I loved the premise behind the book. She finds herself because she uncovers her family secrets. I also loved all the book references and I brings you back to when you went to the library or bookshop and how it made you feel. I did struggle with some of the character development but overall a great read.

The only reason for the NOs above are related to it being an adult title while I work on a high school library. I WILL recommend it to all of my friends, though, because I loved it. I adore Martha and I really like the secondary characters in this book. A lot! Owen and Siegfried especially. I loved the setting and the way the seemingly disparate elements of the story came together. Very cool.

I love most novels about writing, books or bookstores. This one has all three. It is the story of Martha, who starts out as a meek, do for others instead of herself type. She gave up her boyfriend and her life to take care of her aging parents for 15 years. Now they've been gone for several years when a mysterious book finds its way into her hands. And of course, things are going to change big time. It is a somewhat familiar trope with a couple of new twists. It’s a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon.

What a charming book!! I was initially drawn to the book because of the title. Anything about libraries and books just HAS to be good! And in this case anyway, it was true.

The main character of the book is Martha, a volunteer librarian who can't say no to anyone requesting a favor from her. She has put her own life on hold in order to take care of others including caring for her parents for 15 years. She gave up her own chance for happiness and a family years ago and people constantly take advantage of her good nature. There were times I wanted to shake her and tell her to say NO! I wanted to slap her sister Lillian who was among the worst of the people taking advantage of Martha.

We see in flashbacks how the girls grew up and there are many secrets waiting to be uncovered. Yes, the secrets are pretty obvious and there isn't really that much mystery to the book but it's a pleasant journey getting to the revelations. The writing is well-paced and the characters are interesting. I laughed out loud often at Suki's choice of words and cheered on Owen in the inevitable ending we foresee after the book ends.

It was a perfect book to read on a Sunday afternoon!

Thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for the free digital review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Library volunteer Martha Storm spends her days making everyone else happy. Doing things for others gives her purpose...even if her house is overrun with unfinished projects, not to mention boxes and boxes of her dead parents' belongings. She just can't seem to say no, or let go. One day a stranger delivers a book for her. It's dedicated to Martha from her grandmother...but that's impossible, because her Nana died years before the dedication was written. Didn't she? And the book is filled with stories Martha herself wrote when she was a child. Something very strange is going on, and it's going to take Martha to places quite outside her comfort zone...and make her take a good hard look at who she really wants to be.

I so enjoyed this charming novel! Martha was a fantastic character; I adored her and her grandmother Zelda. I cheered for them both each step of the way! If you're looking for a sweet, feel-good. heartwarming (and book-filled!) novel, this one is for you!

I had a hard time with this book, but that's strictly a personal things. The characters were not to my liking, but the author did a good job conveying the story arc. Thanks Netgalley for a sneak peek. Just not my cup of tea, though.

“The Library of Lost and Found” by Phaedra Patrick is a book about books, so I knew I would love it right from the start. It is also a story about Martha Storm. “If anyone asked about her job, she had an explanation ready. ‘ I’m a guardian of books,’ she said. “A volunteer at the library.’” She was also an organizer, guide, buyer, filer, job adviser, housekeeper, walking encyclopedia, and a recommender of somewhere nice to eat lunch. She lives in her childhood home; her parents both deceased. She spends a lot of time helping others rather than doing things for herself. This book is her story, her journey, her search, her enlightenment, and finally, her new life.
A brown paper parcel changes everything. Inside she finds a book, but not just any book. She turns the pages and words and titles leap out at her. It is full of stories that she wrote as a child. The biggest surprise is the message written inside the book, a message from Zelda, her grandmother, and dated three years after she died. Thus, Martha starts on a path that takes her to unexpected places where she makes startling discoveries about herself and her family. However, among the highs and happiness of discovering the book and its author, secrets and lies are lurking to turn her quiet life upside down. In alternating chapters, readers also get a glimpse of Martha as she grows up in 1974, and visit Betty Storm, Martha’s mom, and her household that emphasizes reading and writing.
An interesting cast of characters fills in the details of Martha’s life. Readers meet friends, library patrons, book club members, and booksellers. They love books, and readers love them because they do.
“’You should always make time for books,’ Owen said. ‘ Do you have a favorite?’ Martha knew her answer straight away. ‘It’s got to be Alice in Wonderland. I like Alice’s practicality and how she takes everything in her stride. She meets these odd creatures in magical situations and it never fazes her.’”
Martha hesitates on her journey, but she persists. “I have got to do this.” She is not always happy with what she finds. ‘”You’re a liar, Nana. For all these years’… ‘No. I just didn’t tell you the truth.’ ’It’s the bloody same thing,” Martha yelled.”
Eventually Martha finds that coffee and cake are always welcome along with Christmas and books. I received a review copy of “The Library of Lost and Found” from Phaedra Patrick, Harlequin Publishing, Park Row, and NetGalley. The novel combines family anguish with a mysterious book and its author. It is a tribute to books and the quirky people who love them.
In the end, “Read me. I’m yours.”

