The Littlest Library

“But I'm not going anywhere,” Jess protested.
“Not now, but you will, and when you do---when you are ready---you will unpack these boxes and it will be like I am standing there beside you; all our memories, all our precious times together, wrapped up in these books... Trust me. You'll see.”

The Littlest Library was an incredibly cozy and comforting story about early thirties Jess moving to a new village after the grandmother who raised her dies. Jess is a librarian, which seems to be a dying profession, especially when the library she works at closes. Feeling the loss of grandmother Mimi, she takes a drive to clear her head and ends up in a small country village named Middlemas. There her car stalls and she stops to look at an old show more red phone box, that now seems to be the bathroom for lads coming back from the pub, and stumbles into an open house for the small cottage that sits behind the phone box. Even though the neighbor interrupts her from looking at the cottage, he's handsome but very grumpy about her stalled car blocking the road, she's still charmed by what the cottage, she mostly just saw the pond and gardens, could mean for her future.

For hours her mind chattered and whirred, as she stared up at the sky through the skylight chastising herself for her idiocy, buying a house in the middle of nowhere, giving up everything she had ever known, for an uncertain future alone among strangers.

Jess' parents died in a car accident when she was four and with the recent death of her grandmother, she's even more scared to love and put herself out there because, to her, everyone leaves anyway. When her grandmother was dying of cancer, she made Jess promise to be more adventurous, so calling the Realtor and buying the cottage, almost sight unseen, is Jess trying to live life fully. The cottage ends up needing a ton of work and there are bats in the loft that the local bat warren, handsome grump neighbor, says she can't get rid of, but she's actually starting to make some friends. Her childhood friend Hannah has been her only connection and since Hannah lives in New Zealand, Jess needs these connections.

“Oh God, it's you,” he said.

After Jess gets settled in Middlemas, she slowly but surely gets welcomed into the village townspeople fold. She gets pushed into cleaning up the old phone box and turning it into a library, using her precious grandmother's books. Throughout the story, people seem to be borrowing the right book at the right time and Mimi's legacy and warm advice gets carried on through the segments she underlined or the little messages she wrote in the books. I thought this was a lovely way to bring in the love and power of books and their stories.

And now she had the pleasure of sharing her books---her memories---with her new community.

There's Jess' grief over the recent loss of her grandmother, some of the secondary character stories have adultery, sisterly animosity, town rivalry, marriage dynamics, an ex-wife causing trouble, and just general life issues but while you feel the importance to the characters, as the reader, you're never drug down too much by them as the story keeps it's warm cozy tone throughout.

One thing Jess did know was that she was home and life was full of nothing but possibilities.

This is a book club fiction story, the romance between Jess and the neighbor, Aidan, has a kiss at around 50% but he's the one dealing with the ex-wife drama and thinks he can't really start anything with Jess so he can protect his pre-teen daughter from her mother's jealousy. Jess' attraction to Aidan is always there but Jess dealing with trying to get her life on track, making friends, putting herself out there, and finding a job that fulfills her soul instead of crushing it, is the main story here. There's some ending wrenches, a woman trying to get the phone box Little Library closed and Jess maybe having to move for a job, to create some worrisome feelings. However, the ending continues the promise of comforting and we even get a happily for now for our little romance. I can see this story being a favorite comfort read for many, the townspeople characters were many and varied but all the interconnecting friendships, especially with Jess, had them feeling like cherished friends. If looking for a sweet and comforting read that will transport you to the English countryside and has the love of books at the heart of it's story, then The Littlest Library needs to be your go to pick. show less

This was just a charming little book. It's a little bit of romance but it's also a little bit of a story of dealing with loss and moving on with life and finding a new definition of family.

Jess is dealing with the loss of her grandmother who raised her after her parents were killed in a car crash. Now her library job is gone with the closing of the library. Her best friend lives on the other side of the world and their facetime calls are her social world. Deciding to sell her grandmother’s house and start over she takes a detour around a traffic jam and finds her dream cottage for sale in a small village. She takes an impulsive leap of faith and buys it.

