The Little Village Of Book Lovers

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The Little Village of Book Lovers

Author : Nina George
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 0593157907
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (931 download)

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Book Synopsis The Little Village of Book Lovers by : Nina George

Download or read book The Little Village of Book Lovers written by Nina George and published by Random House. This book was released on 2024-07-09 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love in this tender, lyrical standalone novel inspired by the “bona fide international hit” (The New York Times Book Review) The Little Paris Bookshop In Nina George’s New York Times bestseller The Little Paris Bookshop, beloved literary apothecary Jean Perdu is inspired to create a floating bookstore after reading a seminal pseudonymous novel about a young woman with a remarkable gift. The Little Village of Book Lovers is that novel. “Everyone knows me, but none can see me. I’m that thing you call love.” In a little town in the south of France in the 1960s, a dazzling encounter with Love itself changes the life of infant orphan Marie-Jeanne forever. As a girl, Marie-Jeanne realizes that she can see the marks Love has left on the people around her—tiny glowing lights on the faces and hands that shimmer more brightly when the one meant for them is near. Before long, Marie-Jeanne is playing matchmaker, bringing true loves together in her village. As she grows up, Marie-Jeanne helps her foster father, Francis, begin a mobile library that travels throughout the many small mountain towns in the region of Nyons. She finds herself bringing soulmates together every place they go—and there are always books that play a pivotal role in that quest. However, the only person that Marie-Jeanne can’t seem to find a soulmate for is herself. She has no glow of her own, though she waits and waits for it to appear. Everyone must have a soulmate, surely—but will Marie-Jeanne be able to recognize hers when Love finally comes her way?

The Little Paris Bookshop

Author : Nina George
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0553418785
Total Pages : 418 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (534 download)

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Book Synopsis The Little Paris Bookshop by : Nina George

Download or read book The Little Paris Bookshop written by Nina George and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart. But can he fix his own? Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself. Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.

The Little French Bistro

Author : Nina George
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0451495608
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis The Little French Bistro by : Nina George

Download or read book The Little French Bistro written by Nina George and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop, an extraordinary novel about self-discovery and new beginnings. Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as “the end of the world.” Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life’s small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it’s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along. With all the buoyant charm that made The Little Paris Bookshop a beloved bestseller, The Little French Bistro is a tale of second chances and a delightful embrace of the joys of life in France.

The Little French Village of Book Lovers

Author : Nina George
Publisher : Michael Joseph
ISBN 13 : 9781405945172
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (451 download)

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Book Synopsis The Little French Village of Book Lovers by : Nina George

Download or read book The Little French Village of Book Lovers written by Nina George and published by Michael Joseph. This book was released on 2024-08-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available to pre-order now! The heartwarming new novel from the international million-copy bestselling author of THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP __________ Nothing says love like a book . . . In a little town in the south of France, a young orphan, Marie-Jeanne, discovers the extraordinary power of books to change lives. But as she looks around her, she sees so many unhappy and lonely people - and resolves to help them. Because a love of books is a love of life itself. Together with her foster father, Marie-Jeanne sets up a mobile library to travel to the many nearby mountain villages. Their books offer entertainment, guidance, comfort - and also help bring lonely hearts together. And what about Marie-Jeanne? Books have taught her all about life - but can they bring her closer to her own true love? __________ From the author of the million-copy bestseller The Little Paris Bookshop comes a tender story about how a love of books is a love of life itself. PRAISE FOR NINA GEORGE 'A true gem for fiction lovers' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'An enchanting, uplifting read. The sort of book that acts as a soothing tonic' INDEPENDENT 'Glowing . . . Layered with wit, enchanting writing and a love of books' DAILY MAIL 'A charming tale' RED

Little Village of Second Chances

Author : Gina Hollands
Publisher : Linford
ISBN 13 : 9781444847628
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (476 download)

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Book Synopsis Little Village of Second Chances by : Gina Hollands

Download or read book Little Village of Second Chances written by Gina Hollands and published by Linford. This book was released on 2021-09 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ex-fireman and flower farmer Shay McGillen has plenty of reasons not to give Sarah Pickering even one chance when she turns up in his small Yorkshire village. After all, she is only there to try and convince him and his fellow villagers to sell up so her company can build a bypass. If Sarah thinks she can make Shay give up his farmhouse and his business, she has another think coming! But then an unexpected blizzard leaves Sarah stranded in Shay's home...

