Tiny Bookshop: Guide to Book Recommendations

In Tiny Bookshop, the Book Recommendation system makes interactions with customers livelier and more rewarding but can be frustrating at times. Amusingly, it often mirrors the real-life struggles bookstore clerks and librarians face when suggesting books to picky customers.

Book recommendations unlock early in the game, as part of the tutorial. Customers will ask for help if they can’t find what they are looking for in your bookshop. Press E or click on the speech bubble with an exclamation mark, appearing above your shop. Impatient customers won’t wait forever, so you will have to help them before the circle in their speech bubble fades away.

Pay attention to your customer’s request and how certain parts of their requests are worded. Every sentence in the speech bubble provides hints on what kind of book they are looking for:

A bookworm may demand a book belonging to a specific genre (travel, classics, crime, sci-fi, horror), specify whether they want fiction or non-fiction, be picky about the tone of the novel (tragic, funny, lighthearted, dark), prefer books with more or fewer pages, ask for stories featuring animals, look for books based on hard facts, prefer books that align with their gender identity or interests, want something short and sweet (less than 200 pages), or even insist on a title that’s part of a series.

Some bookworms might mention a book they’ve already read and ask for something similar to add to their collection.

Every book request comes with a difficulty level, shown as “++++” above the speech bubble. The higher the difficulty, the pickier the customer is. Their request will be much more specific and harder to satisfy. When a book request has a lower difficulty, the customer is more forgiving and will accept a book that covers just some of their preferences.

To start recommending, click on a book from your shelf to know its contents. Match customer’s book request with the book’s description, genre, author name, number of pages and published date – Yes, Publication date can matter. Certain customers want the latest releases, while others favor classics or older works.

Once you find a book that closely matches a customer’s demands, click on “I recommend this!” or “Here you Go!” If nothing matches, click “I might have something tomorrow”.

An exact match will evoke happiness and satisfaction, often depicted by purple hearts around a customer’s speech bubble.

If they are only okay with the recommendation, you’ll see ++++ symbols instead.

Successfully recommending a book will trigger the Inspired Customers effect and it will be displayed on the left-hand side of the screen. All customers entering the bookshop will become inspired to pick up a book for a short time. You will also see an increase in the sale chance of all books by 15%. This effect stays for a very short time, but if you have a lot of people in your shop, you will notice an increase in book pickups and sales. And if you have adopted the dog, you will earn +2 bonus coins if a customer likes and accepts your book recommendation.

While you won’t be right with your book recommendations every time and frankly this won’t affect your profits or sales as the same customers will revisit your shop in the same location, you shouldn’t be afraid in suggesting books, even if they roughly match to their expectations. AFAIK, there are no penalties in suggesting a wrong book, just that the buyer will be disappointed and leave your store and the inspired customer effect won’t be triggered.

Here are some examples of requests and book recommendations that you will often come across in Tiny Bookshop:

Book Request	Book Recommendation
I can only commit to something with less than 200 pages! However, I am not a fan of <insert genre> at all. It’s for my little sister.	Pick a book outside that genre, and since it’s for their younger sister, go with a lighthearted kid’s book. Just make sure it has a similar or lower page count.
I like my book with plot twists. I am ready for a 700-page commitment. It should have a gripping plot.	Suggest a fantasy or crime novel with a plot twist and a serious, engrossing thriller. I selected Annihilation. This book belongs to the Fantasy genre.
I need something with loads of cool animals. I am a fan of books like Sailor Moon.	Choose a kid-friendly book featuring animals.
Classics are my absolute favorite. Also, I absolutely love fantasy. But I am not a fan of thrillers.	Choose a classic or fantasy but shouldn’t be a thriller/mystery novel. When my customer came up with this demand, I suggested The Neverending Story.
I like scary stuff, also something from a series would be nice.	I recommended Jujutsu Kaisen. This is a popular manga “series” and has scary stuff, cursed objects, occult research and supernatural.
I need some poetry in my life. Also, I usually enjoy a Classic piece of literature.	I recommended The Raven. It belongs to the Classic genre in this game and is a beautifully painful poem above love and loss.
Requests with words Literary fiction.	Choose books from the classic genre.
Political book requests.	Books about rights and awareness about a social issue. Pay attention to the book description, especially those from the Facts and Classic genre.
Historical books.	A book written about an event or a story that has happened prior to the published date of the book. Should be set in history. Also pay attention to the genre. For example: If the customer mentions classic, make sure the book recommendation belongs to the same genre.
I want some cold hard Facts. However, biographies are far too boring for me.	Choose an encyclopedia. I recommended Encyclopedia Bookstonia.
I am intent on reading a Play.	Any Shakespeare book would be a good Reco.
I am fond of good Sci-Fi stories.	Make sure you read the description before suggesting that book. Should have a science fiction plot/setting. Some books from the Fantasy genre have sci-fi stories, such as the Martian Chronicles. Also, don’t forget to buy Hard Sci-Fi books In the classifieds section.
I love crime books but keep it light and fun.	Try Hercule Poirot (or all Agatha Christie books) or Sherlock Holmes.

What kinds of requests do you usually come across, and are you able to recommend the right book? Let me know in the comments.