I have always loved books about bookshops. There's just something so cozy about curling up with one and settling into the story (see Veronica Henry's fabulous How to Find Love in a Bookshop for a great example in this sub-genre). Amy Meyerson's The Bookshop of Yesterdays does not quite give off that cozy feel. There's too much mystery and drama for that, and not all of it fits in well with the story.Miranda Brooks is a history teacher in Philadelphia living with her boyfriend. But she grew up in California, where she spent a large amount of time in her Uncle Billy's bookshop, Prospero Books. When Miranda turns twelve, Uncle Billy has a fight with Miranda's mother, and Miranda never hears from him again. But when Billy dies many years later, he unexpectedly leaves Miranda the now-almost-bankrupt bookshop, along with a literary scavenger hunt to tell her his secrets.
Throughout the book, I didn't think the characters were fleshed out as much as I would have liked them to be (with the exception of Miranda and her mother). The ending also felt a little flat and unrealistic. And as I said, when I read a book about a bookshop, I love to get that cozy feeling, and I didn't really get that with The Bookshop of Yesterdays. However, if you like your bookshop books to have a little mystery and drama in them, you may just enjoy this one.
MY RATING - 3.5
