In 1938 London Gertie’s life is turned upside down when she agrees to have 15-year-old Hedy come and live with her when it is no longer safe for the Jewish teen to remain in her native Germany. Still mourning the loss of her husband, Harry, Gertie struggles to connect with Hedy, who missed the family she left behind. Over time, Gertie’s bookshop brings them, as well as the community, together in a time of uncertainty and war.

World War 2 books are being written in droves. A literary based WW2 novel is one that is going to appeal to me. However, I would skip this one. Set in London, you initially get the feel of Last Bookshop in London, which I loved. This book however, did not have powerful writing. It was written on a shallow level. I did enjoy the literary references sprinkled throughout, but this was honestly the only thing that kept me going. At 80% when, of course, one of the main characters had to reveal their love for another of the same sex, my three star rating plummeted to a two.
With titles like Last Bookshop in London, When Books Went to War, Beyond that the Sea, etc., choose those and leave this one on its shelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the chance to preview this book.

The Air Raid Book Club is an engrossing historical fiction book. Gertie Bingham owns Bingham Books in a small community in London. For the war effort, Gertie decided to open her heart and home to a teenage German refugee trying to escape the horrors of her home. Throughout the nightly bombings of WWll Gertie and her friends and neighbors discussed books while in the bomb shelters. This drama-filled book pulled me in from the start and kept me captivated till the end. I loved how the community rallied together to help those in need. Thanks to the author Annie Lyons, publisher William Marrow, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this ebook for an honest review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

After a month of chaos and real-life messes - and no time to read at all - I was so excited to finally get a break so I could read The Air Raid Book Club. First off, I love stories that feature bookshops, libraries, etc. as a crucial part of the plot, and I immediately fell in love with Bingham Books. Secondly, I’ve always enjoyed historical books that take place during World War II. I don’t often read historical fiction, but when I do I tend to reach for something during that era. I adored all of the characters, especially Gertie and Hedy. It was so endearing to witness the way their relationship evolved over time and how they held fast to each other through their struggles. The only complaint I have with this book is Gertie and Charles not getting a happily ever after. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but I cheered for them throughout the whole story, and I was extremely disappointed when the author took the route she did. Also, I understand this book is meant to be an uplifting read - and it is - but there were moments when it felt TOO optimistic and forced, especially with the horrors of war going on during that time. Overall, though, The Air Raid Book Club is a very good story, especially if you love books about books. One of my favorite parts are the book excerpts at the beginning of each chapter. Such a great addition!

I LOVED The Air Raid Book Club! After reading Lyons’s first book (Eudora Honeysett) several months ago, I knew that I’d plummet read anything by Annie Lyons. This particular novel is set just before and during WWII on the outskirts of London proper, and it centers around a bookseller and her bookshop. Gertie takes in a German Jewish teenager and the novel proceeds to tell their story through WWII and just beyond, with the bookshop being what brings and binds the community together in a variety of ways. This book felt like home. I loved it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Air Raid Book Club is a heartwarming historical fiction set in London during WWII. This is one of my favorite eras to read about and this book definitely didn't disappoint. Gertie is trying to keep the bookstore that her and her late husband dreamed of afloat during this very difficult time. Her path crosses with a German refugee, Hedy, who turns out to be exactly what Gertie needed. This story speaks of determination, faith, love, and community. Even in a different era, the themes are still relevant today. You will fall in love with the characters.

This book is uplifting and hopeful This book made me laugh and cry and fall in love with the characters.

Set during WWII, The Air Raid Book Club is a feel-good story set during a horrible time in history.

Central to the story is recently windowed and childless Gertie who, at the encouragement of a dear friend, agrees to provide a home for a Jewish child who has been sent out of Germany for safety. Gertie and Hedy, who is almost 16 when she arrives, are both dealing with sadness and loneliness and it takes them quite a long time to forge what will become a long lasting and important relationship.

The local bookstore, owned by Gertie, is also a main focus of the story. It is through the bookstore and their book club that we come to know a cast of diverse characters that bond through their love of books. It is their love of literature and their friendship that sustains them during the horrors of the air raids over London.

