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

It took me a while to get going with the book, I think that was just a writing style I’m not used to, but once I was in the book I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was great, it made me feel nostalgic and warm and happy. I’d definitely be up for reading more from this author.

I wanted to read this book for a cozy Christmas feel.
Unfortunately I could not get into the story and did not enjoy the writing. I decided to DNF it.
Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing group for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Small town cosy vibes ✅
Christmas setting ✅
Friendships and new beginnings ✅
Magical Christmas spirit and a united love of books ✅
What else could you possibly want from a book? I absolutely loved this festive read!
Perfect for fans of Sally & Libby Page.
A heartfelt and heartwarming book!
Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, I’ll be recommending this to everyone at book club!

Charming book set in a small town. Showing the power of libraries being a hub for people to meet in a warm place. Friendships developed and new new beginnings. Neve judge a book by its cover!

Molly McGinley escapes London to start over in Merry-le-Moors. Already, it has the feel of a cosy read. It has lots of festive warmth, with an edge.
Molly's dad, Jack is inspirational! He's lost his wife and yet he shows resilience and positivity and helps Molly.

There are cute dog moments, community and friendship amongst real issues the UK is facing today in-terms of the future of libraries hanging in the balance. It also addresses loneliness, but also the upside being that a librarian can ease this, even if it's just for a while.

The connection between the challenges being faced and something festive is well-written and works well.
It's not schmaltzy, but there is romance and the connecting of people that does give it a festive heart-warming feeling that's well-worth investing in.

I was looking forward to reading this book as the description made it sound like a really exciting, cosy Christmas read. Unfortunately, I was left feeling rather disappointed. I found the book to be rather boring and predictable. I didn't find the characters particularly likeable. The writing is all over the place, suddenly jumping between character viewpoints and internal monologues, often without warning, which made it hard to follow at times. I found it very difficult to get through this book as it didn't grip me at all, I spent the whole time waiting for something unexpected to happen, but that something never came.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a proper Christmas story, with all the typical things I would expect, the magic of Christmas, girl meets boy, a tragic back story. I love these kinds of reads, you can just switch off and get lost in the world set in front of you. This book contains a plot twist, a narrative from someone runs through the book, but so we find out who's telling it?? Each chapter has a title, which relates to what you're about to read. Molly has left London to move back with her dad, she starts working in his mobile library and connects with many people along the way. I enjoy reading books for pleasure and this book was a lovely read.

In a Nutshell: A character-oriented contemporary fiction with a strong Christmas spirit and a dash of Christmas magic. Excellent characters and a well-connected narrative linking them all. True to contemporary times in every way. Might get a bit too sugary, but works well for the genre. A fabulous and heartwarming option for the festive season.

Plot Preview:
When Molly McGinley moves from London to her Northern hometown of Merry-le-Moors, she feels like an utter failure. Ten years in the big city, and all she has to show is a broken relationship and no job. Her widower dad Jack is more than happy to have his daughter home, especially as he is still missing his wife who passed away a decade back. Jack now whiles away his time driving the town’s mobile library and he insists that Molly accompany him on his rounds instead of moping alone at home.
As the two take the library bus to various locations within the small town, we meet many townspeople, whether library patrons or not. We see their frustrations and their struggles, and we learn more about what drives them onward. We also see a threat coming the way of the library, which might throw the new friendships in jeopardy.
The story comes to us from the point of view of an omniscient narrator, with each chapter focussing on one specific character.


Bookish Yays:
📚 The fabulous prologue that gives us a lovely intro to the location of Merry-le-Moors and also offers an excellent glimpse of the attitude of its denizens. What a great way of knowing the setting!
📚 The storyline, which is much more complicated than that cute cover suggests. Though the book is quite heartwarming and humorous, it isn’t the usual light-romance kind of Christmas fare. That’s what makes it stand apart from the clutter of similarly-themed books.
📚 The narration by the apparently omniscient narrator, whose identity we don’t learn for most of the book. The approach gives us a close perspective of various characters, thereby helping us know every character intimately.
📚 Varied characters with varied personalities, thus ensuring a nicely heterogenous crowd in this story. The book is not about any individual character and it is still about all of them. Almost every character deserves a separate Yay, but that would be too many to list out. But I do want to mention Jack, Molly's father. What a wonderful human being! The star of the whole show! 😍
📚 It is fitting that in a book that begins with info about the town, Merry-le-Moors is almost like a character. Its locations as well as its culture and beliefs are as vital to the story as the attitude of its residents.
📚 The mobile library and all things connected to it. Shouldn’t be a surprise that everything bookish is wonderful!
📚 The multitude of themes, thanks to the multi-character arc. The emotions range from happy to sad to infuriating. The story even includes the troubles of a small community such as financial troubles, remoteness, and loneliness. Most of the subplots are handled well. The best is the found-family angle.
📚 The Christmas content is perfect for the season. This is how Christmas stories should be written, focussing more on giving and sharing than on commercialised splurging and partying. The book is festive in spirit than in material things such as decorations and gifts.
📚 I don’t like chapter titles in adult fiction, but this book has some really interesting chapter titles that immediately enhance the reader’s curiosity.
📚 I'll be honest: there were many moments when I could feel my rating slipping. But every single time this happened, the story twisted and brought forth an event that spiked my feelings as well as the rating.
📚 The big reveal. If you read the book, you know what I mean. I didn't see it coming and I loved it!

