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Sometimes We All Need a Love letter to Reading
3 literary lessons learned whilst reading ‘Found in a Bookshop,’ by Stephanie Butland
Sometimes even lifelong readers forget how powerful books can be. Often, we rush to race through each one, desperate to reach our Goodreads reading goal for the year.
TikTok and Instagram will taint our perspectives into thinking we need to read as many books as possible when really it’s about the time we spend with a book and how much value we can take away from it.
In our rush to get through books, therefore, we can lose sight of how powerful they can be. How they can stop and make us think (if we let them) and help shift our perspectives on important issues often discussed in fiction such as race, class or gender.
The more time we spend with them, the more meaning we can gauge. After all, it’s not a crime to want to devour a book slowly and carefully, despite what the influence of social media might lead us to think.
All these thoughts came to light recently after I finished Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland.
I had purchased it a few months earlier as part of a Kindle book deal. It’s safe to say before reading it, that I didn’t have any high hopes. I had picked it to be my bedtime read and didn’t think much else. I was lured in by the 99p offer, can you blame me?
But boy, was it a powerful read. So powerful, that it got me thinking about the value of books and the reminder of how they can shape a life during turbulent times. So powerful, that after highlighting some incredible quotes whilst reading, I’ve felt compelled to share them with you.
Later on, I will reveal all the literary life lessons this book deals with. But first, I’ll tell you a bit about it, because this background is important for getting the most out of this story.
Plot summary
Found in a Bookshop is every bookworm’s dream of a book. Most of the story takes place inside an independent bookshop, with most of its protagonists…
