I recently read The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (Crown, 2015) it is an absolutely wonderful read for book lovers.  This story is set in Paris, the main character Jean Perdu is a book seller, but more than that he has transformed a floating barge into the most perfect bookshop.  He of course sells books, but not always in the way that one would think.  He is phenomenal at choosing just the perfect book for the person who is reading it, his shop is a literary apothecary.  My biggest regret in reading this book is that I did not keep a list of the books that are referenced, because it would be so much fun to read all of them that Monsieur Perdu mentions.

This book is not just about selling books, or the perfect backdrop of Paris, it is a very detailed look at one mans life and the choices that he has made.  Perdu struggles with the fact that he loved deeply when he was younger and that relationship ended and he has never been able to move on.  He goes on this quest to resolve his lost love, picking up interesting characters along the way.  The friendships that he makes are fantastic in that they are not predictable, they are well crafted characters that all learn something from one another and all serve a really important purpose.  I absolutely love this book.  It is filled with friends, letting go of the past and being okay with moving on and loving again.  Nina George does a wonderful job of creating characters and a setting that transport you in time and place.

The Little Paris Bookshop is a delightful read that any one who loves a great story and a story about books will completely enjoy.  In fact this book was so interesting to me that I wanted to immediately know more about this idea of prescribing books to people to cure their ailments.  So I did a little research into this idea and found The Novel Cure, which is a book that contains recommendations for what ails you.  It is an A – Z of literary remedies created by Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin.  They started The School of Life in London, where they have been prescribing literary therapy for years.  You should definitely check out their recommendations and if you happen to be in London go The School of Life.

Blogger note: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review, however the ideas presented are my own.