Bookish Mixed Bags:
📖 While I do love character-oriented fiction, there are too many characters in this book, and it gets tough to keep track of who’s who. My Kindle Search feature was put to a lot of use while reading this novel. If you have the physical or the audio copy, it would be better to take notes on the characters as many pop up randomly throughout the story.
📖 Each chapter comes from a separate character’s perspective. There are some key characters (like Molly and Jack) who get multiple chapters, some characters get at least a few, and a couple of the characters get just one-two chapters. (There are even a couple of chapters from canine characters.) So you need to be ready for a lot of character-hopping. Thankfully, as the viewpoint changes only with every chapter, it is easy to pay attention to the shift in narration. Going with the flow also helps.
📖 There are a few new romantic relationships in the book. While one of them was almost insta-love (a trope I always hate), it was written well in this book. However, another relationship went into insta territory without even being insta-love – that was awkward to read. There are closed-door intimate scenes, but again, one of them came out of nowhere and didn’t seem plausible. One person’s relationship-related decision towards the end felt out of character. Basically, very mixed feelings about the handling of romance in this novel! On the positive side, the romance doesn’t dominate the core storyline.
📖 The start of the book is slow, partly due to the writing style. It is almost like a raconteurial kind of storytelling, with a cosy casualness to the flow. It took me a while to get used to the style, but once I was accustomed to it, I found the pacing a bit quicker.

Bookish Nays:
📕 While I liked almost all the characters’ stories, one specific character’s arc was very dissatisfactory to me. The turnaround in the person’s behaviour was almost instant and hence unbelievable. It is not that easy to overcome years of conditioning. Plus, the reason for that commitment is never clarified.

All in all, I mostly enjoyed this quaint novel. Combining two favourite topics of readers – Christmas and books – into a character-focussed cosy read isn’t an easy task, but the author handles it well. Certain scenes and event timings might seem too good to be true, and the story also becomes too sappy at times. But this is feel-good fiction after all. Suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride.

Definitely recommended to readers of contemporary fiction with a dash of Christmas magic and bookish magic. It would work better for those who enjoy character-oriented narratives.

4.25 stars.

A lovely little Christmas story about community, relationships and life, with books at its core - what isn't to love? A story written from many viewpoints and each one as welcome as the last - loved it.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author. It was a different take on a Christmas read. I like the characters and their different personalities and how they all found friendship in each other. So many relatable feelings from different characters especially at the time of year where you are expected to be happy and jolly and have lots of friends and family to spend time with.

The story telling was a bit different and I’m not sure it was for me. The whole premise of ‘who’ was telling the story and giving the reader little bits of information was a bit far fetched for me, but it was a Christmas book and Christmas is a time when you have to believe in magic.

The underlying message of friendship and community was nice and relevant situations in today’s society.

Molly moves back to her hometown, Merry-Le-Moors after she finds her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman. But being back at her Dad's house means reliving the memories from before, when her mother was still alive. But while helping her Dad with his mobile library, she comes across a diverse group of people and they form a friendship.

This book was a cozy, Christmas read. It was a little confusing as their were many points-of-views and a different writing style too. Although at times it felt like a children's book but it isn't as their were some adult themes.

This is the first book i have read by this author, it was a lovely cosy read and really gets you in the christmas mood, it has a good community feel and the characters are very well written, if you need to get in the christmas mood this is the book for you.

I received a free copy of, The Little Christmas Library, by David M. Barnett, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Molly McGinley moves back home to Merry-le-Moors, from London. Her mother has been gone for a decade, but her dad Jack still mourns her. I did not care for Harry at all. The other characters were all right. This is not a happy read for me.

This was a lovely Christmas read. Forced home after a bad break-up, Molly McGinley moves back in with her Dad. Christmas is on the horizon, and the move will give her the space she needs to decide what to do next with her life.. Her Dad, Jack, is still missing her mum who passed away several years before. He encourages Molly to join him at work- he drives the local mobile library. Soon, the library becomes a haven for those looking for warmth and companionship., and new friendships are formed - but will Molly find her own happy ending?

A real treat of book for a cold afternoon in front of the fire. Thanks to NetGalley and Orion for my ARC- this has not affected my review.