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The Bookshop Girl

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This story is about a little girl named Property Jones, so-called because she was left in the lost property cupboard of a bookshop when she was five years old. Property loves living in the bookshop, but she has a whopper of a secret... she can't actually read! So Property doesn't see the newspaper article announcing the chance to win the Montgomery Book Emporium, the biggest and most magnificent bookshop in the world! When her family win the competition, Property finds herself moving to the Emporium, a magical place filled with floor upon floor of books and a very bad-tempered cat. But all is not at it seems at the Emporium and soon Property Jones finds herself in a whole heap of trouble.

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

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About the author

Sylvia Bishop

18 books54 followers
Sylvia Bishop spent an entire childhood reading fiction, dreaming up stories and pretending. She then tried very hard to get to grips with the real world by studying politics and going in to social science research. This was a shock. Thankfully, she discovered improvised comedy at university, which allowed her to carry on making up stories for at least 30% of her waking hours.

Now she writes her stories down, preferably by lamp-light with tea. She only ever really writes the bad ones: the good ones write themselves without warning, generally when she was planning to go to bed.

Sylvia now lives in London, where she continues to work in research, and is one half of improvised comedy duo the Peablossom Cabaret. Her first book for young readers, Erica’s Elephant, was published by Scholastic in 2016, followed by The Bookshop Girl in April 2017. Sylvia’s third novel, The Secret of the Night Train, is out now.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
Profile Image for SoRoLi (Sonja) ♡  .
4,171 reviews564 followers
January 14, 2023
Ein elfjähriges Mädchen lebt mit der Mutter und dem Bruder in einem Buchladen. Der Buchladen läuft nicht mehr so gut, und somit ergreifen sie die Chance, als es einen großen und gewinnbringenden Buchladen zu gewinnen gibt! Unglaublich eigentlich, aber die drei gewinnen sogar noch. Doch schnell stellt sich heraus, dass es einen Haken gibt...
❤️
Die Geschichte ist sehr fantasievoll und abenteuerlich, was mir richtig gut gefallen hat!
Das Setting ist natürlich perfekt; eigentlich spielt die gesamte Geschichte im Buchladen.
Und die Charaktere sind liebevoll ausgearbeitet. Ich mochte sie und habe mich sehr wohlgefühlt mit diesem fantasievollen Buch!
Profile Image for Tisha.
380 reviews1,066 followers
August 1, 2018
আমার খুব ভালো লাগে যখন ইন্টারনেট ঘেঁটে আমি ভালো কোন বইয়ের খোঁজ পাই। এই বইটাও সেভাবেই পাওয়া। বইয়ের নামটা দেখেই এত ভালো লেগে গিয়েছিল যে ডাউনলোড দিয়েই পড়তে বসে গিয়েছি!

বইটা এত্তো মজার! বইয়ের গল্প হল Property Jones (একজন মানুষের নাম কিভাবে Property হতে পারে, সে ব্যাপারে খটকা লাগা স্বাভাবিক। কিন্তু বইটা পড়লে এর পেছনের মজার কাহিনীটা জানা যাবে!) নামের এগার বছর বয়সের একটি মিষ্টি মেয়েকে নিয়ে যে একটি ছোট্ট বুকশপে তার ভাই Michael Jones এবং মা Netty Jones এর সাথে থাকে। এই তিনজনের সবকিছু বলতে ঐ ছোট্ট বুকশপটাই!

কিন্তু অদ্ভুত ব্যাপার হল, বুকশপে বড় হওয়া ছোট্ট Property পড়তে জানে না! আরও অদ্ভুত ব্যাপার হল, তাঁর ভীষণ বই পড়ুয়া, উদাসীন মা এবং ভাই, দুজনেই কখনও এই ব্যাপারটা খেয়াল করেনি! আর Property-ও কখনও কাউকে বুঝতে দেয়নি যে সে পড়তে জানে না!

