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    The Bookstore
    The Bookstore
    The Bookstore
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Bookstore

    Written by Deborah Meyler

    Narrated by Heather Wilds

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Brilliant, idealistic Esme Garland moves to Manhattan armed with a pres­tigious scholarship at Columbia University. When Mitchell van Leuven-a New Yorker with the bluest of blue New York blood-captures her heart with his stunning good looks and a penchant for all things erotic, life seems truly glorious . . . until a thin blue line signals a wrinkle in Esme's tidy plan. Before she has a chance to tell Mitchell about her pregnancy, he suddenly declares their sex life is as exciting as a cup of tea, and ends it all.

    Determined to master everything from Degas to diapers, Esme starts work at a small West Side bookstore, finding solace in George, the laconic owner addicted to spirulina, and Luke, the taciturn, guitar-playing night manager. The oddball customers are a welcome relief from Columbia's high-pressure halls, but the store is struggling to survive in this city where nothing seems to last.

    When Mitchell recants his criticism, his passion and promises are hard to resist. But if Esme gives him a second chance, will she, like her beloved book­store, lose more than she can handle? A sharply observed and evocative tale of learning to face reality without giv­ing up on your dreams, The Bookstore is sheer enchantment from start to finish.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 17, 2014
    ISBN9781452688596
    The Bookstore
    Author

    Deborah Meyler

    Deborah Meyler was born in Manchester, read English at Oxford University, and completed a Master of Philosophy thesis on American fiction at St. Andrews University. She eventually moved to New York, where she worked in a bookshop for six years, sold paintings, and had three children. She now lives in Cambridge and is working on her next novel.

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    Reviews for The Bookstore

