DNF at 34%
Okay, it's been over a month since I've last listened to this book, and I'm going to have to admit to myself that I just really don't want to finish this. I'm just not enjoying this book and rather listen to something else or nothing at all.

This isn't a bad book. I'm sure this will be great for many people, but it just wasn't working for me.
The plot is very unlikely. Our main character, with no experience or knowledge about book selling, googles for a bit and then supposedly saves a failing bookstore? Because the owner, her best friend, never tried something as difficult as googling for solutions, I guess.
There was also this big thing of Maggie doing stuff in the bookstore/causing problems/changing things without ever talking to the owner/her best friend? If my best friend would keep very important business information from me, while she was temporarily working in my store, I don't think I would ever trust her again.

The hate for classics annoyed me a lot as well. I have read amazing classics. I've read awful classics. I don't think all classics are good, nor do I think they are all bad. The dismissive way they are treated in this book was just so silly.

The romance... Well, I'm only at 34% so I can't say much but the two main leads together felt very forced. Maggie's treatment of him in the first 34% of the book is enough for me to never want to see them together anyway.

The jokes in this book felt juvenile and unfunny to me. I know humour is highly subjective, but this just isn't the kind of books I find fun. I know there are plnty of people who enjoy these types of jokes, but I'm not one of them. I'm sure Maggie would absolutely hate me and think me the most boring person ever, because anyone who doesn't think the same way as she does obvously has to change and get a life...

Thanks for the opportunity to review.

This book had a very cute premise. And, while I really enjoyed the book's bookish nature and could really relate to the power of reading to build community, I found the book to be too slow moving and underwhelming.

While Maggie was a likeable character, the romance with Malcolm lacked the chemistry I was looking for. The large cast of characters and the quirky Edward Bell schtick were neat in theory, but fell a little flat, feeling almost juvenile.

This is probably the most perfect book for a palette cleanser. It's cute, it's got romance, it's got a book shop, it's about building community. It's about self-discover and growth. There wasn't anything too serious about the book, but it wasn't meant to be that. This was supposed to be a feel good romance and it was perfect for that. For the readers who love book stores and community, I would recommend this.

Books about books. There isn´t much not to love abou it. This story is about Maggie who starts to work in a bookshop that is based around a historic figure. Thus the bookshop only sells historic books, which isn´t much to Maggies liking. She starts to secretly sell other books too, starting with romance and some mystery books. She also starts to organice readings, in which she invites authors and they mix their own genre with a classic.
I really loved the setting and the plot of the story. someone who newly found the love of reading deciding to secretly sell books. The romance was also really cute and lovely to read about.
The beginning was a bit streched and i didn´t really enjoy how the plot of historic person panned out, but i still really liked it. 3,75 stars

My first ever audiobook which was enjoyable fun.

A humourous into village life....and problems. Follow the goings on at Cobblestone Books set in Bell River. Warm to the characters that are depicted and completely imaginable as the type you would expect to meet in a small village.

Funny and warm.

Shauna Robinson delights with her latest, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks. I enjoyed moving through the pages and rooting for Maggie's self discovery journey. I know that readers of women's fiction will also share the same thought!

Maggie Banks feels like a failure to her family. She's unable to hold down a job, her mind consistently moving a mile a minute. When her college best friend invites her to run the bookstore while she's on maternity leave, Maggie cannot resist and heads down to Bell River. Maggie's dreams are instantly crushed however; when she realizes she cannot sell books besides the classics. It's the Edward Bell way. Yet, Maggie is about to show the town her way: one romance novel book at a time.

Listening to this novel brought another spark to the story and allowed me to be immersed in Bell River. Imani Jade Powers was the perfect voice to tell Maggie's story.

This is a terrific audiobook!
I really enjoyed the narrator. Excellent job!
The characters are terrific and quirky. They really kept me listening.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received a copy of this audiobook from netgalley for an honest review.

I loved the clandestine meetings in this book! So much fun to be had trying to save a bookstore that has restrictions on what you can sell. Maggie got around these things beautifully. And definitively one of the best endings I've read this year.

