3 French stars

This is my third book by Nina George, and they all have French settings and flair. This time we are in a small village, and we meet a cast of characters, including Love himself.

Marie-Jeanne is an orphan but dearly loves her foster parents and a magical tree. She realizes that she can see little glows of light on people where Love has touched them, she also can see strings that connect one heart to another.

Her foster father begins a library bus service and soon he’s got more people reading literature. Marie-Jeanne loves working on the bus and can’t resist matchmaking along the way.

One big problem, Marie-Jeanne can’t seem to find her own love glow or her soulmate. Will she finally find her one true love?

I enjoyed this one with elements of magical realism and the French setting. While it can be read as a stand-alone, it ties into her earlier book “The Little Paris Bookshop.”

As an infant, Marie-Jeanne was touched by Love. After being orphaned she was raised by Elsa and Francis, who made his living making deliveries for the villages in the area. As Marie-Jeanne travels with Francis to deliver Bibles an idea comes to him. He could use Louis the Third, his van, to deliver books to the people of the area as a mobile library. The idea is dismissed by the local mayors. If people are reading they are not working. It will also put ideas into the heads of their wives and daughters. It is Vida, a hotel owner, who saves Francis’ idea. He should be talking to the women of the area. Before he knows it his idea takes off.

Love’s touch has allowed Marie-Jeanne to detect a glow from the people around her. It is a phenomenon that only she experiences. The light becomes stronger as people connect with others, but when she looks at herself there is no glow. If there is no one to bring a glow to her she decides to dedicate herself to the happiness of others. While Elsa has always kept her feelings to herself, there is a glow when she talks to Francis. She often berates him and shows little affection, but Marie-Jeanne has seen the glow and knows better.. she is determined to strengthen their relationship. This is a charming story that shows how books can change lives and allow us to grow. It is narrated by Love, which gives it a magical quality that will enchant this story’s readers. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine or providing this book for my review.

What is love and what do books have to do with it? It turns out - everything. And that's a message I can get behind. The Little Village of Book Lovers is the most perfect non-sequel-sequel and Nina George takes us back to France, but this time into the fictional title we meet in her first book - meta - but oh so perfect.

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The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is a magical realism novel taking place in the 1960s, France. Ms. George is an award-winning German author, who has more than 25 published books under her belt.

Love, a magical entity, visits a small village in France in the 1960s. Love gets attached to a baby orphan, Marie-Jeanne, and their destinies are forever linked.

As Marie-Jeanne gets older, she realizes she can see the marks Love left on people as glowing lights on their bodies and begins playing matchmaker. As she grows up, she helps Francis, her father, begin a mobile library which is also used to bring soulmates together.

I’m a sucker for books about books, but it took me almost half the novel to get into this story. Even though I have enjoyed magical realism before, this one didn’t work for me, and I found the non-magical aspects of the story much more engaging.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George could have been a fantastic short story. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of fluff in it which was supposed to be profound but took me out of the narrative I enjoyed.

The characters are all written very well and grow within this short story. To me, that showed how good of an author Ms. George is. I enjoyed Marie-Jeanne’s “superpower” of seeing when a person is in love. The little matchmaker was endearing and worked wonderfully with her using books to bring people together.

I really wish that the musings of Love, Logic, Fate, an olive tree, and Death would have been less, or altogether gone. It would have been a wonderful novel, full of wonderful people, locations and books. In fact, it could probably have been twice the size, and twice as enjoyable employing just those aspects of the narrative.

Bottom line, I enjoyed immensely half the book which talked about the small village and didn’t really care for the spiritual part. I though the attempt to juggle these two worlds left little room for any plot, and the conflicting life of its main character. For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is a magical realism novel taking place in the 1960s, France. Ms. George is an award-winning German author, who has more than 25 published books under her belt.

Love, a magical entity, visits a small village in France in the 1960s. Love gets attached to a baby orphan, Marie-Jeanne, and their destinies are forever linked.

As Marie-Jeanne gets older, she realizes she can see the marks Love left on people as glowing lights on their bodies and begins playing matchmaker. As she grows up, she helps Francis, her father, begin a mobile library which is also used to bring soulmates together.

I’m a sucker for books about books, but it took me almost half the novel to get into this story. Even though I have enjoyed magical realism before, this one didn’t work for me, and I found the non-magical aspects of the story much more engaging.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George could have been a fantastic short story. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of fluff in it which was supposed to be profound but took me out of the narrative I enjoyed.

