This is miles better than the other book of George's that I've read recently - The Little Breton Bistro, which I did not care much for - but I'd heard decent things about Bookshop so thought I'd give it a go anyway. I'm glad I did; I liked it. Basically I like books in general, so any story about a canal boat bookshop with an owner who has an almost magical ability to fit book to customer is going to be right up my alley. I do wish that he weren't so hysterical in his reactions, though. Well, perhaps hysterical isn't the right word, but he's not the only one in this book - and I noticed the same thing in Bistro as well. George's characters in general seem to have a yen for wild over-reaction. Take Jean, the bookboat-owning protagonist. A love affair goes bad, so he shuts himself up like a turtle for 20 years, even going so far as to wall off a room in his apartment so that he doesn't have to see a room and a table that reminds him of his ex. (All I could think was "Why didn't you just sell the stupid table, then, or bloody well move?") Still, his re-awakening is nicely done, and extremely sympathetic, even if George's prose does tend to the purple in places... although admittedly, that could be the translator.