I needed a sweet and swift alternative to the pretentious wankery that was Babel and this chick-lit-filler fit the bill perfectly! The plot is very much Hallmark does Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War but I loved the characters, the humour and the heart. The brash Mrs B and sweet Stanley were two of my favourites, but WOW, do I feel seen, as the kids say, with June!

From the blurb, I knew I would like the story because I used to work in a library, but resigned when I was told I would have to take part in storytime/rhyme time with young children. No, thank you! I protested that kids can smell fear and only people who enjoy taking on parental duties should interact with them, but we reached a stalemate and so I left. Imagine, then, meeting shy and bookish June, who lives in her mother's house and prefers reading to venturing outdoors, being forced to take on a room full of kids (and their carers): 'What kind of library assistant couldn’t take a simple children’s session without almost crying?' I had an actual flashback to ten years ago and it wasn't pretty. We even share the same hair issues: 'She’d plucked up the courage to have it cut a month ago, and now she had a cropped curly bob, too short to ever tie in a bun again.'

June, however, is a fictional character who gets a happy ending, a better job and an inheritance. I can but dream! PTSD aside, I really enjoyed my time in Chalcot, and recognised some of the more positive elements of working in a library (mainly the books, I have to admit). Great writing, likeable characters and a slightly predictable but constantly entertaining story. ( )

Debut novel about an assistant librarian who after the loss of her mother 8 yrs ago is still unable to find her own voice. A story about how she finds her way to speak up and move on. Good story, but not great. Kirkus:Eight years after her mother passed away, a young Englishwoman who's been living comfortably in the small routines of her solo life faces the closure of her beloved local library.Without her realizing it, 28-year-old June Jones has spent almost a decade of her life without changing. She works as a library assistant in the tiny village of Chalcot, lives amid the ornaments and books and mismatched furniture in the house where she grew up, and spends her evenings and weekends with her old friends¥that is, books. June is quiet, shy, and happy. She delights in helping the patrons who spend their days with her: Jackson Fletcher, the home-schooled 8-year-old eagerly seeking new books to read; Stanley Phelps, the dapper, tweed-suited elderly man who spends his days in the library; Vera Cox, the constantly complaining 80-year-old; Chantal, the teenager seeking a quiet space to do her school work; and others. The library is the heart of the community and the heart of June?s days and, indeed, her life since she began going there with her mother when she was young. But the council is making cuts, and six libraries are up for closure. The regulars, and the community as a whole, band together to try to save the library. Among them is Alex Chen, a kind, bookish solicitor from London who's returned to work at his family's takeaway as his father heals from hip surgery, and who befriends June. Author Sampson has created a gem of a book populated by vivid personalities and a story that weaves together heroes and villains, love and loss, mourning and growth as it follows June and the Chalcot community as they seek to save their libraryÂ¥which offers so much more than books.A delightful exploration of personal growth, inner strength, and the importance of family, friends, and love.

Anxious depressed girl gets out of her comfort zone to try and save the village library. It was cute but there are better versions of this story. ( )

I had to give this five stars, just because it put a smile on my face, made me laugh and made me cry really got to the heart and soul of what it means to be a book lover it also focused a lot on found family but in a contempory world. I love the save the day element. It does have a romance but def not the focus more of a women fiction read and a lot more of a focus on self discovery and and more of women read and if it had not been closely connected to the the books and library world i would not have loved this book as much but a very cute read! ( )

I had to give this five stars, just because it put a smile on my face, made me laugh and made me cry really got to the heart and soul of what it means to be a book lover it also focused a lot on found family but in a contempory world. I love the save the day element. It does have a romance but def not the focus more of a women fiction read and a lot more of a focus on self discovery and and more of women read and if it had not been closely connected to the the books and library world i would not have loved this book as much but a very cute read! ( )