The characters are all written very well and grow within this short story. To me, that showed how good of an author Ms. George is. I enjoyed Marie-Jeanne’s “superpower” of seeing when a person is in love. The little matchmaker was endearing and worked wonderfully with her using books to bring people together.

I really wish that the musings of Love, Logic, Fate, an olive tree, and Death would have been less, or altogether gone. It would have been a wonderful novel, full of wonderful people, locations and books. In fact, it could probably have been twice the size, and twice as enjoyable employing just those aspects of the narrative.

Bottom line, I enjoyed immensely half the book which talked about the small village and didn’t really care for the spiritual part. I though the attempt to juggle these two worlds left little room for any plot, and the conflicting life of its main character. The novel ended in a hurry, and I think many readers would miss its most important point about Marie-Jeanne’s life.

3 out of 5 stars. Good book, but not what I was expecting.

I was hoping this book would be a beautiful combination of The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Matchmakers Gift. However, it came off a little 'cozier' than I wanted.

The story follows a girl who is blessed by Love, who can see the connections between people and attach them in order for their love to grow. Set in the 1960's France, Marie-Jeanne convinces her father to form a roaming bookshop so she can make love matches around the area. Like in all matchmaking stories, while she can find love for everyone else, but Marie-Jeanne cannot find love for herself. This was a bookish Hallmark movie, you know what is coming, you can quote the scenes before you get to them. Its great if you are in the right mood, sadly I was not in that mental place.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine books for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to Random House Publishing, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is a perfect book if you are a). Italian because there are many Italian words b) if you love to read about love. c) if you love to read about books, which I do, just not much of a fan of (see b.) And a. I am Italian so not much I cant say bad about that.

This book is about Jeanne Marie who can see glowing parts on people, particularly if they are in the vicinity of each other, so she hops on papa's "bookabus" mobile bookstore and goes with him villageafter village and the books are tied to the people she has helped meet her match.

Very quaint, just not for me. 3 stars

The Little Village of Book Lovers is the story of Southern Lights, the book mentioned in the Little Paris Bookshop. It follows Marie-Jeanne, a girl who can see the marks of Love on people in the form of a glowing light. She wonders what they are as no one else seems to see them, but she can't find the mark on herself. She uses that talent to try and bring people together but also wonders if she'll ever find her own soulmate. She helps her foster father with his mobile library and uses the books to inspire people and to connect them. Overall, a somewhat philosophical take on the forms of love and the importance and influence of books. This one reads more like a novella or a short collection of related stories, with a somewhat mystical element.

Marie-Jeanne is an orphan fostered by interesting parents, Elsa and Francis. This interesting story is in the first person and that person is Love. Such an interesting concept! A story written from the vantage point of Love. Love also has relatives who are Fear, Fate, Patience, etc.

Overall it’s a story about Francis starting a book bus, where he goes into the remote village offering the people to subscribe to borrowing books. At first Francis would speak to the men to share about the book bus. But theodene men all had other things to be doing than listen to Francis. One day an older woman suggested he speak with the women instead. The women are more open to reading and learning. They can also be more convincing to their men.

The book bus became a very popular regular going around the community. So popular that Francis started a second and later a third book bus! People learn about others in their community based on what they were reading. Until a book wrap was made to conceal what others are reading. Less judgements could be made if people don’t know what others are reading!

This was an interesting book. With there being so many characters and places I started to get confused. Maybe I should slow down while reading. Or maybe I should read less while sleepy. I give this book 4 out of 5 tiaras. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for access to this work.

This book felt like walk in French country side in late 1960s. It is cozy, lazy, relaxing summer Sunday afternoon when all chores are done and the mind wanders all around the world. This is narrated in first person by love! Other featured characters are olive tree. This is primarily story of Marie-Jean and others in small town of Nyon…on their journey to be a book readers and ultimately book lovers.

This was an interesting, well-written book. It's about what love is, how it is expressed, felt, sought and experienced. Overall I did enjoy this book.

Pure Magic!
How can you resist a book about love narrated by Love? Not me. I thoroughly enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop, so couldn’t wait to read The Little Village of Book Lovers.

The cover is so inviting, the story Nina George weaves is charming, the characters are “lovable’ and it’s set in a remote village in France 🇫🇷 (Mon Dieu) I loved this book on love (and books 📚)

Thank you Nina George, Random House- Ballantine Publishing, and NetGalley for this lovely book. All opinions are my own.

