While looking for my next read among the custom-built bookshelves on the far end of my living room, I spied a slender bright green spine that I didn't recall buying. "Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast" by Bill Richardson. You know that I will buy a book based on a clever title alone, but this title wouldn't normally have caught my eye. Hmmm. A quote at the bottom of the cover from Publishers Weekly promises "This quiet charmer is a bibliophile's delight." That would have caught my eye, but I would have had to get it off the shelf to see it.
So, the mystery as to why I bought this one continues. I turn it over to read the summary. That's where I discover the reason: it's a book about books. The Bachelor Brothers cater to the reading community at their B&B, encouraging guests to bring their own books, or read from the extensive collection found on site. "An antic blend of homespun and intellectual humor."
Yep. I am a sucker for books about books, and I will purchase a book simply because it sounds like it is going to be about the love of, well ... books. Some of my favorites:
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Those are just a few, because if I listed them all, it would be tedious for me and tiresome for you. Just know that I love books about books and will buy a title that would otherwise skip right past my fancy on all other counts.
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