Welcome friend! In February, Ariel and I enjoyed Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. This book is the prequel to Legends & Lattes which was another buddy read from some months back. Take a look at what the book is about and read our discussion:
Travis Baldree | Goodreads
Legends & Lattes #0
When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn’t always what we seek.
In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.
Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.
Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.
What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?
Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.
Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
Bookshops & Bonedust – Discussion
Kriti: Though I have only read Legends and Lattes narrated by Travis Baldree, he is one of my favorite audiobook narrators and I enjoyed returning to him and Viv in this prequel. More and more books have started to portray cozy fantasy, yet it is this series that I think of foremost as my introduction to the genre as it has creatures who are generally engaged in fighting, orcs like Viv, who are exploring a less-aggressive lifestyle. Viv is injured and hence left at the small town of Murk while her team continues to fight monsters.
Ariel: Seeing Viv’s forced first glimpse into the slower life was a fun reading experience, especially knowing what we know from Legends and Lattes. In this prequel, Viv still finds lots of time to get herself into trouble, all the while finding friends that create core memories for her that we see resonate in the first book.
Bookshops and Bonedust gave me insight into how Viv came to be. Though this isn’t the story of her discovering coffee, this is much before that, when she first glimpses a quiet life with books, baked goods and maybe a special someone. I liked the new characters in this book:
I particularly enjoyed Satchel. Baldree did a fantastic job of voicing him. I couldn’t quite picture a homunculus and had to look him up to imagine him.
I really liked the little griffin Potroast, I always enjoy little animal companions in books, and Potroast was no exception. He added an extra dynamic to the story that made the setting extra cozy. His personality was silly and funny and added comedic relief where needed.
Bookshops and Bonedust is a book about falling in love with books and reading. This is one key aspect of giving it the cozy feel! The moments when Viv is discovering a new genre, making friends based on the books she is reading and how she is herself encouraging others to read was fantastic to watch. The anticipation for new books in the mail, the smell of new and old books, connecting with authors… Bookshops and Bonedust brought up so many aspects of reading and the challenges of owning a bookshop!
Yes, books about books always have a nice little resonance with me, and I feel as a reader extra connected to the characters as they experience the joy of reading.
This book was a fast read and was exactly what I expected it would be. Fun, adventurous, cozy, and a lovely setup to a great buddy read we had last year. What made it an extra good read was that we read it together and were able to experience this world again!
Some Quotes from Bookshops & Bonedust
Every book is a little mirror, and sometimes you look into it and see someone else looking back.
Bookshops & Bonedust
I don’t know if I can explain it, but watching you read what I give you, putting a book in your hands and seeing what happens to you once you put it back down… I can’t make you understand how that gives me something I didn’t know I had to have.
Bookshops & Bonedust
See you in the story past the story.
Bookshops & Bonedust
Have you picked up this series yet? This book in particular will warm your heart as a reader. If you are interested in a critical piece on cozy fantasy, Coming to Terms With “Cozy” Fiction, give Molly Templeton’s column a read.
Thanks for reading our discussion! Stay tuned for the next one:The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao. Learn about it on Goodreads.
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