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Last Bookaneer
Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
From the New York Times-bestselling author of the Dante Club, the story of an epic literary heist by a forgotten class of consummate criminals book′a-neer′ (bŏŏk′kȧ-nēr′), n. a literary pirate; an individual capable of doing all that must be done in the universe of books that publishers, authors, and readers must not have a part in London, 1890--Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses, and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. But this golden age of publishing is on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could easily be published abroad without an author's permission. Authors gained fame but suffered financially--Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a few--but publishers reaped enormous profits while readers bought books inexpensively. Yet on the eve of the twentieth century, a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. The bookaneers are on the verge of extinction. From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl, The Last Bookaneer is the astonishing story of these literary thieves' epic final heist. On the island of Samoa, a dying Robert Louis Stevenson labors over a new novel. The thought of one last book from the great author fires the imaginations of the bookaneers, and soon Davenport sets out for the South Pacific accompanied by his assistant Fergins. But Davenport is hardly the only bookaneer with a mind to pirate Stevenson's last novel. His longtime adversary, the monstrous Belial, appears on the island, and soon Davenport, Fergins, and Belial find themselves embroiled in a conflict larger, perhaps, than literature itself. In The Last Bookaneer, Pearl crafts a finely wrought tale about a showdown between brilliant men in the last great act of their professions. It is nothing short of a page-turning journey to the heart of a lost era. Praise for The Last Bookaneer "Matthew Pearl has a particular specialty: finding an obscure corner of 19th-century history and spinning from it literary fiction that is thought-provoking, enlightening, smoothly written -- and a ripping good story to boot." --The Seattle Times
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Currey
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Mehso-so

#Readingoceania2024 #samoa Although the plot is contrived and the pacing erratic, the main characters/narrators had charm enough for me to keep reading. Plus, the invention of the stories around Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelly was a nice addition. I even learned a bit about Samoa.

Librarybelle I didn‘t realize this one took place in Samoa…good find! 4w
19 likes1 comment
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Ke633
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Got a new typewriter! 💙💙 This one belonged to my grandmother. #family

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Well-ReadNeck
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Mehso-so

Just so-so. Interesting premise, but the ending wasn‘t a surprise to me. Felt a little flat.

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Well-ReadNeck
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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#TBRTuesday

Here‘s what I think will be up this week in reading for me. Only two of these are #MountTBR books, but the others are ARCs and a library book, which are all time sensitive.

Crazeedi Nice collection! 6y
Eggs They look/sound great! 6y
Awk_Word_Smith I love Matthew Pearl. “The Last Bookaneer” was — as always — well-written and well-researched. 6y
Christine11 Hope you enjoy them! I‘ve got The Night Tiger from Netgalley and I‘m really looking forward to reading it! 😊 6y
119 likes4 comments
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TheBogwitch
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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TheBogwitch
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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WanderingBookaneer
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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As @Cinfhen mentioned yesterday, I wasn‘t always WanderingBookaneer. I think I was JaimitaPR before that. One day I was at the airport and saw tagged book. I loved the word Bookaneer and combined it with my love for exploring and thus my new handle was born. #LitsyHandle

Cinfhen Yes!!! That sounds right!!! It was also during #ReadingOlympics and you were busy aiming for gold 😘🥇#GoodOleDays when you could scroll through your entire feed in under 6 minutes 😂😂😂 6y
Kappadeemom Yes! I could scroll through one time at the end of the day and catch up with everyone! 6y
SleepyDragon All this time I thought it was a Sesame Street reference. (2007 episode titled "Elmo and the Bookeneers" with Tina Fey) 6y
86 likes3 comments
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Purpleness
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Fortunately, there was a bookshop. #passportlitsy #Samoa

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OrangeMooseReads
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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In the last week I have purchased all of these books 😳
The bottom right were purchased at the thrift store all of those for $14. The rest were purchased at different times from different Dollar Trees.
I need to get back on my buying hiatus. And sorry to my swap person. I promise I‘ll stop.

