As a lifelong reader, a sporadic bookseller and the writer of this blog for almost ten years, I've clearly narrowed down the genres I like to read the most. And when I say narrowed down, I mean it -- I've found that I'm drawn to mysteries that take place in old Gothic mansions and novels about bookshops. I was excited to pick up Stephanie Butland's The Lost for Words Bookshop because I thought it was going to be a simple, cozy book about a bookshop. But it was my mistake -- it's about so much more than that.

As the book begins, we are introduced to Loveday Cardew. She loves working in Archie's secondhand bookshop, but she also loves nothing more than to be alone with her books. In fact, she adores books so much that she has the first line of many of them tattooed on her body. However, as the pages progress and we go back and forth through time periods, the reader comes to realize that Loveday has a past that is seriously affecting how she handles herself and her relationships. It is at this point that The Lost for Words Bookshop becomes so much more than a book about a bookshop. And all of Loveday's tattoos get a deeper meaning to them.

In Loveday, Butland has developed a character that is easy to root for. As readers, we ache for her and understand why she acts the way she does, but want to shake her when she pushes away the people who love her and want to help her. Warmth, coziness, tragedy, and humor -- The Lost for Words Bookshop has it all.

MY RATING - 4

What a surprise this book was! I expected a light, Brit humor, romancey story. But it had some of that in the sotry it was not at all defined by any of those descriptions.

Loveday is a young woman working in York in a used book store. She is quiet, keeps to herself, slightly cynical. Her boss, Archie is a character, has done everything, been everywhere & knows everyone.

The book is broken into sections- Poetry, History & Crime & within each of these sections we learn about Loveday-her childhood, her family, her relationships now & moving forward.

I am a sucker for a book that has anything to do with a book store so of course, books, verses, poetry, opening lines of books, all played a part in this story.

It is a delightful story with some deep issues, & we find out about Loveday ( love this name!!) as she finds out about herself.....

Highly recommend this!!

An interesting book about a lost soul who works in a bookshop. As the story progresses we learn more about the demons she must battle within herself to let others into her life. There are some wonderful side characters that help her, especially with an old boyfriend and her past life.

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for an ARc of this book.

I really enjoyed spending a few days in the company of Loveday and her often tortured life. If you loved ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completly Fine’ pick up this book, I am sure, you too will enjoy hanging out at the Lost for Words bookshop and meeting those nearest and dearest to Loveday.

As a book lover, I am a sucker for novels that give books a staring role.

Loveday is a troubled soul. Her job at a bookshop is perfect as it allows her to 'hide' from the world. Yet, somehow the world comes to find her.

This book blends suspense along with plenty of relationship hurdles (both romantic and familial) along with the need to release the past through forgiveness.

Wonderful read.

What a wonderful book! I fell in love with the bookshop...I would love to work in this type of book store!

The history behind the life of the main character, Loveday, is one you will unravel slowly as you find yourself turning the pages one after another. The story will smoothly move back and forth from past to present as you discover why Loveday is the way she is...how her personality has been formed, what has led her to the bookshop, how she responds to people she meets. Archie, the bookshop owner, is a hoot! He was such a larger than life individual and you find yourself wanting to know more about his past and the tales he claims are true.

This is definitely a 6-tissue read! I literally sat in a restaurant and sobbed during part of the book. I didn't even care what anyone thought, because I was drawn into Loveday's story and ached for her as she faced her fears and insecurities and learned how to trust in herself and her abilities,

What a delightful and emotional read! I am grateful to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a charming, heartwarming tale. I could definitely relate to the protagonist’s love for books over people. Loveday was such a relatable character. I absolutely adored the relationship between her and the owner of the bookstore especially.

If you are a bookworm with an affinity for quirky characters and a cozy setting, then please read this.

3.75 ⭐️

Thank you Net Galley for the e-book to review.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think the word that sums it up best is quirky. Easy to read, but not a fluff book; plenty of substance to keep me entertained and wanting to read just one more page before I put it down for the night. Definitely recommend.

I received an e-galley of this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

I am a sucker for books set in book stores or libraries so I was excited to read this book. This book is so much more than your typical quirky characters in the store setting though. It actually deals with some very deep issues such as abuse, mental illness and foster care. Even with all those heavy topics though, the book is filled with hope and love. You grow to love the characters and root for their happiness along the way. I liked how the author used flashbacks to describe the harder parts of the story. A very good read!

