Book Review: Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay

I've tried a different style of writing for this book review. Hope you like it.

What is the book about? 

The story is based in a fictional town called Winsome, near Chicago. Winsome is a small town with a lot of community bonding, where everybody-knows-everyone.

The story revolves around Alyssa, a former resident of Winsome, who comes back to her hometown after a series of unfortunate incidents at her work place. “Why did she leave Winsome in the first place? What happens at her work place? “ form the crux of the story.

Another protagonist in this book is Jeremy, who moves from Seattle to Winsome, for his 7-year old daughter, Becka. Jeremy, a coffee lover, buys a popular local coffee shop called “The Daily Brew” , remodels it with latest equipment and renames it to Andante. How the remodeled, former-popular coffee shop fares in a small town that does not welcome drastic changes, forms a major part of the plot.

This book also has some recurring characters from the book, “The Printer Letter Bookshop”, written by the same author.

More details about the book?

The book primarily talks about bottled emotions with your loved ones and the art of letting go. It explores the sensitivity of human relationships, especially, of troubled mother-daughter relationships. It also narrates a budding relationship between a father-daughter duo. Apart from this, the story speaks a lot about communal harmony, local businesses and change.

How is the title related to the book?

Hint: A major part of the story is about “Andante”, the new local coffee shop which serves Lattes, among other things.

Don’t want to give away too much!

What’s your rating of the book?

I would give 2.5/5 stars for this book. The story seems quite relatable but there’s something missing in the flow which makes it a slow read. I could not read more than two chapters per day, even though I wanted to finish it in one go. It took me over 10 days to finish reading it.

What did you like/dislike about the book?

This book follows the conventional Sidney Sheldon pattern of writing, where each chapter narrates the plot from one of the protagonists’ point of view. While this narration style works for Sidney Sheldon’s books, it does not work for this book. 

Each chapter is mildly interesting in the beginning, slows down to a moderate-dead pan and picks up pace by ending with a twist. But by the time you've enjoyed the turn of events and want to read more, there’s an abrupt end to it. Then begins the next chapter, which is from a different protagonist’s point of view, with a slow beginning which does not do justice to the lovely ending from the previous chapter.  

For example, one of the chapters in this book is about the business of the coffee store and it ends with a brilliant touch which leaves the readers anxious to know more. But the next chapter begins with a funeral scene from a relatively forgotten side-story. This happens a lot in the book. Although there are some good plot twists in the story, they do not get their due because of this style of narration.

I also found problems with the lead character, Alyssa. She is extremely hard to like. In many notable novels, we've come across some lead characters with flaws. But, usually, there is some vulnerability to these characters that makes the readers care for them. This lacks in this book and by the time I reached the end of the book, I did not care about Alyssa or the plot and just wanted to finish the book.

Having said all, some emotions are extremely well-captured in the book and parts of the story are interesting. For example: the book explores the mother-daughter relationship from two generations, which is novel. If you’ve read “The Printer Letter bookshop”, this book definitely connects some dots and the two books when combined make a well-rounded story. The character of Jane, a recurring character from the “The Printer Letter bookshop” is well portrayed.
Furthermore, the book reinforces the benefits of living in closely knit communities and makes the reader long to stay in one.

Any takeaways from the book?

The protagonist of this book is a Software developer who builds algorithms and works in a Silicon valley startup. So, there's some info on her nature of work and the IT industry. 

Other than that, there are some takeaways and relatability if you have recently set up your own business. This book deals with a new coffee business and there’s some information on how to handle accounts. There’s also a mention of a successful restaurant business, which is nice.

As a coffee lover, I expected some info on coffee beans/machines, but there’s not much info on it. However, there’s a mention of some new coffee flavors. There are some ideas on interior décor, baking etc. It doesn’t seem like a thoroughly researched book like Sophie Kinsella’s, “I owe you one” or the “The Undomestic Goddess”, where the reader gets plethora of knowledge on setting up a local business.

Finally, if you haven’t grown up in a closely knit community, this book definitely gives an essence of it and you can experience it too.