This heartwarming tale, "The Littlest Library," is sure to put a smile on your face. It follows the journey of Jess Metcalf, a librarian who undergoes a series of life-altering events, including the passing of her grandmother and the loss of her job. Seeking solace, she purchases a cozy cottage in a close-knit community, complete with a charming old red phone box—an instant source of fascination.
During her initial encounter with the cottage, Jess crosses paths with a grumpy man who has deep connections to the house. Undeterred, she embarks on a mission to give back to her new community, transforming the red phone box into a delightful little library, housing her late grandmother's cherished books. While the endeavor gains popularity among the townsfolk, there is one individual who harbors different intentions for the beloved phone box.
"The Littlest Library" is a must-read for book lovers and enthusiasts of charming stories that delve into the intricate tapestry of close-knit communities. The characters are endearing, and the author skillfully weaves together the threads of community, friendship, and the love of books, creating a truly marvelous reading experience. From the very first page to the satisfying conclusion, this book promises to be an absolute pleasure for anyone who picks it up. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this delightful tale.

This was a lovely story in the vein of a Jenny Colgan novel. It was nothing earth shattering but it gave me all the cozy happy vibes. Adding in a little library in a phone booth made it near perfect.

3.5 rounded to 4. This is a cozy, charming story about Jess. Jess has had a hard life, starting with the death of her parents when she was just a little child. She was raised by her grandmother, Mimi, who has recently passed away when the story begins.
With no family or friends around, Jess sells her grandmother's house and impulsively moves into an old cottage in Middlemas, a village she's never been to before.
While getting her new house in order, Jess settles into village life and starts to put down real roots of her own.
It's a charming village with a cast of lovely characters.
While it was a pleasant read, I wasn't won over by the love story. I didn't feel the couple had any chemistry or any reason to be attracted each other in the first place. Aiden was grumpy and standoffish until the moment he suddenly wasn't...and that was enough for Jess to fall in love? I didn't buy it.
Lackluster romance aside, this is a calm, soothing read when you just want something nice to read.

The Littlest Library is a heartwarming and uplifting novel about the power of books and the importance of community. Jess Metcalf is a librarian who loses her job and her grandmother in the same week. She decides to move to a small village in the English countryside, where she finds an old red phone box that she turns into a library. The Littlest Library quickly becomes a beloved fixture in the village, and Jess finds herself connecting with the people of the village in a way that she never thought possible. The Littlest Library is a charming and delightful novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

Here are some specific things I liked about the book:

1. The characters: The characters in The Littlest Library are all charming and relatable. Jess is a likable protagonist who is easy to root for. The other characters in the novel are also well-developed and interesting.

2. The setting: The setting of The Littlest Library is a small village in the English countryside. The author does a great job of bringing the setting to life. The village feels like a real place, and you can almost smell the fresh air and hear the birds singing.

3. The message: The Littlest Library is a story about the power of books and the importance of community. The book shows how books can bring people together and help them to connect with each other.

Overall, I thought The Littlest Library was a great read. It is a heartwarming and uplifting novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading. I would definitely recommend it to others who are looking for a feel-good read.

While this was a nice read, there is no new territory here for readers of book loving novels. Another small town with cutbacks to their library system looking to secure use of a building to distribute books. I loved the cover and the idea, but just felt like this was another book I had read with slight variation. This said, I would read more by this author as it was an enjoyable listen while driving and doing tasks. I received the ARC free from #NetGalley

If you like books about (loving) books, cozy small town settings, slow pacing with low stakes, and romance-adjacent stories (that don't quite evolve to a true romance), this is for you. Pretty inoffensive in the vein of The Little Bookshop on the Corner and other Jenny Colgan stories, this is a good one to do a buddy read with grandma or your work book club, if you work with primarily retirees.

Cute but trite book about a woman who moves to a small village and changes everyone’s life for the better because of books. Fans of Jenny Colgan will like this book. My biggest complaint is that most of the conflict/angst comes from the MC’s job search and possible need to move out of the village. So… why did she BUY A HOUSE in this tiny village if she didn’t have a job/had no prospects?? If she had been renting I would not have been taken out of the story by this.
Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I knew that grief would be a big theme in this book with the heroine having just lost her grandmother, so I put it off having just lost my own grandfather. I finally decided to pick it up and I was pleasantly surprised by the way Jess’ grief was dealt with in the book as more of a celebration of her memories with her grandmother and everything she’d taught her, along with an acknowledgement that tears are okay sometimes too. What disappointed me was the lack of romance. This was definitely more of a women’s fiction type story with the focus on Jess’ growth and learning to take risks, which definitely did hit home for me as I’m more of a security focused person myself. There was a lot of ‘will they/won’t they energy between Aidan and Jess and I enjoyed that, but it was left feeling unfinished in the end. I did thoroughly enjoy the supporting characters and the village atmosphere of this book had me longing to visit Devonshire. Overall this was a heartwarming story with a good approach to dealing with grief, but I wanted more romance and a more definitive, secure-feeling HEA.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was fine. The plot was cute, but I really didn’t connect with any of the characters and the love relationship was awkward and didn’t make sense to me. And the writing was stilted at times, written weirdly (and that’s not because it was British English).

This was such a great feel good story. Being a librarian, I'm a sucker for stories that involve libraries and/or librarians. I loved this!

This book was wonderful. I love the small town setting, the care with which the character chose books for the library, and "reading" her community members for what they might be interested in. I did like the main characters' relationship and wished the book was longer, or that there was more in this world.

BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: The Littlest Library
AUTHOR: Poppy Alexander
FORMAT: eBook
RATING: DNF (did not finish)

MY THOUGHTS

I started this book and found that I had a lot of difficulty connecting to the story. I did not finish it, not for lack of quality of the book but more so that I felt it was a “right book wrong time” situation where I wasn’t in the right mindset for this one at this time! Hopefully will be picking it back up in the future!

This was the cutest, cozy romance! Great for us book lovers! Jess inherits a cottage and... a red phone booth. Isn't that the best? She turns it into a tiny library with varied reactions. She also gets a great prospective neighbor! Loved this story and all the characters!

Super cute and well done book. Definitely a great pool or beach read. It keeps you entertained the whole way through.

What a tender book about loss, and newfound peace.

Jess picks up her life and goes to find a new one in this lovely ode to books.

What a great way to spend a lazy Sunday with the best cup of tea.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ecopy, all thoughts are my own.

Thank you for the gifted book.

Super cute read, and about libraries! LITTLE Libraries! I love how she turned the phone booth into a library for the community. I recently lost my grandmother and this book gave me so many emotions. I want to move here and live in this sweet community!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story, a good read.

I loved the sound of this story and the cover is absolutely amazing, but I just could not get into the story sadly. I am sorry!

Super cute and emotional and heartwarming! Anything to do with books and I’m down! Definitely one I’ll be rereading!