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Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion... and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more. Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile--a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power show more of storytelling. From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there's plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that's beginning to feel like home... a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending. show lessTags
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anonymous user Also about a librarian, this one using night-school lessons in ancient Chinese strategy to save her job, her family and her friends.
Member Reviews
2024 Advent, Day 19: I am a complete cliche of a booknerd, but I really do love a book about loving books. This story follows a Librarian whose been made redundant and comes up with the idea to run a Bookshop bus. As someone who got my library science degree last year, it was admittedly quite depressing to read the redundancy opening chapters, but I can't say I would have reacted differently to Nina's circumstance. (Side note-- why are so many book loving book characters named Nina? ) I too would love to run my own Bookshop. (Fun fact: I do actually have all my personal books catalogued and have a functioning online library interface and borrowing system established for members of my library (friends that ask for books) and so I do, in show more a way, currently have one)
Overall, a cosy cute read that I would not say is great in a literary sense, but could be in a personal one show less
Overall, a cosy cute read that I would not say is great in a literary sense, but could be in a personal one show less
All around us library budgets are being cut, hours reduced, staff made redundant. Those who manage to hang onto their jobs are busy in ways that don't mesh with traditional ideas of librarianship; technology and finding ways to be relevant in an age of computers is one of the biggest challenges for libraries of today. So what happens to those old-fashioned (but not necessarily old in age) librarians whose true love is books and helping the right book into the right reader's hand? Where do these folks go when the scope of the library changes so significantly that this is just a small, small portion of the job? In Jenny Colgan's lovely new novel, The Bookshop on the Corner, main character Nina faces this very conundrum when her own show more library branch is closed and unwilling to pivot away from her focus on books, she loses her job.
Nina is quiet, bookish, and unassertive. She is a fount of knowledge about books but this skill isn't enough to help her make the move to the more technologically focused centralized library. As the move is going on, she must attend training sessions, one of which asks her to look into her heart and figure out what she would do if she wasn't a librarian. The answer surprises her although it doesn't surprise her friend and flatmate, who worries that Nina's ever burgeoning book collection will cause their flat to collapse. It turns out that Nina would like to own a bookshop. Renting premises is impractical and so she sets her heart on a mobile bookshop somewhere that people are in need of books and her skill of connecting people to the right book. When she finds a van online that would be perfect for a mobile bookshop, she hies to rural Scotland to take a chance on her dream. After doubts and road blocks, both internal and external, she lands in Kirrinfief, Scotland, ready to change her life. As she works toward following her dreams and gaining confidence, she finds community and belonging and, embracing actual real life, she starts to live a life outside of the pages of her beloved books.
Nina is a timid mouse of a character who slowly blossoms in the right climate. The secondary characters, Marek, the train conductor/engineer; Lennox, Nina's landlord--a crusty, cynical farmer; Surinder, Nina's best friend from Birmingham who comes to visit; and Ainslee and Ben, the children Nina grows close to in town, are all delightful and appealing. Each of them is not only a fully fleshed character in their own right but each of them shows the reader a new facet of Nina's personality. The story is a charming and sweet romance, with books, between townspeople and a welcome outsider, and between Nina and a good man. Although Nina faces some setbacks and disappointments, these are not dwelt upon nor is the reality of the non-book work (accounting and the like) involved in opening a business really mentioned, giving the novel a dreamy, fairy tale feel. The story is a gentle and joyous look at the good in life and it will appeal to fans of whimsical, feel-good tales, those who love books about bookselling, and those for whom a small Scottish village is their idea of heaven. In short, it appeals to someone very much like me! show less
Nina is quiet, bookish, and unassertive. She is a fount of knowledge about books but this skill isn't enough to help her make the move to the more technologically focused centralized library. As the move is going on, she must attend training sessions, one of which asks her to look into her heart and figure out what she would do if she wasn't a librarian. The answer surprises her although it doesn't surprise her friend and flatmate, who worries that Nina's ever burgeoning book collection will cause their flat to collapse. It turns out that Nina would like to own a bookshop. Renting premises is impractical and so she sets her heart on a mobile bookshop somewhere that people are in need of books and her skill of connecting people to the right book. When she finds a van online that would be perfect for a mobile bookshop, she hies to rural Scotland to take a chance on her dream. After doubts and road blocks, both internal and external, she lands in Kirrinfief, Scotland, ready to change her life. As she works toward following her dreams and gaining confidence, she finds community and belonging and, embracing actual real life, she starts to live a life outside of the pages of her beloved books.