3.5 stars

You can read all of my reviews on my blog NerdGirlLovesBooks.wordpress.com

Martha is a quiet volunteer librarian that puts others before herself. She is frequently taken advantage of and "volunteers" to help other people in order to connect with them, but leaves many tasks undone. When a book of fairytales lands on her doorstep, Martha finds a mystery inside. The book is dedicated to her by her grandmother and dated 3 years after her death. How is that possible? Martha is determined to find out, and her life irrevocably changes forever.

This is a very sweet, quiet book with plenty of heart. The characters are interesting and the book is well paced and a quick read.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've tried and tried to get through this one, but it's just not grabbing me at all. I think for a different reader, this could be a great read, but for me it's been a slog and it's holding me up from getting too other books I may love. Moving on...

Thank you to Harlequin and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

At first I thought this book was just going to be a cutesy feel good story... and it definitely started that way, but as it goes on....it has a little mystery happening and then at the end it really cranked up the feels. I really loved it. And I totally relate to Martha’s career struggles as a librarian.

So many parts of this book resonate with me when Martha is talking about her love of books and the library. Things I thought that I only felt were mentioned and made me think, "Wow, I feel that way to."

Martha is an introvert and I think we all have a side of us that can identify with a part of her personality.

After so many years, practically her whole life, of taking care of and doing for others, she's really lost herself. The book starts without her even realizing, but once she does doesn't know how to find what she's"s lost or what would make her happy.

There are some interesting characters in this book, with their own quirks, that are enjoyable to read about, but for the most part the people in this small seaside town are dealing with real life issues !

I know you should never pick a book by it's cover (or title) but both drew me to this story and I'm so glad that they did. I was enjoyed travelling on this journey with Martha Storm!

What is lost and finally found at this library is the heart and spirit of volunteer library worker Martha Storm. The story of how she was “lost”, is told in flashbacks, but the story of what she found and how she found it is part of the present.

And it’s completely charming.

I found myself caught up in Martha’s initially self-restricted life and eventual flowering almost in spite of myself. To the point where I started and finished the book in a single day.

Not a lot happens in this story. There aren’t any great adventures or major events. Well, not exactly. Except that there are – mostly in the sense of a journey of the spirit, with signposts provided by the events of her life along the way.

Martha Storm volunteers at her local public library in tiny little Sandshift – a small town on the coast of England. She’s the person who does everything for everybody, always going above and beyond on every side, with no hope of compensation and nary a word of thanks.

She’s a woman who seems constitutionally incapable of saying “No” to anyone. And no one seems to appreciate her for it – not her boss, not her co-workers, not the villagers she helps and certainly not her sister. Not until she finally, suddenly, almost inexplicably manages to say that one word – and both her world and that world’s view of her, begins to shift.

So does she. And as Martha starts to find herself, she also finds what she lost long ago – her grandmother.

Escape Rating B+: This is a story about family secrets, their power to harm, and their power to destroy. And it’s about the freedom that comes with setting those secrets free.

In my own family, there was a secret. At my grandfather’s funeral my aunt revealed that my grandmother was not her mother – that my grandfather had been married before. It wasn’t a big secret – nor was it destructive in the way that the secrets in this story were. But it told me a vital piece of information that explained a great deal about my childhood – I was my grandmother’s only grandchild. She was already deceased, so it had no effect on my relationship with her – but it colored my memories of her differently.

The secrets that have been kept from Martha Storm all of her life, while they don’t change the past, definitely put it into a much different light. A light that illuminates so many events and relationships that defined her – and not always for her benefit.

When she was in her early teens, her parents told her that her charismatic, beloved grandmother Zelda was dead. They refused to let her go to the funeral, and she never found the grave.

When a local bookseller gives her a worn-out copy of a book, written by her grandmother, made up of stories that Martha wrote and told to her grandmother and stories that her grandmother wrote and told to her, she’s flabbergasted. When she reads the dedication at the front of the book, a dedication to her, written three years after her grandmother’s “death”, Martha’s world starts to unravel.

But what unravels are all the accretions and protections, all the shoulds and don’ts, all the negging that her uber-controlling father wrapped around Martha, her mother, and her sister. All the things that kept Martha from venturing out into the world, and letting the world venture into her.

All the things that would have challenged her father’s control of her. Like her grandmother.

In her search for her grandmother, Martha rediscovers herself and her childhood joy of the world around her.

She gets a second chance at life. At love. And with her beloved Zelda. The truth sets her free to be her best self.

And it makes an absolutely charming story.