    3/5

    149 ratings29 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Deborah Meyler's writing still is so lovely and descriptive. However, I soon discovered that the book contained far too many detailed sexual situations and I decided not to finish reading the book.
    • 3/5
      The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler was one of those books that I didn't fall in love with from the get-go, but did enjoy once I plugged along. What I did love from the get-go was Esme. Meyler created a dynamic and intriguing character quite quickly. I was impressed with the depth I found within Esme (and equally impressed with the lack thereof in Mitchell). Once The Owl was introduced as Esme's refuge, I was instantly hooked. That was when the story took off for me. Meyler created quite the cast of characters within The Owl. She created a bookstore that I would love to visit- I could picture myself as a regular there. Meyler also did something that I haven't experienced before in a novel: she gave vibrancy and life to people that are often overlooked- both in writing and in real life. The homeless men of NYC are often depicted as scary - Meyler pulled back the cover and introduced beautiful humans instead of the typical fear tactic that is so prevalent in books featuring the City. I appauld her for that! I also liked the story overall, once I got through the very beginning. I think that it was charming and endearing. The story was a great coming of age tale, and one of those books that I think all early to mid twenty-somethings should read. This is a book that I wish I had read just a few years earlier- if only it had been written then! I do feel some of it was predictable, as far as "chick lit" goes, however the characters and the bookstore more than made up for it. If you're looking for a classic New York City twenty-something coming of age chick-lit, this is the one for you!
    • 4/5
      The heart has no IQ.In Deborah Meyler’s 2013 novel “The Bookstore,” Esme Garland is a young British woman studying art history in the Columbia University graduate program. She falls in love with the wrong man, a handsome economist from a wealthy New York family who is demanding, selfish, manipulative, sexually aggressive (as long as he is the one calling the shots), suicidal and maybe worse. Everyone who reads this book will be smart enough to know that Luke, the sensitive young man who works with Esme at the Owl Bookstore, is a better match for her than Mitchell van Leuven. But not Esme, who seems willing to accept any insult, any abuse if only Mitchell will love her. He doesn’t.For most of the novel she is pregnant with Mitchell’s baby. He abandons her, returns to demand she get an abortion, accepts her decision to have the baby, pushes her toward a quick marriage, abandons her again. In a nutshell that is the story, except that the nutshell ignores the best part of the story, namely Esme’s job at the Owl and her relationships with her fellow employees, mostly men whose consideration for her and her pregnancy is so excessive it becomes comical. Yet these other men, including some homeless ones who hang around the store, demonstrate each working day that there are better men out there are than the depressed and depressing Mitchell.Like Esme, Meyler is a young British woman with a college degree (hers is from Oxford) who moves to New York City and gets a job at an independent bookstore. So “The Bookstore “ is autobiographical up to a point. It is beyond that point where she demonstrates her skill as a writer of fiction.Esme’s choice of Mitchell as a lover and possible husband is not the only illogical choice in the novel. In fact, there are so many that illogical choice becomes the novel’s theme. She chooses to have the baby even though it will interfere with her academic pursuits. The bookstore manager hires her even though he knows her to be pregnant. Some of those homeless men have housing opportunities but prefer to live on the street.Life is all about choices, and reason isn’t always our guide when we make those choices.
    • 4/5
      A solid book full of yearning, misguided emotions, and brilliant lyricism with an undercurrent of heartbreaking realism. A wonderful book for those who like character driven plots, art history, second hand bookstores, emotional dilemmas, and strident hope.
    • 2/5
      Two and a half stars really. The title seduced me and I expected a book about books and it is to a point. Esme Garland is a grad student in art history at Columbia University in NYC. She is involved with Mitchell Van Leuven, an econ prof and quickly realizes she is pregnant. After choosing to keep the baby, despite Mitchell's protests,Esme must become more self-supporting. To make extra money, she takes a job at the second-hand bookstore the Owl. A quirky place to say the least, the Owl is full of characters like George, the uber health-conscious owner, Luke, an unambitious musician and Esme admirer, and a variety of homeless characters who parade in and out and test Esme's perceptions of social class. Ultimately they become a surrogate family for her. This book just can't decide what it wants to be: feminist manifesto? wacky life-in-New York reflection? art is life treatise? true love fairy tale? The author is clearly well-educated and the deep philosophical discussion which occur at the Owl show it. The writing is very strong, but the plot and characters never gel. Mitchell comes off like a madman and Esme seems weak for all her independence and smarts.
    • 4/5
      Esme, a British student with a scholarship to study art history at Columbia, discovers she’s pregnant and gets a job at a quirky secondhand bookshop. With some books I keep reading because I want to see a couple get together; this book I kept reading because I wanted to see Esme finally, properly, free of her awful boyfriend. He’s so awful that I would have found some of Esme’s choices -- and the book itself -- terribly frustrating, except I really liked the bookshop, the Owl, and Esme’s narration.I liked Esme’s quotes and references and her enthusiasm and her observations, especially those about living in New York and about the Owl -- this is a story with a vivid sense of place. Her naivety and optimism is understandable -- she’s only in her early twenties, she’s facing something terrifyingly life-changing, her parents are an ocean away, and manipulative people can be hard to see clearly when you’re caught in their web. And while I wouldn’t have said that this -- unplanned pregnancy, awful boyfriend -- was something I wanted to read about, it was kind of fascinating to explore what that could be like.There is a complicity in his eyes now that makes my heart soar. I know I will regret this. I know that worthy heroines in Regency romances never say yes when there is any doubt as to the state of the hero’s heart, but I am made of flesh, not words. I want to be with Mitchell. If I am with him, I can make him see that I am worth loving. Perhaps it is the other way round, and he doesn’t see yet that he is worth loving too. I can make him see that. And if it all goes wrong, I will suffer, but the suffering won’t be for the strangled impulse, the unlit lamp. I will light the lamp and burn myself on the flame.
    • 1/5
      Ugh! What a silly book. I kept trying to read this but the characters infuriated me. Don't pick this up if you think you'll be reading about a bookstore, you will be sorely disappointed.
    • 1/5
      unfortunately I couldn't finish this one. It sounded like a great story, but it just doesn't engage me at all....I'm sure it will be perfect for others, but it just wasn't for me.
    • 4/5
      While I found this to be a cute, fun story in which the bookstore itself became a character, I also found this novel to be a bit forgettable. The Bookstore is an enjoyable read starring Esme Garland, a Brit trying to get her PhD in art history at Columbia. While living in New York, she meets a slew of characters, many of whom seemed to be stock characters for this type of novel, and has a few adventures before realising that the rich snob of old money that she has fallen for has knocked her up. The problem is, that he doesn't seem to return her feelings and is acting only out of a sense of decorum.

      **I received a copy of this book from NetGalley**
    • 4/5
      This is the kind of modern novel that makes you want to thank the author for writing it.Plot evolves smoothly, with unexpected nuances as books and music are introduced and people join in. As well, the characters reveal themselves slowly, situationally, as in real life and standapart from each other, both different and true in their perspectives.Except for Mitchell. Not only is there little explanation for his desultory character and declining mental state, but, though readers do not expect a decent epiphany, there is nothing good going on except for Esme continuing to be head over heels, over and over. Despite his repeated lies and truly yucky attempts at pseudo-seduction,she persists in making him into what he obviously does not want to be.It was astonishing that she continued to see him as a potential mate after the Anastasia episode.She had no response, thinking or action, to Anastasia's warning. This made little sense in a character that was otherwise developing inner strengthand allowed the story go on for too long too weakly without readers being able to understand or trust her judgement. Would she want her child to act so passively?If there is a sequel, please let Luke and Esme take some of her books and some great new books to Mrs.Kasperek.
    • 3/5
      I was attracted to this book by the cover showing a pile of books. Who wouldn't love that? But the story was disappointing. Esme is a PhD candidate at Columbia and, one would think, very bright and motivated. Unfortunately she doesn't use those qualities in her choice of a bed partner and becomes pregnant. The book took a nose dive after that announcement and I just couldn't go on. She isn't the first unmarried mother and won't be the last but I don't want to have that conversation again. The bookstore she works in to make extra money to support this child has potential but I just couldn't warm up to the characters that float through there. George is the owner but appears so seldom as to be non-existent. I read 50 pages because I was desperate for something to read but I give up.
    • 2/5
      When Deborah Meyler focuses on her primary subject: a small New York bookstore, the people who work there, and its customers, the book is both charming and juicy. It feels real. But someone (the author? an editor?) decided the primary subject wasn't good enough. So there a plot device is dropped into the novel as if from a helicopter. The main character, a lovely, accomplished, and confident young woman, falls in love with -- wait for it -- a rich, handsome rotter who treats her like dirt. Readers are subjected to the spectacle of her coming back to him over and over, while his bad behavior escalates.
    • 4/5
      Esme moves from England to New York to attend graduate school in art history at Columbia. She ends up pregnant by her significantly older (and much richer) boyfriend and must decide how to proceed with life given this unexpected development. The bookstore of the title is The Owl, an independent used bookstore where she takes a job and begins to find a family.I passed this one up a few times thinking it was probably the sort of chick lit that I might enjoy a bit but wouldn't find terribly satisfying. When I finally did succumb, I found something much more substantive than I was expecting. Meyler explores the emotional realities of Esme's situation with a fair amount of depth, and Esme finds no easy, pat solutions. Esme was a compelling character, and so many of her observations and fears were familiar to me that reading about her was one of those joyful experiences full of "me too!" moments. The book is not without its flaws, not least of which is the character of Esme's boyfriend, who it is beyond me how she ever fell in love with or how the reader is ever meant to empathize with him in any way. He's described as kind of a privileged jerk who never-the-less is charming and somehow likeable. I have kind of a weak spot for that kind of fictional character, especially if there's some super-tragi-sad reason why said character is a jerk, so if this dude was charming, I would have liked him. I hated him. And what's worse, I couldn't figure out why Esme loved him. This bothered me throughout the book because it felt like a flaw in the crafting of the story--it's cool if I hate him, but I should get why the heroine doesn't. Thankfully, he was off-page much of the time. Worthwhile for the study of Esme, despite the perplexing boyfriend character.
    • 3/5
      This book gives us real life characters: the good, the bad and the ugly. Esme finds herself making difficult life choices. She is a likeable girl though and I was pulling for her all the way. Esme is hopelessly in love with Mitchell from the start, but will she wise up and make good decisions? Esme is a good person inside and out, but a little naive at the start. Esme grows throughout this book and finds a new family at the bookstore, full of people that she comes to count on. I was disappointed that her real family played such a minor role in the book. She seemed to have minimal contact with them. This book was okay, light contemporary reading. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed this debut novel by Deborah Meyler – The Book Store. First, the cover is a huge draw if you are a book lover. I enjoyed the e-book and was hard to put down – a mixture of some great literary quotes and references, classic authors, set in a cozy NY quaint independent bookstore. (Can envision myself and the characters on a cool rainy night away from the hustle and bustle of the city, curled up with a good read and a cup of tea). A mix of some quirky characters, from the homeless, celebrities, lesbian friend, vegans, nutty, to the rich and rude Van Leuven’s (with tidbits of humor) which will keep you smiling!