In Nina George’s previous book, The Little Paris Bookshop, a beautiful story about a man who decides to open a bookstore which is on a boat and floats to the towns along its route and all the interesting characters that are met on its journey. The premise of the story was that the main character had read a story about a gifted girl, and suddenly got the idea for his floating bookstore.

Well, now Nina George has written the book which inspired the floating bookstore in the previous story. The Little Village of Book Lovers is the tale which the main character read, and it is magically beautiful, the writing poetic, the plot enchanting, imaginative and heartwarming.

The tale begins when a little baby is suddenly orphaned as fate would have it. Her name, Marie Jeanne. This was during the 1960’s in a small town in France. She is watched over by love and fate. When she is discovered by a worker named Francis, he and his wife Elsa decide to raise her. They know somehow, she is special. Unbeknownst to them as Marie Jeanne begins to grow, she somehow is able to see people’s glows. She doesn’t yet understand why. And for some reason, she herself does not glow.

Then her foster father has the idea to create a mobile library which travels by van throughout the area. Elsa has her concerns as Francis mortgages everything they own to make this happen. As Marie Jeanne begins to grow up, and travel with Francis in the mobile library which soon becomes popular, she realizes what her talent is to be used for. She is somehow able to match people’s glows by how they look and what they read.

The older she gets, the more she sees how she is able to make people happy as she matches them, and their enjoyment as how books play such an important role. But Marie Jeanne is unable to find her own soulmate it seems. She has never seen a glow from anyone for her. But she accepts her fate on love and just relishes what she is able to accomplish.

But as she knows, fate and love are her friends. They’ve taken care of her all her life. She wonders…if she asks, will they grant her the ability to find her own soulmate? It’s then that love and fate who adore Marie Jeanne must make a decision. But how can they let her go?

The Little Village of Book Lovers is a wonderful story filled with extraordinarily imaginative characters all who feel they must somehow accept loneliness for the rest of their lives, but through the magic of a young girl and books their destiny changed.

Thank you #NetGalley #RandomHouse/BallentineBooks #NinaGeorge #TheLittleVillageofBookLovers for the advanced copy.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George was a magical read. I had not read George's previous books, but I will be going back to read them now! This lovely little tale had me enchanted from the very first page, where the personified Love, the narrator of this tale, communes with the Olive Tree, under which the infant Marie-Jeanne is lying peacefully in her cradle. Every scene in the French countryside is so beautifully written, each character is so delightfully quirky, that it is easy to suspend disbelief and accept the magical realism that is the crux of the story. I have never wanted to visit France more than I do after finishing this beautiful story about the transformative power of both books and love. Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-galley.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is a beautifully- penned novel that revolves around family, friendship, love and the transformative power of books.
As the story begins we meet orphaned infant Marie-Jeanne who finds a family with bric-a-brac dealer and deliveryman Francis Meurienne and his wife Elsa the Valley of Nyons in the 1960s, both of whom care for her deeply though Elsa isn’t too expressive of her emotions. As an infant Marie-Jeanne has a strange encounter with Love, that leaves her with a special gift – the ability to see how Love impacts the people around her, the “glow” that is evident in those touched by Love – a gift that initially confuses her because others cannot see what she sees and eventually as she grows up has her concerned when she cannot see the same “glow” on herself.

Encouraged by her curiosity about writers and books, her foster father thinks of starting a bookmobile service – a venture Marie-Jeanne enthusiastically participates in, enabling her to interact with residents of the neighboring towns in Nyons. Her love for books and her perceptiveness of love enables her to study those she believes have been touched by Love or are waiting to find their significant other. The narrative follows Marie-Jeanne as she uses her gift and love for books to not only encourage children, men and women from Nyons to develop an interest in reading and thereby explore different ways of life but also to bring people together. She hopes to find a special someone in her own life, but is happy to be helping others, combining her matchmaking skills with her knowledge of books.

With elements of magical realism, a cast of interesting characters and a unique narrative structure (told from the perspectives of Love , Fate and an eight-hundred-year-old Olive Tree), this book is a treat for bibliophiles and romantics alike. This is a slower-paced novel and does require a bit of patience but the story, the beautiful passages, the literary references and the underlying message cast a spell on me and I found myself rereading certain segments time and time again. This isn’t a plot-driven novel but one that explores love in its various manifestations – family, friendship, romantic love, empathy and kindness. A running theme in this novel is books can bring people together. Overall, this is an enchanting read that will leave you with a smile on your face and happiness in your heart.

