Libby Page’s new novel, This Book Made Me Think of You, is a tender romance with love for bookshops and all things bookish at its heart. To celebrate its release, Libby has shared with us her favourite five books set in bookshops.

As an avid bookworm, there is something eternally appealing to me about a book set in a bookshop. Often, if a book cover features an image of a bookshop, I will buy it without reading the blurb, because I just know that it will be my kind of book.

Bookshops are my favourite places to spend time, so it makes sense that I enjoy visiting them in my mind when reading too. Perhaps one of the reasons why books set in bookshops are so popular is because they allow us the chance to live out the fantasy of running our own bookshop – without the reality of the heavy lifting and difficult customers that I’m sure come with that.

My latest book This Book Made Me Think of You is set in a bookshop and tells the story of a woman who receives an unlikely gift from her late husband: a year of books, one for every month of the year and each designed to send her on a literary-inspired adventure and help her through her grief.

When I was writing it I read a lot of books set in bookshops as part of my research, and these are some of my absolute favourites – a mix of fiction and non-fiction depending on your mood.

A.J. Fikbry is the gruff owner of a struggling bookshop whose life is turned upside down one day when a two-year-old girl is left in his bookshop with a note asking him to take care of her. It is a moving, beautifully-written novel about found family, community and books (by the same author as Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow). The characters really stay with you, especially A.J. Fikbry himself, who is the ultimate grumpy-with-a-heart-of-gold protagonist.

I couldn’t write a list of bookshop books without mentioning this absolute classic. In 1949, New York-based writer and bibliophile Helene Hanff began a correspondence with Frank Doel of Marks & Co Booksellers of 84 Charing Cross Road, London. It was a correspondence that continued for many years, with Frank helping Helene find rare editions she couldn’t source in New York, and the two of them forming an unlikely trans-Atlantic friendship. It is a gentle, soothing read that makes a great gift for book lovers, and it gets a special mention in my book This Book Made Me Think of You.

I was hooked on the concept of this quirky, bookish romance novel. When Eileen Merriweather’s car breaks down on the way to her yearly book club getaway, she is stunned to find herself in Eloraton, the setting of her favourite romance series. When Eileen meets the grumpy bookshop owner with the mint-green eyes her very own love story begins to unfold, but it’s not without its mystery… I loved the idea of getting the chance to explore the setting of your favourite book, and it made for a sweet, moving love story.

Nina works in a bookshop in LA and is very happy with her life as it is, organised exactly the way she likes it. But when the father she never knew existed dies, and she discovers a whole host of new relatives, she is forced out of her comfort zone and into a new chapter of her life. This is a funny, warmhearted novel that reads like a conversation with your best friend. A real joy to read and another that features in my book!

When people hear that Alba Donati is planning to open a bookshop in her home village of 180 people in rural Tuscany, they are dubious at first. But through the pages of Alba’s bookshop diary, we get to see the comings and goings of customers and the unique community that thrives around this little Italian bookshop. Each day’s entry ends with a list of the books ordered that day, so you’ll come away with a whole list of books to add to your own reading list. And I think I might just have to make a trip to visit this real-life bookshop – it sounds charming.