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Summary | Discuss | Reviews | More Information | Read-Alikes
A young librarian and an old curmudgeon forge the unlikeliest of friendships in this charming, feel-good novel about one misfit book club and the lives (and loves) it changed along the way.
Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely…but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane's day that when Arthur doesn't show up one morning, she's instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.
Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden...and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur's gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart―and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.
To what audience would you recommend The Forgotten Book Club? Is there another book or author you feel addresses related themes or who writes in a similar style?
Fans of novels about book clubs would probably enjoy "The Forgotten Book Club". I would also recommend "Lonely Hearts Book Club" by Lucy Gilmore & Monica Wood's "How to Read a Book" (which my group is reading/discussing in January).
-Carol_Ann_Robb
Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels are featured heavily throughout The Busybody Book Club. Have you read any of them, or watched the series? What’s your favorite “enemy-to-lovers” novel?
Have not read–or watched–any of the Bridgerton books. They just aren't something that called to me. So many enemy-to-lovers books out there right now; just about every rom-com uses that device (some better than others). I liked Emily Henry's "Book Lovers" and "Beach Read" but the main characters ...
-Carol_Ann_Robb
"Gilmore's complex characters jump off the page, and readers should have their handkerchiefs ready for some cathartic tears. This is a treat." ―Publishers Weekly
"A fun, sweet read." ―Library Journal
"Funny and charming." ―Booklist
This information about The Lonely Hearts Book Club was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lucy Gilmore is a celebrated novelist in a wide range of genres, including literary fiction, contemporary romance, and cozy mystery. She began her reading (and writing) career as an English literature major and ended as a book lover without all those pesky academic papers attached.
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