This is a book about books, but takes one the whole bookshop book in an entirely new light.

Many of the typical bookshop tropes are turned and changed for a new and interesting read. I thought it was great having the main character be someone who ISN'T a huge reader at the start of the book. It's a viewpoint we don't see often (since authors and reader tend to be... well, readers). And with a portion of the book discussing what makes a classic book and who makes that decision, I think it is a very apt book for the conversations people are having now. I also liked the subplot of Maggie's self discovery - it felt genuine and I think something a lot of us struggle with - the benchmarks of other people's careers and "finding the career" (I will say although there is a HEA here - it is fine to not have a career/passion job, but instead just something that pays the bills).

The characters, town, and plot of this book offer a lot to love, and I look forward to more books by this author.

Book Review:

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

To me this book has a Stars Hollow vibe about it. Ralph and Taylor Doose could be related 🤔

Maggie moves the Bell River to run her friend's bookstore while she's on maternity leave. She quickly leaves that Ralph and the Bell Society basically run the whole town and have a whole list of rules to abide by, including not selling any books published after their town's literary hero. But Maggie is not a rule follower and ends up starting an underground book club that may just change the trajectory of the entire town.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks releases tomorrow, 11/1/22, make sure to pick it up!!

Thank you for the advanced reader @netgalley and @bookmarked 💕

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This book left me so giddy! That’s the only way to describe how I am feeling right now. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks.
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A book about book lovers will always be an immediate favorite of mine, but this book took it a step further. I love everything about it! I love the small-town vibes it gives off, the fall feel, sense of adventure, close-knit friendship, cute romance, a town grump, and so much more. I was eagerly turning the pages, excited to see what would happen next. Not once was I disappointed.
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Maggie took a job working at a bookshop to help her best friend out. But, the store could only sell classics written between certain years. This limited what books that could be sold, seeing this Maggie decided to break all the rules. There were secret book club meetings, hidden books for sale, and side conversations that kept the secret sparking. I was on the edge of my seat with the near misses and fun ways Maggie handled the bookshop. I wanted nothing more than to be a part of the bookstore atmosphere. To attend the book club meetings and visit Bell River.
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Although romance was not the main theme of the book there it was sprinkled throughout. The perfect amount!. I felt giddy reading about Maggie and her love life. It added the perfect zing to the story. Shauna Robinson did a fantastic job of crafting the perfect book. By the end, I was left feeling completely satisfied, but also like I could spend a little more time in Bell River. I’ll definitely be reading more from Shauna!

Overall I found this book interesting and worth reading. It is a story about a bookseller who is not allowed to sell books from the current century. It is a small town, with a famous history regarding books. Maggie attempts to save the bookstore by starting underground book clubs, running events celebrating popular authors (gasp). During all of this, Maggie discovers a town secret that could bring the down. This book details her mishaps and triumphs. It is a fun read.

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

My overall rating is a 3.5 stars

This was my first book from the author and I’m intrigued to read her previous book. This book follows Maggie Banks. She is unemployed and living with her parents when her friend Rochelle asks her to cover for her at her bookstore while she is out on Maternity Leave.

Maggie soon finds that the town has lots of restrictions and the one in the book store is very interesting. Not selling books made after 1935 seems like it’s easy because the classics are popular right now. She starts a book club so people can read what they want and that changes the town.

What I liked
I liked the quirkiness of the characters.
I was expecting the little romance between Malcolm and Maggie.


What I did not like
Although it was a good story. I wish the plot was different. Kinda made it seem like the whole town was a cult dedicated to Edward Bell.
Character development was lacking a lot.



Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a fun book! The main character is stressed, jobless, and feeling defeated, but the storyline makes all of that okay. The story is comedic at times, with an air of mystery as well. It's easy to get behind Maggie, and root for her in her endeavors.

How restrictive can Maggie’s new job be? The bookstore doesn’t sell any book after 1968. I thought this was a ridiculous idea, but it’s a major plot point.
I like how Maggie uses her own initiative and creates revenue on the side for eager readers who wish to connect to books and others of the same mind..
She shouldn’t have done a few things that she did, but she uncovered a major scandal that not only shakes up the town, but also the very history it’s founded upon.
It’s an inspiring read about change for the better and letting go of the sameness.