Nina is a timid mouse of a character who slowly blossoms in the right climate. The secondary characters, Marek, the train conductor/engineer; Lennox, Nina's landlord--a crusty, cynical farmer; Surinder, Nina's best friend from Birmingham who comes to visit; and Ainslee and Ben, the children Nina grows close to in town, are all delightful and appealing. Each of them is not only a fully fleshed character in their own right but each of them shows the reader a new facet of Nina's personality. The story is a charming and sweet romance, with books, between townspeople and a welcome outsider, and between Nina and a good man. Although Nina faces some setbacks and disappointments, these are not dwelt upon nor is the reality of the non-book work (accounting and the like) involved in opening a business really mentioned, giving the novel a dreamy, fairy tale feel. The story is a gentle and joyous look at the good in life and it will appeal to fans of whimsical, feel-good tales, those who love books about bookselling, and those for whom a small Scottish village is their idea of heaven. In short, it appeals to someone very much like me! show less
About a year and a half ago, the big book club at the bookstore I work at read The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and told my boss, P. K., who moved to the US from India 40 years ago, that the main character, the bookstore owner A. J., reminded them of him. Needless to say, the rest of the staff were curious and had to read this book and it quickly became a favorite among us all. As someone who succeeded in landing her present job by telling said boss that my life goal was to be Meg Ryan’s character in You’ve Got Mail, I wondered if there was a book about books with a main character like me.
Well, I’ve found her. Jenny Colgan, thank you for creating Nina and then letting her out of your head to play with the rest of show more us. There’s a certain amount of belief that has to be suspended to really embrace Nina’s story – there are definitely moments when you shake your head and think, really? That’s really how that situation unfolded? I have to think there’s a certain amount of magical realism at play in The Bookshop on the Corner to have Nina’s life work out so well. But her approach to life is almost always positive and with an air of Lizzie & Mr. Darcy strewn about the tale, it is an enjoyable one and got me out of my fiction slump! Seriously, in the last 7 months, I’ve read two works of fiction. Which is just crazy for me, lover of all things historical fiction and fantasy.
While I greatly enjoyed The Bookshop on the Corner, this is one of the few books I don’t think I’ll be enthusiastically recommending to all of my bookstore followers as it is fairly out of my ordinary reading habits, but also probably why it broke my slump! So, if you are in need of a bookish “palate cleanser,” The Bookshop on the Corner is for you! show less
Well, I’ve found her. Jenny Colgan, thank you for creating Nina and then letting her out of your head to play with the rest of show more us. There’s a certain amount of belief that has to be suspended to really embrace Nina’s story – there are definitely moments when you shake your head and think, really? That’s really how that situation unfolded? I have to think there’s a certain amount of magical realism at play in The Bookshop on the Corner to have Nina’s life work out so well. But her approach to life is almost always positive and with an air of Lizzie & Mr. Darcy strewn about the tale, it is an enjoyable one and got me out of my fiction slump! Seriously, in the last 7 months, I’ve read two works of fiction. Which is just crazy for me, lover of all things historical fiction and fantasy.
While I greatly enjoyed The Bookshop on the Corner, this is one of the few books I don’t think I’ll be enthusiastically recommending to all of my bookstore followers as it is fairly out of my ordinary reading habits, but also probably why it broke my slump! So, if you are in need of a bookish “palate cleanser,” The Bookshop on the Corner is for you! show less
Summary: Nina Redmond loses her librarian job, pursues a dream of a mobile bookshop, ending up in the Scottish Highlands, bringing joy to a cluster of small towns in her Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After, while longing for her own happy-ever-after.