I could not put this book down. I did a combo of listening and reading an arc. I was sucked in from the moment I read the description. I share some of the main character Maggie's characteristics and could relate. I enjoyed the way she found a solution for her best friend and things with the bookshop. It was fun and entertaining, a book I will be recommending to all my followers.

Maggie Banks has drifted from one job to another since finishing college and has never found a place that feels like home. Then her former college roommate asks her to move in with her and run her family bookstore while she's on maternity leave. Rochelle neglects to tell Maggie that the co-owner of the shop is the grandson of a well-known author who applies strict guidelines as to what the shop can and cannot sell. Maggie finds herself unable to follow the rules and soon cultivates an underground literary community. This is a story about loving oneself as much as it is about finding home and creating community.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and OrangeSky Audio for advanced digital and audio copies of this title.

Maggie Banks is struggling in life. She's a college graduate living at home with her parents and working at a job that she doesn't love. When her best friend needs her to run her bookshop while on maternity leave, Maggie comes to her aid. The bookstore isn't doing so well because it can only sell classics and who wants to buy nothing but classics? As a hater of classics, I loved this aspect of the book! Luckily, Maggie has a creative side that can turn the bookshop's fate around, but it involves breaking some long-held traditions and a few rules. Can Maggie give the people of Bell River the books they want and keep the store afloat without getting in trouble? This is a cozy read/listen that I think many readers will enjoy. It gave me Jenny Colgan bookshop vibes for sure.

Maggie feels like she's lost. Like she's not good at anything. Like she doesn't know what her calling it. Everyone she knows feels like they have there purpose. She's living at home with her parents between jobs and her best friend needs help running her bookshop while she's off on maternity leave. She gets to Bells River and its not what she thought of. Every thing is honoring Edward Bell a author. His family has everything owned up and is running to a certain stander. There are no current books all that's there is Edward Bell books and anything written before and up to his death. After a few mishaps Edward Bell books get moved to the museum and business takes a bigger hit. Maggie has to do something to not let her friends store go under. She somehow starts a undercover book store and author get togethers to come and do a reading from there genre and making it into a classic twist.

This was a cute read and Maggie herself was funny and the more the book progressed she learned more about her self the town and in the end finds something that makes her truly happy.
I love the small town charm and the sense of the town coming together.


Thanks to NetGalley, Shauna Robinson, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the giving of the ARC.

#NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky Media for accepting my request to audibly read and review The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks. The pleasure was all mine.

Author: Shauna Robinson
Published: 11/01/22
Narrator: Imani Jade Powers
Genre: Women's Fiction

Women's Fiction? Could this be a Rom-Com? I don't know; however, as I was reading I did get that vibe. I would certainly entertain looking at a Rom-Com cover and description should The Banned ... have multiple classifications, as opposed to stifling an eye roll simultaneously thinking syfy (guilty).

Credit to Imani Jade Powers for bringing the book to life and up to the fifth star. (I am wondering if in my excitement I missed marking profanity, heads up.). The narration worked for me. I sat back with a mug of coffee and let Powers perform.

The premise appeared daunting, however, as the story unfolded, I could relate to Maggie. Seriously, only classics? Geesh. I can't imagine explaining I work in a bookshop that only sells classics. Egads. It sounds like punishment.

Alas, Maggie thinks outside the box, crosses some lines, and gets herself in trouble. It all worked. Everything that happened felt realistic. There is some flirting, a little romance, and even that was well done.

The whole book was classy and smart. The ending was hectic. I would suggest putting it down as soon as you think, I've got thirty minutes left. Pick it back up when you have rested. Disappointment will settle in. The ending can't be rushed.

Should you be a book snob and take offense to classics being referenced as dull and mocked by some people, this is not for you. If you can see yourself being inundated with all the reasons you should read classics knowing the author's themselves didn't read their mess, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is for you (and me).

This is a great feel-good novel. I was drawn to it because of its setting and I was intrigued by how the author would handle a protagonist who had no bookshop experience but was now charged with running one. In the end, there were a few places where she had to portray some underhand actions that would be tough in real life (ordering inventory and passing it off as other titles would be difficult with any computerised system, and would have been easier explained if the shop had been made to use manual systems in keeping with its old-fashioned attitudes). However, it was easy to overlook them - the actual story itself was believable and I loved its messaging - that books and community matter. I particularly liked the character of Malcolm, who reminded me of community organisers I have met, with his commitment to his hometown yet his ambitions to go to the capital city and effect change there.