My favourite part of this book was following how the characters developed and how they all found their strengths as they supported each other through dismal times.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an ARC for my review.

The Air Raid Book Club was charming, heartwarming, heart wrenching and lovely. Set before, during and after WWII, the book follows the life of Gertie Bingham who's life revolves around her bookstore. Her life was heading towards retirement until she takes in Hedy, a Jewish refugee from Germany. After that, life blossoms and many lessons of resilience and love commence.

I loved this book, my first from this author and I hope not the last!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

The power of books and story to build found family and community, The Air Raid Book Club spans World War II from a bookshop in London run by Gertie who has been recently widowed at the book’s opening. Struggling to find joy in the shop and life, Gertie’s friend Charles convinces her to take in a German teen girl whose father is Jewish. They bond over books. As the Blitz roars into London, the bookshop starts their Air Raid Book Club where discussions of the current selection take place in bomb shelters. Secondary characters become real as Gertie finds her way through relationships built because of the bookshop and books. Pair with The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin for hope-filled, joy of books reading uplift.

I read this as an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley. For some reason I could not really connect with the characters and or the story however I know people that absolutely loved this novel! I will definitely try to read it again soon. It was a love story with a twist. The writing style was great and I loved the idea of the story!

A sweet love story between Gertie and Harry permeates this book that spans both world wars. The Air Raid Book Club, by Annie Lyons, will tug at your emotions as Hedy, a German Jew, flees her home and finds a second family with Gertie. All of the bookstores eclectic friends find solace in reading selected books as they wait in air raid shelters. You will travel on a literary journey and become part of Gertie's air raid book club.

I was allowed to read an ARC on #NetGallery.

The Air Raid Book Club is a unique historical fiction story set in London during WWII. It follows Gertie, a grieving widow who is struggling to run her and her late husband’s bookstore on her own. However, Gertie’s life instantly changes when she learns about a volunteer program to support Jewish refugees from Nazi occupied Germany. When Gertie gets paired with a teenager named Hedy, the last thing she thought was how much this girl would lift her spirits and keep her connection with the book store alive.

What I loved most was how this story was not really about the war despite it being the backdrop of the story. It was about community, friendship, found family and the healing and unity that books can bring. The characters were well-developed, and I found it special that they all came together during air raid shelters, which seemed to become a place of growth for them. This was my first book by Lyons, and I am excited to dive into her backlist/ see what she writes next. Her writing was heartwarming and simplistically beautiful.

Read if you like:
-Historical fiction set during WWII
-Book clubs and reading classics
-Found family theme

Thank you William Morrow for the ARC! Pub Date: 7/11

I absolutely loved The Air Raid Book Club. This novel is the sort of book that appeals to all readers. With its emphasis on the love between mothers and daughters, Annie Lyon's new book will appeal to anyone who struggles to understand mothers or daughters. Lyons explores love for all ages, which makes it an important exception, when it comes to love between older characters. Also prominent is the rescue of Jewish children, who arrived on the Kindertransports, which transported and rescued Jewish children during the early days of WWII and what would become the Holocaust. In fact, The Air Raid Book Club has topics and ideas that will appeal to all readers.

One of the strengths of The Air Raid Book Club is the focus on women as an important strength of the war effort in England. Women held all sorts of jobs, from Air Raid Warning volunteers, to comforting the wounded, to packing boxes to send to solders and to POWs, to knitting endless socks, as well as caring for those who have lost sons and lovers to the war. The jobs were endless and women filled the needs of a war that seemed to last forever. The central characters are a 60-year-old widow, Gertie, and a 15-year-old Jewish girl, rescued from Germany, Hedy, who arrives to stay with Gertie. I cannot forget to mention Hemingway, who enchants in his role as family and bookstore dog.

The book club of the title is not just about entertaining readers, it is also about teaching book club readers how to survive the losses of war and how to live in a changing world. The characters in The Air Raid Book Club are of such variety, they serve to enchant readers. Love is everywhere, as is loss. Everyone is called upon to start over. The book cub also serves to unite the community in a common cause: strengthening one another to survive the war.