I'm a sucker for books on books and so didn't notice that this is categorized as women's fiction, and romance, two categories I tend not to read. What is curious-er is that I actually liked it, for the most part. It was a nice break from some other heavier reads, and explored some themes I found interesting.
The story is that Nina Redmond, a librarian in Birmingham, is about to lose her job in a library consolidation. In an outplacement workshop exercise, complete with all the cliche's of modern show more corporate life, she is invited to share her own dream job. And she finally admits that it is to own her own bookshop, maybe a tiny one, where she can help match up people with books they will love. The dream lingers and takes the shape of a mobile bookshop in a van. She finds the van--in rural Scotland--and finally, with the help of villagers, persuades the owner to sell it to her. They hope she will bring her little bookshop to their town, and after being turned down for vending and parking permits in Birmingham, and a near-disaster encounter with a train, she decides to stay. At last her book-beleaguered roommate Surinder will get her and her books out of the apartment.
With the help of the train engineer, a Latvian emigre by the name of Marek, boxes and boxes of books are transported from Birmingham to a train crossing near her home at Kirrinfief. She finds a beautiful converted barn to rent from a grumpy, divorcing sheep farmer, Lennox. Surinder comes up and paints the name she chooses for her little bookshop, The Bookshop of Happy-Ever-After on her van while she fits out the inside. The bookshop is a huge success and villagers who haven't read a book in years are matched up with books they love. Some admit that when the libraries closed and no local stores were available, they just stopped reading. There is one delightful scene where she looks around the village, and sees people reading everywhere. The village embraces her and she finds she cares for them more than she would have thought--a teen girl Ainslee and her brother Ben, who are facing some trouble at home, a shopkeeper who has faced too many disappointments, and even the grumpy farmer, who she assists in delivering twin lambs that only she, with her small hands, could untangle inside the ewe.
Yes, it is a romance novel, an adult one in places. Nina strikes up this odd romantic relationship with the Latvian, Marek, who leaves books on a tree by the rail crossing for her, and she in return for him. They meet sometimes, and it nearly becomes something more. Yet, it is pretty clear to the reader that the real deal is Lennox and we all wonder what it will take to bring the two together. We wonder if Nina will find her own "happy-ever-after" or if these are just the stuff of fiction.
I loved the descriptions of the Scotland, the countryside, the short summer nights and the Northern Lights, the village life and festivals. More than this, I love the transformation that occurs both in Nina and in Kirrinfief and how books are the medium of that transformation. Nina discovers a calling in bringing people with little access to books together with books they love, books that broaden their horizons, or even books that are gateways for them into reading, as it was with Ben. In the process, we witness a village discovering what it had lost, settling for electronic media substitutes, and the joy of recovering what was lost and making the fabric of their life a bit richer. The contrast between Kirrinfief and Birmingham, with its hectic pace of life, shuttering its libraries and bookstores for an electronically mediated life, portrayed by her friend Griffin, who manages to keep his job in a technology-oriented thing called a library that has little to do with books.
None of this is heavy-handed, maybe a bit cliché at times, but an enjoyable page-turning read. This was a romance in more ways in one. Yes, there is the romantic element of Nina caught between the "puppy-eyed" Marek, and the gruff, angular Lennox. But there is also the romance of bookselling--the wonderful matchmaking work between books and their readers--as well as the practicalities of getting stock and making a living at it. More than that, we have the reminder in Nina's rolling bookshop of how everything from Little Free Libraries to bookmobiles and libraries and village bookshops weave together to enrich the social ecology of a place. show less
I'm a sucker for books on books and so didn't notice that this is categorized as women's fiction, and romance, two categories I tend not to read. What is curious-er is that I actually liked it, for the most part. It was a nice break from some other heavier reads, and explored some themes I found interesting.
