Member Reviews
Lucy enjoys her job at the library but can’t help but feel guilty that she dropped out of her teaching career. She knows that she wants something more but can’t put her finger on quite what. She’s pleased with the turnout to her book club where we get to meet a group of people who need a distraction from their everyday lives. Lucy is itching to help them achieve their dreams but its not as simple as it seems and what about hers?
Emma shows in the best possible way, the value of reading, libraries and people. I read a lot but found myself being caught up in the story and the emotion of the ending. Definite recommendation. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book.
3.5 STARS
I love books about books so the title of this novel drew me in immediately. But, there isn’t actually that much mentions of books unfortunately. There’s the occasional reference to a book club meeting, and a few book titles mentioned but that’s it.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book. It has a sweet cast of characters who you are rooting for from the beginning. It is a nice feel good book; easy to read but deals with some serious subject matters so not too ‘fluffy’.
I’d recommend this book if you like women’s fiction.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for this review copy given in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Kim from Bookouture for organising the Blog Tour for this book and finding me a space on it!!
Lucy runs a small library in the village of Tilley Moreton. The book club that she runs is a bit short on members. The members she does have are shy, quiet and retiring. Firstly, there is Callum. He comes into the library most days, using the computers. He likes to help people, but lacks the confidence to do so. His family are notorious in the area for their behaviour and attitude to people, but he’s different from them and is trying hard to shake off their reputation. Next there is Hattie. She is a single mother who has recently moved to the area. She is constantly on a diet and has quite low self-esteem. She is making her sister’s wedding and bridesmaid dresses, but is constantly being put down by her mother for not being good enough. Then we meet Lia. She is a full time carer for her mother who has early onset dementia. It’s very hard for Lia, the only time she gets to herself is when she goes out for the book club. She dreams of dancing and following in her mother’s footsteps. Finally, there is Oscar. Oscar goes to the library almost every day to read the papers, but also mainly for the company. Oscar’s wife died recently and he has no other family. When they were young, they had a baby girl who was put up for adoption due to the pressure from their families. Oscar would love to find his daughter, but doesn’t know how to go about it. Lucy sees it as her job to help these people who she now comes to see as friends. Can she find them all the happy endings that they are looking for?
I work in a library, so you think books that were set in libraries would be a bit of a busman’s holiday! But they’re not – I love a book that is based around a library. The library sounds wonderful – set in a small village where everyone knows everyone else! The book catches you from the first page and takes you on a journey through the lives of these four library users. You immediately feel attached to these people and their stories They all become close friends and you can see how their stories become entwined together as the book goes on.
The book is not your typical chick-lit book that I first thought it would be. It’s a heart-warming story of family, friendship, love and sadness. My favourite character was Lia, and I felt so much for her throughout her story, but all the characters are just as likeable.
My only criticism is I would have loved to hear more about the library. Once the stories for four main characters took over we seemed to lose focus on Lucy, her job and the book club! Also, I’ve yet to come across a library which is like this! As I said, I work in a library, and whilst I like to interact with the customers, I don’t think there are many I would like to invite home for tea! Obviously, this is a just a book and it is lovely to read about how libraries should be, and how people perceive them!! The realities of working in one, for me, are nothing like this, but perhaps I need to look for a job in small village library instead.
A lovely book to read, and I would highly recommend it, but make sure you have your tissues handy!
Every now and then a book jumps out and grabs your attention, demanding you fall in love with the characters, the story and the writing style. Seemingly a story about Lucy, the temporarily in charge librarian with questions about her own career and guilt about not really wanting to teach, as she first thought, she is bringing ideas and making connections in the little library. From a small book club that features some of her library’s regulars, we get to meet the group who will soon become friends, supporting and befriending one another. Lucy has always believed in the power contained within books, and manages to find just the book for the moment – a way she feels she is helping people, her main goal.
Slowly the story builds and we meet Lia, a full-time carer for her mother: Oscar, a newly widowed man and former head of school; Hattie, a single mum with a feisty little girl; and Callum, the youngest son in a family infamous for crass behavior, laying about and little ambition. Each of these characters has a dream (or hope) that something major in their life can come true, or a wish left unfulfilled. Slowly each person’s tale is revealed as Callum’s ability to explain computer programmes to other patrons at the library helps to build his confidence, and Lucy’s friendship and openness start to give him hope that his life does not have to follow that of his parents and brothers. Oscar, a 3 day a week visitor misses his wife dearly, and has taken a chance to search for someone lost long ago. Lia, always wanted to dance: her mother and father were ballroom dancers, her mother putting away all ambitions and chances for happiness when her marriage ended, and Lia has subjugated her own dreams and life to care for her these past years. Lastly, Hattie is still reeling from the dissolution of her engagement and the continued resentment her mother seems to hold for a reason she can’t discover.