Loveday Cardew spends her days working at The Lost for Words Bookshop. She considers books her sanctuary and has little to do with people.
This delightfully quirky character has a secret though that slowly comes to light as the story unfolds.
As an avid reader, I could relate to parts of this novel and found it an utterly charming read.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I liked the characters, but felt the ending was rather abrupt. I would have liked to have heard more about her reconciliation with her mother, and how they moved forward.

Loveday Cardew's best friends are books. She tattoos the first lines of her favorite books on her body like a collection of fond memories she wants to keep close forever. She hides a secret about her past and never lets people past her defenses. Books don't judge. Books don't pity. She works in a bookshop, surrounded by the peace and feeling of safety the books give her. But, someone has found out about her past. And Loveday Cardew's quiet little world is about to tumble into chaos.

I loved this book! As the story progressed and I learned more and more about Loveday....her past, her thoughts, her secret....I found myself sympathizing more and more with her. Sometimes the past keeps a tight grip on a person that takes years to loosen. I know this experience personally from my disastrous relationships with my birth family. For Loveday, she hides from her hurts and emotions and only loves books...until she lets her defenses down just a bit. And the world comes crashing in. So realistic. I also love the idea of getting tattoos of first lines of favorite books, or those with personal meaning.

I listened to the audio book version of this novel. Narrated by Imogen Church, the audio is just under 9 hours long. Church's voice is perfect for this book, and I loved the audio. Even with my hearing loss, I was easily able to hear and understand the entire book.

This was a binge listen for me.....I couldn't stop once I got immersed in the story. This book is sad, hopeful, and beautiful. Despite how we remember our lives Before, there is always a life After.

I absolutely loved this book and will be reading more by this author. I usually steer away from emotional fiction, but this story is beautiful. I have to admit that this book sat on my To-Read shelf for awhile before I worked up the courage to read it. I knew it would poke at the hurts still present from my own past...and I had to work up the courage to go there. I'm so glad I did.....totally rewarding experience. Full stars from me!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

This is a very enchanting book. Loveday, the main character, works in a bookshop. In her private life she is very closed off and her only real friend is her boss, Archie. She has worked at the bookshop for years starting when she was a teenager. Loveday has had previous romantic relationships which haven’t worked out so she is skeptical about starting a relationship with one of her new customers. She gradually warms up to Nathan but is still having a hard time trusting him or herself. Loveday has had a lonely existence for years. Her mother killed her father when she was a child and she went to a foster home. She struck out on her own as soon as she eligible to leave her foster home. As we learn more of her past we get a much better understanding of Lovejoy. Her confidence is further shaken when books that her mother owned start to mysteriously get dropped off at the bookshop. This conincides with when Nathan first appeared. Can she trust him? Who is dropping off these books and how did they get them? Her boss Archie is a great character in the book and is a great friend and protector of Lovejoy. The book is well written and is a pleasure to read.

This novel, was a very powerful story of a young woman, Loveday Cardew who struggled to trust life and herself after a tough childhood which started at age 10, where she ended up separated from her parents and then put into foster care. Growing up not trusting anyone and living in self imposed solitude doing what she liked best, reading and writing. Loveday never learned to really make a close friend, until at the age of 15 when she goes into a used bookstore seeking a job.

This is a story of her and the other characters ability to let down their guard and letting others in, learning through experiences and self expression. From books, to tattoos, to expressing oneself through poetry, dropping the fears of what was or what could be. In other words to be able to relate to your world and the circumstance around you.
This was another great story for me with rich and interesting characters, a book which has every emotion, and one that gives you hope.
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

Two words: UTTERLY FANTASTIC. "The Lost for Words Bookshop" is so well-written, the protagonist so endearing (tough, sweet, creative), the plot so fascinating, unpredictable yet relatable, that I am willing to say that the book is the best I've read thus far this year. I will be purchasing a physical copy of the book, as it is a story that is so wonderful that I want to have this book on my literal bookshelf. The author's vocabulary and love for words is apparent, yet not over-the-top. Her characters are perfectly developed, allowing each character a wonderfully unique quality, yet not turning them into caricatures. I just love this story, as will any reader who loves stories about characters who love stories. Running the gamut of emotions, "The Lost for Words Bookshop" is a true winner, and one I highly, highly recommend. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley, who provided me with a digital copy of the book at no cost. I was not required to write a review, and the opinions stated here are my own.