The Book of Dreams

Author : Nina George
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1471168352
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (711 download)

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Book Synopsis The Book of Dreams by : Nina George

Download or read book The Book of Dreams written by Nina George and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-04-18 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop, comes a delightful, offbeat, charming and bittersweet tale about the distance one man will travel for the sake of love and friendship. Henri is about to meet his teenage son, Sam, for the first time. But as Henri crosses Hammersmith Bridge, an accident happens. Sam reads about it in the newspaper - his father is a hero, now in a coma in hospital. So their first meeting takes place there, alongside the hospital’s neurologist, whom the staff name God and is the first person to treat Sam as an equal in intelligence. And that’s because Sam, due to a condition called synaesthesia, can sense things the doctors can’t - he can see the colours of his father’s thoughts and dreams, and many relationships build from this. This beautiful novel is warm, wise, wry look at what love means. It’s about fathers and sons, friendship and family, life, death and making peace with the past in order to find a future. Praise for Nina George’s novels: ‘This charming tale is already a bestseller in Germany. For fans of Like Water for Chocolate and Amelie’ Red ‘George uses a heady cocktail of literature and more sensual pleasures to create a wonderfully offbeat romance’ Mail on Sunday ‘Glowing . . . layered with wit, enchanting writing and a love of books’ Daily Mail ‘A true gem for fiction lovers’ Good Housekeeping ‘A captivating curiosity, for those who still believe in love and books, friendship and food, happiness and romance’ Saga ‘A capricious, meandering journey of love, loss and wonderful food, so beautifully described. I enjoyed every moment’ Carole Matthews ‘If you're looking to be charmed right out of your own life for a few hours, sit down with this wise and winsome novel . . . Everything happens just as you want it to . . . from poignant moments to crystalline insights in exactly the right measure’ oprah.com 'An enchanting, uplifting read . . . the sort of book that acts as a soothing tonic as you read' Independent 'A life-affirming novel' Sunday Express

The Bookman's Tale

Author : Charlie Lovett
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101622806
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis The Bookman's Tale by : Charlie Lovett

Download or read book The Bookman's Tale written by Charlie Lovett and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mysterious portrait ignites an antiquarian bookseller’s search through time and the works of Shakespeare for his lost love. Charlie Lovett’s new book, The Lost Book of the Grail, is now available. Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books, The Bookman’s Tale is a former bookseller’s sparkling novel and a delightful exploration of one of literature’s most tantalizing mysteries with echoes of Shadow of the Wind and A.S. Byatt's Possession. Nine months after the death of his beloved wife Amanda left him shattered, Peter Byerly, a young antiquarian bookseller, relocates from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to outrun his grief and rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, he discovers a Victorian watercolor of a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Amanda. Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture’s origins and braves a host of dangers to follow a trail of clues back across the centuries—all the way to Shakespeare’s time and a priceless literary artifact that could prove, once and for all, the truth about the Bard’s real identity.

Catching Air

Author : Sarah Pekkanen
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 145167354X
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Catching Air by : Sarah Pekkanen

Download or read book Catching Air written by Sarah Pekkanen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vibrant, compulsively readable novel about two married couples who pursue a dream to open a bed-and-breakfast in small-town Vermont, from the internationally bestselling author of Perfect Neighbors and The Wife Between Us. In her previous works including The Best of Us, “rising star” (Library Journal) Sarah Pekkanen captivated readers by penning “refreshingly introspective, sharply realistic, and tenderly humorous” novels (Booklist) that had readers “flying through the pages” (Hoda Kotb, Today show). Now, in Catching Air, Pekkanen turns an unflinching eye on the tangled relationships of two pairs of thirty-somethings. A chance to run a B&B in snowy, remote Vermont—it’s an offer Kira Danner can’t resist after six soul-crushing years of working as a lawyer in Florida. As Kira and her husband, Peter, step into a brand new life, she quells her fears about living with the B&B’s co-owners: Peter’s sexy, irresponsible brother Rand, and Rand’s wife, Alyssa…who is essentially a stranger. For her part, Alyssa sees taking over the B&B as the latest in a string of adventures. Plus, a quiet place might help her recover from the news that she can’t bear children. But the idyllic town proves to be anything but serene: Within weeks, the sisters-in-law are scrambling to prepare for their first big booking—a winter wedding—and soon a shy, mysterious woman comes to work for them. Dawn Zukoski is hiding something; that much is clear. But what the sisters-in-law don't realize is that Dawn is also hiding from someone… Relatable and dynamic, Catching Air delves deeply into the vital relationships that give shape to women’s lives.

