This week I reread a classic and discovered a new-to-me classic — 84, Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, respectively — two nonfiction books by author Helene Hanff. Both are slim, around 100 pages each, and absolutely brimming with humor, style, and literary magic. 84, Charing Cross Road came about first, an instant success after its publication in 1970. The book is a collection of real-life letters sent between the author and London bookseller Frank Doel from 1949 to 1969. In 1949, Helene is a struggling scriptwriter living in New York City with an eccentric taste in books. When she comes across an ad for an London bookshop that specializes in out-of-print titles, she writes them immediately inquiring after their stock. Frank responds, and a beautiful friendship is born. For twenty years the two write back and forth about books, their lives, and the inhabitants of the bookshop. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street picks up the story in 1971, when Helene travels to London for the first time following the publication of 84, Charing Cross Road. Frank has sadly passed by this time, but his family, along with the British fans of the book, welcomes her with open arms. A lifelong Anglophile, Helene is overjoyed to finally walk among the literary landmarks, to lunch at Claridges, and to stroll through Regents Park… her friends and readers give her the tour of a lifetime, and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street is her diary of the experience.

I loved 84, Charing Cross Road when I read it ten or so years ago, but I somehow loved it even more this second time around. I think as a teenager I read it with the expectation that Helene and Frank’s relationship would turn into a romance (which it does not), and was a little confused by the lack of drama or ‘story’ in the letters. But through my current viewpoint, that very lack of drama is what makes their relationship so beautiful. Helene and Frank are two people who just really love books (and I’m talking old books… like Samuel Pepys’s diary) and find a kindred spirit in each other. Their letters are filled with warmth and humor, and there’s something deeply comforting about their correspondence. I also love the way their letters act as a time capsule; Helene sends Frank and the bookshop care packages with eggs and tinned meat (and even manages to secure some nylons for Frank’s wife and daughters) as London slowly recovers from World War II, and most of the books Helene buys cost no more than $2 (!!). Since we never get the satisfaction of seeing Helene walk into the bookshop on 84, Charing Cross Road in her first book, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street feels like the sequel I always hoped for, and it was a joy to return to Hanff’s self-assured, snappy, endearingly neurotic voice. The books are standalone, but there’s something special about reading them together and I highly recommend this delightful pairing.

I’d recommend 84, Charing Cross Road to…

• Anyone who loves a friendship based on books and a story told through letters… it’s similar in theme and style to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I’d recommend The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street to…

• Anyone interested in a laugh-out-loud, endearing memoir… it’s similar in tone and style to Love, Ninaby Nina Stibbes

I’d recommend both of these books to…

• Anyone looking for something charming yet wryly realistic… they’re similar in tone to When Harry Met Sally… (movie) and I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron