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The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel
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The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel
Unavailable
The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel
Audiobook10 hours

The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that's how I sell books.

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country's rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 23, 2015
ISBN9781101889824
Unavailable
The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel
Author

Nina George

NINA GEORGE is the author of the bestselling international phenomenon, The Little Paris Bookshop, which has been translated into more than 28 languages, The Little Breton Bistro and numerous other books that have been published around the world. She also works as a journalist and an advocate for writer and women’s rights. She lives with her husband in Berlin and Brittany, France.

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Reviews for The Little Paris Bookshop

Rating: 3.4821853491686463 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

842 ratings121 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    At first I thought I didn't like the main character Perdu, then, I can't read anymore I'm going to toss it, then all of a sudden things started to flip, and I began to enjoy the story! A light bulb moment changed my mind. It wasn't Perdu I didn't like, it was Manon, the woman who broke his heart. Whenever the chapters were hers, spoken by her, the style of writing changed, and for me the first person narrative just clashed - badly. The best part for me was when the three men, Perdu, Max and Cuneo were sailing on the barge from Paris to the Luberon and something more than friendship was forged between them.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The Little Paris Book Shop by Nina George was my book club pick of the month. Being a best seller, and liked by some of by Goodreads friends, I had hopes of a fun, but light, read. I did not enjoy it. I read 190 pages then skipped to the end.Twenty years ago, bookseller Perdu was jilted by his married lover, and he's been a heartbroken, bitter man ever since--until he meets a woman who stirs the feelings that have been long dead. Instead of pursuing a relationship, he finally reads the goodbye letter from his past lover. He goes on a quest down the river to discover more.The translation is at times quirky. I didn't buy Perdu's twenty-year grief over a woman who was never going to be all his anyway. And the ending is a little, well, uncomfortable.2.5
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautifully written! A journey of love and self discovery...a book to whisk you away. Thoroughly enjoyable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    So I found this book surprisingly enjoyable. I listened to it and felt the narrator was good, but could have been better. At some point all of the men sounded whiney whereas the women always sounded eloquent, and careful in speech. This may be how the book was intended to be read, but listening to it in this way was somewhat annoying. I decided to read this book based on reviews I saw on Goodreads and I am glad that I did. I would not recommend the book to everybody, because I think it suits a specific group of people. That said, I don't know that I fit into that group and I still enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    love letter to Paris, to boat travel down the Rivers Seine & Rhone, to the beach towns of the Bay of Marseilles - fun to read simply for the sensory language about the meals, the weather, the water, the landscapes - a bit over the top in its philosophizing about love, & life choices, essentials of books, women, dancing, sexual love, etc. Jean Perdu has dedicated himself to serving the public via his literary bookshop on the water, his barge "Lulu", a book apothecary of sorts, and he's keeping his emotional life buttoned up tight. He's still mourning the loss of his lover Manon, a woman who fell in love with him in Paris, but returns home in the south of France to marry the local vineyard grower she always knew and also loved. For several years, she comes north to Paris, visiting Jean whenever she could, and then sadly one day, a sealed letter is left for him, and he knows she's never returning.He cannot bear to open it, shoving it away for twenty years. Until a new tenant, Catherine, a recent divorcee, accepts his desk as much needed furniture- and she returns the sealed letter to him. And when he reads it, and realizes what it really said, he determines to take Lulu and head southward in search of his Manon, and perhaps open up his heart to grief and healing, and perhaps to love again. Filled with interesting characters, all who eventually help Perdu "melt" and become vulnerable & open once again, all feed the central theme: Jean's working through the stages of grief, and trusting that he can love and be loved again. The translation seemed to work well; some of the author's observations struck me as wonderful, even insightful, and her wry tone was enjoyable. Drawbacks: the impulsive pairings, the overwrought emotional scenes, some sprinkling of explicit sex references/scenes -while not offensive, felt unnecessary? - I put it down once or twice, wondering if Jean and his sidekick Max Jordan, the "one novel wonder" who has writer's block & joins Jean on his barge heading southward would ever do anything more besides have dreamy conversations about ...all the topics mentioned in para 1. Nevertheless, it is a sweet book -
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I am in agreement with many of the other reviewers. I liked this book, but I wanted to love it. When I read about a bookseller who personally matches books to the reader, I was intrigued. I enjoyed that part of the story."T he soul seer" was one description of Jean Perdu as he tried to get to know his customers before selling them a book. He was a lonely, sad man who opened like a flower in this book. He realized that life must go on and it is okay to forgive yourself and others and to love again. With that said, it took a long time to get there. I did love many of the descriptions of places, feelings and books in the story, but there were so many. The characters were very well drawn and you get to know them as well, some I liked, some I did not. I really enjoyed the relationship between Jean and Max as they got to know each other and became the father and son neither of them had. Overall this was a good story, just a bit long and more of a romance/drama/rebirth story than what I was expecting. Nina George's writing is beautiful and poetic, and I do look forward to her next book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The man who’d rather not look into his soul looks into other people’s souls instead, prescribing books to ease their hurts. And he’s good at it. But then he’s asked to give more than a book, and he ends up giving of himself.The Little Paris Bookshop takes readers on a journey to and through France, from Paris to the coast and back, from summer to winter, and through all the seasons of the heart. Gorgeous descriptions, fascinating characters, just the right level of coincidence and strangeness, with the just the right seasoning of literary references—enough for both expert and beginner… it’s a sumptuous feast of a tale, and an absorbing look at a man who’d rather not know or remember why he hurts until the answers break in on him.Love and recovery take time, like reading, and this novel might heal many hurts with its quiet wisdom of books, waters, sky and sea. It’s a beautiful novel that leaves you beautifully satisfied. And it has cats!Disclosure: I couldn’t resist the words “literary apothecary” on the back cover so I asked for this for Christmas.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Definitely on the (sickly) sweet end of the spectrum. However there are several thought-provoking moments and some beautiful language. An easy light-headed read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is an odd duck - it is so clearly chick lit, but with a middle aged man trying to find himself after a long time mourning a lost love. Its also not written in an American Style - this isn't a bad thing, but it threw me when something were very obviously set up to go a certain way, but went in a different direction entirely.This isn't a bad thing, but it makes for a read that can be frustrating at times. Decisions are made when they shouldn't be, emotions are revealed at odd times, and deep friendships are struck in a matter of minutes.Them main character, Jean Perdu, is at times the lost person, and at other times, the father figure. He isn't a leader, but still manages to get followers. This dichotomy made it difficult to take him seriously - I wasn't sure what to make him. And maybe thats okay, no-one shows one face to everyone.This isn't a happy book, however, everyone in it finds happiness. This isn't a sad book, but everyone is mourning something lost. The ending is bitter sweet, but does resolve. I'm glad I read it, but for the most part, its a bit meandering.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is about feelings as much as it's about books -- and so naturally, the books come to represent feelings, or to be ways to synthesize and solve feelings. The Little Paris Bookshop is a book apothecary, where books are the cure for what ails you (as long as what ails you is emotional in nature).

