The Moment of Everything by Shelly King

I really must expand my repertoire, but, like the Halloween candy lurking in my cupboard (Reese’s PB cups if you must know), I just can’t resist yet another book about books and bookstores. Better yet, The Moment of Everything is set in Silicon Valley (check), takes place in the present (check) and, yes — centers around a used bookstore (check check).

From the publicity blurb:

Maggie Duprès, recently “involuntarily separated from payroll” at a Silicon Valley start-up, is whiling away her days in The Dragonfly’s Used Books, a Mountain View institution, waiting for the Next Big Thing to come along.

When the opportunity arises for her to network at a Bay Area book club, she jumps at the chance — even if it means having to read Lady Chatterley’s Lover, a book she hasn’t encountered since college, in an evening. But the edition she finds at the bookstore is no Penguin Classics Chatterley — it’s an ancient hardcover with notes in the margins between two besotted lovers of long ago. What Maggie finds in her search for the lovers and their fate, and what she learns about herself in the process, will surprise and move readers.

I found much to enjoy in this novel. The Dragonfly bookstore is wonderfully formed — its haphazard used book selection, an OPEN sign where the letters slide to read NOPE when closed, a mean tempered cat, and its fair share of quirky customers.

Ms. King beautifully captures Silicon Valley and, having been in high-tech for many years, I kneel to her bulls eye observational skills – she perfectly captures high tech geeks seeking obscure science fiction paperbacks, gaming parties and especially the snooty meeting of the “Silicon Valley Women’s Executive Book Club” in a pristine home with its state-of-the-art kitchen.

The mystery of the love notes written in the margins of a battered old copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover is enchanting.

The plot is multi-layered and fast paced — there’s lots going on.  Maggie only half-attempts to find another job and spends her days reading romance novels.  She tries to fend off her narcissistic mother and is having a torrid love affair (or is it?).  To try and stay sane, she starts to volunteer at the Dragonfly – attempting to bring it into the 21st century and the red in order to compete with big book store across the street.   On top of all this, she is obsessed with mystery of the love notes in the book.  Sometimes Ms. King loses control of these story lines and they become disjointed — but keep reading by the next chapter you’ll be back on course…and I’ll caution you, the ending is a tad predictable.

But in the end, I found the best part of The Moment of Everything was Ms. King’s engaging and witty voice.  I found myself both grinning, and at times giggling throughout this book.  Given the realm of grim novels out there (Dystopia anyone?) a novel that makes you smile is perhaps the best recommendation.

My favorite quote

“The kind of people who come to the Dragonfly don’t just own books, they need them, crave them, find it impossible to breathe without them. They come because they are in love with the store itself, with its handled wares and their untold takes. They come because they are wondering about about the people who owned all these books before. The come because the people whose paths they cross are like the books they find, a bit worn around the edges, waiting for the right person to open them up and take them home.”

Review copy provided by Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley.