I loved Nina George’s previous book, but struggled with this one. It felt like lots of detail, parsed out in small chunks, causing it to move too slowly for me.

I rarely give 5 star reviews and this one deserved it all the way! I loved the beautiful descriptions the author consistently weaves throughout the novel. I was taken to every place mentioned, just enough detail to make me want to visit and wanting more. I felt telling the story from the perspective of love was incredibly powerful in getting through her message, which I took as you can’t really understand love, even love itself. That it’s best to give into it, not fight it, even if means sorrow comes later. I seriously want to travel to all of these places in the book and am inspired to do so. I look forward to reading other novels by this author. Thank you #NinaGeorge for your craft and sharing it with the rest of us. Thank you #NetGalley and #penguinrandomhouse for the advanced readers copy for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. My first time reading a Nina George book. I took another reviewer’s suggestion and read the author’s notes in the back of the book first since I had not yet read The Little Bookshop in Paris. I do think it’s beautifully written but maybe just not my type of book, I struggled to get into it at first and connect with the characters. Not all books are for all people and I think that was the case for me here. I would certainly recommend anyone giving it a try though.

Gorgeous. Ethereal magical realism, along the same lines as The Book Thief - except with more open arms.

The main character from the opening Iines is Love. Death and many other of Love's sisters make appearances throughout; but it is Love whose voice is the one we follow.

Marie-Jeanne is the novel's protagonist. A bit like a Disney princess, we see her fluttering through life. Her touches on her community are simply magic.
"Love is a house, Marie-Jeanne."

The author reminds us that "Everything is connected to everything," and the story flows much like a river flows to the sea.

Did I mention the olive tree is a character? Love remarks to the tree, "Books are the last alchemy of our age. They make anything possible. Anything."

And honestly, I couldn't explain this book any better than that.

Eleventy billion stars!!! Truth...I was 75% sure that I wasn't going to like this or make it to the end. After all, it's a book narrated by Love, Fate, Death and an Olive Tree (and others). I prefer my reading to be something I don't have to think about. I don't want to have to figure out symbolism, or examine my existentialism, or get in touch with my inner self. So why would I pick up a book I was almost certain I wouldn't care for? Well, occasionally I like to pretend I'm a much deeper and aware individual and this was my chance. I'd give it 25-30 pages and then I could roll my eyes and say "ahhhh, at least I tried". Well butter my butt and call me biscuit. From the first page, I was smitten. 25-30 pages in and my heart was smiling and my soul was sighing, and I knew I had found a treasure. I not only was going to finish a book narrated by Love, an Olive Tree et al, but I was moved beyond words. Dear Madame George, in the conclusion of your book you claim not to know much of anything about love, but we are going to have to just agree to disagree. Love is right here, in these pages. It is beautiful and ugly and simple and complicated, and I shall carry this book with me forever.

The Little Village of Book Lovers
by Nina George
Pub Date: July 25, 2023
Ballantine
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
In Nina George’s New York Times bestseller The Little Paris Bookshop, beloved literary apothecary Jean Perdu is inspired to create a floating bookstore after reading a seminal, pseudonymous novel about a young woman with a remarkable gift. The Little Village of Book Lovers is that novel.
I was highly anticipating this book after reading The Little Paris Bookshop. Because there were so many characters that Marie-Jeanne was playing matchmaker for I had a hard time getting attached to any of them. Unfortunately, I just don't think this was the book for me. Hopefully others will find it more pleasant.
3 stars

Great cover design and made me feel like I was in the French countryside. I always like reading destination novels as a little getaway. Couldn’t get into the characters much. A slow read, maybe not the type of novel for me. The writer had a great way of describing certain scenes and it was a beautiful. I am not the target audience for this novel.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy for my review.

This is an unusual novel that began in such a slow, convoluted way that I had my doubts about its value. However, after that initial challenge, I discovered a story full of wisdom, insight, and quirky characters.

The book, for the most part, is narrated by Love, that mysterious force that defies definition and description. It explored the lives of multiple characters who all seem to be longing for deep connection with a partner but are missing the requisite skills and/or courage to risk surrendering to a beloved. In addition to the thread related to love and relationships, there is a wonderful treatise on the “alchemy of books” and their ability to transform the reader by transcending his/her comfort zone.

One curious aspect of the book is its temporal context. The story takes place in the mid-20th century in a region of France populated by small villages and rural residences. Despite this contemporary setting, many of the descriptions of life in this region seem to hark back to an older time period. It makes for an interesting mix and adds to the magical realism at the heart of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters once I ventured deeper into the story. They are all flawed in their ability to see their potential beloved and fear never being fulfilled in love. The story unfolds with a charmingly satisfying ending.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

The Little Village of Book Lovers is one that I was highly anticipating. I could not wait to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, I was unable to connect with the story. I gave up halfway through. It might have just gone over my head. There were some very beautiful quotable moments. Which makes me believe a different reader would enjoy this story.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this lovely arc.

I didn’t finish this one. It just wasn’t my cup of tea I guess. I wanted to love it cause I love WWII books. I think I’ve read so many of the same ones lately so this didn’t appeal to me anymore. Anyway… I will probably revisit this in a few months and like it more then.

What an incredible premise this story has. It is about love in every respect- family love, romantic love, the love of friends, , love of self and most unusually love of the natural world. Human feelings of love and hate etc are all involved in creating nothing short of an artist’s palette of how to paint a picture of the blossoms of love. I was hoping and expecting to be enchanted.
To achieve this beautifully creative end, Nina George has described the role of books and stories which give meaning and definition to life.
The characters in this book use a bookmobile to share the love of reading with the denizens of the French countryside, while searching for romantic love for themselves and each other.
For me it fell short. There was an underlying foundation of magic and mysticism. We have a young woman who searches for the actual light that love brings. She can see it. And love personifies and speaks to her as do the trees. Fantasy abounds. Conversations are taking place with inanimate objects come to life. It was difficult for me to follow the action. It was more difficult to connect with these very airy characters. Try as I might, I just could not.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is absolutely wonderful! Nina George has such a way with words and language, and Simon Pare has such a way with them and the translation.