4.5/5 stars

A book about books? I was immediately sold. This is the first book I've read by Shauna Robinson and I really enjoyed her writing.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks follows, 28-year-old Maggie Banks as she reaches the small town of Bell River at the invitation of her best friend Rochelle, who is about to go on maternity leave and needs someone to take over her duties at Cobblestone Books. We quickly learn Bell River isn’t your typical town and there are quite a few restrictions at the bookstore. Maggie builds community, finds her love for reading and breaks quite a few rules.

This book starts as a light, entertaining read, but is multidimensional as it explores themes of racism, sexism, and societal expectations. Additionally, the commentary on the importance of books, and diverse voices in literature is so wonderfully woven throughout the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my eARc in exchange for an honest review. The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks releases on November 1, 2022, and I highly recommend it!

What an adorable read as we follow Maggie (who is a fun, quirky protagonist) who comes into a small town to help her old college roommate out with her book shop while she goes on maternity leave. Conflict begins when the town's head of the historical society/part owner of the bookstore when they disagree on what the store should sell. Delightful, wholesome and a wonderful read from start to finish. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Sourcebooks for my ARC for an honest review. Publication date 11/1/22,

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and NetGalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is adorable (seeing that I've started calling everything good 'adorable').
I got carried away from all my responsibilities with this book. So it was great.

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.

Really enjoyed reading this book totally recommend
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark
I just reviewed The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson. #NetGalley

How does a bookshop that only sells books published before 1935 survive? Well, by promoting the odd man after whom the town of Bell River is named. Maggie's been adrift since college and when her friend Rochelle asks her to help out at the store while she's pregnant, she takes the offer thinking it will allow her a few months to think. This is very much a "it takes a village" novel combined with an unusual romance not only between two people but with books. Maggie, after meeting a romance novel, starts selling romances and detective novels out of the back room and then, in a burst of inspiration, starts a highly successful covert gathering where an author gives a new take on one of the classics- imagine Moby Dick reconceived as a steamy one. One problem- not only Ralph, the villain who is the head of the Bell Society which controls the activities of most of the shops in town, but also Malcolm, the hot guy who works for him. Maggie and Malcolm have serious chemistry but can their relationship survive when Maggie starts poking into the truth of Bell's life? I liked this for the layers, for the back and forth between Maggie and Malcom, and for the generally good spirit. And, it wasn't what I expected. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I loved the sound of this and it did not disappoint. A cute little bookshop and a quaint small town in Bell River, Maryland would make a great Hallmark classic. After graduating college, Maggie Banks, finds herself moving back into her parents home because of lack of jobs in her scope. When one of her friends, Rochelle, asked her to work at her bookstore while she was on maternity leave it wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but after being home for 10 months her options were low.

The Mayberry-like town has banned books printed after 1968 when their legendary founder and writer, Edward Bell dies. His books are the only books the town and tourists buy, so when Maggie decides to branch out and sell different books, the literary society moves Bell's books to the museum. The literary society makes up the antagonist Bell family and a guy named Malcolm. Maggie feels this will cause the bookstore to fail, so she decides to open a banned bookstore in the basement.

There were some stiff characters in this story, but some will grow on you, such as Malcolm, who changes his mind and helps Maggie with her endeavor.... I loved the premise of the book as we see a trend in stiff lip people begin to fight for a change in our freedom of rights and tell us what we can and cannot read. This is a cute book and well-written. I love Maggie and her wisdom beyond her years. Watching her move into a literary fan melted my heart.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sure to be a hit for any book lover, this small town story of friendship and bookselling is a fun and cozy read. You'll breeze through this lovely book in no time.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson is a heartwarming story of Maggie Banks who moves to a small town called Bell River to help her friend run her bookshop while she goes on maternity leave. Bell River is famous because of a 20th century literary sensation Edward Bell and everything in the town revolves around his legacy. So much so that the bookstore is not allowed to sell anything published after the year he died i.e. 1968. When she fails to meet the standards of the Bell society, the bookstore loses all the books by Bell and his famous writing table. This puts the already struggling bookstore in a lot of trouble. Determined not to disappoint her friend, Maggie embarks on a journey to keep the bookstore alive and make new friends, fall in love, find a new path all along the way.
I enjoyed reading this one. I loved all the friendships that were formed in the book, especially Maggie's friendship with Vernon. The relationship was cute too and I loved the challenges that Maggie and Malcolm gave each other. The ending was alright for me. It didn't seem enough. However, the secret book club meetings, the plans they made, the discussions about romance books... all if it made resulted in a really satisfying reading experience. If you are looking for a book which is set in a town where everything revolves around books, then this one might be for you.

