This is the kind of novel to just curl up with and enjoy as the rain lashes the window. It’s quiet and kind of quaint, almost abstract in its execution.

I enjoy quiet books and this one was no exception. Set in Canada, originally written in French, it tells the story of the Driver, who visits small villages with his bookmobile. Just that premise alone is so sweet. His relationship with Marie is interesting. These are older people discovering feelings for each other and I was really glad to read about that. The author chose to build it in such a quiet way and I enjoyed it. However, I did always feel quite distanced from the characters in an odd sort of way, especially Marie, who I did not really understand.

Was it a bit too twee? Maybe a little, but it was a very nice experience to read this. I would like to seek out more works from this author.

If you like a quiet book that is simply about a older man carefully navigating falling in love again whilst spreading his love of books, this will be for you.

A small gem of a book. Gentle, compassionate and empathetic, with a pared back style, and a deep sense of humanity. It’s the story of an ageing solitary man who drives his Bookmobile around remote areas of Canada, and is beginning to feel that perhaps this trip could be his last. But then he meets Marie, who is travelling with a group of entertainers, and gradually a strong bond is forged between them, a bond which might just shape the rest of his life. A quiet tale of human connection, and, of course, books and their power to inform, to teach and to console.

*I received an arc by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

A comforting and charming read that explores an appreciation of all things art, music, literature.

I felt quite neutral about the characters, which would normally put me off a story a little, but I didn’t mind it all that much here.

Simply said: short, lovely and sweet.

I took a chance on this because of the publisher, having never heard of Jacques Poulin before, and I'm very glad I did. Charming is probably the best way to describe "Autumn Rounds" but this doesn't do justice to its quiet power. It draws you into its meanderings through the (beautifully described) Canadian landscape with the central figure, The Driver, who takes a library bus in pre-internet times to various remote communities through the summer, while accompanying a travelling group of musicians and entertainers and developing a relationship with its de facto manager. That summary doesn't do it justice either. It's about ageing (summer into autumn), disappointment, books, reading and falling gradually in love. There are lovely descriptions: when the central pair finally get it together, they do so "under the protection of all the love stories that surrounded them". It's splendid and I'm off to find some more Poulin.