I've not read Shauna Robinson's earlier book, but I will now. I really liked her writing style and am grateful to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this Audiobook ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC! This was such a charming story! Maggie gets thrown into caring for the bookshop when her friend has to leave for maternity. But the shop has a lot of ridiculous rules and Maggie has a big personality. She ends up building relationships within the community and finding her passion.

I received an audio ARC of this novel.

The story: I thought this story is seriously underrated. The synopsis alludes to some light mystery, with the town secret. It really was a great mystery woven through the town's history and involving the best characters in the novel. Also, I love the idea of a secret book shop being run covertly to give a small town what they really want!

The narration: This may be my favourite narrator. Her voice is consistent and easy to fall into, but also keeps your attention throughout the novel.

This story follows none other than Maggie Banks as she takes over a small book shop in Bell River, Virginia while her friend (the shop's proprietor) goes out on maternity leave. Unfortunately for Maggie, life isn't just reading and selling books, especially when the book shop's investor Ralph makes it his goal to make her job (and life) miserable. He's a mustachioed twerp of man (who is decidedly NOT the love interest thankyouverymuch) who takes Bell River's tourism industry WAY too seriously--so much so that Ralph won't let her sell any books that are not considered "literary classics." I know, I know. I rolled my eyes a lot, too, because you and I both know that "literary classic" is a very subjective term. So, Maggie takes it upon herself to start an underground ring of book sales and events, giving the people what they want right under Ralph's nose.

I really really enjoyed reading this book! It was a lighthearted, low stakes, and quick read but packed a punch in the "yes girl, you stick it to the man!" department. Maggie will make you so freaking proud because she is not afraid to take risks and is never ashamed to do what she feels is right. I had both the Kindle and audio ARCs of this book, which made reading it quickly a breeze. My only complaint is one that I'm sure will be caught in editing--at the end of chapter 31, there is a snippet of shuffling papers and the narrator (jovially) sighing.

There's a cute little romance as a subplot that kept me cheesing like an idiot, and the grumpy-sunshine friendship that Maggie develops with the bookshop's upstairs neighbor is absolutely precious. We stan Vernon!

Maggie Banks has the opportunity to help a friend and be gainfully employed when she agrees to take over a local bookstore while her best friend takes a maternity leave. She finds the overarching parent organization of almost every business in town, which is devoted to a crusty old, white, deceased author, stifling and an impediment to the bookstore's success. Maggie strives to bring innovation to a town trapped in time, finds romance, and discovers her own strengths in this cute, fast-paced story. Loved the rewriting the classics concept. All intimate encounters are closed door.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks was a great contemporary fiction read. Set in a quirky town full of quirky characters it caught and held my attention throughout.

Maggie doesn't know what to do with her life. Her family is on her to find her calling, any calling and pursue it. She escapes their scrutiny for a brief reprieve to help her best friend run her bookstore while she is on maternity leave. What she doesn't know is that this isn't just a normal bookstore or a normal town. This town is obsessed with the writer, Edward Bell. To the point the name was renamed Bell River after him and most all of the local businesses are partly owned by his descendant. The bookshop is the host of his writing desk and is limited to only selling works from Edward Bell's life or before.

When Maggie upsets the balance and ends up losing Edward Bell's desk and books as the main attraction to the store she has to get creative to drum up business for her friends store.

I enjoyed the "forbidden" attraction between opposites Maggie and Malcolm. I adored the quirky characters and the found family.

I definitely recommend picking this one up for fans of bookish contemporary fiction/rom-com reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC digital copy. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Bookshops and banned books are interesting topics as I am a librarian!
I enjoyed the determination Maggie demonstrated in managing the bookshop. Her creativity was a highlight. Unfortunately, the fact that she deceived so many people unnecessarily was a trigger for me and I just could not enjoy that aspect of the storyline.

3 out of 5 stars and my respect to the author.