The Little Paris Bookshop. A Book Review.

As I was browsing available books, looking for my next selection to read, The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George appealed to me right away.  I love Paris.  I love bookshops.  So, a book about a bookshop in Paris grabbed my attention.  After all, what's not to love about Paris and bookshops?  Quite a lot, as it turns out.

Apparently I'm in the minority when it comes to my opinion about this book.  It spent some time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and was recommended by Oprah.com.  Even so, I was very disappointed in this book.

Some reviewers have called this book "enchanting"; others called it "engaging."  I call it boring.

The little Paris bookshop in question is a floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine.  Monsieur Perdu, shopkeeper of The Literary Apothecary, "prescribes" books for his customers, claiming that he can discern exactly what book is appropriate for each person after having only brief conversation with them. 

“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 is unable, however, to discern what to do about his own broken heart, having been abandoned - or so he thinks - by the love of his life some twenty years previously.  She left him with only a letter, which has remained unopened for all these twenty years.  Once he finally reads the letter, he sets out on a journey to the south of France, hoping to find the end of the story.

I wanted to like a book about a floating bookshop in the middle of Paris.  I wanted to like a book set in Paris.  I wanted to enjoy getting to know Monsieur Perdu.  Instead, I found myself bored very quickly, to the point that I skimmed, rather than read, most of the book.  The only redeeming thing for me was the collection of Provencal recipes at the very end.

I received a copy of The Little Paris Bookshop from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.