The Book Jumper
Written by Mechthild Gläser
Narrated by Mary Sarah
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Amy's grandmother, Lady Mairead, insists that Amy must read while she resides at Lennox House-but not in the usual way. It turns out that Amy is a book jumper, able to leap into a story and interact with the world inside. As thrilling as Amy's new power is, it also brings danger: someone is stealing from the books she visits, and that person may be after her life. Teaming up with fellow book jumper, Will, Amy vows to get to the bottom of the thefts-at whatever cost.
Mechthild Gläser
Mechthild Gläser is an award-winning author in her native Germany. The Book Jumper is her first book to be translated into English.
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Reviews for The Book Jumper
170 ratings11 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be an enjoyable read, despite some minor shortcomings. The concept of jumping into books and the exploration of characters in a different light are highlights of the book. Although there are some unanswered questions and a desire for more explanation, the narration and the overall experience make it worth a listen. This book holds a special place for many readers and is recommended for book lovers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a fun book to listen to with many wonderful classics.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alexis had Amy when she was a teenager and immediately left home to make her own way and told Amy very little about her past. So when they arrive at Alexis’ family home, Amy is very surprised to learn how wealthy her family is. If this sounds a bit like Gilmore Girls, well it does, but with fewer quips and a lot less coffee. The names Alexis and Amy also seem to be a nod to the TV show (Alexis Bledel played Rory Gilmore and Amy Sherman-Pallidino created Gilmore Girls.) So the premise is: What if Rory had the ability to jump into books and interact with the characters. Alexis and Amy are of the Lennox family who shares the Scottish island of Stormsay with the Macalister clan. There is quite a lot of tension between the two clans, but they both take their ability to enter the book world very seriously, for it is their job to protect it. So when Sherlock Homes goes missing for The Hound of the Baskervilles and the Alice fails to meet the White Rabbit, Amy and the other book jumpers Betsy and Will know that something has truly gone wrong in the book world. I love the concept of the story. As an avid reader, I would relish the opportunity to visit the worlds I read about. Who wouldn’t want to spend a day auditing classes at Hogwarts, or taking in the sights of the Emerald City with Dorothy? I wasn’t too happy with how the ending played out in this book, but on the whole it was fun and excited my imagination.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book means so much to me in so many ways. I think every book reader should read this. It brought me closer to the literary book and made me think about characters in a different light. I really enjoyed this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5There was the occasional "meh" part, but overall it was an enjoyable read. I guess the biggest let down for me was that I was expecting Amy's (Emy's) heritage and special ability to play a bigger role.. possible set up for future books?? My other issue was that it was never really explained how or why in general book jumpers really helped protect the stories, other than this single instance.. I want to know how this all started and why they felt it necessary, rather than just something that was fun?
Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and the concept of jumping into books! It's worth a listen despite it's shortcomings. I hope this ends up being a series because I feel that there is much more to tell! - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Absolutely beautiful story with characters that will linger with you long after you finish the last page.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The American edition of The Book Jumper has gorgeous, frame-worthy cover art, so it is a huge disappointment that the story inside is just as flimsy as the paper-crafted characters in the art.I should have expected to not be the right reader for this book due to my utter loathing of the similar plot device in The Eyre Affair, but for whatever reason, I either didn't clue into the similarity or I thought it would be different and novel. Sadly, this book has an enormous "Not Like The Other Girls" Hollywood Ugly problem that only exacerbates the giant plotholes and lack of logic that is part-and-parcel with the way Gläser uses the "book jumping" concept.The hardcover edition I borrowed from the library (and I am exceedingly grateful that I did not commit myself to owning a copy that I would need to dispose of) is 