Getting a Read: The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe
The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses
It’s my firm belief that when a person recommends a book to me, they’re handing me an inside look at their soul. In this series, “Getting a Read,” I try to uncover truth about books and their recommenders. Hopefully, through this series, you’ll find an answer or two to the perennial question: “What should I read next?”
THE RECOMMENDER
My grandma: one of my first companions on my literary journey. Previous recommendations of hers have included Babar, The World Book Encyclopedia, and Anne of Green Gables. All of these young-me swallowed in whole or in part from the velvety comfort of grandpa’s rocker in the early hours of the morning. I’d read till I heard the tell-tale sound of coffee brewing that meant grandma was awake and ready to spin me a new story.
HOW TO READ IT
On the beach, under a sun hat. By the light of a borrowed lamp in your quaint, secluded airbnb. While stuffing your face with a giant blueberry muffin just out of the oven. Any summery setting will do.
REVIEW: The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses
My grandma and I love to shop the clearance sections in bookstores. Every time we talk, she regales me with new stories of her latest finds. She takes all her friends shopping and often pays only pennies for new reads.
Her interests vary widely. Once, she and I tracked down a book on Sandhill cranes, which took us down a rather fascinating YouTube rabbit hole (here’s a taste for the curious). But mostly, she likes stories about women, the lives they live, and the people they love. A sweet romance is never unwelcome on her bookshelf.
When she visited me in Dallas last Christmas, we made our usual pilgrimage to the Half Price Books down the street. We spent hours digging our way through the red-stickered titles in the back of the store. Grandma found several likely prospects but most promising among them was the Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe. She paid $2 for this hardcover book and giggled over the description on our way home.
That night, and on the two nights that followed, she settled herself on my couch and tore through this book as fast as she could, laughing the whole way through. I’d ask her about it whenever her laughter broke the silence of the room, but she’d simply chuckle louder and tell me I just had to read it. “She just gets herself into so much trouble!” my grandma said of the heroine.
And she’s not wrong. This heroine gets into SO MUCH TROUBLE. Of course, there’s always a very handsome hero waiting in the wings to bail her out; or perhaps I should say, fish her out—of lakes or the bottom of her fifth drink in equal measure.
After Christmas, she loaned this book to my mom. When I asked her later for a recommendation for this blog, she just said, “Get that book from your mom!!”
So I did. And I chuckled my way through it too, sometimes from the hilarity, and sometimes from the intense desire to roll my too-literarily-inclined eyes.
This book contains an oft-told tale: city girl goes back to her small town roots and finds a man and a life she can’t resist, no matter how great the appeal of her big city boyfriend. It’s the capers and hijinks the heroine gets into along the way that keep it fun and a bit different from the rest.
Ellen, the heroine, spends this book trying to learn more about her grandmother. When her grandmother dies, she’s given a letter to deliver to her grandmother’s high school sweetheart. This journey takes her back to her grandmother’s home town. In that town, she wends her way through a whole series of escapades trying to find a way to deliver the letter. As she meets people and continues her search, she learns the history of not just her grandmother, but of the blueberry bakeshop that may be connected to her, long abandoned and now on the auction house chopping block.
As I read this, I was startled at the potential this book had to mirror my own story in some small ways. I thought my grandma perhaps spotted this potential too. It’s not far off to imagine my own citified self, traveling back to northern Michigan to rediscover lost things about my family. In light of this, I’m pleased to have this book in my memory to share with my grandmother.
Mostly, as I read, I remembered her laughter. I laughed harder at the scenes where the main character got a bit too tipsy for her own good, knowing my grandma had giggled over this foolishness too. I smiled bigger when characters got tripped up over simple items that are staples of country living, knowing this book was written for people just like her: people who know exactly what a trap looks like and why you shouldn’t step in it.
You may have noticed by now that this review is nearly over and I haven’t said much in the way of real criticism about this book. There’s a reason for that and I’ll show my hand now. In brief, this book isn’t super original. Not only does it follow too many of the tropes common to modern romance novels, it’s clearly linked in title and plot form to The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society. Despite this link, this adorable novel doesn’t come anywhere close to the novel it’s inspired by in terms of quality (side note: I’ve never read The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, but I watched the movie in preparation for this blog post, and I CRIED MY EYES OUT.)
Sometimes, though, none of that matters. Sometimes you just want a beach read, or a quick love story to blow through. You want something that will make you giggle and think of family. That’s the beauty of this book—it does both. I’ll save my too-harsh critique of James Patterson, who was a major part of getting this book published, for later, and simply say, if sweet romance is your jam, go laugh your way through this adorable, simple book.
THE RECOMMENDER IN REVIEW
I’m reminded, through this book, of two of my grandmother’s most central values: family and home. Though, over the years, she’s invited me on plenty of literary journeys to far off places, when they’re done, she’s always called me home and reminded me of where I came from. I’ll never stop being grateful for her anchoring presence in my life.
WHERE TO FIND IT
This book might, or might not, be tricky to find. It’s likely most bookstores can order it for you, but not a guarantee depending on the state of its print run.
