Book Review : City of Books by Nicole Meier (Audiobook)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fifty-year-old Jo Waterstone has been working at Bruebaker’s Books for over two decades. Suffice to say that Jo’s life revolves around her work. Bruebaker’s Books has been a fixture in the community for decades and Jo takes pride in her position managing the bookstore and is confident of her ability to help people find the right book for themselves. Managing the bookstore has its fair share of challenges, but Jo takes it all in her stride.

When the news of the owner Mr. Bruebaker’s stroke and subsequent hospitalization reaches her, needless to say, she is distressed. Not only does she share a close friendship with Mr. Bruebaker, but her immediate boss informs her that Mr. Bruebaker’s daughters want to shut down operations and sell the store as soon as possible. Jo believes that Mr. Bruebaker would not agree to the sale, but his family isn’t allowing anyone to contact him. To save the store, Jo devises a plan to barricade herself within the premises, keeping the doors closed but fulfilling all online orders until she can contact Mr. Bruebaker. She is joined in her endeavor by a small group of employees. Jo finds herself navigating her responsibilities of managing a small group in a closed space with both positive and negative group dynamics at play and the upkeep of the store, public support and the influx of online orders and the protests and the obvious displeasure of her boss and her employer’s family, all the while hoping for good news from Mr. Brubaker’s end. The narrative follows these characters over the next few weeks as they make themselves at home among the stacks in their own “city of books.”

An ode to independent bookstores, City of Books by Nicole Meier is a heartwarming story that revolves around teamwork, friendship, community and of course, how our love for books can bring people together. As an avid reader and bibliophile, it would be a dream come true for me to actually live in a bookstore! Naturally, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel and I was not disappointed.

The narrative is presented from Jo’s perspective and flows well. Jo is an endearing protagonist and I admired her resolve, her dedication and her loyalty to the bookstore and her employer. I loved the vivid descriptions of the bookstore and enjoyed getting to know the characters. I thought that the author has done a great job of capturing how the dynamics shifted between the characters over the course of their stay and how their experiences allowed them to not only get to know one another better but also allowed for moments of introspection and self-discovery. Though I did feel that a few of her actions might have been impulsive (and a tad misguided, but that’s more me than the book), there was no reason to doubt her intentions or the fact that heart was in the right place. There was one sub-plot that I felt was unnecessary, but overall, this did not detract from my overall experience. I also liked how the author chose to end this story on a bittersweet yet hopeful note.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook (8 Hours, 46 Minutes at 1x speed), narrated by Cindy Kay, who has done a wonderful job of breathing life into these characters and this story.

Many thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.