Carin's Book of the Year

Carin Siegfried

Jan 2

So my favorite book I read this year was Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. This is a prequel to the delightful Legends & Lattes, and I really doubted I'd like a prequel as much, but in fact I liked it more. In addition to this book taking place in a bookstore, instead of a coffee shop (already a plus), it also had Viv as a much younger character, without the heavy emotional baggage that she (and all of us) carry later in life. She felt to much lighter and more carefree and unburdened. I needed that. And having worked in bookstores, it was nice to see one portray the world of bookselling fairly accurately. And also, as I read this after just having moved, I also really identified with Fern knowing she needed to fix things, clean things, improve things, but only having the emotional bandwidth to keep her head above water, and needing someone else to come in with fresh energy and help out. It was fun, it was cozy, the fresh baked goods were mouthwatering, and it was exactly what I needed.