      The book centers around the main character – Esme (Englishwoman) graduate of Oxford, now in NY, working on her PHD at Columbia – loving all NY has to offer -- meets her older prince charming Mitchell. Mitchell is not as he appears – he is rude, weird, and has somehow wrapped her around his finger. He is from wealthy Van Leuven family who does not accept Esme. When Esme – finds herself pregnant, Mitchell is not willing to support her decision to keep the baby. He goes back and forth from on and off jerking her like a puppet.

      Esme finds solace at a quaint nearby bookstore- The Owl, and develops friendships with George and Luke as well as a cast of homeless helpers, among others. During her pregnancy she relies on her true new friends to help her through the trying times. Esme is naïve at times; however, she is smart and does the best she can to make a home and family for her baby within this culture.

      Of course, we all despised the character Mitchell and loved Luke. With the ending left open, I hope the book will be continued with a possible relationship between Luke/Esme and her new baby daughter, Georgia.

      Highly recommend this debut novel and look forward to more from this author. I feel with her experience living in Europe and NY, working at bookstores, being a mother and writer – she has great insights to the subject matter making this a pleasant and engaging read.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed reading this story very much! I felt as if I was getting a peek into someone's private life-the things they usually keep a secret. A view of New York at its worst and finest. It made me want to live there more than I already do.

      I am now in desperate need of a visit to New York thanks to this book. If The Owl was a real bookstore I would hop on a train and make a visit immediately. I want to meet these characters, I want to browse the shelves of the books in the store.

      Throughout the story I was hoping that Esme would ditch the douchebag Mitchell and start up a relationship with Luke. He was obviously the one she was meant to be with. The story was left open so I like to think that Luke, Esme, and baby Georgie are living happily ever after, and The Owl is going strong.

      My favorite parts of the book:


      Favorite quote from the book:"Why do people still buy books? They just take up space. "
      "What is the space for if you don't fill it with books?"

      "These books...," she begins, and stops. I am frightened; for her, for myself decades from now, struggling to retain dignity with two strangers as they take away my books. I can see the straight line to her grave, to mine.
      "I know, ma'am," Luke is saying."
      "They are all my life. "
      She looks out of the window. I can see the muscles of her face that are clamping her jaw. I know the action so well that it makes tears well in me too. She doesn't speak. Luke stands still in the doorway; he doesn't speak either. The silence goes on, and it is unendurable. It is the silence of the empty shelves, of the shutting down of a mind's exploring.