Davies manages to bring each of these character’s stories to light – slowly revealing inner voices, concerns and growth as we see each character begin to come alive as their stories unfold. Lucy’s is really the last story to come full circle, throughout the story she is slowly struggling with her choices as she wavers between feeling useless when connections and questions she has don’t seem to be coming out ‘right’ and her own discomfiture with her lack of interest in teaching – a career supported by her parents. She’s the ‘silver in every cloud’ girl, the one who finds a positive spin and light in every situation, and her good-hearted and honest concern for things to work out for all she encounters, and that hope and desire for things to work out is palpable to readers and characters alike. My first book from Emma Davies, and it most certainly won’t be the last: heart, humor, tears and hope all shine here and make this a favorite read.
I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
Review first appeared at <a href=” http://wp.me/p3OmRo-9s1/”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>
3.5 stars
This book is about Lucy, a librarian, and the characters she meets whilst running a book club. This was a nice, easy read that I enjoyed but I did find some of it a bit "soppy" (I couldn't think of the word but saw someone else use this word and it's perfect!). I'm not sure if it was because there was so many characters but you didn't really get to know them all very well. There is one character's story that doesn't have a conclusion and that was the one that most interested me so that was a bit frustrating.
I received an ARC in return for an honest review.
A book club is something I’ve often thought about joining but never have, which is a shame if they are anything like Lucy’s Book Club For The Lost And Found.
This lovely story, by popular author Emma Davies, follows the lives of library manager Lucy Picklescott (great name) and her motley crew of four participants.
It’s written in the third person and follows each of them at different points, which I really liked.
Lucy kicks us off and seems much older than her 24-years, as does Callum, who is 19 going 45.
Lia and Hattie were very well written and I immediately warmed to them, maybe because they are more my age, while Oscar was probably my favourite of them all.
The intertwining stories are what really create the magic in this book. Oscar’s, in particular, was heartbreaking (I cried real tears) but I was so pleased with the way his ended – not exactly the way he hoped but certainly a good deal better than when he started.
And Lucy, who is so set on helping everyone else, eventually realises she has some work to do on herself - leading to a rather lovely conclusion.
All in all this book thoroughly deserves a solid four stars.
With thanks to Bookouture (via NetGalley) for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.
Lucy’s book club for the lost and found a heart-warming four-star read by Emma Davis. This really was a heart-warming read but you may need tissues but I promise you won’t be sad for needing them. Lucy is a great character and the passion she feels for the people in her life is great, she really carers about people and their lives sometimes a little too much and that can lead to her getting in over her head, but that just makes for some good and funny reading. This is my first read by this author and it won’t be the last, if people ask me for a great easy read this will be one that will come to mind immediately. It’s a read that most will enjoy, and lots will love. The book club members are great, and they all show that life isn’t all rainbows and bubbles, but it does show how a good read and a problem shared can make it all better. If you are after a great read, that will have you turning pages at a rate of knots’ then this is the one for you.
The subtitle for Lucy’s Book Club for the Lost and Found is ‘a heartwarming feel good romance novel’, and that’s exactly what this book is. It tells the story of Lucy, a librarian, and the members of her library book club who are all dealing with their own issues. Lucy is a bit of a meddler so she tries to make things better for everyone, without thinking about herself. It’s all little predictable and the characters are a bit too two-dimensional, but mostly it works. I felt Lucy could’ve been fleshed out a little more because now she just was this cheerful, helpful person who didn’t really seem to have any emotional depth. Some of the secondary characters never became much more than cardboard cut-outs either. The storylines all worked, but I didn’t understand exactly how all of them became such close friends. I also had some trouble believing in a romance between nineteen-year old Callum and 24-year old Lucy.
For me, this book was a little too cheerful, but since it does exactly what it says on the cover, I’m sure other people will love it.
3.5 stars
A great chick lit book. Very warming with a few twists along the way.
