4 stars
This was a fun and quick read! I really love older characters who have an innocent and crabby relationship with a younger character that eventually turns into love. The writing itself wasn't anything spectacular but I did love the story and the love of books by the main characters. A very feel good novel :)

Carl Kollhoff delivers books to a special group of people. He meets a young girl,Schascha, who shows him a side of life that he never imagined. He finds out that even though reading is the common language, he has also found true friends.
This is such a heartwarming story about a group of people who are afraid of the world for different reasons.Schascha, with her sunny disposition charms all of them and helps Carl discover that his life isn’t over yet. I just loved this heartwarming story, especially how it ended. A very thought-provoking read, and one that reminded me that you are never too old to change, and never too young to be wise.

Something funny happened with this book. I have had it in my tbr list for a while but it was the Spanish edition. Then I added the English edition a couple of months ago thinking it was a different book and it was only until I started reading it that I noticed it was the same one. I was so excited to read it!
From the very beginning the story is captivating and gripping. A book about books and booklovers is always something that interests me and it was so nice to dive into the pages of the story and meeting Carl and Schascha.
It was a real page-turner, I read more than half of it in one evening, I just needed to know more of those amazing characters, both main and secondary ones. I loved Carl and Schascha and their friendship, it was so sweet.
From the very first chapters I could tell it was going to be an emotional story and as the story developed it both broke my heart and filled it back with hope and joy. The last chapter, the last lines were so difficult to read through my tears, but it was totally worth it.
It is beautiful story not only about books, but about friendship, about helping others and being kind. I loved how the things turn out and I liked the fact that even the people who did something wrong felt human and real and could have a change of heart.
This is a lovely and uplifting, feel-good story that you should definitely not miss. I know that it will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC early in exchange for an honest review! This one said in the description that it would be perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove and that's exactly what it was. It was so fun to see the ways that Henn incorporated the different people in the neighborhood into the story and to see the different connections that were made throughout the story. I'm pretty sure this book was translated from another language and that made it honestly all the more pleasant to read. The different names, locations, and terms that were used were to so fun to read and explore. One thing I would critique is that the Kindle edition seemed to have a lot of typos in which spaces would be where they shouldn't be, such as in the middle of words.

An enjoyable read about an older man who can match books to people.
The charming international bestseller about an elderly bookseller who delivers his recommendations door-to-door and an unlikely friendship with a nine-year-old girl that changes his life, for fans of The Midnight Library and A Man Called Ove. The bookseller Carl Christian Kollhoff delivers books to special customers in the evening hours after closing time, walking through the picturesque alleys of the city. These people are almost like friends to him, and he is their most important connection to the world. The story proves that friends come in all shapes and sizes and want to help each other.

It is a rare treat to discover a book like The Door-to-Door Bookstore. I essentially started and finished this book in one sitting on a family road trip.

Mr. Kolhoff is a bookshop employee who treasures his daily walks in the village where he delivers book orders to the village’s inhabitants, whom for various reasons, stay within the confines of their homes. One day, this “Book Walker” is accompanied by a precocious young girl named Schasha and turns his entire outlook on his customers upside down.

I absolutely adored the sweet and extremely relatable relationship between Mr. Kolhoff and Schasha. The addition of the quirky cast of characters the two of them interact with on their daily deliveries was delightful and kept me smiling as the pages turned. The plotline was short and concise - for me a perfect length that did not drag any one character’s story on for too long.

Recommended for lovers of cozy, book loving characters and Fredrik Bachman’s A Man Called Ove.

Thank you to NetGalley, Carsten Henn, and Hanover Square Press for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Door-to-Door Bookstore" by Carsten Henn is a delightful literary adventure with charming characters and a heartwarming ode to the magic of books. A bibliophile's dream come true!

This is a charming little book about people and books and how they make a family. I think it might really be good for middle readers. It has a quaintness to it and a little sorrow, but is generally uplifting. And one comes to genuinely care about the characters.

A charming tale that will appeal to bibliophiles and those looking for an easy, heartwarming read. Carl is an older German man who has been delivering books to patron and when he loses his job thanks to restructuring, he resets at the urging of 9 year old Sascha. Nothing much happens, there's no real drama (well, a little but in the scheme of things not so much) and it meanders in a relaxing way. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read.

This was just an okay read for me which hurts to admit since I'm usually all about books about books but I just couldn't fully connect to the characters. Ostensibly a feel-good story about an older MC who delivers books to the people who most need them and the power of reading to transform lives.

I'm not sure what it was about this book that just didn't connect for me (maybe the narrator?) but I just couldn't get into it the way I had hoped to. An okay listen and still one I would recommend, especially for fans of books like The reading list by Sara Nisha Adams. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Librofm for early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

Five glowing, brilliant stars for this charming and adorable book which I totally loved!

Description:

The bookseller Carl Christian Kollhoff delivers books to special customers in the evening hours after closing time, walking through the picturesque alleys of the city. These people are almost like friends to him, and he is their most important connection to the world.

When Kollhoff unexpectedly loses his job, it takes the power of books and a nine-year-old girl to make them all find the courage to rebuild their bonds with each other.

My thoughts:

I loved every minute I spent with this book. It is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I was quickly drawn into the story and the life of Carl Kollhoff and his little friend, Sascha, who befriends him as she follows him on his door to door book deliveries. Such a kind and heartwarming story!

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on July 4, 2023.

The highlight in The Door-To-Door Bookstore is the very special relationship which develops between a nine year old girl and an elderly man who delivers books in the evening to a diverse and interesting set of people. Such a simple story told by a skilled author becomes both a heart breaking and heartwarming novel.

This is such a delightful book. I read almost half of it in one sitting. Carl and Schascha are a wonderful pairing and the characters they interact with are equally charming.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed ‘A Man Called Ove’ and ‘The Librarianist’.

the review will post at https://www.hottbooks.com/review-the-Reading The Door-to-Door Bookstore was such an experience. I do not enjoy sad books and this one was absolutely heartbreaking… and uplifting… and heartwarming. Feeling the turn of time and change made me reminiscent of days, people, and feelings that g have left us.

I loved Carl as a character and his door to door service was so sweet and the relationships that he has with his patrons is so true. I couldn’t help but Wonder what it would be like to have something like that in my small town. The love and generosity of delivering thoughts and feelings and ideas.

Schascha’s uncanny insightfulness and unmatched stubbornness are the perfect foil for Carl’s precision and loneliness.

I don’t believe there is why easy to fully share exactly what this book meant to me or the deep connection I feel for it. There’s so much of this book that I want to keep close to me. Conversations that share true depth. Insights everyone should live by. Observations that should be written on the walls of our lives. This is not a book to read, this is a book to savor… And my heart will keep it with me for a long time.door-to-door-bookstore/ on 6/27

German bookseller Carl enjoys his job of delivering books to his special customers. They have become like family. When he unexpectedly loses his job, he makes friends with a nine-year old girl who helps him to rebuild.

This is a short and fast read but full of heart. Anyone who enjoys books about books will like this one. I saw it compared to a Man Called Ove. It didn’t quite connect with me as much but I loved the characters and enjoyed the story.

“Within each book lies a heart that begins to beat when someone reads it because it makes a connection with the reader.”

The Door-To-Door Bookstore comes out 7/4.

I will start with thanking NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.
The perfect sentimental tale for a true bibliophile. Heartwarming simple reasons to see what makes everyone who they are. An ode to a simpler time when the world could find you as a character in that special story, and bookstores had heart, because books often need someone to find them the way to the right person.

“Within each book lies a heart that begins to beat when someone reads it because it makes a connection with the reader.”

This is one of those books that speaks to your soul. It encompasses you in its arms, hugs you tight and leaves you a changed reader. Don’t miss out on this one. I know it will soon be the must-read book of 2023.

In short, it’s about an unlikely friendship between a lonely elderly man, a door-to-door bookseller, and a nine-year-old girl he meets along his route. This friendship changes lives.

Carl Kollhoff lives in a small German town where he delivers books to shut-ins after his shift at the local bookstore. He considers his clients as friends and they consider him their lifeline to the outside world. His world comes crashing down around him on the day there’s restructuring at work and he loses his job.

“Carl understood people who collected books like others collected stamps: people who loved to let their gaze wander along book spines, who gathered books around themselves like a community of friends. Inside books lived the characters to whom they felt a connection, with destinies unfolding in which they shared, or wished they could.”

You’ll read about how the power of books to heal and rebuild a future, about friendship and about the courage it takes to start over.

This book will be on my forever shelf and I know I’ll reach for it again and again.

I was gifted this book by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Very nice story. This has a fun plot and enjoyable characters, and I stayed engaged with this tale.

Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!

The Door-to-Door Bookstore was a sweet and heartwarming book. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Carl and Schascha. As someone who loves books, getting to see the character and story through the eyes of another book enthusiast was fun, and I enjoyed this as an easy read.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Carl and Schascha, and seeing how he grew through her influence. This is a book about books, but more than that it’s a book about how the small actions we take can have a huge impact for others, and I loved seeing how Schascha gave Carl the courage to take action and help his customers.

I think often with works in translation that some elements are lost, and I think that was the case with this book. I felt the emotional crux of the story was glossed over and it didn’t feel as poignant as it could have been. But I think the idea that we’re more important than we think and matter to those around us still came through in the end.

This was a really lovely book that I would recommend giving a read as a light and easy story with a meaningful theme at the heart.

... this was a book I had to sit and process for a few minutes after it was over.

It was beautiful and sweet and the writing structure and the locution were incredible. It depicted a wonderful, heartwarming story and truly illustrated how great books are (and the person who guides them).

There's not much else left to say other than I loved it. I was instantly attached to both Carl and Schascha, and their dynamic was sweet and very entertaining. Think Carl and Russell from the movie Up, especially in the beginning.

I wish it was longer. That there was a little more depth and/or closure to the side characters, because we see Carl/Schascha's initial effect, and then that's it, the story is over for them. And I get the appeal, it does work for the story, so it's mostly personal preference that just wants to see them at least one more time.

And the new owner of the bookstore! Carl's friend's daughter. I was expecting... more of her character and was disappointed she didn't get the ending the other side characters did. I thought for sure the people we met at the actual bookstore would also have been touched by Carl/Schascha.

thank you Netgalley for the free copy