Property পড়তে জানে না ঠিক, কিন্তু তার পর্যবেক্ষণ ক্ষমতা চমৎকার! বইয়ে কি লেখা আছে না পড়তে পারলেও, কোনটা কোন জনরার বই তা সে ঠিকই বুঝতে পারতো তার চমৎকার পর্যবেক্ষণ ক্ষমতার গুণে!

“Property could tell that they were thrillers easily; it was just a matter of paying attention. They had dark moody covers, and they were the right sort of fatness, with thin-ish paper. Whenever Netty and Michael read books that looked like that, their breathing was very tense.”

ঘুমানোর জন্য Property-র পছন্দের জায়গা ছিল ট্র্যাভেল সেকশন। কারণ ঐ বইগুলোতে সুন্দর সুন্দর ছবি থাকে!

এই তিনজনের জীবন কাটছিল খুবই সাধারণ ভাবে। প্রতিদিন তাদের বুকশপের বেচা-বিক্রি তেমন একটা না হলেও বৃষ্টির দিন মানুষে ভরে যেত তাদের ছোট্ট বুকশপ!

“That afternoon it rained, so the shop was rammed full. Something about a good hard downpour makes everybody suddenly remember how much they’d like to buy a book, especially if they happen to have forgotten their umbrella. The three armchairs at the front of the shop were full, and the window seat in the fantasy section was full, and every possible nook and cranny had someone huddled in it.”

হাহ! এই লাইনগুলো কি সত্যি! আমাদের দেশেও তো হয় আজকাল এরকম দেখি। অনেকেই বইয়ের দোকানে যায় টাইমপাস করতে, বই হাতে নিয়ে #aesthetic ছবি তুলতে! তারা বই পড়ে না, বই নিয়ে কথা বলে না! খারাপ লাগে!

যাই হোক, এই তিনজন মানুষের খুব সাধারণ জীবন হঠাৎ করেই বদলে যায় যখন তারা লটারির মাধ্যমে দারুণ এক পুরষ্কার পায়। আর সেই পুরষ্কারটা ছিল লন্ডনের সবচেয়ে বড় বুকশপ Montgomery Book Emporium-এর মালিকানা পাওয়া!

এরপর এক সকালের প্রথম ট্রেন ধরে লন্ডন পৌঁছায় Jones-রা আর এবং এরপর তাদের সাথে ঘটে নানারকম রোমাঞ্চকর ঘটনা। এভাবেই ধীরে ধীরে এগোয় কাহিনী।

বইয়ের পাতায় লেখা ছাড়াও আছে ডূডল টাইপের সুন্দর সুন্দর ইলাস্ট্রেশনস যেগুলো পুরো কাহিনীটা আরও ঠিকঠাক মতো বুঝতে সাহায্য করবে।

এই যেমন নিচের ছবিতে দেখা তিনজন Jones চা হাতে আড্ডা জমিয়েছে তাদের বুকশপে!

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সুন্দর একটা বই। ^_^
Profile Image for Trish.
2,272 reviews3,712 followers
January 6, 2020
One day last year, I was in one of the bookshops in the town where I work and while browsing as I sometimes do, my fingers suddenly carressed the spine of this one. The German hardcover edition of this book, mind you. As is the case with food, so it is with reading. That is to say that with books it's not just the words that matter to me, but also the design.
Nevertheless, I try to always read a book in its original language since I know the weaknesses of translations, no matter how well done. I bought this paperback (the edition you see for this review) and mourned not having taken home with me the other one. Eventually, I ended up with both of them being on my shelf. *lol*

Yes, that is a long introduction to this reading experience, sorry (not sorry).

The story is that of little Property Jones, a girl that was left in an old little bookstore (which accounts for her unusual name) when she was five years old. The bookstore's owner's son, 10-year-old Michael, put her in the Lost&Found section but nobody ever came back for the girl. Thus, Netty (the bookstore's owner) and her son Michael take her in which is how Property ends up living in a bookstore.
Six years later, Property harbours a secret: she can't actually read. She therefore doesn't see the newspaper article offering the chance to win The Montgomery Book Emporium - complete with grumpy little Gunther (the cat). But there's a catch which lands Property square in the middle of trouble.

