General Fiction | Book Chatter

The Lonely Hearts Book Club
By Lucy Gilmore
Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728256214, March 2023, 368 pp.

The Short of It:

Probably my favorite book of the year. Books featuring other books win me over every time.

The Rest of It:

Sloane is naturally curious by nature which makes her an excellent librarian. As excellent as she is, she likes to keep to herself. She’s engaged to a successful chiropractor and their plans for the future seem promising.

Enter Arthur McLachlan. An old, crotchety patron who finds Sloane to be terribly insipid and boring. He dismisses everyone he meets and sends all the other librarians running for cover. Sloane’s love of books and reading encourages her to spew forth with banter that is not at all welcome. Or is it?

When Arthur’s regular visits to the library stop, Sloane grows worried and seeks his whereabouts. This leads to the introduction of many, wonderful characters. I won’t name them because you must meet them yourselves. As these people gather around Arthur, they all realize that although they do okay on their own, they are really meant to do life together, in community so a book club is formed.

It’s SO MUCH MORE than a book club. These are wonderful, flawed characters, all searching for love and friendship. It’s a feel good read and we all need those these days. Highly recommend.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. Books about books get me every time. You can thank me later.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

The Midnight Feast
By Lucy Foley
William Morrow & Company, 9780063003101, June 2024, 368pp.

The Short of It:

In the end, disappointment.

The Rest of It:

“It’s the opening night of The Manor, the newest and hottest luxury resort, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And it’s not too long before the local police are called. Turns out the past has crashed the party, with deadly results.” ~ from the publisher

This story alternates between when these characters were young, and them as adults. As youths, I was taken in by the story. But the adult characters were such crashing bores. I’ve read two other Foley books and enjoyed them quite a bit, but this one lost me every time the story turned to the present.

As a mystery, nothing is surprising and some of the antics are quite juvenile and ridiculous. I’m okay reading a book for its entertainment value but about halfway through that desire left me but I pushed through to finish it.

I know some people enjoyed this one but I do not recommend it. Read one of her other books.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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