      If you didn't like this book, well then simply put, you shouldn't be reading books.
    • 4/5
      Did you ever read a book and the more you got into it, the more it seems like you read it already but nothing in your records shows that you did? I didn’t blog about it. It’s not in my Librarything library. Yet, the more I read The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler, the more I remembered reading it…but maybe not.The plot is simple. Brit Esme Gardner is on scholarship at Columbia to study art history, in particular Thiebaud. Several weeks into her New York residency, she attends an art gallery event and meets the ultra rich, ultra suave Mitchel van Leuven, an old monied guy. During their one and only unprotected sexual encounter, Esme gets pregnant. After deciding to keep the baby, she must then decide to tell or not tell Mitchell. Since they’re not an ‘item’, she decides against it. Thinking that money might come in handy with a baby on the way, Esme sees a help wanted since in the Owl Bookstore that she frequents and gets the job. Of course she ultimately does tell the father. You can guess the rest. It is no secret that Mitchell is a shit and ultimately her bookstore friends win out.The book jacket says “A sharply observed and evocative tale of learning to face reality without giving up your dreams, The Bookstore is sheer enchantment from start to finish.” And it is. You’ll fall in love with Esme, with the bookstore employees and customers. You’ll truly hate Mitchell, right from the start. So, people who aren’t familiar with this particular bookstore, but love bookstores in general, will certainly enjoy this book.Ms. Meyler, actually British herself, worked in a bookstore on Broadway in the upper west side, which apparently is a source for her bookstore.Westsider2 I have no doubt it is Westsider Books on Broadway between 80th and 81st Streets. When she new_york_361_westsider_books_4e9348a06a1074578c000273_store_main_newdescribes the narrow staircase with books on both sides, this is what I envision. I can see the books two deep on the shelves. I can picture the cramped quarters upstairs and the books going all the way up to the ceiling.So, for me, the book had an extraWestsiders3added attraction. I wondered, as I read the book, whether Ms. Meyler was working on any of the days I wandered through its aisles. It’s definitely possible. So, the two things you should do are : (i) read The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler and (ii) go to Westsider Books. Enjoy.
    • 4/5
      WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked the premise of it, I guess, but I had some hang-ups that prevent me from giving this book 4 stars.For starters, I don't understand Esme and Mitchell's relationship at all. He treats her so horribly, and she quite literally worships the ground he walks on. I mean, has this girl never been in a relationship before? Has she never *seen* a functional relationship before? I can't even begin to wrap my brain around why she likes Mitchell, and that's really damaging to my sympathy. She's not a battered woman, she has friends and a (seemingly) good home-life, she's getting by financially, she's an *intelligent* girl working on her PhD... I just don't get it.Second. What the hell, Mitchell? Mitchell is in serious need of some professional help. Like SERIOUS need. He is so dysfunctional I don't even know where to begin. Unfortunately, we see a lot of him being an ass in the first portion of the book, and it doesn't really seem like anything more than "wow, what a douche" until the last 50-ish pages of the book. I guess that redeemed him a little bit -- A SUPER TEENY TINY LITTLE BIT -- but... just wow. WOW. I can't even say it really redeems him -- it just explains it. I will say that Mitchell's harshness and douchebaggery even made me gasp a few times, but all that really did was make me want to shake Esme that much harder for "loving" him. That's not love, babe. That is some seriously unhealthy high school infatuation. Granted, I suppose if I got knocked up I'd want to try to save whatever I had with the father, too, but I feel like there comes a point when you just have to say enough is enough. Esme couldn't do that. And I really hope for her sake and for the sake of poor little Georgie that she comes to that realization after the book's conclusion: you have to do what's right for you, not what's ideal, because, honestly, the ideal isn't real. NOW. Things that worked really well for me:Meyler uses a significant amount of imagery and constant references to art and artistic devices, which, if your book is in third person is fine. But this story is told in present (which is a little odd) first person. Because Esme is working on a PhD in art, this totally works and really adds to the beauty of the writing. I liked that a lot.I also LOVED the atmosphere of the bookstore. If this was a bigger or more well-known retailer this would not have worked, but the smallness of it demanded these kinds of relationships. All of the employees knew each other, and the employees and the customers knew each other, and they all knew about each other's lives, and they had shut-ins together, and hosted holiday parties together (a party of misfits who fit together perfectly). That's really kind of my favorite part. It really made The Owl feel like a safe haven, which it needed to be for Emse. My only thought is that, considering it's smallness, it may have been a little too over-employed.I feel like this is a book I'll better appreciate after I've had my own first pregnancy. I think there's a lot going on here that I just can't quite relate, too, and some things I might realistically feel different about having experience them myself and whatnot, but for now, 3 stars. Not bad, Miss Meyler.
    • 3/5
      Esme is a grad student in an art history program at Columbia and on her own in NYC. With her family left behind in England, Esme has no support in the city, but soon learns to love the fast paced city life, the culture, and even the light that slants between the buildings. Without a job, Esme takes a position at her favorite used bookstore, the Owl, which is a book-lovers dream. Her new coworkers, who argue and debate about literature and history, soon embrace her as one of their own. On the surface, and in many ways, this book is quite lovely, descriptive, and heartwarming. It is exceedingly well-written and enjoyable to read. Unfortunately, plopped in the middle is the primary storyline, a predictable romance between Esme and Mitchell, involving an unwanted pregnancy. Mitchell is truly an ass without any redeeming characteristics, and brilliant and naive Esme is blind to his flaws. This continues for about 95% of the book, which makes for a painful and frustrating reading experience. Of course the conflict resolves eventually, but the ending is not sufficient to compensate for the suffering along the way. I loved Esme, her neighbor, her coworkers, and the homeless who help out at the Owl, but the juvenile chick-lit storyline was too predictable and unnecessary for my taste.
    • 3/5
      Book was good but didn't care for the unfinished feeling of the ending. No closure to characters.
    • 4/5
      This was an enjoyable read… some slow at times but that was ok, slow, if written well,will keep your interest! Right down to the name "Esme Garland", just loved it.
    • 2/5