Loveday Cardew is a closet poet (with many secrets tucked in there as well) who works by day in the Lost for Words bookshop. Her life is simple and secure if not a bit lonely. Books have given Loveday a way to connect to a world that has shaken her deeply- so where else would she meet the people who change her life the most, finally freeing her of the painful memories she has held close for years?

The book is more gripping than it initially lets on and is well developed by the author. Loveday's secrets are revealed slowly to the reader in chapter flashbacks while complicated relationships in present day begin to test her inner strength and emotional vulnerabilities.

Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Engaging and at turns gripping as Loveday's understanding of relationships, friendships and family is tested and reinvented.

I received a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was completely unexpected in the most delightful way. I thought I was getting a cozy women’s fiction but instead got a delishiously nuanced and layered story.

Loveday Cardew is single, sullen and knows the only person she can rely on is herself. Well that is until she finds a book of poetry at a bus stop and the owner of the books comes into her life.


Loveday is a product of her broken home, when at 9 years old her life completely falls apart she soon learns that she has to rely on herself to survive. As a 25 year old woman this means keeping everyone at arms length until she meets a guy who gets her, at first she lets hike get close but when reminders of her childhood start cropping up, the pain is too much to bare and she starts to push him and everyone else further away.

Stevie‘s review of The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
Women’s Fiction published by Thomas Dunne Books 19 Jun 18

Often, when a book is published under different titles on opposite sides of the Atlantic, I find that the UK version appeals to me better. However, in the case of Lost for Words/The Lost for Words Bookshop, the more self-explanatory US title was the one that attracted my attention. And it’s the second-hand bookshop of the title where much of this story unfolds, the place where our heroine, Loveday Cardew, has worked since the owner caught her shoplifting a copy of Possession when she was a teenager (to be fair, she’d had her purse stolen, and had left the last of her pocket-change in the shop as part-payment).


Having grown up in foster-care and witnessed violence between her parents before that, Loveday has difficulty trusting people, yet is generous to a fault with those around her, whether she knows them or not. When she finds a poetry book in the street, she is keen to reunite it with its owner, which is how she meets Nathan Avebury, a professional magician and regular attendee at a local open mic poetry night. Loveday’s one previous relationship has not ended well, making her all the more reluctant to trust Nathan; nonetheless she begins attending the poetry nights and slowly gains the courage to read out her own works.

Loveday’s burgeoning relationship with Nathan seems to be headed for bigger things, when she begins finding familiar books in the boxes of new acquisitions she’s sorting through: not just titles and editions she remembers from her childhood, but the exact same copies that once sat on her and her mother’s bookshelves. Her suspicions fall on both Nathan and her ex-boyfriend, as well as on anyone else who might have encountered her estranged mother, and all the associated worry creates a rift between Loveday and Nathan that even Loveday’s kindly boss and his varied circle of eccentric friends and associates seem unable to repair.

I loved Archie, the bookshop owner, by the way. He’s one of those characters who will spin impossibly tall stories, only for them to later turn out to have been almost entirely true. And when disaster strikes yet again, it’s Archie’s kindness and forward planning that ultimately saves the day for Loveday and helps her both reconcile herself to her past and see how to achieve the future she deserves.

Told through various intertwining timelines, this is a rich and complex book, in which Loveday’s character and past history are only very slowly revealed. Some aspects of her life are told also through her poetry and Nathan’s, and in the end it’s a love of both poetry and other forms of literature that binds the characters together. I can’t wait to discover more by this new-to-me author.

Grade: A

As a lifelong reader, I can definitely identify with Loveday Cardew, bookshop owner who is more comfortable with books than with most people. When secrets and strangers enter her world of books, is it possible for her to step outside of her comfortable world, into adventure? Sensitive and poignant, this is a very readable book.

The story unfolded in layers and I had a hard time putting it down, it had a wonderful strong female character that was trying hard to find her way in this world and to overcome some big obstacles. It touched on mental illness, domestic abuse and reluctant but lasting and strong friendships. I found it touching, sad, inspiring yet uplifting at the same time. As a book lover and librarian, I can't begin to describe how this book made me feel except that I realize that my love of books was deeply enriched by reading this story!