What a charming read! A genuinely warm and funny book based around a community who have come to rely on the mobile library for far more than just books. Lovely!

The Little Christmas Library is a lovely festive read. Relatable characters with some twist in their stories I didn't see coming but sweet how a very different group of people can unite and find friendship through a love of books.

A really enjoyable easy read for Christmas, perfect for getting into the festive spirit!

I particularly loved the warm and cozy setting and ultimately enjoyed the premise of the book. The cover leads you to expect a fluffier book and that is exactly what we got!

The perfect Christmas Eve read. A library fairytale.

I bet it would be great for a quick read on Christmas Day too - available from Kindle or wherever you download your ebooks.

A beautiful story with fantastic characters. This book was a lovely mix of friendship, love and Christmas magic.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed this one. A light festive read set in an old mining village that is still living in misery following the collapse of the only substantial source of employment decades before, the local coal mine.

We commence on a negative tone with the main character, Molly’s, return to the village where she grew up, having turned her back on London after not only being made redundant but finding her partner had been having an affair.

She’s drafted in by her father to help him at the local library… a mobile library! The library attracts a wide variety of local residents who, on the face of it, couldn’t be any more different from each other but they soon realise they have something in common… loneliness.

The library acts as a focal point for much needed community spirit and some damn right therapy… as is often the case, we never truly know what’s going on in people’s lives or in their minds.

Just when the community is finding itself again, and the residents are establishing some much needed social connections, the library is threatened by cuts to the public purse. Can it be saved and the positivity maintained?

I found myself focusing on some important lessons whilst reading this book:

1) the heavy weight of loneliness

2) that friendships can form from the most unlikely of sources

3) the importance of not casting assumptions on the character or intentions of others; and

4) the therapeutic side of libraries and what a shame it is that their importance are becoming less and less in the face of cuts in public spend.

This represents a great read if you’re looking for something light over the festive period but still looking for some content to reflect upon, thereafter.

“I discovered me in the library. I went to find me in the library.” 📚

A really enjoyable festive read. Nice and easy to read, some lovely characters. Very nice, has definitely got me in the mood for Christmas x

The Little Christmas Library has everything I crave from a christmasy contemporary fiction
An atmospheric setting, a warm and cozy feel, great characters, a plausible plot linking all the different characters and good writting.
Unfortunately I just couldn't get into the narration style. I just didn't emotionally connect to the characters.
Apparently I'm not a fan of third person omniscient narration.
But since that is a me problem and overall I still enjoyed the book I will not hold it against it too much.

I should have known better than to touch this book. Fluffy, cutesy, cozy. Words that I am not the target audience to be moved by. BUT. I thought 'come on, it's Christmas. What harm can it do to you?'' Well, other than wasting a week of my life reading this drivel?

The premise is perfect. However, a fine premise doesn't guarantee a good result. Far from it. We are talking characters that have no substance. Dialogue that is painful. A plot that is non-existent. A character called Frankie that should have never been born in the mind of the writer. Talking dogs. Idiots who fall in love at first sight.

You know what is worse than a cutesy, Christmassy novel? A cutesy, Christmassy novel written by a man.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and frank review.

This was a fabulous book and encompasses Christmas spirit on every page. This was about creating a mobile library that provides a safe space for lonely people to come together. Beautiful story.

This was miles away from my usual genre but I fancied a quick Christmas read and this delivered! It's not often I laugh at books and this book tickled me for sure. There are definitely bleak parts, it's a true reflection of the state of things in the UK these days with the need for warm spaces and lack of funding for votallresources, but at it's heart it was a festive tale with a sprinkle of Christmas magic.

The "Publife" chapter was genius and I've had the Blur song in my ear all afternoon now 😂.

Santa, for Christmas can I have a magic mobile library please?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you to Netgalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author.

Christmas spirit and Christmas magic rolled into a fabulously festive read. Great characters and a novel that will warm your heart. Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author for the chance to review.

Molly moved back to her home town of Merry-le-moors following the breakdown of her relationship. The town seems rather misnamed at first being a rather bleak ex-mining town but the magic of the little mobile library that her dad drives helps to bring together a rather unlikely and diverse characters together. This is a bit different from the typical Christmas rom-com set in the Highlands or Cotswolds and I absolutely loved it.

This has a sweet festive central idea: a travelling library brings a group of lonely misfits together at Christmas. Unfortunately, the narration style affected my enjoyment of the story itself.

I struggled with the attempts at dialect, the ‘talking’ dogs, the swearing, and the mystery narrator who interrupts (no, we would never have figured that out from the ‘clue’).

A story with a heart that perhaps isn’t told in the best way.

Little Christmas Library is a light hearted seasonal read for book lovers. After being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, Molly heads back to live with her Dad Jack in the northern town of Merry-le-Moors. Together they run the mobile library and encounter Cliff, an elderly man in search of friendship and a place to go.
I enjoyed the characters of Jack and Cliff especially, although some of the way the sweary Northern characters were portrayed grated on me a little.
Overall, a warmhearted book that helps get one in the festive spirit!
Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, it’s the perfect warm and fuzzy Christmas read. The story builds well and is perfect for those cold evenings with festive snack and a warm drink.

Small town cosy Christmas vibes - loved the northern setting and characterisations! This was done so well and made me feel right at home.

I really enjoyed how each chapter focused on a different character - the narrator was giving us the info and insight we needed to get a a good sense of the character in that chapter. This really added to the small town cosy feel and enabled me to get to know the characters well.

What I loved most about this book is how it’s so reflective of how life actually is - it’s perfectly encapsulated small village community coming together to help those in need. From an elderly man who can’t afford to help his home, to widows who just want some company and helping small local businesses so they don’t go under. There’s just something about this book that I found so special.

The way everyone’s stories interconnect, yet the book still flows really well. Even though the omniscient narrator takes us through the story from the perspectives of multiple characters, swapping each chapter to focus on a different person, the story fits together well.

Overall a really cute holiday read that I would highly recommend!

ARC copy provided by Orion & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the perfect festive read that offered comfort, romance and a sprinkling of Christmas magic.
I really liked the characters within the story and adored the relationship between Molly & Jack, offering the sweetest father/daughter bond. I liked how you can evidently see their character development as the story progressed and the way they each navigated their grief, was so well written. They each got their own happy ending and this was so nice to see.
I adored the mobile library! It sounded so perfect and I loved how it brought such a diverse group of people together. They were each in need of company and you can see how it helped each of them throughout the story and they all offered friendship, strength and love to one another.
I really liked the Christmas magic at the end and it was such a nice ending to the story, that you couldn't help feeling so happy for them all.

I loved the sound of this book from the synopsis, but unfortunately, I didn't gel with the writing style. If you enjoy more character driven books then this one is for you. I definitely don't think it was bad in anyway, just not for me.

Firstly, I'd like to say that this is not the cozy Christmas story that the cover and title imply.

After the death of her mother, Molly left her childhood town of Merry-le-Moors to start a new life in London. Ten years later, after a failed relationship, she returns to live with Jack, her dad, and finds everything has changed. All of her friends are married, and have their own homes, the community is struggling financially - no jobs, people can't afford to heat their homes, and the new supermarket is taking business away from the local shops.

It's a story about the lost and the lonely, friendship and families, fighting for things that you believe are worth fighting for, racism and at times, is very political..

It took a few chapters for me to get into the author's writing style, but when I did, found it hard to put down. I loved the magical ending, with Jack being the true hero of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for letting me read a copy of this book in return for my honest review