Eleanor Goymer’s forthcoming romance Ask Me What I’m Reading is not for everyone. What is for all readers is this quote: “You know, one of the greatest things about books is that if you’ll let them, they can be amazing triggers. Sometimes they’ll pull you into another world just when you need to escape this one. Some of them will teach you something you never knew you needed to know. But the best ones will do just what you need them to do at exactly the moment when you need it the most.”
Max Whitaker has a trust fund, and, at thirty-four, he’s still partying like a teen with a trust fund. That’s his escape. Three years after his father’s death, he’s still running the family business, and he hates it. It’s just happenstance that he sees Sophie Hart reading a book on a train because he usually calls for a car. But, it’s the new year, and he wants to turn over a new leaf. When he sees Sophie reading, he remembers he used to love to read, but that was before he was forced into his current role.
After Sophie’s childhood best friend Lucie died ten years earlier, she gave up reading. She never dealt with her grief. Instead of growing, she’s made her world smaller, living in a tiny apartment, working in a job she dislikes. However, Sophie’s friend, Anna, challenges her. Lucie always gave Sophie book lists. Anna tells Sophie to buck up and read some of the books on Lucie’s last list. Reluctantly, Sophie goes to her local bookstore, High Road Books. She falls in love with the store’s dog, Vonnegut, while the owner, Kenneth, listens to Sophie’s book interest, and suggests Zadie Smith’s White Teeth.
Sophie’s reading White Teeth on the train when Max first sees her. He hopes to get her attention, so he starts to show up on the train with the book she’s reading, or a related title. She notices. It’s Anna who listens to Sophie’s comments about books, and starts Sophie’s Instagram page, “Ask Me What I’m Reading.” Sophie never shares Max’s picture on Instagram, only photos of his hands reading books. Thanks to Anna, “Ask Me What I’m Reading” goes viral, along with comments about “buffbookboy”.
Max’s personal assistant recognizes his watch in the Instagram photos, and Max takes it from there, although it takes him a while to work up the courage to talk to Sophie. Their book conversation snowballs into conversations about their childhood, their favorite books, and stories they don’t tell anyone else. But, both Max and Sophie had traumatic childhoods, ones that left hem damaged, and they’re both afraid to move on.
This is a charming book-filled and bookstore committed story with a fun meet cute on a London train. But, why do I say it’s not for everyone despite all the books? Both characters have deep scars. Max is still working on himself, trying to move on. But, Sophie is stuck in a rut. At times, she’s the one who tries to call off her friendship with Max because of her own fears. She sometimes jumps to conclusions. So, if you’re the type to say just get on with it and have an honest conversation, you might not want to read this book. Fortunately, for all of us, both Sophie and Max have friends that push them to be honest.
I loved High Road Books, Kenneth, and Vonnegut. I love stories about books and bookstores. My biggest complaint is that Ask Me What I’m Reading doesn’t have a list of the books that Max and Sophie read.. There’s your warning. Make your own list as you go along. Saying that, I’m going to make a different list for you sometime in the next week. It’s a list of all the books on my TBR piles about books. I’m afraid my family will be rolling their eyes.
Note: The Kindle version (only 99 cents) and the audiobook of Ask Me What I’m Reading are available now on Amazon. The paperback publishes Sept. 8.
Ask Me What I’m Reading by Eleanor Goymer. One More Chapter/HarperCollins, 2026. 336p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought the Kindle version of the book.
