מאת Shauna Robinson
"A sparkling bookish story about rules just begging to be broken." — Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World and The Friend Zone
I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books. If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules.
When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend's struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn't easy. Bell River's literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat.
And in Maggie's world, book rules are made to be broken.
To help save the store, Maggie starts an underground book club, running a series of events celebrating the books readers actually love. But keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when Maggie unearths a town secret that could upend everything.
Maggie will have to decide what's more important: the books that formed a small town's history, or the stories poised to change it all.
"A sparkling bookish story about rules just begging to be broken." — Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World and The Friend Zone
I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books. If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules.
When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend's struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn't easy. Bell River's literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat.
And in Maggie's world, book rules are made to be broken.
To help save the store, Maggie starts an underground book club, running a series of events celebrating the books readers actually love. But keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when Maggie unearths a town secret that could upend everything.
Maggie will have to decide what's more important: the books that formed a small town's history, or the stories poised to change it all.
ביקורות-
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September 15, 2022
In her second novel (after Must Love Books, 2022), Robinson introduces the reader to the endearing but aimless Maggie Banks. Maggie accepts the temporary job of running Cobblestone Books while her friend, Rochelle, takes maternity leave. Until now, Maggie has been drifting; dead-end jobs, little motivation, unclear goals. Yet almost as soon as she arrives in the hamlet of Bell River, she finds herself with a clear mission: to save the bookshop. The town of Bell River has been designed to uphold the legacy of famed writer Edward Bell. As a result, the bookstore is limited to selling work that was only available in Bell's time--which ended in 1968. Bell's grandson, Ralph, holds Bell's legacy over all the local shops like a weapon; no talking about possible scandals and no deviating from the narrative! When Maggie decides to rebel by offering modern fiction to local patrons, she does it on the down-low. Will her budding romance with Ralph's right-hand man, her new friendships, and the town's economy survive her meddling? Charming, uplifting, and funny.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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October 1, 2022
Free-spirited Maggie is still figuring out her life, so when her best friend from college, Rochelle, asks her to temporarily work at her small-town, independent bookstore, she jumps at the chance. With no personal interest in books and a lot of strict rules to follow, she has a shaky start. She soon meets her colleague, Malcolm, whose job it is to report on her progress to the powers that be. As the weeks go by, Maggie starts to put down roots and begins a journey--reading and enjoying books for the first time ever. This leads her to flout the rules by starting a secret book group that celebrates all genres and uplifts banned books. But Maggie's clandestine literary club endangers the bookstore's existence, her friendship with Rochelle, and her burgeoning love affair with Malcolm. She'll need to find a way to save the shop and her relationships if she wants to stay in the town that now feels like home. VERDICT This richly-plotted romance from Robinson (Must Love Books) is full of charming characters and will appeal to fans of Jenny Colgan, Abbi Waxman, and Katarina Bivald.--Migdalia Jimenez
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