Caroline2 I‘ve gone bonkers this wk too! 🤷‍♀️ I‘m back on the book buying ban wagon now tho after my splurge! 😳 (edited) 6y
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UglyOldBat
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Best bookmark ever? 😂

MayJasper That's so funny 6y
SleepyDragon Expensive bookmarks ... 6y
36 likes2 comments
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Mammaletterario
Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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I keep seeing customers purchase this book so I figured I would! I can‘t wait to read it!

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UglyOldBat
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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UglyOldBat
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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julesG @WanderingBookaneer - a book about you? 6y
WanderingBookaneer This is where I got the idea. ☺️ 6y
34 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Vbrrgirl
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Next up on my road to retirement commute. #audiobooks #wherehaveyoubeenallmylife #commutingintothesunset

Redy2trvl Can‘t wait to hear how this is!!! 6y
Vbrrgirl @Redy2trvl you would love this book - fun story and many literary references. 6y
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ValerieAndBooks
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Son‘s high school had a Book Night tonight at Barnes and Noble, where a small percentage of sales would go to his HS English department. So we went, with the understanding that we would not spend much (lots of summer expenses coming up). He saw his friends there, and hubby and I browsed. This is our haul— Book on the left is son‘s choice (his sort of thing!), and tagged book is for me. It looks intriguing!

Hollie Your son must be my kind of kid! 😍 7y
Lynnsoprano I haven‘t read that Matthew Pearl, but I did enjoy The Dante Club. That looks interesting. 7y
ValerieAndBooks @Lynnsoprano I have heard of his other titles but haven‘t picked them up yet. I had to look up whether “bookaneers “ were real and apparently they were really Book pirates back in the day (still are but not as much) https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7275972 7y
ValerieAndBooks @Hollie he is such a genuine history/politics/government/economics buff!! Way more than the average 17 year old 😊 7y
Suet624 That makes me happy that your son wanted to purchase that. 7y
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Ke633
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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#booksaboutbooks #readingresolutions @Jess7 I started this book but forgot about it.. 😬😬 it‘s still on my #tbr

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BookishTrish
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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#seatosea @FantasyChick @Andrea4 @Jaberwocky I've narrowed it down to four. Two are pictured (the Murakami is 600p) and two are at home and so merely tagged below. What do you think?

Andrea4 Wow- the blurb for the Murakami one took a twist! Out of these, I'd say the lowest ranked is the Night Wanderer but it's not a flat out no. 😊 The Last Bookaner sounds awesome! 7y
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FantasyChick I don't even know what to say about the Murakami book, lol. It seems to cover sooo much!! Although I hear amazing things about the author!!! I'm torn between Forty Rooms and The Last Bookaneer!!! 7y
Jabberwocky I'm sorry so be trouble again but I've already read the Murakami. 😅 I think 40 rooms sounds really intriguing but the other two are also good! 7y
cathysaid Murakami! Murakami! Oh wait...I'm not in this group 😁 7y
BookishTrish @cathysaid Have you read it? I bought a used copy and now I'm looking for an excuse to start it. 7y
cathysaid @BookishTrish Yes! If you haven't read Murakami, I would definitely start with this one or Norwegian Wood. My favorite is 1Q84 but I'm glad I didn't start there. My first Murakami was The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Strange yet lyrical, intriguing and masterful. Love it! 7y
BookishTrish @Jaberwocky What did you think of it? 7y
Jabberwocky @BookishTrish in all honesty- no. I loved 1Q84 and rushed out to pick this one up next and I just never seemed to get into it. 7y
BookishTrish @Jaberwocky @andrea4 @FantasyChick How about I read the first few pages of The Last Bookaneer and Forty Rooms and see which one seems more markupable? #itsaword 7y
Jabberwocky @BookishTrish sounds good! 7y
Andrea4 Sounds about right. 7y
FantasyChick Sounds good to me! 7y
66 likes15 comments
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DogEaredBooks
Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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The only #orangecovers I could glean for @bookriot day 2

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bookish_wookish
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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so miserably, i fell asleep 25 mins into the #24in48 😒 Not sure if it was the book or me or both! So im thinking im going to switch books!