      This and other reviews can be found on Reading Between Classes

      Cover Impressions: This cover is very pretty and I am loving that there is just a hint of cleavage (nothing distasteful).

      Review:
      The Bookstore is the story of a young woman who escapes England for the excitement of New York. While completing her degree, she meets and falls in love with a suave and wealthy man. When she finds herself pregnant and jilted, she takes a job at a local bookstore and contemplates the path that her life has taken. It is a story with very little action and a plot that meanders through scenes that compel the reader to smile or grimace, rather than to laugh or cry.

      The love interest/future father was a truly despicable character. From the first few scenes, I found myself hoping that he would meet a timely demise. Unfortunately, Esme's infatuation with him and her inability to see how badly he was treating her, made me dislike her whenever they were on the page together. To be fair, at least Mitchell managed to make an impression. The Bookstore features an almost entirely male cast and I did have some difficulty keeping them straight. I could never remember which characters worked in the store and which were homeless men thrown in with some type of attempt at social commentary.

      The Bookstore itself, The Owl, is what piqued my interest in this title. I was hoping for a magical realm full of interesting characters. However, I found the scenes within the store to be some of the most tedious. The author had an unfortunate habit of referencing obscure authors and artists that I found pretentious. I often ended up skimming during those parts.

      The ending of The Bookstore was unsatisfying. There is some character growth, but no real closure and I am still unsure as to how Esme is managing to support herself and her child without being deported. This novel is nice for a slow read in a park/at the cottage but simply did not have enough action to distract me from the other demands on my time.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful ode to books and New YorkThe Bookstore by Deborah Meyler is a wonderful ode to books, bookshops and New York. Like all good authors Meyler has included plenty of her life experiences and loves and especially a love for New York City. A born and bred Mancunian who after Oxford and St Andrews Universities lived out in New York a city she fell in love with and that comes through in the novel.Esme Garland our protagonist in the story is a 23 year old art history graduate of the world famous Cambridge University has won a scholarship to Columbia to study for a doctorate. Thousands of miles from home she falls in love with an economics lecture, Mitchell who is from old money in New York. Their relationship is very much an on/off relationship and she finds herself pregnant and alone. She decides she will keep the baby and looks for work to help support the child alongside her university studies. She finds employment at The Owl a second hand bookstore, a place where she has looked in a number of times. Throughout the book with love being an unreliable force with Mitchell it is The Owl that provides her with a crook to hold on to and find a definition of love and hope. It is Owl in Manhattan that provides her with a refuge from the world outside where she loves the books, the customers and her co workers. There are so many wonderful literary references throughout the novel it helps to make the book very comforting.This is a wonderful book a masterful debut novel that some people have wrongly labelled chick lit it is many things it is not chick lit! This is a beautifully written witty debut novel from Deborah Meyler that is an ode to love, love of a child, the love of books and the love of characters that surround themselves around books.I cannot recommend this book highly enough – the pleasure last from the first to the last page a wonderful story.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised since I love bookstores, but I was afraid to hope for too much. It is a bittersweet story of a young woman who eventually discovers that love is not a reason to sacrifice who you are inside. I found the narrative to be melodious yet real. There was a genuine quality to the story and to the main character, Esme, that is often missing in modern or chick lit. genre. Of course the story revolves around a bookstore. It is probably quite an ordinary used bookstore in NYC. I found it though to be a magical setting because of the people who work there. Their uniqueness and quirkiness reminded me of some 70's TV shows that were quite popular because of their eclectic casts; shows like Taxi, Cheers, and Barney Miller. They had a special chemistry that was extraordinary in drawing us into the plot and making us care about them. This is what the author has done in this book. I found myself falling for each of the people in and around the bookstore and wishing that I could meet them in person. Some people who reviewed the book appear to be put off by the author's use of first person in writing it, but I found it to be powerful in creating the feeling that I was a friend and part of the story. If you enjoy books that tug on your heart, and particularly if you are a book and/or bookstore lover, you will probably enjoy this book as much as I did. I would recommend giving it a try. I am very grateful to Gallery books and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book. It touched a special place in my heart, and I will be watching for more from Ms. Meyler.
