Excerpt from This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"As I said on the phone, it must be a mix-up. Joe can't possibly have ordered a book."

The bookshop manager runs a hand along his jaw, his fingers scraping against coarse hair. "I'll be honest, it was one of my more unusual order requests," he says, nudging his glasses up his nose again with his thumb. "And we've had some pretty weird orders. Like the nice old ladies who came in looking for books about Satan, or the middle-aged male barrister who preorders every Colleen Hoover." He clears his throat and adjusts his face as if grabbing back on to his train of thought like the tail of a kite. "Your husband came into the bookshop about a year ago ..."

"A year ago?" Tilly interrupts, her heart catching on memories like splinters.

"Yes. He came in and explained his situation and placed this order. He said that if he hadn't come in before the following Christmas, I was to know what that meant and should call you on the fifth of January. I kept hoping he would come in. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Tilly nods, accepting the words like someone mindlessly taking a leaflet for something they have no interest in but are too polite or simply too exhausted to refuse.

"Not that those words mean much, do they?" the bookseller adds, fixing her with a steady gaze. "But it's hard to come up with an alternative, isn't it? I make my living out of words, and I still haven't come up with anything better."

Tilly falters slightly, surprised to hear someone express the thing she has thought so often over recent months. "That's true ..."

"I should also say happy birthday," the bookseller adds, making Tilly wince slightly. Before she can say anything in reply, he turns to search for something on a nearby shelf, returning with a parcel wrapped neatly in brown paper and tied with a white ribbon.

"This is the book I called you about. Joe wanted you to have this today. And there will be another book next month. It's his gift to you. A year of books."

Excerpted from This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page. Copyright © 2026 by Libby Page. Excerpted by permission of Berkley Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.