Another perfect day - for reading books, that is! And not just any books but books about books - and bookshops, even floating bookshops! "There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies - I mean books — that were written for one person only ... A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books."
So says Monsieur Perdu, who runs a bookshop from a beautifully restored barge in the Seine, in "The Little Paris Bookshop". He calls it a 'literary apothecary' because he possesses a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe the troubled souls of his customers.
"The Bookshop That Floated Away" is another good story - a memoir, really - about a bookseller and her books. And there are several more I've read: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", The Bookshop, "Keep the Aspidistra Flying", and the very first one I ever read and still love the most, Helene Hanff's "84 Charing Cross Road".
They say the movie is never as good as the book, but if you love to watch movies set in bookshops, you will love "84 Charing Cross Road", "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society", "The Bookshop", and "Keep The Aspidistra Flying" (released under the title "A Merry War").
I'm right now reading "The Little Paris Bookshop". If you know if it was made into a movie, and where I can get hold of it, please let me know.