Thank you to author, Annie Lyons, and publishers, William Morrow, for providing this heartfelt and brilliant ARC for me to read and review. Obviously I loved this book. Thank you to NetGalley for listing such a terrific book and for introducing me this enchanting writing. I will certainly be looking for more Annie Lyons books.

When Gertie Bingham decides to accept Hedy Fischer, a 15 year old Jewish refugee from Germany, into her home she could not have imagined the many ways in which her life is about to change. Hedy, Gertie and every character we meet along the way become examples of human kindness and resilience. As we travel by their side through the turmoil of World War II we feel their losses as well as their happiness along with them.

But at the heart of this book is the relationship of people between books. If it weren’t for Bingham Books these characters would not have come together at all. Despite the fact that we meet so many great characters in the book, I love that books and a bookstore is what brings them closer together; it's their love for books or their rediscovery of books that creates the bonds. So if I were to summarize this book I'd say that this is a story about the great impact that books have on our lives, and their abilities to bring people closer together.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.

The Air Raid Book Club tells the story of book shop owner Gertie Bingham who takes in Hedy, a refugee fleeing Germany. Together they start the air raid book club as a way to bring their community together and provide something to take minds off the war.
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Lyons crafted a wonderfully heartwarming story set against one of the most horrific times in history. As readers, we all know the power books have to transport us somewhere new or allow us to escape even just for a little while. It’s easy to see how this could’ve been used to bolster spirits during WWII. It provided the perfect opportunity to allow book club members to escape the horrors raining down around them. Beyond the book club, Lyons artfully showed what it would be like for two very different individuals to come together under one household during very uncertain times to eventually become their own little family. One of the elements of The Air Raid Book Club I appreciated most was how realistically Lyons described the fear and anxiety Hedy faced while trying to determine what happened to her family left behind in Germany. You could feel your heart breaking right along side her with each new piece of news or lack there

Set in London just before and during WW2, Gertie, owner of Bertram Books, has taken in 15 yr old Hedy, a Jewish refugee from Germany. This is a story of London during the war with its many bombings, and the courageous people who endure their losses with fortitude, rising to face another day. It’s also a story of love in its many forms, a mother who must relinquish her daughter to keep her safe, a woman who grows to love the daughter as if she were her own, the people who band together making the best of it everyday with their shared love of books and reading that broaden their horizons during these dark times and allows them to hope and grow, becoming a family of friends. It is of hope and love even during the darkness and horror of War during Hitlers madness. A well written and loving book, this is a wonderful addition to the fiction of WW2.

A wonderful and uplifting book about a group of women who form a book club during the bombings in London during WWII. They share their stories, fears, hopes, and dreams through books and friendship. The book is full of humor, courage, and heart. It made me feel grateful for the power of books and the bonds of women. A lovely read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook ARC!

This is the story of Gertie Bingham, a recently widowed bookshop owner who lives in London in the waning days of the 1930s ahead of the outbreak of WWII. Gertie is approached by a friend, who is organizing a trip to get Jewish children out of Germany, and asked to take in one of the children. That is how 15-year old Hedy Fischer comes to stay with Gertie and ultimately change Gertie's life in ways she never expected. The story follows these two women throughout the war as they continue to bring their love of books to not only the people in their community, but to people near and far, including POWs in Europe. There is love and loss and the most important lesson that family isn't always defined by blood relationships.

This was a wonderful story for anyone who is a fan of WWII era historical fiction who find in Gertie and Hedy two women who are incredibly relatable. Anyone who has a passion for books and reading will immediately fall in love with the characters in this story and wish they had a Bingham Books in their community.

Thank you to Netgalley, Annie Lyons, and William Morrow for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thoroughly, 100% enjoyed this delightful and heartwarming story. I loved watching Gertie and Hedy’s relationship evolve and loved the bookish setting. Some books about books don’t include enough of the books but this was perfectly lovely.