371 numbered pages. I finally convinced myself to stop hoping for any kind of plot-hole resolution at page 130. By that point, I had deduced that the main character Amy's father is probably a book character, which is why her mom suddenly left the island and family magic at such a young age while pregnant. Part of the reason I read so long was to find confirmation of it, but honestly I don't care that much. It's signposted and gives me a tidy explanation for why Amy's characterization is so tediously annoying (afterall, if she's half-fictional then being Not Like The Other Girls and Hollywood Ugly would be quite natural).By the time I stopped, though, I had not figured out why the Lennox and Macalister families must "jump" into books to monitor them. Amy is sent to Book Jumping lessons under the Scottish island the two families share, which could have been a great primer for both her and the reader, but at least as far as I can tell, the whole purpose of the jumping to protect the books is to solve problems created because they are jumping into the books.I also hadn't figured out any of the logic behind the book world. The jumpers can jump into a specific page, which is also a point in time - but a single page can span decades and have multiple scenes. The book world also has a concept of multiple days, but that really doesn't make sense to me, because entire books exist at once and are timeless. Characters can apparently go off and do their own thing when they aren't on the page...except if a book exists all at once and a jumper can go to any page, then aren't they always in the scene?I tried to think of the book world as being an alternate universe instead of actually going into the books, but I still had trouble suspending my disbelief because the characters talk about the actual books, and books shrinking in size, and so on. It just doesn't make sense.Another part that I found fairly stupid is that when Amy is told to jump into a safe children's book as her first experience, she chooses The Jungle Book. A of all, that doesn't strike me as a safe children's book unless you're talking specifically of Disney adaptations. For another thing, this is a Scottish family - why wouldn't they send Amy to the Chalet School or the 100 Acre Wood? The answer probably has to do with copyrights, but I can still think of a dozen books that would strike me as a safe children's book over Kipling's jungles.I suppose if nothing else, the prose is lovely and has nice descriptions, and many of the original ideas in The Book Jumper could have led to an interesting story. (If it were Alternate Universe instead of Literally Books, if Amy weren't so thoroughly Not Like The Other Girls, etc.)Maybe my questions about the logic of the bookjumping and book-world are answered later in the book, but I did a bit of spot-check skimming and nothing stood out. I'm not willing to put up with the failure to suspend disbelief that should have been helped out long before my quitting point.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This weeks book has to be one of my favorite reads in recent memory. In part because it involves a girl who is able to jump inside of books and hang out. Yes, pretty much every bookworms dream come true right? But also for the beautiful way in which Glaser is able to deliver. Seventeen year old Amy Lennox lives in Germany with her young mother Alexis. She has never known her father or extended family, only that her mother left young, when she was pregnant with Amy, and has refused to return ever since. When her mother experiences a particularly hard breakup, and Amy battles her own issues with peers in school, the two drop everything to take off to Alexis' childhood home on the island of Stormsay in Scotland. Shortly after arriving at Stormsay, Amy finds out she is from an ancient line of book jumpers. One of two clans tasked with protecting the world of literature by ensuring all stories remain intact, doing so, by actually entering the story itself. But something is happening within the stories, ideas are being stolen from the books, irreparably damaging the plot and thus the stories themselves. With the help of Will, fellow book jumper from the McAlister clan, Amy must find out who is stealing from the stories, and why, before countless classics are damaged forever. I'm sure anyone can see why I was drawn to this book from just reading the blurb online. I had it on my Amazon wishlist and my kids picked it out to gift me for Mothers Day this year. I was immediately sucked into Amy's book jumping world with pure fascination and if I'm being honest, a smidgen of jealousy. To actually be able to enter my favorite book world and talk to beloved characters well I can't imagine a much better dream come true. Glaser writes such a uniquely magical story that any book lover will fall in love with. The island of Stormsay itself is a lovely backdrop to the story. Secluded, with beautiful marshes and centuries old castles, it was breathtaking. The book had a nice flow that was paced well with plenty of intrigue and action. The budding relationship between Amy and Will made my heart pitter patter in only that way that a good teen romance can do. There were some things I figured out myself along the way, and many others that I did not see coming. The ending was much different than I had anticipated but was perfect in a way you'll understand once you read it. This book will certainly hold a little piece of my heart and will be one that I will most definitely revisit again.