National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop is "a marvelously piercing fiction" (Times Literary Supplement), short-listed for the Booker Prize. With an Introduction by David Nicholls, international best-selling author of One Day. In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop—the only bookshop—in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town's less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge her neighbors’ lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne. Florence’s warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop is apparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn’t always a town that wants one. Basis for the major motion picture starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, and Patricia Clarkson. Have you ever thought how interesting the world that opens wide through the pages of a book is? Reading is not just a routine activity, but also an unlimited adventure into imagination and knowledge. Reading sharpens the mind, opens insight, and enriches vocabulary. It is the door to the infinite world beyond us. Set a specific time to read every day. From reading before bed to making time in the morning, reading habits can be formed with consistency. Choose books according to your interests and literacy level. Start with a book that suits your reading desires and abilities. Find a quiet, comfortable place to read. Adequate lighting, a comfortable chair, and a little background music can create a better reading experience. Join a reading group or literacy forum. Discuss the books you read and get recommendations from fellow readers. Make notes or a journal about the books you have read.