Novels about books or bookshops

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Trying to think of a suitable present for a book-loving friend. A novel about books would be good. I can think of 84 Charing Cross Road, The Book Thief, The Bookshop (Penelope Fitzgerald) and The Bookseller of Kabul.

Any other suggestions? Thank you

[FashionFail]

www.amazon.com/Guernsey-Literary-Potato-Peel-Society/dp/0385341008?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Very nice read

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Was going to say 'The Book Thief.'

'Inkheart' by Cornelia Funke is an excellent 'tween' book about books.

'Reading Lolita In Tehran' is about just that - a group of women in Tehran reading books: it's fascinating, but not a novel.

[CoteDAzur]

I didn't read but heard great things about The Shadow Of The Wind.

[seeker]

The Bookshop on the Quay, by Patricia Lynch. Not strictly an adults book, but oh, it's lovely!

[BestIsWest]

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. HRH finds a mobile library by the Buck House kitchens.

[Catmint]

i was going to say the shadow of the wind but i couldn't remember the name

[Icapturethecastle]

Susan Hill's Howard's end is on the Landing brilliant book about re-reading and remembering books.

[Icapturethecastle]

Or The Booksellers War letters between Heywood Hill and his wife Anne during the Second World War. They owned Heywood Hill book shop which still exists and where Nancy Mitford worked. It is a lovely book but you would need to find a second hand copy I bought mine in Heywood Hill!

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Thank you, everyone. Lots to look up there. I'd forgotten about the Potato Peel one, I think I have a copy somewhere so will read it myself. Have also remembered Mister Pip which is vaguely book-related.

I've seen both Reading Lolita and The Uncommon Reader, but haven't read them.

The Bookshop on the Quay I've never heard of - will google it in a minute.

Howard's End Is On The Landing I love, dip into it if I need inspiration. And I love her description of Iris Murdoch and her husband. IM is one of my favourite authors.

Any more suggestions very welcome. Thank you again.

[Lomaamina]

Great ideas here. How about 'The Children's Book' by A.S. Byatt

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Ooh yes to Mr Pip.

[openerofjars]

54 Charing Cross Road I don't think is a novel but an exchange of real letters between an American bibliophile and a London bookseller, but it is wonderful!

[Allalonenow]

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

54 Charing Cross Road is super! I must read Howard's End is on the Landing soon.

[MimsyBorogroves]

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller springs to mind - metafiction by Italo Calvino.

[drjohnsonscat]

84 Charing X Road is one of my all time favourite books and there is a follow-up memoir of her visit to London and her visits to all her literary shrines which is called Duchess of Bloomsbury St (Helene Hanff).

[IndridCold]

Not a novel but 'Weird Things People Say in Bookshops'. Just what it says really, I think it started with someone's blog and is quite hilarious.

My DPs had a bookshop for years and it brings back many memories.

[tripfiction]

How about:
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse set in Paris

[Cherrypi]

Mr Pebumbra's 24 hour bookstore. The yellow lighted bookshop. This is my favourite genre.

[tripfiction]

Oh, forgot this one: The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard set in Copenhagen.
Lots out there when you start to look....have fun choosing your selection!

[harbingerofdoom]

Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach is a book about the famous Paris bookshop of the same name.

I read this years and years ago and found it fascinating, even though I wasn't familiar with all the authors that were mentioned.

I'd love to read it again.

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Thank you again, everyone.

I'll have trouble choosing a present now, with so many suggestions! And I'll probably get one or two of my own as well.