The Library by Bella Osborne

 

The Library is the story of an unexpected friendship between two very different people. Tom is a lonely teen who feels invisible. His mum is dead and his dad is an alcoholic. Tom struggles to talk to people, especially girls. Then he gets the idea that maybe reading a few romances will help him with that. So he heads to the small village library. And there he meets Maggie. She's a pensioner in her 70s, and she loves to talk to people. But living alone on her small farm gets lonely. Her Saturday trips to the library for her book club is the highlight of her week. And when she starts to talk about books and life with Tom, she realizes, "She'd found a kindred spirit in the most unlikely place and she was going to hang onto him as if her life depended on it."

This is such a delightful read! I loved Tom and Maggie, and how Maggie becomes the family Tom needed so much. His surreptitious reading of romances made me laugh, while his struggles with his dad felt heartbreakingly real and so poignant. This book definitely has all the feels. Maggie's rallying the community to save their library from being shut down did feel very familiar and predictable, but everything else about this book was so good, I didn't mind the lack of surprises at the end. This is another 4-star read for Susan's Bookish Books Reading Challenge.

Happy Reading!

Similar books (that I also loved):

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin

The Lonely Hearts Club by Lucy Gilmore

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

 

This is a thoughtful and poignant novel about how books and reading can provide help, healing and hope, bring people together, and create lasting friendships. And I loved it.

It begins with Mukesh Patel, a lonely and grieving widower, whose wife loved books; Mukesh wants to connect with his granddaughter, Priya, but doesn't know how. An overdue library book of his wife's leads him to the local library where he meets Aleisha, a lonely teen working at the library for the summer who doesn't actually read much, and who has no idea what book to recommend to Mukesh. 

But then she's given a list of eight books with the heading: "Just in case you need it," and she starts to read them...and recommend them to Mukesh. And these books help Mukesh connect with his granddaughter, and with Aleisha, and pushes him to socialize more; they also help Aleisha connect with her mentally ill mother, and with a boy she meets on the train. Many other lives are touched in this book because of this one reading list. 

The Reading List is a captivating novel that touched my heart and kept me reading all day long. I loved the characters. And the ending totally made me cry. It's a good one...and another book that's perfect for Susan's Bookish Books Reading Challenge.

Happy Reading!

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

 

The plot:  June Jones once dreamed of attending Cambridge University and becoming a writer. Instead, she ended up staying in the small English village where she grew up, working at the Chalcot Library as an assistant librarian. She's 28 and shy, one of those introverts who would rather get lost in a good book than go out, though several library patrons count her as their friend. When she finds out that the county council might close the library for good, June doesn't know if she has the courage to join in the fight to save it. But in fighting to save the library, she just might save herself.

My thoughts:  This is a novel about the power of books to change lives, as well as a love letter to libraries. It's got humor, and charm, delightful and eccentric characters, unexpected friendships, and even a bit of a romance. I loved how June classified everyone by the books they read, and how she had her own favorite books that she turned to when needing escape or comfort. And I liked how she found her voice and her fighting spirit with a little help from her friends--friends who range from a crossword-loving elderly gentleman to a precocious 8-year-old boy. Everything about this book made me smile, including the predictable twist at the end. It's a truly lovely read.

Happy Reading!

P.S. This book also counts as one of my reads for Susan's Bookish Books Reading Challenge.

A bookish game...

Creating your own magical library by collecting and shelving a variety of rare books is the object of Ex Libris. Each round opens with several new shops being randomly chosen and laid out that you can then visit on your turn to trade, donate, and acquire more books for your library--from Monster Manuals and Fantastical Fiction to Corrupted Codices. All you have to do is shelve the most books, earn the most points, and you win the title of Grand Librarian!

This game isn't difficult, though there is a bit of a learning curve the first time you play as you try to figure out the best way to shelve your books in order to earn the most points, as well as how to utilize the special skills of your particular library (which changes each time you play). This game is for 1-5 players and it plays in just 30-60 minutes. I thought it was a lot of fun! I especially loved reading all the clever book titles on each of the cards from Nancy Druid and The Hardly Boys to Dungeon Decorating for Dummies. Each new title made me smile. And I had a lot of fun collecting all these crazy books for my own gnomish library. (I even came in second!) So if you're looking for an imaginative and entertaining bookish game that's got fantastic illustrations, check this one out!

Can you tell I liked this one?

Happy playing!

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library

"...the twelve twelve-year-olds who write the best essays on 'Why I'm Excited About the New Public Library' will get to go to the library lock-in this Friday night. The winners will spend the night in the new library before anybody else even gets to see the place!"

I needed an easy and entertaining read this weekend and Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein fit the bill perfectly. The dialogue is snappy; the kids are funny. Plus, it's a book that combines four of my favorite things: books, libraries, puzzles, and games. Luigi Lemoncello, the world's most famous game maker, donated the money for and helped design and build Alexandriaville's new public library. He also designed a contest where the game board is the library itself. Kyle Keeley and his friends have 24 hours to decipher the clues, solve the riddles and find the secret way out of the library. The first kid out wins the prize. Cool, huh? I thought it was a very clever plot. I mean, who wouldn't want to have an overnight adventure in a library like Mr. Lemoncello's? This is a fast-paced and fun mystery that readers of any age will enjoy. I know I did!

Happy Reading!