    • 4/5
      The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler What first attracted me to want to read this book is for the simple fact it's about a bookstore. I love books!Love all the detailed descriptions of New York, feel like I'm walking beside Esme. She is from England and has only been in a city a short while.She meets up with Mitchell and they check out various restaurants. After just a few short weeks she is pregnant and rather than tell him, she was going to, til he broke up with her.She is going to be able to afford the baby but has many doubts. College, job and the baby will be her life. Love how the information at the bookstore is shared with anybody that walks in-especially like book titles and author's names and a quick summary of what the book is about.She has just a few who support her decision...Love hearing of all the characters who pay a visit, so colorful!Quite erotic sex talk and acts. When Mitchell comes back into her life, is it for her and is it for keeps or is he just passing by? I received this book from Net Galley via Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books in exchange for my honest review.
    • 2/5
      I imagine there are few avid readers who could pass up a book set in a bookstore and the Owl is the type of store many wish would exist on their block.“The store is narrow, about ten feet across, with a central staircase leading to a mezzanine. There are books on both sides of the stairway, in ever more precarious piles, and it is a hardy customer who will pick her way carefully up the stairs to the dusty stacks beyond. Downstairs is a tumble of books that I sometimes surreptitiously straighten. There are sections labeled with old notices, but they flow into each other in an unstoppable tide, so that history is compromised by mythology leaking into it, mystery books get mixed up with religion, and the feminist section is continually outraged by the steady dribble of erotica from the shelves above. When books do manage to make it to shelves, instead of being in piles near their sections, they are shelved double deep and the attempts at alphabetization are sometimes noticeable, with “A”s and “Z”s serving as bookends to the jumble in the center.” p8Open from morning to midnight and staffed by an eccentric group of people, including two homeless men, the second hand bookstore is a wonderful setting. While it was center stage I read eagerly, delighted by the laconic owner, George and his enigmatic assistant Luke, content to imagine sitting behind the counter with a book in hand while a succession of customers wandered into the gloom.Esme is The Bookstore’s protagonist. A British PhD scholarship student at Columbia she falls pregnant to her boyfriend, Mitchell. They have been dating only a couple of months and she is worried what the pregnancy will mean to their relationship if she makes the decision to keep the baby. But before she can tell Mitchell (though it is obvious he suspects) he cruelly dumps her and Esme is left reeling. Choosing to have the baby anyway, Esme knows she will need some extra income so she applies for part time position advertised at the Owl.Sadly I found Esme less endearing as the story unfolded. The bright, articulate woman we are introduced to at the beginning of the story dissolves into the lovelorn victim of Mitchell’s shallow charms, oblivious to his self serving manipulations. The focus on the on again/off again relationship reduces Esme to a caricature rather than a character and I quickly grew tired of her inane interactions with Mitchell.Unfortunately there is not really any plot to speak of either aside from the anti-love story and the novel’s ending is ambiguous and unsatisfying. I realised, three quarters of the way through, I cared little about Esme and her pining for Mitchell and was simply waiting to revisit the Owl.That leaves me in a bit of a quandary, there were elements of this novel I liked, the Owl and its characters obviously and even the writing style, but the almost farcical relationship between Esme and Mitchell was an irritant and in the end I can’t say The Bookstore was any more than OK.
    • 3/5