    It could so easily devolve to the level of hokum, and the fact that it doesn't, I think, is testament to how facile the author is with feelings that normally defy description. For example: The feeling that washes over you when another summer nears its end. Or when you recognize that you haven't got your whole life left to find out where you belong. Or the slight sense of grief when a friendship doesn't develop as you thought....There's even a passage that I'd like to adapt for my vows in several months, and that's probably the ultimate compliment.

    Lest I make this sound too sappy, though, rest assured there is also plenty of beautiful description that is not in service of plumbing the characters' emotional depths. For example: It was the season for truffles and literature. The countryside was redolent of wild herbs, and glowed in autumnal rust reds and wine yellows. Vivid, no? And I will be looking to use the phrase "the season for truffles and literature" somewhere in my daily life.

    Read this when you have plenty of time to relax and read slowly, and when you're ready to spend some time considering or confronting your own emotional history.



    Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my unbiased review.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Which proves that just because it's translated doesn't mean it isn't trite.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

    Floating on the Seine is a very special bookshop. Monsieur Jean Perdu is a brokenhearted bookseller that prescribes books to locals and tourists of Paris much like a pharmacist. Perdu is accustomed to his solitary life as he mourns lost love. His feelings are awakened with a new neighbour, equally fragile. To avoid any sort of a relationship with her, he sets sail. I loved the idea, setting, and premise of this book but once the bookshop sets sail, that's when my interest also set sail.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I did not finish this - I got to about page 100 and was so bored I gave up. Just not my thing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I bought this because of the word 'bookshop' in the title but it wasn't what I expected. I read about 75 pages but just lost interest.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    So I found this book surprisingly enjoyable. I listened to it and felt the narrator was good, but could have been better. At some point all of the men sounded whiney whereas the women always sounded eloquent, and careful in speech. This may be how the book was intended to be read, but listening to it in this way was somewhat annoying. I decided to read this book based on reviews I saw on Goodreads and I am glad that I did. I would not recommend the book to everybody, because I think it suits a specific group of people. That said, I don't know that I fit into that group and I still enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I wanted to love this book. Fifty pages in, I was feeling unsure. Then, things started to get interesting. But this book never reached that sweet spot I look for in a story. I saw one of the twists near the end right away, and by then I just wanted it to end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a wonderful book. A sweet man who prides himself on finding exactly the right book for every customer on his bookstore canal boat. When he meets a certain customer they go on an adventure of a lifetime, traveling both the river and memory lane.The tale is warm, engaging, heartbreakingly satisfying. I can not recommend this book highly enough.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Perdu is a wonderful protagonist - the sorrow of a new neighbor is the catalyst for him to come to terms with his own broken heart. I loved the journey he took - the friends he made, the way he nurtured a budding romance with Catherine, and the peace he finally achieved with his lost love. Loved the floating bookstore and the cats!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The main character, Jean Perdu, reminded me quite a bit of Ove. (You'll have to read both to see why) This was a beautifully written book, quotable and intelligent. (My grammar always improves after such a read.) Perdu, proprietor of the Literary Apothecary book store, a barge filled with books he prescribes, is amid a 20 year funk after the love of his life ups and leaves him with out notice. A letter arrives some time after, but he never reads until a new neighbor moves into the complex where he lives and needs a table. Tucked in a long-jammed shut drawer is the impetus to an adventure of healing and soul-lifting that ends in love. A mad-cap departure of the barge and the emotional misfits that begin to fill it lent a touch of comedy to what tended to be an overly maudlin cast. I loved the appreciation of books, the references and the whole idea of the bookstore. I loved Perdue for his loyalty to everything dear to him. Most of all, I loved Max, the young author trying to rekindle his muse and start life. This is a book that will stay on my shelf to reread, when I need to know there is love so true.As an added bonus, recipes for the meals and treats mentioned in the book are included at the end. Another reason to keep it!