MAY 2023 - AudioFile
Angie Kane's heartfelt performance eloquently captures the essence of each character in this novel about loneliness, friendship, and family. In Washington State, four lonely people from varying backgrounds unexpectedly come together through a book club. Once trust is established, they discover that friendship can take place on a deeper level than they ever anticipated. Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective and picks up where the last one left off, so there is no loss of time or continuity with the shift in perspective. Kane portrays each character with depth and strong emotion, making it easy to connect with him or her. This audiobook is an easy listen, a feel good story with strong character development. B.E.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 02/27/2023
Gilmore (I Hate You More) knocks it out of the park with this passionate love letter to books, showing literature’s power to offer solace, understanding, and human connection. When frail but formidable former literature professor Arthur fails to show up to the library as usual, librarian Sloane, who recognizes him as a kindred spirit despite his cantankerousness, correctly guesses that he’s sick and refusing help. Sloane pushes her way into Arthur’s home, and his neighbor Maisey, part-time nurse Mateo, and grandson Greg soon follow. The five protagonists tell their stories in consecutive narrations: Sloane is grieving her sister and engaged to a man she doesn’t love; telephone psychic Maisey struggles to connect with her teenage daughter; charming but listless Mateo can’t commit to a job or to his boyfriend; and Greg’s fulfilling his mother’s dying wish of reconciling with his estranged grandfather. Drawn together by Arthur’s illness, they form an unlikely book club, bonding over The Remains of the Day, The Joy Luck Club, and Anne of Green Gables. While there’s a hint of romance between Sloane and Greg, the real love story here is with stories themselves. Gilmore’s complex characters jump off the page, and readers should have their handkerchiefs ready for some cathartic tears. This is a treat. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"Gilmore’s complex characters jump off the page, and readers should have their handkerchiefs ready for some cathartic tears. This is a treat." — Publishers Weekly
"A fun, sweet read." — Library Journal
"Funny and charming." — Booklist
Library Journal
02/01/2023
Librarian Sloane has a lot going on. She's engaged to a chiropractor whose family somewhat endearingly tries to plan her wedding. Her parents are wrapped up in their own lives and fighting with each other. At work, Sloane enters an unlikely almost-friendship with Arthur, a grumpy older patron, that starts with an insult but eventually turns into daily banter. Sloane comes to care about Arthur, and when he doesn't show up at the library for a span of days, she breaks library policy and tracks him down. Sloane soon sees that Arthur is in need of help and companionship and begins caring for him, as well as hosting a book club to help bring him some human interaction. In the days that follow, readers see both Sloane and Arthur grow, and interesting characters complement the relationship of Sloane and Arthur and the book club. Just as readers can get lost in books, they can also use fiction to find themselves, as the members of the Lonely Hearts Book Club come to learn. VERDICT Recommended for public library collections. Romance author Gilmore's (Ruff and Tumble) novel is a fun, sweet read, with a little mystery and intrigue spicing things up.—April Crowder
MAY 2023 - AudioFile
Angie Kane's heartfelt performance eloquently captures the essence of each character in this novel about loneliness, friendship, and family. In Washington State, four lonely people from varying backgrounds unexpectedly come together through a book club. Once trust is established, they discover that friendship can take place on a deeper level than they ever anticipated. Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective and picks up where the last one left off, so there is no loss of time or continuity with the shift in perspective. Kane portrays each character with depth and strong emotion, making it easy to connect with him or her. This audiobook is an easy listen, a feel good story with strong character development. B.E.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
