#61 The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Jean Perdu considers himself a literary apothecary and from his floating bookstore on a barge in the Seine, he prescribes books to his customers based on their moods, needs, and emotions. At the end of the novel is a list of books that comprise Perdu's Emergency Literary Pharmacy "fast-acting medicines for minds and hearts affected by minor or moderate emotional turmoil. To be taken in easily digestible doses (between five and fifty pages) unless otherwise indicated and, if possible, with warm feet and/or a cat on your lap" (p. 385). There are several cats in this novel. I have never seen such a bookstore, but I do enjoy the bouquinistes along the Seine.

I love the idea of a literary apothecary and the underlying belief that certain books are suited to certain people at given times. I tried to think of books that reflect my emotions and I'm not sure what I would pick. I do enjoy re-reading certain Agatha Christie's, but it's more because they are familiar not because of a given emotion. Some of the most memorable books I have read are those that make me cry or really connect with the characters, and I felt this way reading The Little Paris Bookshop.

"Reading--an endless journey; a long, indeed never-ending journey that made one more temperate as well as more loving and kind" (p. 142).

Monsieur Perdu embarks on a physical journey that is of course accompanied by books. Twenty years after the love of his life Manon left him, he dares to open a letter from her. What he reads sends him on a urgent quest to find Manon once again. Jean Perdu (Jean the Lost) decided to pull anchor and set off down the Seine towards Provence. He is joined by Max Jordan, a popular new author who is mis-understood by those around him. Without money or cellphones, they barter their way along the canals and rivers selling books and doing odd jobs. Along the way, Jean and Max meet other book lovers including Samy, and a food-loving Italian named Salvo Cuneo. As he looks for Manon, Jean wonders if he will ever be able to love again, specifically if he will be able to love his new neighbor Catherine.

Map of Jean Perdu's journey across France