no Penguin Classics Chatterley -- it's an ancient hardcover with notes in the margins between two besotted lovers of long ago. What Maggie finds in her search for the lovers and their fate, and what she learns about herself in the process, will surprise and move readers.
Witty and sharp-eyed in its treatment of tech world excesses, but with real warmth at its core, The Moment of Everything is a wonderful read.
My review..........3.5 stars
For the most part, this was an enjoyable read. It was about working in/owning a bookstore. I don't know about you, but this is something that has always appealed to me. I found it extremely helpful that the author doesn't sugarcoat the hard work that goes into such a venture. One of my favorite quotes:
Bookstores are romantic creatures. All great readers fantasize about owning one. They think spending a day around all those books will be the great fulfillment of their passion. They don't yet know about the sorting of what comes in, the tracking of what goes out, the backaches from carrying and shelving, and the little money that comes from any of it. All those readers just think about the wedding without giving much thought to the marriage.
I loved all the bookstore parts of the story, but what I didn't love as much was the romance of the main character. I just didn't like the guy at all. He seemed kind of skeevy, and I almost wish that the book had just not had this relationship built into it at all. I don't feel that it added that much to the story, although it was somewhat related to the notes in the Lady Chatterly book. It was intriguing to follow the story about the notes in the book, but I felt a bit let down with its conclusion.
Definitely worth the read for the bookstore parts, and if you don't have an issue with the boyfriend, you will love it.
I'd like to thank the author for sending me a copy of this book for review. I am looking forward to reading more of her work, hopefully I'll like the romantic lead next time 🙂
When the opportunity arises for her to network at a Bay Area book club, she jumps at the chance -- even if it means having to read Lady Chatterley's Lover, a book she hasn't encountered since college, in an evening. But the edition she finds at the bookstore is no Penguin Classics Chatterley -- it's an ancient hardcover with notes in the margins between two besotted lovers of long ago. What Maggie finds in her search for the lovers and their fate, and what she learns about herself in the process, will surprise and move readers.
Too bad the romance didn't work but ooh the bookstore aspect..i would love!
Most people would probably not have a problem with the romance, for some reason I just did not connect with the character at all. It is definitely worth the read, if only for the bookstore aspect 🙂
Aw pity about the romance but if you didn't like the guy, I can understand why you weren't in to it. I love the notes in the margin theme and that's a great quote. Sounds like it was worth reading anyway for all the bookstore bits!
It's still worth the read, and hopefully I'm the only one who doesn't like the love interest 🙂