Kate Storey (2)

This book is one of those warm, comforting reads that feels like a hug—especially if you love books, book clubs, and stories about finding your way again after loss.

At the heart of the story is Grace, a widow still struggling after the death of her larger-than-life husband, Frank. Frank adored books and ran a very unconventional (and wonderfully pressure-free) silent book club. Grace wasn’t much of a reader herself, but when she finally decides—reluctantly—to step into Frank’s show more world, she discovers far more than she expected: friendship, purpose, and a community that slowly helps her heal.

The characters are a real strength here. They’re diverse in age and background, each with their own struggles. I especially loved watching Grace’s growth as she begins to reconnect with life and realize she’s capable of more than she ever imagined. The family relationships—Grace with her daughter and grandson, and the warmth between parents and children—are especially touching.

As someone who loves books about books, I appreciated all the literary references and recommendations woven throughout the story. And yes, there’s an adorable cat named Earnest who plays a surprisingly important role—always a bonus in my book.

That said, while I really appreciated the book’s focus on mental health and ADHD, it did feel a bit heavy-handed at times. The message is important and well-intentioned, but occasionally it pulled me out of the story because it felt a little too front-and-center rather than naturally woven in.

Still, the overall experience is heartfelt, hopeful, and uplifting. This is a story about grief and healing, found family, second chances, and the quiet magic of shared spaces where people feel seen and accepted. The ending left me feeling warm and optimistic.

If you love cozy, character-driven novels about community, books, and new beginnings, The Forgotten Book Club is definitely worth picking up. show less

A truly wonderful, kind of magical, book. Very well-written, with a lot of - sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much - British humour. Equally heart-warming as it was tear-inducing.

We all deserve an Andrew in our lives and someone like Sally.

Aside of a wonderful story this books also contains quite a number of awesome book recommendations, many of which are classics but a few are not (yet).

My only gripe with the ebook version is, that the text isn't fully justified and it was a pain in the show more amygdala to read this. I hope the publisher fixes this eventually.

The poor ebook formatting, and the fact that my migraine ridden head had quite a bad time reading this because of that, leads unfortunately to a 4-star review, although the story itself deserves 5-stars.

Can absolutely recommend - just don't get the ebook at this moment in time. show less

This was an amazing read! The story was about a troubled mother and daughter relationship because of misunderstandings and decades of time passing. It was deeply touching and caused happy tears on a few occasions while reading it. The other great thing, was all the books mentioned throughout the story that are worth reading, for so many different reasons. I highly recommend this book, as I rarely give a five star rating.

I first read this author last month when I read a copy of The Forgotten Book Club. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered her previous book and put her 2026 book on pre-order. I really enjoy reading books about books and Kate Storey does an excellent job of showing the importance of books This is a heartwarming story about a mother and daughter and how books affected their lives over the years and helped to end their estrangement from each other.

When Ella was born, her mother started to buy her show more a book on her birthday every year and inscribe a meaningful comment in it. Even during the last 22 years after Ella fled to Australia and stayed mad at her mother, Sally added a book to the library every year. When Ella gets a call that her mother has been injured in a fall, she reluctantly takes a leave from her job, leaves her husband and daughter and goes to England to help her mother. Ella is still angry at her mother and makes sure her mom knows that she isn't happy to be there. She is surprised at how old and frail her mom looks and amazed at all of the people in their neighborhood that her mother interacts with. Unfortunately, water damage in the house has destroyed all of the books in the library that Sally had added to each year. Ella hasn't read a fiction book since she moved to Australia but is still upset that the books were lost. As she begins to talk to her mom and talk about the books that had been destroyed, she begins to realize that she may have been too harsh on her mother when she left for Australia. As mother and daughter read and discuss books, Ella learns things about her mother that she never knew and begins to see her in a new light.

I loved the two main characters. It was interesting to watch Ella realize that she had been wrong for over 20 years and that her mother was not who she perceived her to be. It's about a mother who continued to love her daughter despite harsh words. There are several other well written characters in the community who also help show how one person can make a difference in their lives and how an entire community can uplift them.

This lovely book is about second chances and corrections to a misunderstanding between generations. It's also about community and how important a library can be to a community. Most importantly it's about the love of books and how literature can bring people together. show less