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Jean Perdu is a bookseller with a singular ability to connect readers with the titles that will soothe their troubled souls. Alas, the healer of all cannot help himself; he suffers from the ongoing effects of a tremendously painful loss twenty years prior. Fortunately, his bookstore is housed in a barge, so as he and his colorful friends travel from Paris to Provence along France's waterways, Perdu is able to find healing and the ability to love again.The Little Paris Bookshop has been mistitled and mis-promoted as "a love letter to reading". It's not really about a bookshop and reading doesn't figure as heavily into the story as much as one might suppose. Instead, it is about an emotionally damaged man whose protracted mourning for someone who wouldn't commit to him seems overdone. In fact, that's a good way to describe this novel--pretentious and overdone. Not recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "The author, Nina George, has written another extraordinary novel "The Little French Bistro" leaves traces all over your heart. With identifying threads from life such as, self-discovery, love and darkness, happiness and hesitancy, the author's story draws you into another world found in Brittany and the tangled lives of characters who take risks and learn that everything has its own time.As a storyteller, Nina George's novels have it all! I will certainly be on the lookout for her future books."
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have really mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the road-trip element, and the growing self-awareness the men experienced during their adventures down the river. I loved the river travels. The foundation story about Perdu and Manon didn't grab me, so I eventually skipped over those bits, as I did over Perdu's thrashing about when he was coming to terms with his emotional health. What thrilled me were the recipes and book recommendations at the books end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I cried through the last 60 pages of this one, it got to me. There are some great passages in here that just grab your heart and twist.

    Jean Perdu is a reserved middle aged man when we first meet him, very set in his ways, and very spare in his lifestyle. We soon learn it is because he was hurt 20 years before when the great love of his life left him, leaving only a sealed letter behind, which he could never bring himself to read. He believed he already knew why. He was very, very wrong, and must come to terms with that knowledge and what he cheated himself out of by not reading it until many years later.

    This is a story of reconnecting with the parts of oneself that get sacrificed when we try to avoid being hurt again. It is a story of coming to terms with death, and learning to live again. It was poignant and sometimes humorous, often sad, and even tragic, but leaves us with love and beauty through the pain of loss. It also brings Southern France to life in beautiful colors and descriptions.

    I did love the idea of the Literary Apothecary, prescribing books for what ails you and enjoyed the list of recommendations for different symptoms, with possible side effects from having read them. A fun idea!

    Received from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Reviewer Tandah summed it up perfectly: mixed feelings. There were elements of this book that I loved and parts of it that I thoroughly enjoyed. On the other hand, some parts were so overwrought and sophormoric that I had a hard time continuing. I ended up with two very nice bits of philosophical enlightenment from this book, which in the end made it all worthwhile.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book just didn't do it for me. There were a few nuggets of wisdom in it, but in general it was too sappy for my taste. It is a quick read so I stuck with it and finished it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was great in the beginning (reminded me of The Elegance of the Hedgehog). I thought the ending was kind of a let down. A little scattered. The characters were good and I would say it was atmospheric, with life on the Seine and images of Provence being a key, and pleasant, part of the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The title of this book is a slight misnomer. It's not really set in Paris at all but is more about the journey out of grief, experienced by the bookseller Jean Perdu as he travels to the south of France. I enjoyed it but not quite what I enjoyed. It does embrace a love for the right book however.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sweet story of books, life and love. Center a book around a bookseller, and a bookstore, and I'm always going to be there reading. I loved the author's thought of recommending books to readers as being similar to prescribing drugs for a person's aliments.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed the storyline and the message. I wish there was really a bookstore like this one mentioned in the book. I appreciated the description of the places they traveled to and wish I was aboard for the journey.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a delightful book filled with beautiful, warm prose and great characters. There is much love in this book and it is easy to fall in love between it's pages.I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it.