Shakespeare and Company, a New Paranormal Romance, and a Bookshop Cat

isited Shakespeare and Company ages ago, so I'm afraid I have no photos, unless I dig them out from an album and scan them. I've only been there twice; the first time I bought the history of the bookstore, and the second time, a couple of copies of Julian Barnes books I already had (no point really, but for some reason back then I liked owning different editions of books I enjoyed).

The founder of Shakespeare and Company has now passed away. Publishers Weekly featured a nice memorial the other day.

"George Whitman's death indeed marks the end of an era on the Paris bookselling scene. Even in an age when online retailers and e-books seem to hold sway in the book industry, though, Shakespeare & Co. surely will thrive, continuing to draw customers to the little bookshop near the Seine, with its slightly-dilapidated façade, the cute little courtyard in front filled during store hours with bookcarts, the wishing well in the center of the main floor, and especially the rabbit warren of rooms on three floors, all filled with books, that can be accessed only by climbing rickety stairs."

Even though I trawl secondhand bookshops less often than I used to, that sort of space - often featuring a resident cat - will always be my favourite place to browse and make discoveries. Amazon is (generally) cheap and (usually) convenient for instantly placing orders when I know which books I want. But you'll never make a serendipitous find or uncover a dusty treasure through an internet portal.

New releases are another story! Entangled Publishing has a great book coming out in the next week or two: Tiffany Allee's Banshee Charmer (From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #1), a paranormal romance.

"When she's sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera "Mac" McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure? When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation.

Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department's back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworlder Enforcement Agency. Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her side, she’s running this one "hot" as well. But Aiden knows more than he's letting on—something that could shatter their blazing romance and add Mac to the killer's growing body count..."

Back to bookshops. Here, for instance, is the Owl's Nest Bookstore in Fredericton, New Brunswick. How can you not love this space?

What kind of book person are you?