Rules For Dating a Bookshop Owner

Author : S. C. Gray
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781088144411
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (444 download)

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Book Synopsis Rules For Dating a Bookshop Owner by : S. C. Gray

Download or read book Rules For Dating a Bookshop Owner written by S. C. Gray and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Campbell Harrison is obsessed with books. So, when she quits her day job, leaving behind her dysfunctional family, and decides to move to a small town where no one knows her and she knows no one, she breathes relief for the first time in years. With plans to open up a brick and mortar bookshop, she gives up most of her life's savings to sign a year-long lease on a space in an old building downtown. She doesn't think twice about it. It's been her dream for as long as she can remember and now is not the time to start second guessing her decision to move. But shortly after, Campbell realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew, even with the town's support in her little, but big dream. When the charming Bishop Graham, a veteran-turned firefighter with a past he'd rather not talk about, shows up on the stoop of her bookshop late one night at closing, Campbell all but dismisses him as an annoying customer. But the more she sees him around the small town, the more curious she becomes about who he is, and why he too came to this middle-of-nowhere town to escape. With just a few months left on her lease and the holidays quickly appreaoching, Campbell has been dreading some big conversations. What is her next step? What is it exactly is it she's been running from? Where does the bookshop stand when her lease is over? With growing anxiety and anticipation over what is to come, Campbell finds herself longing for a sign that she is exactly where she is meant to be.

Paris Is Always a Good Idea

Author : Jenn McKinlay
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593101359
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (931 download)

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Book Synopsis Paris Is Always a Good Idea by : Jenn McKinlay

Download or read book Paris Is Always a Good Idea written by Jenn McKinlay and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Popsugar’s Best New Books for Summer 2020 A thirty-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love—and herself—in this hilarious and heartfelt novel. It's been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong postcollege European adventure. Since then, she's lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea's thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most successful moneymaker is unquestioned. When her introverted mathematician father announces he's getting remarried, Chelsea is forced to acknowledge that her life stopped after her mother died and that the last time she can remember being happy, in love, or enjoying her life was on her year abroad. Inspired to retrace her steps—to find Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy—Chelsea hopes that one of these three men who stole her heart so many years ago can help her find it again. From the start of her journey nothing goes as planned, but as Chelsea reconnects with her old self, she also finds love in the very last place she expected.

Hades, Argentina

Author : Daniel Loedel
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593188659
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (931 download)

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Book Synopsis Hades, Argentina by : Daniel Loedel

Download or read book Hades, Argentina written by Daniel Loedel and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD FINALIST CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE LONGLIST “A debut novel as impressive as they come. Tough, wily, dreamlike.” —Seattle Times A decade after fleeing for his life, a man is pulled back to Argentina by an undying love. In 1976, Tomás Orilla is a medical student in Buenos Aires, where he has moved in hopes of reuniting with Isabel, a childhood crush. But the reckless passion that has long drawn him is leading Isabel ever deeper into the ranks of the insurgency fighting an increasingly oppressive regime. Tomás has always been willing to follow her anywhere, to do anything to prove himself. Yet what exactly is he proving, and at what cost to them both? It will be years before a summons back arrives for Tomás, now living as Thomas Shore in New York. It isn’t a homecoming that awaits him, however, so much as an odyssey into the past, an encounter with the ghosts that lurk there, and a reckoning with the fatal gap between who he has become and who he once aspired to be. Raising profound questions about the sometimes impossible choices we make in the name of love, Hades, Argentina is a gripping, ingeniously narrated literary debut.

Between the Lines

Author : Jodi Picoult
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451635818
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Between the Lines by : Jodi Picoult

Download or read book Between the Lines written by Jodi Picoult and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-06-25 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Told in their separate voices, sixteen-year-old Prince Oliver, who wants to break free of his fairy-tale existence, and fifteen-year-old Delilah, a loner obsessed with Prince Oliver and the book in which he exists, work together to seek his freedom.

The Buried Giant

Author : Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0385353227
Total Pages : 283 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (853 download)

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Book Synopsis The Buried Giant by : Kazuo Ishiguro

Download or read book The Buried Giant written by Kazuo Ishiguro and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory. In post-Arthurian Britain, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven't seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land, they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they are joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and an illustrious knight, Axl and Beatrice slowly begin to remember the dark and troubled past they all share. By turns savage, suspenseful, and intensely moving, The Buried Giant is a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory.

Pocket Kings

Author : Ted Heller
Publisher : Algonquin Books
ISBN 13 : 1616201479
Total Pages : 317 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (162 download)

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Book Synopsis Pocket Kings by : Ted Heller

Download or read book Pocket Kings written by Ted Heller and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “highly entertaining” story of a frustrated novelist who finds fame, fortune—and trouble—in the world of online poker (The New York Times Book Review). When Frank Dixon, a writer who has seen his career crash and burn, decides to dabble in online poker, he discovers he has a knack for winning. In this newfound realm, populated by alluring characters—each of them elusive, mysterious, and glamorous—he becomes a smash success: popular, rich, and loved. Going by the name Chip Zero, he sees his fortunes and romantic liaisons thrive in cyberspace while he remains blind to the fact that his real life is sinking. His online success, however, does not come without complications, as he comes to realize that his “virtual” friends and lovers are, in fact, made of flesh and blood—and one rival player is not at all happy that Mr. Zero has taken all his money. “Brazen, often hilarious . . . an illuminating and fully realized story about identity and reputation in the digital age.” —The Washington Post “[A] recklessly funny, sparky satire of our obsession with the virtual world.” —Vanity Fair “Laugh-out-loud . . . There is a certain Everyman quality to Frank . . . whose self-deprecating humor helps carry him through his midlife angst and denial of addiction; you want to wish him well.” —Booklist

