annettenis's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
crafalsk264's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Satirical and light hearted. When you pick up this book, please keep these words in mind. There are many reviews that seemed to expect more serious and cerebral than this little book is designed to offer.
Salvatore (“Sal”) Terranova and Camden Templeton are distant cousins who haven’t seen each other since they were children and neither have seen or been in touch with their elderly Uncle Franklin Templeton, owner of Templeton Books. So they are both bemused that he has left all of his estate to them—including a downtown bookstore in Ft. Worth, TX, all of the contents, problems, employees etc., and his apartment and all of his personal property on the building’s second floor. Sal is a minor criminal from Jersey trying to outrun the mother of his family’s don. Camden is an English accountant in suits and high heels who is fleeing a difficult divorce and a job loss. So these two mismatched cousins end up running a bookstore and sharing an x-rated apartment (Uncle Franklin had some secrets) as roommates. There are several quirky bookstore employees: a curmudgeon of a rare book seller, a no nonsense sexy librarian type salesperson, a Hemingway obsessed fan salesperson, a part-time Puerto Rican writing a manifesto on revolution, and a part-time Black Adonis who is their expert on Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Surprisingly Sal also turns out to be an amateur expert on books while Camden sees them as nothing but inventory.
The book is formatted as a series of crises that have to be dealt with in order to keep the bookstore operating rather than a single big plot line developed as a complex scenario. The characters are quirky, funny, found family types so there is no complex, in-depth character development although they all end up a little better than they were in the beginning. So instead of being upset by what is not there in the book and enjoy and appreciate it for what it is. This is a light-hearted, funny, satirical work and it left me with a warm feeling and a smile.
ckthelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Needed more critical eye during editing but all around interesting and thoughtful debut novel. I love books about books/libraries/bookstores—so this one captivated me quickly.
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