This was a short adventure, meant chiefly for smaller children, but it was still very enjoyable. The writing, although relatively simplistic, was still immersing the reader fully and the adventure the author created was charming and engaging.

As mentioned above, I read the English edition, but also bought the German one for its design. Compare the two yourself below.

English version:



German edition:




I especially like how the design of the hardcover has fantastic colours:



Both are nice, I think, but in very different ways. I'm still glad I bought both. Sometimes you just have to. ;)

A cozy little book for big and small bibliophiles to enjoy - either in solitude or read to one another out loud. 4.5 stars rounded up because of the illustrations and atmosphere.
Profile Image for Daina Chakma.
426 reviews731 followers
August 1, 2018
কাভার আর টাইটেল দেখেই তো বইটা পড়ে ফেলতে ইচ্ছে করে! প্যাপারব্যাক আর হার্ডকাভার দুইটা এডিশনেরই কাভার পেইজ এতো সুন্দর! সাথে আছে লোভনীয় টাইটেল আর ফ্ল্যাপে লেখা বিবরণ। বোনাস পয়েন্ট হিসেবে যোগ হয়েছে তিশার আগ্রহ জাগানিয়া রিভিউ! তাই ঝটপট ওর কাছ থেকে ইবুক চেয়ে নিয়ে পড়ে ফেললাম বইটা।

এই গল্পটা প্রোপার্টি জোনস নামের এগার বছর বয়েসী ছোট্ট একটি মেয়েকে নিয়ে যে কিনা পড়তে জানে না! এই ব্যাপারটা আমি ঠিক মানতে পারিনা। তার ভাই মাইকেল জোনস আর মা ন্যাটি জোনস প্রতিদিন বিকেল বেলায় একসাথে বসে কোনো একটা বই পড়ে। প্রোপার্টি "জোনস ফ্যামিলি"তে আসার পরে ওর হাতেও একই বই ধরিয়ে দেয়া হয় পড়ার জন্য। অথচ ন্যাটি আর মাইকেল এতোটাই উদাসীন যে তারা বুঝতেই পারেনি প্রোপার্টির কোনো অক্ষর জ্ঞান নেই!

এই তিনজনের খুব ছোট্ট আর কোজি একটা বুকশপ আছে। প্রোপার্টির সত্যিকারের বাবা-মা ওর পাঁচ বছর বয়েসের সময় ওকে এখানে ফেলে রেখে চলে যায়৷ সেই থেকে প্রোপার্টি হয়ে উঠে জোনস ফ্যামিলির একজন সদস্য।

একদিন লটারিতে জিতে জোনস ফ্যামিলি জমকালো আর ম্যাজিক্যাল একটা বুকশপের মালিক বনে যায়! এই বুকশপ আবার পুরো লন্ডন শহরের মাঝে সবচেয়ে বড় বুকশপ! আসল ঘটনার শুরুটা হয় এখানেই। একদিন এলিয়ট নামে এক লোক এসে ওদের কাছে শেক্সপিয়রের নিজের হাতে লেখা নাটকের স্ক্রিপ্ট চেয়ে বসে! যে স্ক্রিপ্ট দিতে না পারলে এলিয়টকে দিতে হবে ফোরটি থ্রি মিলিয়ন পাউন্ড অথবা সমস্ত স্থাবর অস্থাবর সম্পত্তি। অর্থাৎ দুটো বুকশপই অচেনা এই লোক দখল করে নিবে! এরপর আছে শুধু চমক আর চমক! পড়তে না জানা মেয়েটি শুধুমাত্র অসাধারণ পর্যবেক্ষণ ক্ষমতার জোরে কিভাবে নানা রকম অসাধ্য সাধন করে জানতে হলে পড়তে হবে!
Profile Image for Darla.
4,253 reviews1,009 followers
September 12, 2018
Property Jones is a delightful heroine and many kids who struggle with reading will be able to relate to her secret. The Marvelous Emporium is a booklover's dream come true and reading this book gave me some Willy Wonka vibes and Series of Unfortunate Event vibes. Love the illustrations and the kitten who comes with the new store.
Profile Image for Mehsi.
13.8k reviews420 followers
April 5, 2017
I have been looking forward to this book for months, ever since I first saw it pop up on Twitter. I just had to have the book, a book about book stores? About a girl not being able to read while living in a book store? With mystery?

