Pages & Co.: Tilly and the Bookwanderers: Book 1

Product Information

Thanks so much to Goodreads friend (artist) Laura for telling me more than once about this book and for all her book suggestions to try to help me get out of my latest reading slump.

Books — Anna James

Sixteen modern fiction superstars shine a startling light on the romance and pain of the infamous literary pair Heathcliff and Cathy. Then there were the grandparents not telling anything to Tilly for eleven long years. This is something I hate in all the middle-grade, YA books where the parents/grandparents keep the MC in dark and I can accept it sometimes if it is explained reasonably but much like anything here, it isn't very convincing. I knew most of the stories included but they weren’t my very favorites when I was 8-12. My favorites would have made for a less adventurous adventure, with one exception. I loved A Little Princess and Anne of Green Gables but I’ve never liked Alice in Wonderland and don’t really remember much about Treasure Island.

This is the book of any bibliophile's dream. It is written with the true passion of a reader and with a great understanding of various classics. I'm not quite sure the middle grade age range this is aimed at would have a full understanding of the classic influences and nods throughout, but this adult reader appreciated them all immensely.

Tilly and the Bookwanderers - Goodreads

But we're all anomalies in one way or another - it's what makes being alive beautiful. We're more than neat plot devices; we're contradictory and confusing, and it's wonderful. There's nothing wrong with a few contradictions, and I think you might have to embrace them, as it would already seem that there are going to be some unpredictable side effects caused by your dad being fictional.” I think a bookshop is like a map of the world. There are infinite paths you can take through it and none of them are right or wrong. Here in a bookshop we give readers landmarks to help them find their way, but every reader has to learn to set their own compass.” She was sure she hadn’t seen their cab swerve in the road to avoid hitting someone, but she was also learning that once you were inside a book anything was possible.” This book heavily relies on Anne from Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Alice in Wonderland and A Little Princess. I haven't read Anne of Green Gables or A Little Princess but I have read Alice in Wonderland and didn't much like it especially Alice's character in the book and this was no exception here. I can't much say about Anne or Sara but I found Alice's character to be very annoying. This was another reason that I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I had wanted to. There was also not a lot of action in this. There was not much time spent on Oskar either.

Another thing I loved about this book was the setting - a lot of it takes place in a cozy, family owned bookstore. I mean you can imagine it so easy and it makes it that much easier to really get into the story and put yourself in Tilly's space. The ending of this one does leave a lot of unanswered questions and a cliffhanger, but thankfully another book is coming to hopefully shed some light on all of that. This book shows a girl who has a love of books (which is enough on the first basis to draw me in). It was great to see all these characters come alive and the author, Anna James, does a brilliant job at portraying how those characters would speak and act if another person was suddenly part of their story. The book shows the power of reading (and a little extra through the magic of book wandering!). It also shows love to your family and friendships. Milo Bolt is ready to be the hero of his own story. With Uncle Horatio trapped in an enchanted sleep by the power-hungry Alchemist, he sets off with his new friend Alessia to find a cure. The books we love when we’re growing up shape us in a special way… The characters in the books we read help up decide who we want to be.” I will say that I feel like the end got away a little bit - which is why I'm giving it 4 stars rather than 5. It felt a smidge info-dumpy in the last couple chapters, and some characters came to conclusions without much warning or explanation. But, I don't want that to deter you from reading. It was overall excellent and I loved it!

Tilly and the Bookwanderers Quotes by Anna James - Goodreads Tilly and the Bookwanderers Quotes by Anna James - Goodreads

This is a book for people who love books. And for people who read to escape, to fall into another world. For all of us who feel, when we read, that we’ve magically been transported to another time and place, this book is sort of the embodiment of that feeling. She tells this to a boy from school, Oskar who doesn't believe at first but when he's also whisked into the book with Tilly comes to believe everything. They both finally confront Tilly's grandparents and the grandparents explain that it is called bookwandering. They also tell her that bookwandering without actually reading the book at the time is a thing unheard of as in Tilly's case and then they explain that Tilly is half-fictional so may be that's the reason Tilly is able to bookwander without physically reading the book. Tilly finds out that her father is none other than the book character from A Little Princess so Sara from A Little Princess is Tilly's half sister. you can’t wait for adventure to find you… You must go and find adventure, and shake it firmly by the hand as you set out towards the horizon together.”because stories last much longer than we do. Our stories are how we will be remembered – so we’ve got to make sure they are worth telling.” Trigger warnings for parental abandonment discussed, serious illness of a grandmother mentioned, death of a father discussed, the disappearance of a parent & daughter, and bullying. The books we love when we're growing up shape us in a special way, Tilly. The characters in the books we read help us decide who we want to be."