The Bookshop Hotel by A. K. Klemm

Author:A. K. Klemm [Klemm, A. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Family
ISBN: 9781938821882
Publisher: Grey Gecko Press
Published: 2015-06-23T16:00:00+00:00

“Morris liked to share the books with others. Sometimes it was a favorite that everyone loved, and other times he found a lonely little volume whose tale was seldom told.”

— William Joyce

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

“What are you two up to now?” Ivy asked with a yawn, coming out of the stairwell and heading straight for the coffee inside the café. “What did I miss?” Matthew was on a ladder hanging carefully crafted miniature books from the ceiling. He was tired from being up all night reading and was having a hard time maintaining his balance.

The little books fluttered every time he swayed on his toes. Some were open with the pages stiff and visible, and some were closed with the titles beautifully embossed on the cover. They hovered in the varying distances above the main display table where AJ had placed stacks and stacks of William Joyce books. Up front and center was The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

“I love William Joyce,” AJ said.

“She wanted a reason to make papier-mâché books,” Matthew teased.

Ivy just shrugged and perched herself on the stool behind the register, steaming coffee in hand. “That’s a lot of work for so little merchandise,” she said.

“We can use Flying Books to highlight anything,” AJ said. “We’re in a bookstore. I plan to keep them there awhile.”

“I guess.”

AJ didn’t like their attitudes. She knew Ivy to be apathetic and Matthew a bit of a jester, but the two of them together reminded her too much of Kevin in his unhappy days. When Kevin was in a bad mood, he either didn’t care about anything she did or he poked fun at it. She couldn’t remember him being supportive about anything since high school. Everyone had wanted and expected the girlfriend of Kevin Rhys to be a cheerleader.

Kevin Rhys alone had supported her lack of interest in that endeavor. “If you don’t want to, don’t do it. It’s not who you are.” Thinking of those days helped her grasp onto the memory of him that had inspired this project in the first place, Kevin when he had happy thoughts… happy thoughts that came in waves as if by magic or pixie dust.

“You’re like Tinker Bell with books,” Kevin had told her one day. Self-consciously, she reached to touch her newly cropped hair. Feeling common and small town, she’d chopped it off into a near bob that barely fit in a ponytail. Instead of making her feel better, she just felt worse, like every comment was directed at her hair or the lack thereof.

It took her a moment before she grasped Kevin’s full meaning of his comment. Kevin had a way of reminding her of the things that she didn’t like about herself but somehow made her feel good about them at the same time. Kevin wasn’t calling her Tinker Bell because of her hair. He was trying to pay her a compliment.

That day, they had driven to Briar to visit the bookstore. They had needed books for school, but AJ had come away with a sack of a lot more than required reading.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.