I can hear you say: What? The MC lives in a book store but can't read? Nope, she can't read. As the first chapter tells us:
"Property was eleven years old when our story begins. She had been living with the Joneses for six years. She loved them very much, and she was almost entirely happy there. But she was never completely happy, because she was keeping a secret from them, and it was a whopper:
Property Jones couldn’t read."

How did this girl not learn to read? Also, what is up with the name Property? Well you should read the book for that, I am not going to tell you everything! But this secret is really weighing on Property's shoulders, especially later when they win the price and get a huge book store as a price. She is worried her mom and her brother won't like her any more since she has fooled them for so many years. She worried they might also abandon her. I just felt so sorry for the girl. She has her reasons for not telling (read the book!).
You can tell however that this girl wants nothing more than to read. Of course she is already quite satisfied with just looking, sniffing, smelling, feeling, opening the book, but she wants to learn those magical marks as well.
I know I was rooting for her the entire book to tell people. To let them know, so they could help her out, because I was sure of one thing, these people won't just drop her because of her illiteracy. Oh no, both Michael and Netty are really sweet people. At least that is my impression from the book.

Property was a terrific character though. Even if she can't read, she helped out in her way with the Emporium (yeah for pictures), and later with the villain and all the badness that happens she is the one who can help her family and friend out. They can't see the difference between certain objects, but she can. By smell, by colour, by other factors, and I just adored this. She didn't let the illiteracy stand in the way. She might not be able to read the words, but she knew a when she saw one, and that truly is a really awesome skill.

I so loved the Montgomery Book Emporium, it was absolutely fabulous and brilliant. There are floors upon floors of books, with magical contraptions, rooms full of books place in the most magnificent ways (like the dictionary room which is full of dictionaries and everything else is labelled and explained, or the sunken treasure room, with books in chests), I just wanted to go there and stay there for all day. Just enjoying every bit of it. Soaking it all up.
I was just a bit stunned that we only got to enjoy it for so short in the book. I was truly looking forward to pages upon pages of it.

Then again the format of the book was a bit unconventional. Not bad, oh no, not at all, I was just a bit startled (if that is the right word). Normally the villain would cause small heaps of trouble left and right and then the grand plan is revealed, and at times even executed if he isn't foiled by the MC and friends, but in this one it was just in a big BANG (with some smaller hints towards it, though I certainly didn't expect it to go this fast), and then it was up to Property and her family to figure out things and get revenge/get back what is theirs (which was absolutely fun).

Montogomery, eh, I quite liked him (he reminded me a bit of Willy Wonka, not only with the whole giving away an emporium, but also the way he acted (eccentric), and some other things). My feelings for him at the beginning were a bit bleh, I was wondering what he was hiding, and also why he was acting like this, but then later on he turned out to be really reliable and a sweet and great character.

I also have to mention The Gunther, also know as the cat that never leaves Property and loves sitting on her head or shoulders (yes, like a parrot, only then a bit more deadlier). The Gunther was adorable, and I loved how protective and helpful he was. He instantly took a liking to Property, and Property to him. He was a bit of demon, but still I loved him so much. He was a great character, and I am glad the author added him in the mix.

The ending, and all that happens there? Exciting, terrific, and hilarious. I loved the plan Property created and how they executed it. Brilliant! Especially what they said to the villain later on, haha. He did not expect this.

Oh, and I also kept reading the villain's name wrong. I thought it was with two LL's as that is how I see the name being spelled generally, but instead it was just with one L. I even had to flip back at times to make sure it was always with one L.

The book is also stuffed to the brim with delightful illustrations, and I love how many of them there were and how well they captured all the characters. Everyone was exactly as how I would imagine them. Plus it was great fun to see the Emporium in pictures (though I could easily imagine it in my mind).