The story is that Nina Redmond, a librarian in Birmingham, is about to lose her job in a library consolidation. In an outplacement workshop exercise, complete with all the cliche's of modern show more corporate life, she is invited to share her own dream job. And she finally admits that it is to own her own bookshop, maybe a tiny one, where she can help match up people with books they will love. The dream lingers and takes the shape of a mobile bookshop in a van. She finds the van--in rural Scotland--and finally, with the help of villagers, persuades the owner to sell it to her. They hope she will bring her little bookshop to their town, and after being turned down for vending and parking permits in Birmingham, and a near-disaster encounter with a train, she decides to stay. At last her book-beleaguered roommate Surinder will get her and her books out of the apartment.
With the help of the train engineer, a Latvian emigre by the name of Marek, boxes and boxes of books are transported from Birmingham to a train crossing near her home at Kirrinfief. She finds a beautiful converted barn to rent from a grumpy, divorcing sheep farmer, Lennox. Surinder comes up and paints the name she chooses for her little bookshop, The Bookshop of Happy-Ever-After on her van while she fits out the inside. The bookshop is a huge success and villagers who haven't read a book in years are matched up with books they love. Some admit that when the libraries closed and no local stores were available, they just stopped reading. There is one delightful scene where she looks around the village, and sees people reading everywhere. The village embraces her and she finds she cares for them more than she would have thought--a teen girl Ainslee and her brother Ben, who are facing some trouble at home, a shopkeeper who has faced too many disappointments, and even the grumpy farmer, who she assists in delivering twin lambs that only she, with her small hands, could untangle inside the ewe.
Yes, it is a romance novel, an adult one in places. Nina strikes up this odd romantic relationship with the Latvian, Marek, who leaves books on a tree by the rail crossing for her, and she in return for him. They meet sometimes, and it nearly becomes something more. Yet, it is pretty clear to the reader that the real deal is Lennox and we all wonder what it will take to bring the two together. We wonder if Nina will find her own "happy-ever-after" or if these are just the stuff of fiction.
I loved the descriptions of the Scotland, the countryside, the short summer nights and the Northern Lights, the village life and festivals. More than this, I love the transformation that occurs both in Nina and in Kirrinfief and how books are the medium of that transformation. Nina discovers a calling in bringing people with little access to books together with books they love, books that broaden their horizons, or even books that are gateways for them into reading, as it was with Ben. In the process, we witness a village discovering what it had lost, settling for electronic media substitutes, and the joy of recovering what was lost and making the fabric of their life a bit richer. The contrast between Kirrinfief and Birmingham, with its hectic pace of life, shuttering its libraries and bookstores for an electronically mediated life, portrayed by her friend Griffin, who manages to keep his job in a technology-oriented thing called a library that has little to do with books.
None of this is heavy-handed, maybe a bit cliché at times, but an enjoyable page-turning read. This was a romance in more ways in one. Yes, there is the romantic element of Nina caught between the "puppy-eyed" Marek, and the gruff, angular Lennox. But there is also the romance of bookselling--the wonderful matchmaking work between books and their readers--as well as the practicalities of getting stock and making a living at it. More than that, we have the reminder in Nina's rolling bookshop of how everything from Little Free Libraries to bookmobiles and libraries and village bookshops weave together to enrich the social ecology of a place. show less
This lovely, new book by Jenny Colgan had me enchanted from the first page (just as all her others have). Readers meet the timid, but immediately lovable Nina, who's a librarian that suddenly loses her job in Birmingham, England due to a library closure. When her life suddenly shifts beneath her feet, Nina is forced to step outside her comfort zone and make the hidden dream of owning her own little bookstore a reality. When a van in Scotland pops up for sale, Nina can immediately envision her own bookshop bus delivering books to villages that have lost their libraries. This was a wonderful read by an author who's rapidly becoming one of my favorites. Her characters are always so humble, relatable, and extraordinary, and this book was no show more exception!
