The Book Haters' Book Clubby Gretchen Anthony
Rating: ★★★★½
isbn: 9781867260110
Publication Date: October 10, 2022
Pages: 335
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins
All it takes is the right book to turn a Book Hater into a Book Lover...
That was what Elliott – the beloved co-owner of the Over the Rainbow Bookshop – believed before his untimely passing. He always had the perfect book suggestion for the self-proclaimed ‘book hater.’ Now, his grief-ridden business partner, Irma, has agreed to sell the cozy Over the Rainbow to condo developers.
But others won’t give up the bookshop without a fight. When Irma breaks the news to her daughters, Bree and Laney, and Elliott’s romantic partner, Thom, they are aghast. Over the Rainbow has been Bree and Laney’s sanctuary since childhood, and Thom would do anything to preserve Elliott’s legacy. Together they conspire to save the bookshop, even if it takes some snooping, gossip and minor sabotage.
Filled with humor, family hijinks and actual reading recommendations, The Book Haters’ Book Club is the ideal feel-good read. It’s a love letter to everyday heroes – those booksellers and librarians dedicated to putting the right books in the right hands every day.
Ding ding ding! LibraryThing has served up a winner! I loved this book, and have ordered up a copy for my library. Gretchen Anthony serves up a great story, well written, with delightful interludes between chapters, that for me, elevated this book from ‘good’ to ‘really, I’m enjoying the heck out of this’. Some of the interludes add a bit of backstory to what’s going on, as well as a bit of depth. Truly, without these, I think the book would still be good, but average, and I’d argue that Anthony’s best writing is found here.
The dynamics between the mother and her daughters here hits close to home for me, so I enjoyed the dip into the familiar, and I loved watching how they conspired to save the bookstore. Laney has all the best lines, and I’ll admit I found Bree a bit too fragile for my tastes, but she finds her own in the end. The conflict at the beginning of the story isn’t the real conflict of the book, but even so its resolution was stunningly anticlimactic. Making it more realistic wouldn’t have really added anything to the real story, so I have no problem over looking it.
It’s just a fun book and well worth investigating if you’re in the mood for some heartfelt entertainment.