So Sylvia Bishop and Ashley King did it again. Their first book: Erica's Elephant was wonderful, and they got another hit with this book. I can't wait to see what this duo will create next, I know for sure I will be pre-ordering, and reading it!

I would highly recommend this book to everyone. You like books? Proper villains? A demon kitty? Mystery? A great plan? Secrets? You love illustrations to accompany the story? Then be sure to read this one!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Profile Image for Amanda .
834 reviews13 followers
July 18, 2018
This middle grade read is an enjoyable one for many ages. This book harkened slightly to A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Mysterious Benedict Society for me. The mystery in this book is not a deep one but it was amusing nevertheless. I enjoyed the book's few illustrations and felt that they supplemented the text perfectly.

My favorite part of the book was the author's use of the main character, Property Jones. When Property and her family run into trouble, she doesn't rely on her brother or mom to solve the problem. She solves it herself (more than once). This message of girl power is extremely affirming and is just what young girls need to see more of in books geared toward their age group.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to visit bookshops, new or used, to anyone who has ever smelled a book or closely examined one, to anyone who loves to write in the margins of a book, or gets lost in amazing illustrations. As a second grade teacher, this would definitely be above my students' reading level. Although I could use this book as a class read aloud, I think children would get more enjoyment out of this book by being able to read this book a year or two down the line from this grade level (hence the middle grade status).

I received a free copy of this book from Edelweiss (it's not an ARC). You can go there to download a free copy as well!
Profile Image for Steffi.
3,176 reviews174 followers
January 12, 2019
Das Buch hat mich vor einiger Zeit mit seinem wunderschönem Cover und natürlich auch mit dem Titel angesprochen. Ein Weilchen hat es auf dem Sub gelegen, aber nun habe ich es gelesen.

"Das Mädchen, das im Buchladen gefunden wurde" erzählt die Geschichte von Property Miller, die vor vielen Jahren im Buchladen von Netty Miller gefunden wurde, nachdem sie ihre Eltern dort zurückgelassen habe. Sie bleibt bei Ladenbesitzerin Netty und deren Sohn Michael.
Eines Tages passiert etwas Überraschendes, sie gewinnen bei einer Verlosung: zukünftig gehört Montgomerys Bücherparadies in London ihnen.

Die Beschreibungen von Montgomerys Bücherparadies sind ein absoluter Traum und da ist ein schon eins meiner kleinen Probleme mit dem Buch, denn das Bücherparadies kommt irgendwann viel zu kurz und ich hätte gerne noch mehr Zeit in diesem einzigartigen Buchladen verbracht.

Ein weiterer kleiner Kritikpunkt ist, dass mir der Schreibstil manchmal ein wenig zu distanziert und damit auch ein wenig zu kühl war. Ansonsten war die Geschichte aber ein spannendes Leseabenteuer, das nicht nur junge Leser begeistern kann.
Profile Image for Elwen.
661 reviews59 followers
May 12, 2023
So süss und innerlich wärmend. Dieses Buch sollte es auf Rezept für miese Tage geben. Zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen fragen Sie ihren Buchhändler :D

Edit: Die 2. Leserunde als Hörbuch, hervorragend gelesen von Ilka Teichmüller, auch sehr zu empfehlen.
Profile Image for Carla.
6,959 reviews164 followers
September 16, 2019
This is a cute middle grade story about an orphaned girl named Property Jones. She was left behind in the bookstore belonging to the Jones family and when no one claimed her or reported her missing, she just became part of the family. All is going along well, but Property has a secret, she can't read. When a stroke of luck befalls the Jones family, they head off to London to take over a world famous bookstore. It is magical and Property loves it, until a sinister character shows up and claims that unless they can pay him an exorbitant amount of money that he is owed, the store is his. Property knows something is not right and it is up to her to save the store and her family.