Anyone who enjoyed ‘Last chance books’ will thoroughly enjoy this book. Maggie Banks arrives in the small town of Bell River by her friend Rochelle to help to save her struggling bookshop. With a legacy of literature which leads to Maggie not being able to sell any books with a publication date even close to this century, this seems like a very tall order. This was a heartwarming read and although slightly predictable, the story was no less enjoyable. 3.5 stars!

Maggie deals with a ton stuck in its ways. she must be creative to keep the bookstore afloat, so starts an underground club that must be secret

I was excited for this one and have to admit I was let down. The personality of the MC doesn’t come across well as the story progresses. Certain aspects of the story didn’t really make sense and I just found myself not really invested in what was happening. Others should still check it out but in my opinion it fell flat.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Maggie Banks has just arrived in Bell River to run her best friend's struggling bookstore for a few months. She arrives envisioning quaint small town vibes and selling bestsellers to locals. However, the town's famous history kinda puts a damper on that. Bell River's literary society insists on keeping the book limited to selling books only available during Edward Bell's life. Everything in town is touched by the literary society, even the cafe must sell foods Edward would have eaten (think apple cheddar scones and prune salads). However, within her first few days Maggie is deemed untrustworthy to uphold the legacy of Edward Bell and his books are removed from the bookstore (the best selling books they carry)! She must think on her feet and go underground to help save her best friend's bookstore.

This book is delightful! I devoured it in a day with a grin on my face. Maggie is a heartwarming character who you can't help but root for. She has struggled in life to find her purpose and place and helping her friend out is a short break from disappointing her parents once again and gives her some breathing room. This book is about finding your place in life, a purpose and the power of friendship. Just how the reader warms to Maggie quickly, so do the residents of Bell River. We watch her create a small army of closeknit friends who secretly bond together over things Ralph, the head of the Literary Society would never allow.

The underground bookclub and selling of forbidden books (anything published since the 1960s) was so fun. I love that it starts by accident and grows into something Maggie struggles to keep secret because it is so popular. We also get to watch Maggie grow into a bookworm! Never a big reader, put off by the Classics, we watch her find genres and books that appeal (romance, childrens books etc). This inspires her to launch her bookclub which sees local writers re-envision the Classics in different genres. Think Pride and Prejudice as a thriller, the Great Gatsby as Sci FI... the possibilities are endless. It opens up the classics and these genres to people and makes reading fun and accessible. I wish I could attend such a book club in real life!

There is a romance and a rivalry in this book, but I didn't feel like it was the main thread of the story. I think it was nicely interwoven and just helped show that Maggie was finding her place in life.

This is a charming book about a bookstore and the love that a community shares for books. Maggie Banks is easily able to whisk into town and help her friend Rochelle manage her bookstore while Rochelle is on Maternity Leave. Maggie leaves an impression that is hard to deny on all that she meets. With that said, it is easy for Maggie to make friends and become invested in Bell River and all matters that concern the restrictions of books purchased through Cobblestone Books by Ralph, the Grandson of the all great, Edward Bell.. Maggie even manages while taking a stand for cobblestone bookstores to fall in love with Malcom.

I have to admit that this book was hard for me to get into. I almost felt a little bad as a librarian that I wasn't immediately in love with a book about books, but it took some time and getting to know the characters that reeled me in. I also have to admit that Malcolm read a little feminine to me, but non the less, he made a perfect suitor and boyfriend for Maggie. All was righted in the end, thanks to the beautiful personality of Maggie and her determination for the friends she's' made and Bell River as a whole.