Insomnia and The Book Lover

Last night we tried to put our girls to bed before 10 PM. This is getting hard for me to do in the summer. I love being outside and since it gets dark so late, bedtime keeps getting pushed back. Since I don't have to get up early during the summer, I easily justify the late bedtimes. But, my husband is not so appreciative.  He does have to get up for work each day.  At 11:00 last night we were both reading before bed when our oldest daughter came in to tell us that she couldn't fall asleep. Just moments later I could hear the creak of the bunk bed ladder and we were joined by our middle daughter who also could not sleep. Finally, after I laid down by our oldest daughter, and our middle daughter tried to fall asleep in our bed, the house was quiet. Until I woke up at 1:00 AM.  I was wide awake, and decided to get up and read for a while. I headed to the couch where my I found my husband cruising the internet.  He also could not sleep. I read for over an hour - probably more like two hours- and devoured Mary Ann McFadden's The Book Lover.

The Book Lover is a story I fell in love with.  Lucy has just self-published a novel after years of trying to make her dreams of being an author come true.  Despite the turmoil in her personal life, she sets about to get the word out about her book.  Ruth is the owner of The Book Lover, an independent bookstore struggling to compete with the chain bookstores and on-line retailers.  When she reads Lucy's book she invites her to come for a book signing. The two become good friends and their lives intersect for several months.  Ruth helps Lucy deal with her deteriorating marriage, and Lucy helps Ruth learn to reach out again after Ruth had closed herself off for decades since her husband's death.

Any book lover or aspiring writer will appreciate this story about a woman who wants so much to have her work published.  Knowing a few friends who have had books published, I was not surprised by Lucy's path to getting her work published or by all she had to do to get her book recognized.  I also appreciated Ruth's perspective as a struggling businesswoman, trying to keep an indie bookstore afloat while so much competition exists.

Although I don't think McFadden's aim was to provide inspiration to aspiring writers, she knows the ins and outs of having a book published, and even self-published her first book. Her success does serve as an inspiration.

I loved The Book Lover and will be recommending it far and wide.