This is a mystery with some fantasy and family situations all mixed together. Property is a delightful character. Even though she can't read, she is smart and observes everything that happens around her. This gives her the ability to solve puzzles and with the help of her brother and the previous owner of the store, Albert H. Montgomery, she devises a plan. This is a fun story, albeit a bit short, that demonstrates how important it is to be honest. Girl power is also a big theme along with the importance of observation when in a new situation. There were some black & white illustrations throughout that added just enough to this chapter book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to visit bookshops, new or used, and those who like a little bit of whimsy and magic in their lives. This would be a great read aloud in a primary classroom or as in independent chapter book in late primary/early junior classes.
Profile Image for Ms. B.
3,670 reviews61 followers
October 11, 2020
Copy provided by publisher. It reminded me of Mr. Lemoncello's Library with a bookshop instead of a library. The Jones family; Netty, Michael her son and Property who was left in their White Hart Bookshop when she was five, win the bigger and more elaborate Great Montgomery Book Emporium in a drawing only to lose it to the deceitful Mr. Eliot. Can they outsmart Mr. Eliot and win back this amazing store?
Profile Image for Almira.
635 reviews2 followers
September 1, 2019
A library patron and her daughter (8ish) returned this one day, mom said "my daughter doesn't like to read about orphans, and this is sort of about an orphan, but the word is only used once, so she enjoyed it." Now that is something I have never encountered before, so I thought why not see what this is about...…

Property Jones (yes, that's her name) was left at small bookshop in England, Michael, who eventually becomes her "brother" puts her on the property shelf, as she does not know her name or who her parents are, or where she is from...….. Netty, Michael's mom accepts her as her "adopted" daughter, the name Property just sticks...…..

There is one MAJOR secret that Property doesn't share with Michael and Netty, a whooper of a secret since the live and own a bookshop.....

Michael enters a contest to win The Montgomery Book Emporium in London, no one in the family really thinks they might win, but it sure would be nice..... Maybe NOT so much.

I can see that it would appeal to young girls mainly, however, I must say the whole story was pretty much of a stretch for me.....
Profile Image for Mikayla.
1,070 reviews
December 18, 2023
This book was simply delightful. I could not get over how adorable it was. I was grinning from page one with the awesome introduction, and the unique characters.
The bookshop was awesome, and I wished I could step into it myself.
Property Jones was such a fun main character I just wanted to sit down and have tea with her.
I read this pretty fast, so while I got a lot of the witty lines, I'm pretty sure I missed some. So, I'll just have to re-read it soon!

Thank you, Kate Willis, for this delightful little book. <3

2020>> Loved re-reading this little gem. <3
Profile Image for Steph.
1,271 reviews87 followers
June 9, 2017
A brilliant tale filled with mystery, magic and delight. I devoured this book quickly and I love the name Property. From the first but of the book to the very end, you have a story that will delight kids. I loved this so much!
Profile Image for Kristina.
1,002 reviews251 followers
June 22, 2017
I was just looking for a book about books! 💞

I enjoyed Property's adventures so much and fell in love with her little family and the amazing bookshop!

I am a huge fan of bookish books and if you are too, then I definitely recommend! You'll most certainly like it ☺️

Kristina Z
Profile Image for Yasemin Sahin.
67 reviews12 followers
July 6, 2021
Çevrenizdeki 9-14 yaş grubu çocuklara rahatlıkla hediye olarak alabileceğiniz, kitap, kitabevi, kitap kokusu, kedi ve maceraseverlerin severek okuyacağı sevimli bir kitap. Okumayı sevdiren kitaplardan diyebilirim.
Profile Image for Kate Willis.
Author 25 books556 followers
November 14, 2019
This book was so enjoyable. Highly atmospheric, written in a very droll style, and so sweet the ending brought me to a few tears.

The Book Emporium was amazing! I loved the quirky way it was built and the description of each room was better than the last. *sighs happily*

Property (yes, that’s her name; yes, there is a good explanation; and don’t worry, she was very much her own person) was a great character whose power lay in observation. I loved the way she loved books, and, boy, was she clever! Her family--not the one who left her behind but her real family--was pretty sweet. I especially liked the surprising, caring heart deep inside Michael.

Okay, the way they foiled the nefarious plot was BRILLIANT and surprisingly funny. I was slightly uncomfortable with the moral ambiguity of “cheating the cheaters”, but it wasn’t a huge deal.