      Love the descriptions of the bookstore, this was an ode to bookstores everywhere, the books, the smells, captured perfectly. The book descriptions and the quirky characters who inhabit this cozy store. Esme, an art history starts out as an endearing character, one can't help but want good things for her, and as a reader I just wanted to shove Mitchell off a bridge. Unfortunately as the story went on I got a little tired of the lovelorn Esme, and the snake named Mitchell. May answer the question though, "Can one find more than books in a bookstore?" A light, quick and oftentime quirky read, with a little art history thrown in.
    • 3/5
      Esme Garland is a whipsmart 23 year old English student studying for a PhD in art history at Columbia University. Her boyfriend, Mitchell, comes from an extremely wealthy family and has issues that run deeper than the Grand Canyon. When Esme discovers that she is pregnant, Mitchell breaks it off with her before she even has the chance to tell him. Nevertheless, Esme decides to keep the baby and takes a part time job in a used bookstore to supplement her small scholarship income. The bookstore is run by a colourful cast of characters who will all take a great interest in Esme's life and become her surrogate family.There are many things that I liked about this debut novel. Meyler has a lively writing style which brings New York to life. The opening chapter had me itching to jump on a plane and walk the streets. She has a way of picking up on the smallest of observations - how to pick the freshest bagel in the store, how the light falls between buildings - which make you feel like you're really there. The story hums along and is a very easy read. For the most part there are no major surprises, but there are a few little kinks in the path. Esme makes a likeable heroine and it drove me crazy that she couldn't see through Mitchell. I had to keep reminding myself how taken by exteriors I was at the same age.Where the book fell down for me, oddly enough, was the bookstore where Esme works. I started to get irritated by the cast of loveable eccentrics and I also felt that the writer shied away from making a definite call on whether there was going to be a romantic sub-plot or not. Frankly, I would have felt it more satisfying if Esme had exhibited some personal growth over the book, if she had learned to see through Mitchell sooner/better, if she had realised her own worth. Even the ending read like the author couldn't quite decide how to finish things, so she just hit "save" on the file and sent it off to the publisher.Having said that, I must stress that for me, a three star rating is not a negative review but an evenly balanced "there is good and bad here". If you are looking for an intelligent chicklit book which goes down easily and gives you a feel of being somewhere else for a while, look no further.I received a review copy through NetGalley.
    • 5/5
      The BookstorebyDeborah MeylerMy" in a nutshell" summary...A young woman, an sort of a bit older man, a bookstore and a baby...a formula for complicated lives...My thoughts after reading this book...My thoughts are warm and fuzzy after reading this book. It was lovely...and took place in my favorite city...NYC! Esme is British and is in NYC working on her PHD at Columbia. She meets and falls in love with Mitchell...Mitchell is older, wealthy, secretive, cold and I knew from the start that Esme needed to drop him...but I also knew that Esme wouldn't. She is enthralled and believes in the power of love plus she gets preggers...by Meanie Mitchell. This isn't a spoiler, either...it's in the summary. Before she has a chance to tell him...he dumps her. This is where all of the wonderfulness in this book begins!Esme decides to keep her baby and continue on with her life without Meanie Mitchell but he pops back in...darn! Esme goes to work at this very lovely quirky bookstore called The Owl. The characters in and around the store are wonderful...cherishable...sad...and quirky. I love Esme and the bookstore characters. What I loved most about this book...It was just so NYC name dropping lovely. Coffee shops, museums, Sarabeth's, Zabar's...cabs...everything about Esme's life in the city was delightful! When she zipped to Zabar's and bought dinner...cold poached salmon, rocket salad, dense chocolate cake...OMG...I dashed out to Whole Foods and bought the same dinner. Esme was so admirable...so unique...the only thing she was stupid about was Mitchell. What I did not love about this book...Mitchell and his family...except for Uncle Beeky...were the most despicable people in fictional history! But that made this book so good! Final thoughts...Readers who love a long lovely narrative with fascinating characters and lots of old book and author references will love this book. I can honestly say it's one of my favorites this year!