Then she finds out that she's also responsible for the unused phone booth in show more front of her cottage. The village council agrees to the idea of turning it into a library.

Then there's the handsome neighbor. There's also a village full of fun characters.

I could easily ignore that the solution to a major conflict throughout the story is painfully obvious because I was just enjoying getting to know Jess and her new neighbors. I definitely recommend this enjoyable little escape of a book. show less

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

A really solid book. The only reason that I didn't give this 5 stars is that things started getting a wee bit repetitive regarding Jess's need to get a job and her ongoing thoughts surrounding Aiden. And I thought that some things about Jess's personality were not 100 percent consistent throughout. We know that she has a hard time maintaining friendships and getting out of her comfort zone, so it felt a bit off that she decided to start buttng in on people's lives. What was lovely though is that Jess finds a place she can call home in Middlemass and finds herself some other friends outside of her long-term friendship with her best friend show more Hannah. I loved the discussion about books. And I really wanted a library in my backyard that is installed in an old telephone box.

"The Littlest Library" follows Jess Metcalf. Jess is reeling from losing her job at a library and the loss of her grandmother Mimi, months earlier. Jess is at a crossroads when she decides to take a car trip to get out of Bourton-on-the-Marsh and ends up in the village of Middlemass. She gets stranded and comes across a cottage for sale with a telephone box in front. Before she knows it, Jess puts down an offer and moves out of her grandmother's old home to start anew in Middlemass. Jess starts trying to fix up her new home but keeps running across her neighbor (who irks her) Aiden and his daughter. But she also meets some of the other villagers like Diana, Mungo, Paddy, and Becky who start to fill in some of the spaces she has let go empty for so many years. When Jess somehow ends up agreeing to run a library out of the telephone box in front of her house, she finds herself more fulfilled than she has been in years.

All in all a lovely story. I liked Jess a lot. She loves books, and turns her head to building up her beautiful garden. The book follows her over several months and you get to see her changing and her yearning for something more with Aiden though it looks like that may be out of the cards.

The book's main tension is that some in the village don't want the library and Jess has to decide what she is going to do about it, and what is she going to do about finding a job.

The other characters are delightful and I loved all of the goings on with everyone. I did say above that Jess sticking her nose in and being judgmental of some people does creep up now and again, but she's quick to realize she's doing it.

The writing was great. Alexander really does make you feel like you are in the middle of an English village living in a cute cottage. This book did make me miss summer, but also the month of September.

I loved the ending. It's a quiet thing and you can guess at what happens next. show less

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander was exactly what I hoped for, a feel-good story about friendship, community, love and books.

After Jess loses both the beloved grandmother who raised her and her job in short succession she impulsively purchases a cottage in the tiny rural hamlet of Middlemass. Ivy Cottage is a little run down but Jess sees its potential despite the bats in the attic, the overgrown garden, and the empty, urine soaked red telephone box in the front garden. Hard works soon transforms the cottage, and with a nudge from the community, Jess, an unemployed librarian, gives the telephone box a new life as a free community library, stocked with her late grandmother’s books.

There are no real surprises as to what happens show more next. The little red library is a hit, quickly attracting loyal patrons. Jess makes friends with an assorted array of slightly quirky characters like grocery store owner Paddy, lively seniors Diana and Mungo, harried mother of three Becky, and despite a rocky start with her gruff across-the-way neighbour, Aiden, a will-they/won’t-they romance blossoms. Alexander builds a delightful community you would want to be part of in an English country dream setting.

Of course there is some drama stirred up by a petty parish council member, a sudden illness, a strained marriage, and an intrusive ex-wife, but you can take comfort in knowing that these complications will be resolved. The predictability of a happy and hopeful ending is a balm when everything outside the books pages these days feels so chaotic.

A heartwarming and blithesome read, The Littlest Library is big on charm. show less

Thanks to Avon HarperCollins Publishers for an advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This was a sweet story about books, friendship, community, and risk-taking – with a healing, heartwarming romance.