I have loved all of Nina George's books that have come to my library in English. To have Southern Lights, a fictional novel from The Little Paris Bookshop, come into being as The Little Village of Book Lovers, who could ask for anything more?!?!

This story has fantastic elements about love, revolution, books, humanity, wonder, and language. It is simply fantastic! I adored this book!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I remember reading Little Paris Bookshop, and being so enthralled by Nina George's story-telling; it felt as though you had really stepped on board Jean Perdu's floating bookstore while he was on his adventures. Unfortunately, in this book, I felt very little of that story-telling. There were points in which I had been transported to Nyons, but the book as a whole felt very disjointed and fragmented.

Part of this was because throughout the book, it was unclear to me who the protagonist was supposed to be. It seemed like it was supposed to be Marie-Jeanne, as she was the one who had the ability to see people's lights. But, there were enough frequent interjections by "Love" that it felt like maybe they were supposed to be the protagonist. The interjections felt a bit like whiplash -- I was just getting used to hearing the story from Marie-Jeanne, and then suddenly, Love would jump in.

And, while the smattering of characters that Marie-Jeanne was playing matchmaker for were unique, because there were so many of them, it was both hard to feel attached to any of them and hard to see how they were connected, beyond their personal connection to the mobile bookstore. Because each chapter focused on a different character or story, it felt more like I was reading a collection of vignettes rather than a cohesive story.

The idea that Love, Logic, Fear, and other virtues come to children in different amounts is an interesting one, and it was an interesting premise for a story if someone -- like Marie-Jeanne -- was touched by Love, and therefore given a little bit of Love's superpower. Unfortunately, the idea was better than the execution, and I found myself disappointed.

I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Nina George’s books and her newest, The Little Village of Book Lovers, does not disappoint. While I usually steer away from magical or fantasy type books, this one (narrated by Love and a young girl’s conversations with an olive tree) is just too charming to miss.

Francis is an odds-and-ends delivery man who decides to start a library bus to deliver books to the community. After some resistance, the idea catches on and everyone is enjoying reading and discussing books. Meanwhile, his foster daughter, Marie-Jeanne, is seeing the glow of love everywhere. With the help of an older woman from the community, Marie-Jeanne decides to hold a book club to bring people together not only to discuss good books but also to find love.

I really enjoyed this book even with its mystical tone. The characters are all so endearing and charming, I loved them all. A quick easy read that will warm your heart. I would highly recommend this book or any other by this author. Happy reading!

I enjoy Nina George's writing. This story makes you stop and think and also makes you smile. The characters are all very unique individuals but love is in the air. Not only with each other (which they don't know yet) but for their love of books and their titles. The THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF BOOK LOVERS has a good beginning that keeps you going. I highly recommend that you read the author's notes in the back of the book first, especially if you have not read Nina George's first book THE LITTLE BOOKSHOP IN PARIS. Which by the way is awesome.

I was happy to be able to read this ARC by NetGalley. The story, at times, was beautiful. It was also odd and confusing. I wanted so badly to connect with the characters, but felt I didn’t really get to know them. The descriptions of locations in the book were beautiful and made me want to travel there to eat the foods and visit the olive tree and climb the mountain and read all the books. Maybe this story was too philosophical and not literal enough for me? I’m not sure. While I didn’t love this book, I am glad I read it and know it will likely be a favorite of those readers who love beautiful language and thought-provoking notions.

Marie can see the marks love leaves on people and it's even more obvious when true mate is close to them. As she adult, she has mobile library and brings books and loves all over the area. She's always wondering when she'll find her true love...

I had never read any of Nina George's novels, and so was unprepared for The Little Village of Book Lovers, where magic realism populates this small village. It did take me a while to move beyond the multiple narrators of the olive tree, love, death, fate, to discover the plot that lay below the surface. As the title suggests, this novel is about the power of books to change lives.

One of the main characters, the junkman Francis, decides that his village needs books, which will have the power to change lives and move people beyond their narrow existence into a wider world. His determination to make books available to everyone, rather than the previously narrow access that was provided by bibles, is at the center of this novel. Francis' motivation is linked to the needs of his foster daughter, Marie-Jeanne, who sees the power of love in everyday lives and items, including in books. To create a better world for Marie-Jeanne, Francis secures a book bus to bring books to the village.

Nina George clearly believes in the power of books. The Little Village of Book Lovers begins by offering literary classics to village readers, but soon enough, the village readers want more variety and need more variety to discover who they are. Most importantly, love of books soon becomes love of one another. I rarely choose to read magical realism, and in whole sections of The Little Village of Book Lovers, I felt a bit lost, but for readers who embrace magical realism, The Little Village of Book Lovers is a book that will be cherished and enjoyed.

I want to thank the author and publisher for making this ARC available to me, in exchange for my honest review. The Little Village of Book Lovers isn't a novel that will appeal to all readers, but I have chosen to rate this novel based on the kind of reader for whom Nina George created a book they will love. Thank you also to NetGalley for suggesting this novel.

Nina George once again writes from her heart! With endearing characters and a beautiful story about love and books. This one sentence in her book sums up the entire story – "If Love is the poetry of the senses books are the poetry of the impossible." Thank you Nina for turning your fictitious "Southern Lights" into a novel! This is a must read for Nina George fans!!!