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Sarah M. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.
"Come on. You're last. You have to say what you want to do. And be honest."
...
"Well," she said, feeling herself color in that awful way. She swallowed painfully. "Well . . . I mean. Well. I always . . . I always dreamed that one day I might have my own bookshop. Just a very little one."
Absolutely the loveliest novel that I have ever read. The words grace across the pages as lyrical as though they are singing the innermost thoughts, secret wishes, privately-held desires, heartfelt emotions of my soul. As an avid reader, retired librarian, who worked in bookstores too, this novel captures the cherished delights of everything precious to me.
Jenny Colgan created the character of Nina Redmond and shares her story with humor and zest. It is show more a story to cherish and treasure - to highly recommend - to be widely shared around the globe - with all who love books and for those whose lives are always enriched by the books they have discovered and read. In a word - priceless. show less
Dual review with Swedish first and then English!
SWEDISH REVIEW
Ännu en fullträff! Efter att ha läst 2 böcker i Strandpromenadtrilogin så såg jag verkligen fram emot att läsa denna bok. Jag menar, bara titeln Den lilla bokhandeln runt hörnet är ju ljuvlig. frågan var dock, skulle denna bok vara lika charmig som Strandpromenadböckerna? Kan Nina charma mig lika mycket som Polly gjorde? Och hur ska en bok utan lunnefågeln Neil funka?
Faktum är att Den lilla bokhandeln runt hörnet är en alldeles ljuvlig bok, charmig men inte alls utan djup, precis vad jag hade hoppas på. Ibland kan feelgood böcker bli för sockersöta men Jenny Colgan vet precis hur man skriver en bok som blandar humor och allvar och jag kunde känna igen så show more mycket i denna bok. Både när det gäller läsandet men även att leva i ett samhälle där centralisering och nerskärningar är ett faktum.
Jag gillar verkligen tanken på en bokbuss som får människor i en liten bygd att börja läsa igen. Jag känner igen drag i denna bok från Strandpromenadböckerna, t.ex. att Nina får uppmärksamheten från två olika män Precis som Polly fick i Strandpromenadböckerna. Men likheterna gör inget, jag har inte ens något emot triangeldramat, jag gillade både Marek och Lennox, de är som två motpoler, frågan är vem som Nina kommer falla för? Ja, det får du läsa för att finna ut.
Den lilla bokhandeln runt hörnet känns som en perfekt sommarbok, den är lättsam, snabbläst men ingen man glömmer i första hand.
Tack till Massolit Förlag för recensionsexemplaret!
ENGLISH REVIEW
Another hit! After reading two books in the Little Beach Street Bakery trilogy, was I really looking forward to reading this book. I mean, just the title The Little Shop of Happy Ever After is lovely. The question was, would this book be as charming as the Little Beach Street Bakery books? Can Nina charm me as much as Polly did? And would a book without Neil the Puffin work?
In fact, The Little Shop of Happy Ever After is a very lovely book charming, but not at all without depth, just what I had hoped for. Sometimes feel good books may be too saccharin, but Jenny Colgan knows how to write a book that blends humor and seriousness and I could recognize so much in this book. Both as regards to reading, but also living in a society where centralization and downsizing are a fact.
I really like the thought of a book bus that prompts people in a small village to start reading again. I recognize traits in this book from the Little Beach Street Bakery, such as That Nina getting the attention of two different men Just like Polly got in the Little Beach Street Bakery books. However, the similarities do not matter, I do not even mind the triangle drama, I liked both Marek and Lennox, they are like two opposites, the question is who Nina will fall for? You have to read the book to find out.
The Little Shop of Happy Ever After feels like a perfect summer book, it's easy-going, fast-paced, but not at a book that you forget!