It starts with a book, of course. A book dedicated to our protagonist, Martha Storm, from her nana, Zelda, mysteriously dated three years after Zelda's death. Martha is in a rut and the book acts as the impetus to get her life onto a different track. As Martha chips away at ridding her home of the detritus she has accumulated since her parents' deaths, and chips away at her family's mysterious past, she chisels out a new life for herself. This was an enjoyable read. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.
#TheLibraryOfLostAndFound #NetGalley

I have to say I was intrigued by the way the story unfolds. A few times I felt frustrated with the main character, Martha. She lets herself get taken advantage of by everyone. She feels the need to please which stems back to her childhood. I cheered when she finally stands up for herself and makes positive changes in her life.
There is drama, romance, family mystery, storytelling, betrayal and intrigue.
As Martha finds out the truth pertaining to the disappearance of her grandmother, Zelda, you get drawn into the family drama Martha is determined to figure out.
I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be a beautiful, endearing story.
Many thanks to NetGallery, the publisher and author, Phaedra Patrick, for the opportunity to read and review this arc.

Phaedra Patrick is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me! I loved The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper and immediately sought out others including Rise and Shine Benedict Stone. I was so anxious to read her latest, The Library of Lost and Found.

Martha devotes all her time to helping others, perhaps as a way to feel valued and indispensable. She cared for her elderly, ill parents until their death, sacrificing a life with her beloved fiance, Joe. She offers to do anything anyone needs from doing a neighbor's laundry to watching her niece and nephew for her sister. Martha volunteers countless hours at her local library in hopes of securing a permanent position.

When a character experiences growth and change throughout the course of a novel the author has hit my reading sweet spot. Martha's journey begins when someone leaves a book for her with an inscription from her beloved grandmother. She is stunned to see the date is after her grandmother died.

On the quest to solve the puzzle Martha (and the reader) meet some delightful characters and enjoy some hilarious and poignant adventures. With every "No" to others Martha is closer to saying "Yes" to her own life.

Mystery, family dysfunction, community and self-discovery - it's all here. And I highly recommend you join Martha at The Library of Lost and Found.

Thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Title: The Library of Lost and Found
Author: Phaedra Patrick
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Martha Storm volunteers at the library. She does projects for anyone who needs help—laundry for a neighbor with a broken appliance, repairing a paper mache dragon head for the school, altering school uniforms for her nephew— and she’s so busy she doesn’t have time to wonder what happened to her life.

Until she receives a mysterious book filled with stories from her childhood, stories she wrote, and dedicated to her by her grandmother, Zelda, who died suddenly years before. In the book, Martha finds a clue that her grandmother may still be alive, and she’s determined to unravel the family secrets once and for all. And maybe, along the way, she’ll discover the truth about herself she’s kept hidden.

Martha experiences tremendous growth as a person in this book. Who she is and what she thinks she knows is completely upended, and she becomes someone new, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis into the sun. I was enthralled by the mystery of Zelda and what happened in the Storm family all those years ago.

(Galley courtesy of Park Row/Harlequin via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The Library of Lost and Found didn't end up being what I was expecting. The book involves Martha, who is middle aged and kind of at a loss for what to do with her life. She is a people please and can't say the word "no", ever. One day, she is given a book that has an inscription in it written to her from her dead grandmother. This sets her off on a journey to find out the truth about her grandmother's death.

I'll admit that I had a hard time initially getting into this book. I didn't care for Martha. She was kind of a doormat that everyone in town walked all over. She came across as way older than she actually was supposed to be. She definitely grew on me as the book progressed. The book end up being an OK read for me. The overall story was kind of predictable and ended up where I thought it would end up. The family secret was no surprise and I wasn't shocked when it was revealed. The story is well written and I especially enjoyed the little fairy tales scattered throughout the book. I just didn't love it as much as I was hoping I would.

I was able to read the ARC of "The Library of Lost and Found" by Phaedra Patrick through NetGalley to my delight! It was a joy to follow along as the main character discovers herself and finally the ability to say No! to continual requests for assistance. The characters are interesting and realistic, leaving you slightly wanting more at the end.

This was my first book by this author and I enjoyed it. I read it in a day and the characters brought out my emotions. Martha frustrated me in the being but she came into her own in the end. Zelda was the quirky grandmother everyone would love to have. This was a fun and sweet read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Park Row and Phaedra Patrick for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

Like:
- A book about books - always a good thing!
- Shows the emotional effects of domestic abuse/controlling behaviors - not all just bruises and broken bones
- Cute and whimsical story
- The fairytale made up within the book - great life lessons
- The cover - especially the colors

Love: —

Dislike:
- not what I thought it would be: I thought it would be a cozy mystery type of story about books/librarians. What I got was domestic abuse, family drama, lies, but also was somewhat boring at times
- All the family drama … and it didn’t have any redeeming aspects

Wish that:
- The story delivered more - found myself not caring if I found out what happened

Overall, not what I thought the story would be about. Not terrible, but not for me.