Ebook and Paperback Book Giveaway: The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler

[TinaMumsnet]

Esme Garland arrived in Manhattan with a scholarship to study art history at Columbia University. When she falls in love with New York blue-blood Mitchell van Leuven, with his penchant for all things erotic, life seems to be clear sailing, until a thin blue line signals stormy times ahead.

Before she has a chance to tell Mitchell about her pregnancy, he abruptly declares their sex life is as exciting as a cup of tea, and ends it all. Stubbornly determined to master everything from Degas to diapers, Esme starts work at a small West Side bookstore to make ends meet.

This week we're giving away 50 paperback copies and 50 ebook copies of The Bookstore by Deborah Meylor. Click here to find out more and apply for a free copy.

Don't forget, if you're lucky enough to receive a free copy, we do ask that you tell us what you think about it in the thread below, or write a review here.

This giveaway is sponsored by Bloomsbury reader.

Thanks for the book, I read it v quickly and enjoyed it although I did find some things about it didn't quite gel. It reads like 'chick-lit' but the author has obviously tried to lift itaabove that by throwing in lots of art and literature references which I didn't feel worked. Mitchell was so odious and ridiculous as a character that I had a hard time believing that anyone could possibly love him and want to be with him. Likewise, his parents were almost like a parody - maybe that was the intention?

I actually really liked the last part of the book. I thought the description of early motherhood was really honest and affecting, and I also liked the ending; it wasn't as predictable as I'd expected it to be.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read but I felt the book was trying to be too many things at once and suffered for that.

Sorry for the delay. I found the book difficult to get into. It did not hold my interest. I like books that hold my interest from the very beginning. Sorry!!

Thanks for the ebook Mumsnet and Bloomsbury Publishing especially Stephanie who helped me get book downloaded. Esme has moved from England to New York to go to college. She finds that she is pregnant and is dumped by her boyfriend Mitchell before she has a chance to tell him. She decides to keep the baby regardless she gets a job at a quirky old bookstore to try and save some money for when the baby arrives. It's here at the bookstore that she meets some weird and wonderful characters.

The book is written in a very accessible style; quite chatty and light so it's a nice easy read. Any book about books, book shops and people who love books appeal to me. A story about a woman deciding that she doesn't need a man to support her and tells the story of her strength and independence.

Esme is a strong character is determined to make it on her own. She is not faultless; showing a weaker side when others take advantage of her trusting nature. She struggles to stay strong at times. Esme is a lovely character who you can easily relate to.

It's an okay read but not one of my favourite books.

Thanks for the book; I've just finished it.

It was a quick and easy read, although fairly predictable and a bit too much like chick lit for my liking. I also found it hard to empathise with the characters and wondered how Esme could have been taken in by Mitchell, who was a stereotypical bad boy with very few redeeming points.

I'm still reading it so will come back to review it as soon as I finished

easy to read and relate too this was an easy lazy afternoon read. It was a little predictable but I enjoyed it

Thank you for the e-book, I'm about to start reading it! I know I'm a little late but it took me a bit of time to work out how to get it on my Kindle and then I was reading another book. Will start in the next day or so and will review!

Thank you a mumsnet for the free ebook and Stephanie for helping me install it on my kindle. I've finished it with mixed feelings, I love books and old fashioned book shops, so really thought I would love this book. I really liked the sound of it and the story line, but really hated Mitchell and how Esme was always going back to him and putting up with him - it just didn't feel realistic. We never got to hear more from Anasataisa about her relationship with Mitchell which would have been interesting and it would have been good to learn more about the other characters lives such as Luke and George, I loved the owl setting and community. I did feel that the story didn't really end properly, what happened to the suggested relationship with Luke? Also I didn't enjoy all the history art references - I love reading but they were completely aliens to me and I ended up skimming them. I did skim read the book towards the end because it was dragging and getting a bit repetitive.
Despite my reservations, I love trying different books so enjoyed reading this and I did want to find out what happened next so read it quickly. Thanks again mumsnet!

This was well-paced and I thoroughly enjoyed Meyler's light, humorous style. My main complaint is that I felt that the author was denying readers the obvious happy-ever-after ending of Esme getting together with Luke. Was this an attempt to make it more literary and less chick lit-ty?
It certainly isn't The Goldfinch, although in fairness I don't think it aspires to be. I'd read a follow-up book by Meyler for the humour. Other posters have made valid comments about plot holes but I am very forgiving of these when I read! :)

Thank you for my e-book. Like many others on here, I have mixed feelings about The Bookstore. It felt like chic-lit but was quite slow in places. I enjoyed the idea of the story but the art references were too much for this genre. I also feel it was unrealistic to believe that Esme really would go back to Mitchell time & time again. Would her parents really not have played a more prominent role given Esme's circumstances? A bit too open-ended at the end. I'm please I finished the book but not sure I'd recommend it to anyone else.

I'm not habitually a chick lit reader so this was a holiday treat! Thanks to the cultural references throughOut, I felt less guilty about reading something relatively light.

Living in London, I felt Esmes fascination with New York a bit naive, and for a supposedly intelligent person, couldn't understand how she was so taken in by Mitchell.

Overall though, an enjoyable read for this genre.