“She sometimes thinks the world divides into two types of people, those who think books are for reading when there’s nothing else to do, and those who avoid other things to do in order to read books—and unsurprisingly she’s in the latter camp, but really, is that so awful?”

I had high hopes for Bookish people and am generously giving it 3 stars. I'm disappointed by this book. I'm not sure if this book is too close to home- a Washington DC indie bookstore's ins and outs- when I use books to escape, or if it was Coll's weird hyper fixation on details/storylines I didn't think were that funny (re: the vacuum and aga). Similarly, the Charlottesville stuff felt forced (like the author felt like she needed to mention race in order to avoid being labeled racist). Sophie was unlikeable, and not in a quirky, funny, badass bitch way nor a satirical way, but in a sad, unrelatable way.

I did love Clemi and the other bookstore employees. I also have an inherent soft stop for a book about books. I admire the characters love for literature and storytelling and the ethics of it all. The questions of separating the art and the artist both in consumption but also advertising is one I'm also confronted with. Same with the conversation of capitalism- are some things sort of exempt from capitalist guilt (like cool, indie bookstores that are relatively pure and in some ways fighting against capitalism). Some moments were funny and while the relatability was a turn off in some ways, it was also an aspect I liked about the book. Coll referencing niche experiences among those who work in bookstores made me feel like I was in on a joke or in an elite group.

Lastly, how do we have an entire book about indie booksellers without having multiple overtly queer characters?