(I had a few very lovely quotes picked out to share, but the book was regrettably returned to the library, so I guess you’ll just have to read it. :D )

Altogether, this was certainly a gem. <3
Profile Image for Stephanie.
Author 81 books1,140 followers
April 29, 2017
Sweet, charming, and full of heart, with a wonderfully cozy and classic feel to the writing. And seriously, it's a book about a girl who gets to live in a bookstore (first a normal one and then a nigh-on magical one, although it's described merely as "mechanical") - so what were the chances that I wouldn't enjoy it? ;)

As a kid, this would have been an all-five-stars book for me. As an adult, I still truly enjoyed it, but I also kept on getting tripped up by a few significant logic issues behind the whimsy. First of all, I don't understand why the author set this story in modern London and yet there's never any possibility of either child in the family attending school OR being homeschooled. It would have been so easy to set it in an earlier historical era, before the time of compulsory education and social workers, when that would have been genuinely plausible - and nothing else about the story (including the dialogue) would have had to change - but since it is clearly set in modern times, I kept getting hung up on worrying about that part, as a boring adult (and as a parent)!

Similarly, in the mechanical bookstore full of amazing rooms, I kept worrying about who exactly fed the various animals who lived in the various rooms. This is what comes of being a nearly-40-year-old mum who can't stop thinking about how all the boring details of household life are actually managed! But I am certain that no kids (the actual target audience) will get as distracted as I was by those aspects - and I know that my own kids certainly won't when I read them this book...which I will, because it really is delightful! I read it all within a day, and it was so much fun despite my boring adult nitpicks. I only wish I'd been able to read it aged 9! It would have been PERFECT. :)
Profile Image for Luna's Little Library.
1,424 reviews211 followers
January 11, 2018
While I’m relatively certain I have one of the best bookshops in the country on my doorstep I do wish Montgomery Book Emporium was real. A bookshop like that would be the ruin of me, but in the best possible way.

The Bookshop Girl is magical. Anyone who adores books will love the description of the Montgomery Book Emporium. Added to that you have Property and her family, their original bookshop, an absurd (in the best way) adventure and a cat.

It did not take me very long to read but I enjoyed The Bookshop Girl from start to finish.
Profile Image for Julie J..
549 reviews33 followers
April 7, 2021
Property wurde als kleines Mädchen in den Fundsachen eines kleines Buchladens entdeckt (daher auch ihr Name) und lebt nun bei der Besitzerin Netty und ihrem Sohn Michael. Der Buchladen steht kurz vorm Ruin, weswegen die Familie bei einem Preisausschreiben mitmacht und tatsächlich gewinnt. Sie sind die neuen Inhaber des größten und tollsten Buchladens der Welt, Montgomerys Bücherparadies. Nicht nur, dass der Laden der Traum jeder Leseratte ist, leider birgt er auch eine böse Überraschung. Dazu kommt ein schwerwiegendes Geheimnis, welches Property seit langen mit sich herumträgt. Gemeinsam mit dem Kater Gunther ist es nun an Property, ihre Familie vor dem endgültigen Ruin zu retten, das Bücherparadies zu retten und das größte Abenteuer ihres Lebens zu bestehen.
Die Geschichte ist phantasievoll, spannend und jede Seite bezeugt die Liebe zu Büchern.

Leider muss ich mich manch anderen anschließen, auch ich fand den Schreibstil etwas distanziert, ich konnte mich kaum in Property hineinfühlen.
Es gibt auch Elemente in der Geschichte, die durchaus unlogisch sind, die man aber einfach hinnehmen muss und auf die ich nicht eingehe, da es viel zu viel spoilern würde, von denen ich mir aber gewünscht hätte, dass die Autorin dafür einfach eine Erklärung gefunden hätte. An sich spielt das Buch in unserer realen Welt, ergo kann man nicht einzelne Regeln dieser Welt ignorieren; oder man muss die Geschichte in Welt ansiedeln, die unserer nur ähnlich ist.

