what I’m reading: the banned bookshop of maggie banks by shauna robinson.

Maggie Banks arrives in the town of Bell River to help her friend run her bookstore while she is on maternity leave. What she thinks will be a fun four months of selling books and figuring out what she wants to do with her life quickly turns into a rocky situation when she realizes that not only does the bookstore only sell classic books but an error by Maggie causes the bookstore to lose its prime attraction. Sales are declining fast and Maggie doesn’t know what to do until she organizes an underground book club where she secretly starts selling books that would normally never be allowed in the store. But can Maggie keep the underground book club a secret long enough to save the bookstore?

I put this book on hold at the library because I read another book by Shauna Robinson, Must Love Books, and I liked it a lot. So I had a hunch I would like this book as well and it did not disappoint.

I love reading books about books and about people loving books and reading and this book was that. I really enjoyed Maggie’s journey to becoming a reader and finding the books she loves. I liked how this book talks about how people can like all genres and types of books. There are so many literary references in this book, as you would expect when a character works at a bookstore, and they were all great.

We meet a lot of quirky characters in the town of Bell River and I loved seeing how the townspeople came together at the end to support the bookstore. Maggie manages to charm everyone, including her grouchy neighbor. Bell River sounds like it would be an interesting place to live and full of that small-town vibe.

There is some romance in this book but it’s pretty low key and it almost took me by surprise. I mean, I knew as soon as the male character was introduced that he would be Maggie’s love interest but I felt like they were very lukewarm together and I wasn’t entirely sure if they even liked each other.

Overall, this book was a light and engaging read.

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