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I loved the concept of this novel. As a reader, who wouldn't love jumping into books and meeting your favourite characters? However, the storyline didn't live up to expectations. The book jumping episodes were shallow. Amy spent most of the time chasing the ideas thief, but I wanted more about the stories she was visiting, the characters she met and the settings she found herself in. Also, I wanted to see her develop into a strong heroine herself.There were a number of questions left unanswered at the end of this book, especially about various characters that appeared throughout, and I found the ending anticlimactic. Overall, I was disappointed in "The Book Jumper:, but I loved the front cover which caught my attention from the moment I saw it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a lot of fun. If Kerstin Gier and Jasper Fforde had a book baby, this would be it! Amy and her mother Alexis, after suffering varying emotional events near the end of the school year, decide to go 'home' for the summer, to Stormsay, in Scotland. No one is expecting them, Alexis had left the island when she was young and pregnant. Amy, already a voracious reader, quickly learns of the family gift from her grandmother Mairead. Book jumping classes commence, and it's not long before Amy learns something is wrong in the Book World. With her faithful companion Werther (wonder how many American teens will be googling Goethe?), she starts jumping more and eventually enlists the help of fellow jumper Will, in the outside world too. While the ending was a little rushed for me, I really liked the journey in this unique, young adult book.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5When Amy travels to her mother’s childhood home on an island in Scotland, she is amazed to uncover the family secret. Children and young adults of her lineage can jump into a story and interact with the story. Although this book had an interesting premise it could not keep my interest. None of the characters seemed to have any personality. They seemed very stereotypical and bland. I do think teenagers or pre-teens would enjoy the story. For me, it was a bust.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele
Bücher über Bücher ♥ Eine meiner größten literarischen Schwächen und dementsprechend hoch sind die Erwartungen, wenn ich wieder einmal über ein Buch stolper, in dem Bücher, Lesen und die Literatur eine große Rolle spielen, dann sind die Erwartungen natürlich immer wahnsinnig hoch. So auch bei Mechthild Gläsers „Die Buchspringer“, das mich dann allerdings auch voll und ganz überzeugen konnte.
Sympathisch wurde mir das Buch ja direkt auf den ersten Seiten, auf denen es von Bochum nach Schottland geht – nicht, dass ich meine aktuelle Wahlheimat nicht toll finden würde, aber Schottland? Doch, ich denk das wär schon was :D Kurz darauf geht es dann hinein in die Geschichten, denn als Buchspringer kann Amy, die Protagonistin, so wie alle Kinder ihrer Familie und die des mehr oder minder verfeindeten Nachbarclans in die Welt der Bücher eintauchen, an den Geschichten teilhaben und mit den Figuren interagieren.
Und diese Figuren waren definitiv meine liebsten Charaktere im ganzen Buch – zugegeben, einige von ihnen ereilt ein ziemlich unschönes Schicksal, aber gerade der junge Werther, der schnell einen Narren an Amy gefressen hat, ist einfach so herrlich – man erkennt in ihm sofort Goethes Original wieder und doch ist er ein ganz eigenständiger, origineller Charakter, der sich auch außerhalb seiner ursprünglichen Rolle bewährt. Ähnliches gilt auch für die anderen Figuren, über die Amy auf ihren Abenteuern so stolpert.
Dazu kommen sympathische und/oder faszinierende Charaktere aus Amys Leben außerhalb der Buchseiten und eine spannende Geschichte, denn Amy stoplert bzw. springt natürlich direkt ins Abenteuer, dessen Chaos nicht nur die Buchwelt sondern auch die schottische Insel heimsucht, die ihre neue Heimat sein soll. Und dann noch das Ende… Das ist wundervoll, unerwartet und ganz und gar passend.
Alles in allem konnte mich Mechthild Gläser mit „Die Buchspringer“ voll und ganz überzeugen und ich kann dieses Buch nur jedem, der gerne Bücher liest, in denen Literatur und Lesen eine zentrale Rolle spielen, wärmstens empfehlen ;)