Sophie Bernstein's been rereading The Diary of Anne Frank and the turmoil in the world around her is causing her to consider building her own hideaway in her bookstore. She's mourning the death of her husband and everything around her seems to be falling apart. The only logical solution is to isolate herself. But her bookstore demands much more of her. Told in alternating perspectives between Sophie and her employee Clemi, this novel is heartfelt, funny, and thought-provoking.

This was one of those books that had all of the makings of one that I would really like, however the pacing was off and the individual stories of the characters were not conjoined in a way that made it make sense to the overall purpose of the book which I am still trying to figure out. There were a few fun moments, however these were overshadowed by the musings and drivel of characters that did nothing to propel the plot. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book was a hot mess. It sounded like a great idea - the bookish setting and could have been really fun. But, instead, it jumped all over the place, the characters didn't engage me. I wasn't invested in what happened to them. The book just fell flat for me.

And I also hated reading an eARC with a watermark on every page.

Overall not great at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute romance novel and it was a fun read.

I REALLY wanted to like this book A LOT. It has the makings of my kind of story - I’m a sucker for books about books - should’ve been perfect. But for some reason this fell a little flat for me. I had a hard time getting into the writing, and the changing POVs were more confusing to me than it was a useful tool in getting the story across.
It was sweet, I did finish it, but I had higher hopes.

The cover of the book looks amazing, and certainly the whole general idea, but I found the chapters a little too long and with a lot of information. I couldn't follow the writing style.

Thank you si much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Books about books are typically my jam, but this one fell flat for me. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters, and it felt like we were just chasing too many subplots at the same time. I loved the premise of this book - I just don’t think the writing style was for me!

I had this downloaded on my kindle to read but wasn’t able to because of the formatting issues. The premise still sounds interesting and I’d probably pick it up now that it’s released!

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and NetGalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Oooohhh! So good!

2.5 stars

I'll pretty much pick up any book about bookstores or libraries. I'm an avid reader but also a lover of books as objects and collectibles so, out of the gate I'm usually going pretty favorable (or at least highly intrigued) towards anything that will revolve around them.
Unfortunately, this book about a Washington D.C. bookstore (and its owner, Sophie Bernstein, and employees) was something I had to make a concerted effort to finish. In the past, when I've encountered a book that was trying and I considered DNFing, there was some resolution to the plot that I would hold out hope for. In this case, there weren't high enough stakes or a thread of the plot that captured me, so I pushed through on pure willpower (and it's a very light and quick read).

The bookstore is a hot mess and chaos swirls day after day as they host many book signings and readings (organized by Clemi), are perpetually understaffed, and vacuum and animal problems abound. It was almost stressful to read about the level of madness constantly challenging the characters, with an owner who's MIA both literally and, many times, in frame of mind. Some of the characters got muddled in my mind amongst the messiness of issues that were always being chased.

Too much going on but not enough happening.

The highlights of the book were the End of Day reports by Autumn T., which were a fun way of grounding some of the busy bits.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I absolutely adore books about books and book lovers and this one‘s premise sounded perfect and the cover is adorable but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. It wasn‘t too bad, but I had higher expectations which weren‘t met.
The different character pov‘s and plots were confusing and the writing wasn‘t really good for keeping up with the book so at parts, I was actually ready to DNF it.
Nevertheless, the characters were really likable and even though the execution falls flat. Some scenes and moments were absolutely amazing, others just weren‘t.

meh. I found the story a bit boring. I lost interest about halfway through and had to make myself finish it. I am sure others will like it, but not my cup of tea.

I really wanted to like this book and from the description I was excited to read it. However, it fell flat for me and I had a really hard time getting through it. The story felt disjointed and the writing style lacked flow.

The premise has a lot of potential but overall I think this could benefit from several more rounds of editing and tightening things up.

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

Bookish People is set in an independent bookstore in DC where various events happen one after the other, all while Mrs. Sophie Bernstein, the owner, goes through some sort of life crisis after her husband passed away. There's a tortoise somewhere, a poet with a drinking problem, a solar eclipse, and a bunch of random things.

This book was described to be witty and hilarious, but this whole novel probably went way over my head because I did not find myself amused, and I found it painful to get through at times, mostly because I had no idea what was happening anymore or where the story was going.

This is a story about books, but even as I love books, this wasn't for me. I could not build an emotional connection with it, or any connection, which is unfortunate.

I can see this book appealing to people who have more wit and humor than I, don't mind a slow-paced book and just want vibes, and are in between reads.

I give this 2 stars.

Nonetheless, thank you Netgalley and Harper Muse for the e-arc.

This book did not work for me. The writing style and story were all over the place and didn't seem cohesive at all. I didn't finish this one.

I was so excited to read this story! I love a story about fellow book people especially when we get to look at several people woven into the same storyline. Unfortunately, this book just did not suck me in. I wasn't particularly interested in any of the characters and in fact it caused me to go into a bit of a reading slump since I was trying so hard to finish this book.

I think this book was just not for me, I absolutely see how someone could love the characters and their struggles and storylines.

I unfortunately could not get into this one. Was excited about the premise but the writing felt really flat and I really struggled with the writing style. This was not one for me.

A cosy look into how we cope when things are terrifying, who knew that was possible? Bookish people is set in an independent DC bookstore in the immediate aftermath of the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally and murder of Heather Heyer. Sophie the owner of the bookshop is struggling after the death of her husband and also struggling to understand the world we live in. She wants to burrow deep into the depths of her bookstore and possibly never emerge. This story is a great reflection on how unassuming often quiet bookish people get by when things don't make sense. A great reflection on our times, and super relatable.

This book had a lot going on. It was improperly formatted, so reading it was a challenge for me. I also just felt like it had so many different storylines going on that it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been. It gave me a lot of anxiety.