Thanks to Massolit Förlag for the review copy! show less
SWEDISH REVIEW
Ännu en fullträff! Efter att ha läst 2 böcker i Strandpromenadtrilogin så såg jag verkligen fram emot att läsa denna bok. Jag menar, bara titeln Den lilla bokhandeln runt hörnet är ju ljuvlig. frågan var dock, skulle denna bok vara lika charmig som Strandpromenadböckerna? Kan Nina charma mig lika mycket som Polly gjorde? Och hur ska en bok utan lunnefågeln Neil funka?
Faktum är att Den lilla bokhandeln runt hörnet är en alldeles ljuvlig bok, charmig men inte alls utan djup, precis vad jag hade hoppas på. Ibland kan feelgood böcker bli för sockersöta men Jenny Colgan vet precis hur man skriver en bok som blandar humor och allvar och jag kunde känna igen så show more mycket i denna bok. Både när det gäller läsandet men även att leva i ett samhälle där centralisering och nerskärningar är ett faktum.
Jag gillar verkligen tanken på en bokbuss som får människor i en liten bygd att börja läsa igen. Jag känner igen drag i denna bok från Strandpromenadböckerna, t.ex. att Nina får uppmärksamheten från två olika män Precis som Polly fick i Strandpromenadböckerna. Men likheterna gör inget, jag har inte ens något emot triangeldramat, jag gillade både Marek och Lennox, de är som två motpoler, frågan är vem som Nina kommer falla för? Ja, det får du läsa för att finna ut.
Den lilla bokhandeln runt hörnet känns som en perfekt sommarbok, den är lättsam, snabbläst men ingen man glömmer i första hand.
Tack till Massolit Förlag för recensionsexemplaret!
ENGLISH REVIEW
Another hit! After reading two books in the Little Beach Street Bakery trilogy, was I really looking forward to reading this book. I mean, just the title The Little Shop of Happy Ever After is lovely. The question was, would this book be as charming as the Little Beach Street Bakery books? Can Nina charm me as much as Polly did? And would a book without Neil the Puffin work?
In fact, The Little Shop of Happy Ever After is a very lovely book charming, but not at all without depth, just what I had hoped for. Sometimes feel good books may be too saccharin, but Jenny Colgan knows how to write a book that blends humor and seriousness and I could recognize so much in this book. Both as regards to reading, but also living in a society where centralization and downsizing are a fact.
I really like the thought of a book bus that prompts people in a small village to start reading again. I recognize traits in this book from the Little Beach Street Bakery, such as That Nina getting the attention of two different men Just like Polly got in the Little Beach Street Bakery books. However, the similarities do not matter, I do not even mind the triangle drama, I liked both Marek and Lennox, they are like two opposites, the question is who Nina will fall for? You have to read the book to find out.
The Little Shop of Happy Ever After feels like a perfect summer book, it's easy-going, fast-paced, but not at a book that you forget!
Thanks to Massolit Förlag for the review copy! show less
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- Canonical title
- The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After
- Original title
- The Little Shop of Happy Ever After
- Alternate titles
- The Little Scottish Bookshop; The Bookshop on the Corner
- Original publication date
- 2016
- People/Characters
- Nina Redmond; Griffin; Surinder; Cathy Neeson; Alasdair McRae; Willie Findhorn (show all 18); Edwin; Hugh; Marek [The Bookshop on the Corner]; Jim [The Bookshop on the Corner]; John Lennox [The Bookshop on the Corner]; Kate Lennox; Lesley [The Bookshop on the Corner]; Ainslee Aurora Clark; Ben Clark; Aras; Bronia; Janine Clark
- Important places
- Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, UK; Birmingham, England, UK; Kirrinfief, Scotland, UK (fictional); Latvia
- Epigraph
- Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world. VOLTAIRE
- Dedication
- There is no dedication in this book because the entire book is dedicated to you: the reader. To all readers.
- First words
- The problem with good things that happen is that very often they disguise themselves as awful things.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Once upon a time there were three children. And their names were Wallace, Francis, and Delphine..."
- Original language*
- Englisch
- Disambiguation notice
- Book was originally published as The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After then reprinted as The Bookshop on the Corner.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
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