The Lovers

Author : Vendela Vida
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0062000225
Total Pages : 246 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis The Lovers by : Vendela Vida

Download or read book The Lovers written by Vendela Vida and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-06-22 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Vendela Vida has written a riveting and suspenseful novel about an American woman’s voyage to self-discovery.” —Joyce Carol Oates “Stunning. A masterful meditation on grief and love. The Lovers is a sensational novel from one of our finest writers at the height of her craft.” —Stephen Elliott, author of The Adderall Diaries In 2007, Vendela Vida’s novel Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. With her new novel, The Lovers, former Kate Chopin Writing Award winner Vida tells a powerful and beautiful tale of a widow returning alone to the site of her honeymoon in Turkey, and her subsequent journeys through her past and her present.

Cinnamon Girl

Author : Valerie Horowitz
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780989911016
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis Cinnamon Girl by : Valerie Horowitz

Download or read book Cinnamon Girl written by Valerie Horowitz and published by . This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While she is busy getting ready for her annual cooking contest/author event at Village Cooks, her cookbook and cookware store, Bonnie Emerson, daughter of a former U.S. president, finds the body of a woman near a stream on her property. When Bonnie's tires are slashed, her father hires a private security company. When she is shot at, he calls in the Secret Service and the author's agent threatens to cancel her appearance. But it could be worse. If Cookbooktoberfest goes on with a killer on the loose, they might all be in danger. Cookbooktoberfest and the lives of Bonnie and her family are all in jeopardy unless Bonnie can - with or without the Secret Service - find the killer. Filled with cooking and cookbook lore, Cinnamon Girl is the first in a series of VILLAGE COOKS mysteries. Includes recipes from treasured cookbooks. A life-long cookbook lover, Valerie Horowitz has always worked with books. She has sold out-of-print and rare books, was manager of a bookstore in New York's Greenwich Village and held various marketing and editorial positions at trade and professional publishers. Currently she is the managing editor of a scholarly publishing company. She is an associate member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, and belongs to Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She lives in a house built in the 1750s with her husband, son, and cat in the bucolic northwestern New Jersey farm and horse country where Cinnamon Girl takes place.

Thinking Inside the Box

Author : Adrienne Raphel
Publisher : Hachette UK
ISBN 13 : 1472144619
Total Pages : 275 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (721 download)

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Book Synopsis Thinking Inside the Box by : Adrienne Raphel

Download or read book Thinking Inside the Box written by Adrienne Raphel and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Beautifully researched account, full of humour and personal insight' David Crystal, author of Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar 'A witty, wise, and wonderfully weird journey that will change the way you think . . . This book is a delight' Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste 'Delightfully engrossing, charmingly and enthusiastically well-written history of the crossword puzzle' Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style 'Full of treasures, surprises and fun . . . richly bringing to life the quirky, obsessive, fascinating characters in the crossword world' Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game 'A gold mine of revelations. If there is a pantheon of cruciverbalist scholars, Adrienne Raphel has established herself squarely within it' Mary Norris, author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen Equal parts ingenious and fun, Thinking Inside the Box is a love letter to the infinite joys and playful possibilities of language, a treat for die-hard cruciverbalists and first-time crossword solvers alike. The crossword is a feature of the modern world, inspiring daily devotion and obsession from millions. It was invented in 1913, almost by accident, when an editor at the New York World was casting around for something to fill some empty column space for that year's Christmas edition. Almost overnight, crosswords became a phenomenal commercial success, and have been an essential ingredient of any newspaper worth its salt since then. Indeed, paradoxically, the popularity of crosswords has never been greater, even as the world of media and newspapers, the crossword's natural habitat, has undergone a dramatic digital transformation. But why, exactly, are the satisfactions of a crossword so sweet that over the decades they have become a fixture of breakfast tables, bedside tables and commutes, and even given rise to competitive crossword tournaments? Blending first-person reporting from the world of crosswords with a delightful telling of the crossword's rich literary history, Adrienne Raphel dives into the secrets of this classic pastime. At the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, she rubs shoulders with elite solvers from all over the world, doing her level best to hold her own; aboard a crossword-themed cruise she picks the brains of the enthusiasts whose idea of a good time is a week on the high seas with nothing to do but crosswords; and, visiting the home and office of Will Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and US National Public Radio's official Puzzlemaster, she goes behind the scenes to see for herself how the world's gold standard of puzzles is made.