Profile Image for Lisa B..
1,341 reviews6 followers
November 6, 2018
Property Jones lives in a bookstore with her adoptive family - Mom, Netty and brother, Michael. When the family wins the Great Montgomery Book Emporium the three of them give up their little bookstore and move into the book emporium. Property takes with her a long kept secret.

Oh what fun this middle school book was to read. Property is one observant young lady and she uses her skills to save the family from a unpleasant dilemma. By the end of the story, Property gets to unburden herself of her secret and discovers that all is right in her world.


I love reading middle school books with a positive message. This was a fun and fast read. I think this is just the book to give to a few lucky middle schoolers I happen to know. I'm pretty sure they are going to like Property just as much as I did.


My thanks to Peachtree Publishers and Netgalley.
Profile Image for Meg Mueller.
156 reviews12 followers
July 18, 2023
This was a very sweet book! I enjoyed the characters and how the author described everything throughout the book. Was it the most intricate or believable of plots? No! But it was a fantastical book that held the interest of my 8-year-old and was a fun little side novel for us to read this summer.

I especially liked the characterization of The Gunther, a spunky, fierce kitten that attaches himself to Property (the main character) throughout the better part of the book.

I know my daughter would definitely read more books by Bishop and I think I would rather enjoy them as well!
Profile Image for Meg.
100 reviews8 followers
October 20, 2024
i absolutely loved every second of reading this i had read it previously as a younger girl but it was such a nice pallet cleanser for whilst i'm at uni and have virtually no time to read. this book is so beautiful and full of hope a magical journey that everyone should go on plus who doesn't love reading about a bookshop.
222 reviews8 followers
October 23, 2024
خیلی دوسش داشتم. کلا عاشق داستانایی هستم که حول و حوش کتابفروشی میگذره. حالا فرض کنین این کتابفروشی درهایی داره که با کشیدن یه دستگیره، وارد هر بخشی که میخواین میشین و کتاباشو میخونین و میخرین‌.
Profile Image for Stacey | prettybooks.
604 reviews1,639 followers
November 18, 2017
The Bookshop Girl is a bonkers story. Property Jones is so-called because she was discovered as a five-year-old in the lost property section of a bookshop and adopted by the bookish Jones family. Property loves books. She really does. But she's hiding a secret: she cannot read.

One day, the Jones family win a prize draw to run the famous Montgomery Book Emporium. With the help of an extremely grumpy and oddball cat, the Jones family must solve a dastardly mystery or lose everything – books an' all.

Continue reading this review over on Pretty Books.
Profile Image for Rika Kageyama.
154 reviews3 followers
June 19, 2024
Keşke benim de Gunther gibi bir kedim olsa... Pofuduk, zeki ve vahşi.
Profile Image for Laurie.
868 reviews
July 22, 2018
Would you love to live in a bookstore? What if you didn't know how to read, would you still want to live there? This is the life of Property Jones. She was abandoned in a bookstore when she was very young and raised by the bookstore owner, Netty Jones and her son Michael. Property kept a secret for six years - she never learned how to read- but she pretended she did. The longer she went on pretending that she could read, the harder it was to tell the truth. However, that became the least of Property's problems when her family won the greatest bookstore in all of Britain. The Jones' couldn't believe their luck when they won Albert H. Montgomery's Book Emporium. Little did they know that the reason Mr. Montgomery was so eager to get out is that he bought a very rare and expensive piece of literature but he ruined it by spilling lemonade on it. He owed a very mean man a very large amount of money and he wanted the Joneses to take the fall for it. As Mr. Eliot Pink proceeds to take everything away from the Jones, Property discovers a secret that the evil Mr. Pink wants to stay hidden - the book he sold to Mr. Montgomery is a fake. Now Property has been locked into one of the many rooms in the Emporium and she can't tell her secret to anyone. Will Property be able to escape the room and alert her family of what is going on? Will Property's embarrassing secret that she cannot read ever be revealed? Will Property's family be kicked out of their home or can she expose what Mr. Pink is doing? Read this exciting story of family, friends, and determination, not to mention one of the most amazing bookstores ever!

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