Though this novel is tied to The Old Paris Bookshop, it can be read as a standalone. I loved the Author’s Postface where she discusses the connection between the two books and her motivation for writing this novel.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the much–appreciated digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

If you love to read and believe in the power of books - this is a must read. If you want to believe in the power of love - also a must read. Nina George - author also of The Little Paris Bookshop - advocates beautifully for the power of stories to shape the lives of readers who read books. She lays the groundwork for this idea in The Little Paris Bookshop, and this librarian/literature teacher was dazzled - the way George intertwines this idea in The Little Village of Book Lovers with love and the fates and hate who are CHARACTERS no less is just stunning.

To summarize this title feels silly to me. How to recapture in a few words the intricacies of what George does, in fact, seem a bit impossible. She begins with an orphaned baby, a sentient olive tree, an overwhelmed love, and a family. She creates within the new father this unexpected urge to read and to surround himself with readers and more importantly to surround his daughter with readers. His daughter sees lights that no one else can, and the child struggles to figure them out -she reads, studies, and talks to others. The whole village becomes involved as she learns what it means to love and be loved.

So you don’t know that you need to read Nina George until you do.

As a lover of books about books, Nina George’s The Little Paris Bookshop holds a special place in my reading life. When I learned of a new book inspired by The Little Paris Bookshop, I was in. The Little Village of Book Lovers is about connections and finding love through books, a beautiful intention shared in the most lyrical prose.

Thank you to Nina George, NetGalley, and Ballentine Books for the opportunity to read and review The Little Village of Book Lovers.

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 story revolves around a special girl names Marie Jeanne who is somewhat mythical and can see glowing hands, face, head etc on people around her but no one else can. There’s this magical olive tree that also gives wisdom to her. The book is a lot about the unseen factors in life that determine our decisions like: love, death, friendship, jealousy, passion, fear, hate. It shows so deeply that Love is complicated, messy, heartbreaking, warm, simple, torturous, easy to miss, and maybe even easy to find. In small moments of everyday life, in big moments, and daily trials, we are shown how people try to fight love, or find it, or rail against not having it. We see pieces of peoples’ hearts as they observe the person they love, and we see people learn about themselves and face their own fears where love is concerned. It isn’t focused on only romantic love either, but love between family members, friends, and communities.


Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher

Nina George’s latest novel, The Little Village of Book Lovers, is a prequel of sorts. In her amazing novel, The Little Paris Bookshop, a book is referenced that inspires the bookseller, Jean Perdu to begin his journey. Also in that book, Jean Perdu states that some books are written for just one person, and The Little Village of Book Lovers is probably written solely for Jean Perdu.

I liked The Little Village of Book Lovers, but I found it a bit slow through most of the first half of the book. The narrator is “Love”, and other fates/emotions are characters as well. I found it interesting and unique to have Love, Fate, Chaos, et al tell Marie-Jeanne’s story as if watching her life on a screen. Another unique character in the story is an ancient and wise olive tree.

Through the first half of the book, we and Marie-Jeanne learn of her special gift. Once Marie-Jeanne decides to take action, the pace of the story moves much more quickly. The Little Village of Book Lovers crescendos in the most delightful way and concludes very satisfactorily. While this book is a standalone novel, I highly recommend reading The Little Paris Bookshop first to maximize your appreciation of Ms. George’s writing style and her take on magical realism.

In The Little Village of Book Lovers, you will find a unique story. A story about love and relationships, a story about people and their relationships.
At first, in the first chapters it was hard for me to get into the story, due to the way it is told. However, once I got into the story, I found a beautiful story that was both fascinating and gripping.
The story went straight to my heart and made me feel connected to Marie-Jeanne and all the characters. I loved how it talks about love and how complicated and yet beautiful it is. I also love how it talks about the power of books and stories. I really liked the idea of the bookabus and the Littéramour gatherings. It made me want to leave in Nyons and joined the characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. And since I haven’t read The Little Paris Bookshop, I am now dying to do it.

I have loved Nina George's other novels, but this one was a bit tough to read. "Love" and "Death" are characters in the novel. This book is based on interesting concepts, and the language is gorgeous. However, I had trouble getting into it and even more trouble connecting with the characters.