Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories Books in Order

This reading order guide provides the complete list of Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories books in order, from the very first to the latest, so you won’t miss anything!

About the Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories Series

Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories by Alice Hoffman is a poignant collection of short stories that get right to the heart of family, love and finding your way back home – however long it takes & no matter where life takes you. The stories in the series all centre around the Gibson family – particularly the sisters Isabel & Sophie, who have been apart from one another for years. Isabel left her tiny island in Maine to try her luck in New York but, as we all know, life has a way of leading people back to the place where they belong – and for Isabel & her sister, that place is coming full circle.

These stroies all encapsulate the difficulty of having to confront the past, the forgiving of past errors, and the rekindling of trust amongst one another. There is great consolation to be found in the small, the letters that change lives, the weddings that misfire, and the little epiphanies that are in store for the patrons of the family-owned bookstore. Also, the bookstore in these tales feels like another character. It is where the memories are, where the longing for the next customer is, and where all the hope is.

As the series goes on, we also catch up with the next generation – like Violet, who chases her dreams all the way to Paris but in the end finds out home still has a pull to it, no matter how hard she tries to resist. Alice Hoffman writes in a way that’s super easy to get lost in – it’s a style that will have you turning the page and will still somehow move you to the core. Some of the stories are short, but even though they last just a few pages, they stay with you long after you finish the book. They’re about love, family, forgiveness and all the little surprises that life has up its sleeve. So if you enjoy stories with people in them, with relationships that tug at the heartstrings & with a cozy old bookshop in the background, then the Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories series will be like coming home – like revisiting a place you never really left.