Librarian Jess Metcalf has lived in Bourton-on-the-Marsh with her dear grandmother Mimi since she lost her parents in a tragic car accident when she was four years old. Mimi had instilled in Jess an abiding love of books, showing her the way they could magically guide, inspire, and even provide an escape from life, especially when life was painful and difficult, as it was after the loss of her parents.

So as Mimi learns she is dying, when Jess is 32, she selects the best of her books and packs them for Jess in show more preparation for her eventual move. She tells Jess, ”All the books that matter are still here. They are yours to keep, and to take with you wherever you go.” “But I’m not going anywhere,” Jess protested. “Not now, but you will, and when you do – when you are ready – you will unpack these boxes and it will be like I am standing there beside you; all our memories, all our precious times together, wrapped up in these books.”

Soon after Mimi passes, Jess is let go from the library where she has worked for 11 years. She goes for a drive and discovers the small village of Middlemass, in Devon. She falls in love with a sweet cottage and before she can overthink it, she has purchased it with Mimi’s inheritance.

A little phone box in front of the cottage is part of the deal, and Jess decides to turn it into a library, the littlest library of the book’s title. She stocks it with Mimi’s books, and soon various members of the community are reading Mimi’s books and finding strength, encouragement and understanding from the underlined quotes…Mimi was still spreading her wisdom. This brings the community together through the library, through the magic of books.

And through the library, Jess makes friends with many of the villagers, including an attractive yet grumpy single fellow who sold her the cottage, which had been his father’s. But Jess is wary of good things. Due to the tragic loss of her parents, she has come to think that devastation inevitably follows joy.

There are several roadblocks that make the story interesting, and which almost prove Jess’ fearful predictions. But author Poppy Alexander skillfully describes Jess’ growth. “She knew Mimi would have encouraged her to take risks, to be brave and follow her heart, rather than take the safe path that protected her from possible hurt. Maybe – in Mimi’s memory – she would try to be brave more often…Was it too much to feel that the little library was a catalyst for healing and reviving the community of Middlemass? Perhaps that was fanciful, she thought, but – not for the first time since Mimi had died – Jess felt her grandmother’s presence, like a warm hug, a sense of safety and love and comfort that flooded her eyes with tears.”

I enjoyed this well-written and engaging book because it was about book lovers in a small town, and how books and a library made a difference in the life of the community. The main character learned to follow her heart even if risky, and I was delighted with the happily-ever-after ending. show less

I loved this delightful story about a librarian who loses her job due to library closure around the same time she loses the grandmother who raised her. She goes for a ride and discovers the house of her dreams in a Devonshire village and purchases it--complete with a phone booth with a stipulation. It must be used for the community. She comes up with the idea of turning it into a library to serve the community. She sees how the books--carefully curated by her grandmother--bring the community together. As the time she must find a job nears, she fears she may need to let go of her dreams of remaining in the village as well as her attraction to the man who sold her his grandfather's home. This book makes a perfect summer read, and it will show more certainly appeal to many book lovers. I received an advance reader's edition through a GoodReads giveaway where reviews are encouraged but not required. All opinions are my own. show less

When she loses her beloved grandmother who raised her and the library she worked at was closed, Jess Metcalfe is forced to rethink her life. She sells up and moves to the small village of Middlemass where she purchases a quaint, slightly rundown cottage, meets and makes new friends and even finds a romantic opportunity in a new neighbour, Aidan Foxworthy. At the front of her new home is an abandoned telephone stand, which she turns into a small lending library that she stocks with books from her own collection.

After a beautiful spring and glorious summer, making friends and fitting into the village, Jess realizes that she needs a job, and the romance isn’t moving forward as Aidan has problems with his ex-wife. It begins to look like show more Jess will have to move away to find work, and although the small library has enabled Jess to forge new friendships and helped to bring the community together, there are some people who are trying to have it shut down.

How Jess’s problems are solved will put a smile on your face as the author gives Jess a life full of friends, community, books and, yes, romance. Although a quiet, slow moving book, I loved the details about the cottage, garden and the renovations that she worked on. Although the romance seemed like an after thought, it was handled in an adult manner. The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander was indeed, a heartwarming and smile-inducing story. show less