At first I wasn't sure what to think about this book, I hadn't read a book by Emma Davies before (although I have many of her books on my TBR pile!) and because I was reading so many Christmas books, I thought I might not enjoy this as much. However, I was proven wrong - so very wrong!
What made me want to read this book was the cover, the title and of course the blurb - all of them sounded and looked so good that I didn't want to turn the opportunity of reading it down! The cover is my ideal night in. A comfy sofa, a nice drink and of course books! It's so inviting - especially to those that love to read, why wouldn't you want to read a book about more books? Not only this, but I don't feel like I've ever related to a character more than I did with Lucy. Not only has she got a dream job, but she's got her own book club and a group of lovely friends who all enjoy the same things as her.
So I got stuck in pretty much as soon as it was sent to my Kindle. And I was not disappointed. At first I thought the blurb seemed a bit confusing, there was two different ones on Goodreads and Amazon, but they basically had the same kinda storyline so I just went with it. The story follows main character Lucy, who gives up everything in her life to run a little library in a really cute little village (job goals right there). She also starts running her own Book Club (how cute does that sound) and soon she finds that she's trying to sort out everyone's problems for them.
However, as you can imagine, some people don't like others meddling in their business and soon Lucy starts having more problems of her own as a result of her meddling! So enter the drama and you've got yourself a book that you can't book down! This book is so heart-warming it's beautiful. It's a feel-good chick lit novel and that's all I ever ask for in a book. It's not one that will make you feel too emotional, or sad - I want to feel happy and to have a happy ending when I read a book! And that's exactly what you get with this.
Overall, a really enjoyable book with unique characters. This is a novel that's not to be missed. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.
I am always drawn to books that mention “books” in some form in the title so I had to read this one!I really enjoyed Lucy’s’ Book
Club for the Lost and Found. It’s a lovely story and so well interwoven that you feel like you come to know all of the characters and their respective stories really easily.
I loved the concept of the book club, and how it drew strangers together over a shared love of reading. That will appeal to bookworms everywhere.
There are a few quite serious themes in here too. From sick parents, to relationship problems, adoption and parenting, it is quite an emotional read. And it really resonated with me. I found myself a little teary more than once.
Lucy’s Book Club for the Lost and Found is a feelgood novel at its core. It has such a lovely cast of characters, and all of their respective story arcs are so familiar that it makes the book very easy to read. Definitely recommended!
Lucy has given up her dreams of teaching to work in a library and pursue a career in writing. She's stuck in a rut so starts a book club. The book follows the book club members Oscar, Lia, Hattie & Callum (as well as Lucy) through the ups and downs of love and life in general!
This book was a real page turner and I read it in one sitting! (Even if it hadn't have been the readathon I would have blitzed it because it was that good!). I really loved it and the characters - especially Oscar - really captured my heart! At one point the tears were rolling down my face - something that hasn't happened for me in a while!
This is the first book I've read from Emma and I can guarantee it won't be the last! Before I started to favour crime thrillers, I read a lot of books in the feel good/romance genre and I can genuinely say this is a great one!
A bit soppy and muddled at times but overall an enjoyable read. Some othe characters read as quite puritan and slightly unbelievable in that way, a bit waxwork. Maybe I am jaded.
A nice easy read to enjoy with a cup of tea.
Lucy may have given up on her own love life, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to act as matchmaker for the residents of her new home, the village of Tiley Moreton, where she is the librarian. When she’s not matchmaking, Lucy loves to read and dream of the book she hopes to write herself one day. The problem is, her book doesn’t ever get beyond the thinking stage and her matches are failing, sometimes spectacularly. Still, Lucy persists, Callum is her biggest challenge, the man is longing to have a family all his own. Soon she begins to wonder is perhaps the best match for Callum is Lucy herself. I can’t resist a novel with a librarian as the heroine and Lucy was bright, funny and relatable.
This is a heart warming book that has exciting twists, a sweet love story and finding empowerment through an unexpected group of friends.
This story really has it all. The heartbreak of watching a parent struggle through while trying to remember your own dreams, unexpected romance complete with knight in shining armor moments, the struggles of balancing being a single parent and still having your own life and finding your identity, and it's all perfectly wrapped up with a sweet comedic bow!
It's a beautiful story of finding your tribe. I enjoyed it immensely!