Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful old-fashioned book about bookselling and reading, August 7, 1999
By A Customer
Usually the sequel is never as good as the original, but in this case, The Haunted Bookshop is even better than the first volume, Parnassus on Wheels. If you are a booklover, you will thoroughly enjoy both. This story is set in Brooklyn just after the close of WWI. The descriptions of the city made me feel like I was really there. The book is filled with observations about books and bookselling. Although the romance woven into the plot was somewhat sentimental, the book did have its serious side, and is stronger on plot than the first volume was. The bookseller and his wife are thoroughly enjoyable and likable people. It was really fun to read about city life early in the century, when milk wagons and bakery wagons still made deliveries, and apothecaries mixed prescriptions right on the premises instead of counting out pills from a bottle from the pharmaceutical company. This was a very refreshing book, and the observations it contained about reading have not gone out of date.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For the bibliophile in all of us, May 5, 2002
Okay, so I admit, the cover attracted me to the book. It wouldn't be the first time that this has happened. And the title was alluring(considering that I've worked in a bookstore for years upon years and now spend my working hours in a library, is it any wonder?) And so, The Haunted Bookshop and Parnassus on Wheels in hand, I made my way to a chair by a window and found comfort in Christopher Morley's words."Did you ever notice how books track you down and hunt you out?...it follows you and follows you and drives you into a corner and makes you read it...Words cannot describe the cunning of some books." That was all it took, all the motivation I needed, to buy the book. The story itself kept me reading. Roger Mifflin, owner of "the haunted bookshop," is a man after my own heart. Some may find him a bit stuffy, perhaps just a tad bit pretentious(though charmingly so)in nature, but he's a man that knows the importance of books. In fact, he can choose the perfect book for a customer just by looking at him. Now that's a talent I'd like to have. Besides all of the book loving goin' on, the novel is peopled with charming characters, all trying to solve a mystery between reading and taking out the Mifflin's dog. The mystery is a little slow going at first, but soon after, as things fall into place, it becomes quite the page turner. All in all, a lovely book that any bibliophile will treasure.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Surprisingly Intriguing Mystery, August 26, 2002
Published at a time when booksellers were concerned that "speechless movies" would destroy the book trade, and the action hero of the day was Tarzan, The Haunted Bookshop stands up to any modern novel of political intrigue. The story line revolves around the events at the end of World War I. President Wilson, the upcoming peace talks, and a disappearing copy of Oliver Cromwell's speeches all come together in a mystery that is full of surprises.Roger Mifflin, the proprietor of the Haunted Bookshop, is saddened to think he shall die with thousands of books unread. Yet, he finds the time to uncover a plot by a group of German thugs and prevents a tragedy that could have changed the course of world history. Allow yourself some time to stick with this book and like a visit to the Haunted Bookshop itself, you will find yourself exploring a fascinating place with many twists and turns just waiting to be discovered.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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