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Ke633
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Starting this one today.. bought it just bc it had the word bookaneer on the #cover and I laughed.. #breakfast #coffee #sherlock Wish I had an #oceanview for this once.. sadly I'm in the the armpit of #texas

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diovival
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Accidental library sale haul. Excluding the Noah foot that insisted on being in my photo. 😬 Top two I can #blameitonlitsy after seeing posts by @batsy and @saresmoore.

ReadingEnvy Oh I love the Kelman so much!!! 8y
diovival @ReadingEnvy It has been on my list for a long time. I was so happy to find it! 8y
batsy Yay! 8y
26 likes3 comments
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Macnjen
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this on audiobook except the ending was really not at all what I expected. I guess that's s good thing . I love books about books and authors!! The writing is really good, I enjoyed the character development and the narration was great.

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Macnjen
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Pickpick

I just started this on audio and I'm loving it so far 💥🎊😍I'm just bummed the categories for the #litsyAtoZ challenge are already filled in!

LitHousewife Simon Vance!!!! 8y
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drokka
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Last book haul of 2016. Can I just say how much I love early soft releases? Three of these are not meant to be available until next week/year. #NoShrinkageTBR

melissanorr I have many of these on my TBR - when will there be enough time to read everything? :) 8y
drokka @melissanorr Teeheee I believe it's not about time. It's about the possibility of being able to read them. Also, my 2017 budget will limit my ability to acquire books, so I figure I can read the ones I already possess which likely will include these. 8y
Redy2trvl I just added a couple of these to my stack. Thank you for the inspiration!! Happy #2017! 8y
60 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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WanderingBookaneer
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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WanderingBookaneer
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Quesadilla dinner with the wife ( @BookishMarginalia ) and the title that inspired the name change.

MrBook Nice #BookNDinner I see here! 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa I was wondering when I saw the name change, I thought has that been changed for awhile and I'm just noticing it now? 👍 8y
LitHousewife I enjoyed that book. I read it in audio. Here's hoping it works well for you, too. 8y
50 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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BookishMarginalia
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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In honor of this newly acquired book, my wife has chosen the cool new Litsy tag @WanderingBookaneer (jaimitapr is now just her Goodreads). 💜💚💜

Zelma That is certainly a strong recommendation for the book! 8y
TheLondonBookworm Haha that's a brilliant name ❤️ it! 8y
Well-ReadNeck 👏🏾❤️🎉 8y
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quirkyreader Cool name change. I always thought the history of the bookaneers very unique. 8y
LitHousewife Love it!!! 8y
110 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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amy.ptrsn
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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MrBook Just bought this one! 😁👍🏻 8y
amy.ptrsn @MrBook Hope you enjoy! Have you read anything else by Matthew Pearl? 8y
MrBook No, I have the Dante Club somewhere though lol. 8y
2 likes3 comments
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SHUPERBookLover
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Pickpick

Good read. Interesting storyline and a wealth of information about Robert Louis Stevenson's last year's.

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amy.ptrsn
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl

How odd it must be to go through life believing that a book is a book.

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amy.ptrsn
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl

"For readers, books are a universal salve. When we are hot, we read to feel cooler; when we are cold, we read to warm up; tired, books wake us; anxious, they calm us."

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Jkthornt
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Great book to read while camping!

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LiteraryLona
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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10 pages in and I'm hooked! Great so far!

OffTheBeatenShelf.com I really liked that one!! 9y
Leelee.reads Fantastic cover art, too! 9y
6 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Giantsizegeek
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Nice selection of books at Depot Bookstore & Cafe in Mill Valley. I wish I could run a little bookshop like this. Very interested in buying The Last Bookaneer, wonderful premise about a literary pirate who steals manuscripts in 1890. The typesetting in the paperback edition is very stylish!

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Awk_Word_Smith
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl
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Pickpick

Another incredible literary adventure in the gray areas of literary history. Matthew Pearl created a niché in historical fiction that few can compete. By revisiting a few minor characters from 'The Last Dickens' and creating an entire literary black market, 'The Last Bookaneer' captivates.

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Awk_Word_Smith
The Last Bookaneer | Matthew Pearl

How odd it must be to go through life believing that a book is a book.