Start reading The Last Bookstore In America on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

The Last Bookstore In America [Kindle Edition]

Amy Stewart
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: $2.99 What's this?
Kindle Price: $2.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

Summer Reading
Summer Reading
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store.

Book Description

A comic novel about the future of books and bookstores by New York Times bestselling author Amy Stewart.

Nothing is what it seems in the offbeat and out-of-the-way town of Eureka, California. Shrouded in fog and hidden behind a curtain of redwoods, this rundown mill town is home to a peculiar cast of characters, a unique homegrown horticultural industry, and one of the last bookstores in America.

No one is more surprised by the unlikely survival of the Firebreathing Dragon than Lewis Hartman, its newest owner. By the time his uncle Sy died and left the bookstore to Lewis, even the most ardent bibliophiles had abandoned printed books in favor of a charming and highly literate digital device called the Gizmo. Bookstores all over the country had closed their doors. But somehow, the Firebreathing Dragon has kept going.

Lewis and his wife Emily find themselves in the unlikely position of owning one of the last bookstores in America. But how has the Firebreathing Dragon managed to survive the death of the book? And if it isn't keeping itself afloat selling books, what is it selling? Reporters, federal agents, and corporate executives out to salvage their own imperiled industries all converge on the bookstore to uncover its secrets. What they discover is a small town that has fallen under the spell of the Firebreathing Dragon's unique offerings.

In her first work of fiction, bestselling author and bookstore owner Amy Stewart takes an offbeat and lighthearted look at small-town life and the future of that marvelous two thousand year-old communication device, the printed book.



Product Details

  • File Size: 364 KB
  • Print Length: 271 pages
  • Publisher: Amy Stewart (July 1, 2009)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002FU6LYC
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,150 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • Would you like to give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Recommend to all who love reading and appreciate books but love their electronics! Sophia  |  19 reviewers made a similar statement
I didn't think I would like this but it turned out to a very interesting story. Randesha Hobbs  |  7 reviewers made a similar statement
This book is a great read especially for a Kindle owner. Beatrice Fairfax  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved this novel even if a beta version! November 11, 2009
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I welcomed the discomfort of the cognitive dissonance of reading "The Last Bookstore in America" on my Kindle. It made the novel even more delightful! Although the Gizmo seems a real possibility in the near future, I had never intellectually pursued its logical end result. I feel strangely compelled to defend my e-book ownership: Since June, the 60 Kindle books I've read are not swaying in dangerous 4-to-5-foot towers in front of the eight floor-to-ceiling bookcases in our house.

Also because our daughter graduated three years ago from Humboldt State University in contiguous Arcata, I am familiar with Eureka, its Old Town, and the waterfront. I love the North Coast culture.

Amazingly, as a writing professor and lover of books and bookstores, I found no plot line, character development, or local description that I would recommend Amy Stewart to change before final publication.

I'm putting this on all amazonian.com's required reading list. Read it now!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars The Last Bookstore in America November 21, 2010
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have just about finished reading this very funny "book" on my Kindle -- how ironic. I must say that the premise and the story itself was thought provoking. I thought the character development was charming and I grew to like being in the company of most of these people right away.
I was disappointed however with the editing. It was quite jarring in places how many spelling and grammatical errors were in this manuscript. Do e-books not get edited for this kind of thing?
I would recommend this as a fun romp of a read. I will NEVER give up books and I think most readers -- however much they love there e-readers -- feel the same way. No Gizmos for us.
Was this review helpful to you?
43 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Length: 5:54 Mins
***EDIT: The video shares some parts of the premise that you may consider spoilers, though these plot points are revealed within the first couple chapters of the book, and the author herself discusses these elements of the book in The New York Times. If you want to be fully surprised, don't watch the video. But I had read all about the book before picking it up, and knowing more about it actually increased my level of excitement about reading it. The written review below contains no hints beyond what is in the synopsis above.***

This was a cracking good read. As a Kindle owner, I was fascinated by the premise - a world with a Kindle-like device which is so great it obliterates the printed book, and nobody's disappointed about it, either. Against this backdrop, Lewis and Emily inherit one of the last five bookstores in America from Lewis' eccentric Uncle Sy, and they travel to sleepy Humboldt County, CA to check out this romantic relic of a bookstore. The story takes some unexpected directions from there.

The book itself was beautifully crafted - I loved the characters, the setting and details were so easy to imagine, and the writing was witty and full of personality. On the Kindle, you can highlight your favorite parts, and I found myself highlighting every other page through the entire book - there were so many gorgeous snippets of perfect writing throughout.

If you're a fan of Amy's non-fiction about gardening and the outdoor world, you are going to love this book. There's some of the best garden writing and imagery in this book that I have read anywhere, and the rest of the book was so full of liveliness and personality that you're sure to love it as much as I did.

And once you finish, join the discussion at Amy's site by doing an internet search for Last Bookstore in America.
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Not compelling
I like Amy Stewart's breezy style of writing (thus, the 2 stars). The book also started strong, but somewhere in the middle it just ran out of gas. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Just Another Jim
3.0 out of 5 stars Seemed like a book written in a hurry
Not as great as I thought it would be. Amused by the pokes at big bookstores :(. Do still love my indie bookstores.
Published 1 month ago by quilter71
2.0 out of 5 stars Meh...
I wanted to like this book, having loved reading and bookstores my entire life. But the book isn't about someone who loves reading or bookstores. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sue B.
3.0 out of 5 stars This was amusing
Considering the political climate and what has been approved in California and Washington.
This was a fun read! (I don't smoke pot). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michelle A Hamilton
5.0 out of 5 stars Ah, the irony of reading this on a kindle...
Amazing book, highly recommended. Manages to be thought-provoking, humorous, light-hearted and to explore contemporary issues with quirky characters at the same time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by KNR 325
3.0 out of 5 stars Wacky and fun
The book has one slightly worried about the possible demise of the printed page, but it is all a bit of a lark. It would have benefitted from rigorous editing. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Adri
5.0 out of 5 stars sdb
Great read. Lite & not complicated. Had a lot of good laughs as I grew up in the 70's and so much seemed true in the book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Wayne
5.0 out of 5 stars What a riot!
This was an interesting storyline to read on a Kindle. I enjoyed the characters as well as the funny predicament that awaits the new owners. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kim Watson
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I read this on my Kindle and it was a very easy read. Boy was I surprised... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Erin L Prott
3.0 out of 5 stars Intersting story of the demise of printed books
This book had many good and interesting insights into the demise of print but, while on point, the topic and the characters were underdeveloped.
Published 3 months ago by Pam Gibson
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

More About the Author

Amy Stewart is the award-winning author of six books on the perils and pleasures of the natural world, including four New York Times bestsellers, The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Bugs, Wicked Plants, and Flower Confidential. She lives in Eureka, California, where she and her husband own an antiquarian bookstore called Eureka Books and tend a flock of unruly hens in their backyard. She has spent the last few years on arduous research trips through the world's distilleries, wineries, and bars for her latest book, The Drunken Botanist.

She has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other newspapers and magazines, and has appeared frequently on National Public Radio, CBS Sunday Morning, and--just once--on TLC's Cake Boss. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the American Horticulture Society's Book Award, and a California Horticultural Society Writer's Award.


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?



Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category