Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

The Girl is back from Hawaii. She had a great time and declared immediately upon landing that she wants to travel more.

Us? We are pretty good. It was a return to normal as far as our schedules go but we eased into it okay.

Right Now:

I recently finished The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce and the feel-good feeling I had upon turning that last page has stayed with me. More so because I keep listening to the playlist the publisher put together on Spotify. I am just sitting here happy with my coffee and playlist.

This Week:

This week should be pretty good. No extra appointments just the normal stuff.

Reading:

Right after finishing The Music Shop I picked up Sunburn by Laura Lippman. What a book! It was impossible to put down once I started it so I should have the review up very soon. Next up, The Flight Attendant and that TheMystery.doc book everyone is talking about.

Watching:

The Walking Dead season finale is tonight and right after it is the season premier of Fear the Walking Dead. As soon as I get home from volunteering I am gonna throw myself in front of the TV and hopefully watch both although it will be a pretty late night for me.

Making:

Let’s see. What am I making? I plan to make some Spanish rice for life group this Tuesday. I need to BBQ some salmon for lunches. I’ve got a craving for the kind of pasta sauce (gravy) that simmers all day long. Half of my family is Italian so that is where I get it from. I want thick sauce with loopy noodles. Sometimes I can find really good quality gluten-free pasta so maybe I will get lucky.

Grateful for:

Feel-good reads. I don’t care for sappy novels but the kinds of books that leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy? Who doesn’t want to feel that way?

Share with me a book that you consider to be a real feel-good novel.

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The Music Shop
By Rachel Joyce
Random House, 9780812996685, January 2018, 320pp.

The Short of It:

If you like sweet, quirky characters and have an appreciation for music, you’ll love this story.

The Rest of It:

Frank owns a music shop and stocks only vinyl, which causes him a great deal of trouble when the vendors refuse to keep him stocked unless he agrees to also carry CDs. But Frank is not just a record seller, he knows exactly what you need to hear and when you need to hear it. His music “prescriptions” have made him a well-loved member of the community but his inability to move with the times threatens to ruin everything he has. One day, a strange, beautiful woman faints right outside his shop and his safe, predictable life is turned upside down.

I really enjoyed The Music Shop. It has a fabulous cast of characters. Do you remember the movie Notting Hill? Well, this story has a very similar group of characters who are really more of a family to Frank that just fellow business owners. They are quirky and lovable and well-meaning. Delightful, really.

As Frank learns more about Ilse, the woman who faints outside his shop, we also learn about Frank’s relationship with his mother and how he came to love music so much. As I was reading this story I compiled a Spotify playlist of all the songs mentioned, only to find out that the publisher already did it for me!

This story is sweet and funny and a real feel-good book. If you enjoyed her other book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, you will not be disappointed with this one.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher via Library Thing.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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