I was very excited about the premise for this book. It seemed ideal for a book lover.
Due to renovations, Dodie’s local library had to close. So she opens a community library in her sunroom. We then follow Dodie through approximately two years as she faces love, grief and infertility issues.
I loved the part about getting the library opened and sharing books with friends and children. However, I didn’t feel engaged with most of the characters and some of the themes never fully developed for me. They seemed a little disjointed.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

I found this to be a charming story. I love books about bookstores and libraries! Dodie and Shep are the couple you keep rooting for to make their relationship work. There are some big topics involved here, desertion, and adoption. I love the bond between the 3 sisters as well.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. I dont know if it is the book lover in me, or the good telling of the story, but I found this to be a real page turned.

I started this book with high hopes that it would be like the Bookish life of Nina Hill, unfortunately I couldn't get into the characters and the story wasn't really for me. I love books about books, but this one fell flat for me. Thank you netgalley for giving me a chance to read this for my honest review.

Thank you Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC of The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson!

The Lending Library premise is made for book lovers! Dodie, an art teacher and book lover, realizes the town is in a bind when the library must close. Taking matters into her own hands, Dodie begins a lending library from her own sunroom, supplying the town with books and storytime. I absolutely loved this aspect of the book, especially as an aspiring librarian passionate about the community building aspects of libraries.

In addition to the lending library, we get a glimpse into about two years of Dodie's life as she comes to terms with building a life, staying connected to family, and finding romance. At times during this part of the story, I felt like I was reading three separate stories that just happened to share a main character. The plot felt disjointed and characters weren't completely fleshed out, leaving their reactions to various events somewhat lacking. I also felt that while the large cast of characters helped build community during the library portions, they were hard to keep track of in other portions of the story and seemed to come and go randomly.

I went into reading The Lending Library thinking that it might be total fluff, and that is completely inaccurate. There were difficult and complex topics brought up such as adoption, infertility, and grief. Unfortunately, I think that these important discussions were somewhat hampered by the disconnectedness of the storylines. While I wish that these topics could have been a little more complete, I do applaud the author for introducing this depth.

The novel is written from the point of view of Dodie Fairisle over a span of approximately two years. She is an artist, a teacher, a lover of baked goods and a hopeless bibliophile. So, when the library in her home town of Chatsworth closed she decided to open up her own lending library to service the people in the town and it becomes more than a library but a place of community. From reading the blurb I thought I would have loved this book and I loved how it started. However, as it progressed there were many different story lines that never came together cohesively and were never fully developed. The emphasis became Dodie's obsession with having a child even at the expense of her new found romance and the library. The storyline of the library and what it meant to the community was lost. I didn't fully engage in the novel. Themes in this novel included those of abandonment, infertility, adoption and their impact on relationships.

The interweaving of a variety book titles and foods throughout the novel was a nice touch especially the recipe for Hummingbird Cake at the end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Having a little lending library in the back of your house (in a beautiful building with a sunroom and gable windows) seems like many a booklover's dream. Although the main character seems to lack much of a spine, her random spouting of culinary details is quite amusing and the warmth in the story just about keeps you interested. Light and frothy lit.

I love books and when I come across a book that has a character who is into books I'm reading it. So I had to get this off Netgalley and true to the blurb, Dodie loves books and her role as a teacher as well.
So when the local library is shut down for renovations and she gets the chance to start a small community library in her house, she does and it becomes a solace for people, friendships are forged and the number of books mentioned herein, went into my to-read list.

The story starts out great and as a booklover I was home, up until Shep! The good looking fella that catches Dodie's attention and suddenly she is obsessed with getting pregnant and having a kid and at that point, I was done. Dodie was sweet and all and I appreciate the author bringing to light her ambitions and wishes for life, and for a moment I had to take a step back and check myself for judging her harshly for wanting a little extra.

One thing is certain this is a book lover's go to book, the first half of it, after that...anyone who is swooning for romance is free to have a kick out of it and maybe swoon a little.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I really wanted to like this book and just felt like it wasn't anywhere near as focused on the literary bookish part of the story as I had expected or hoped. There were some things I really loved about this book; the setting, the sense of community throughout the novel, the strong and empowering female friendships and the literary aspects of it.

The first few chapters which were driven by the library and Dodie's love of books and her career as a teacher were great, I loved them. Then there was a massive twist which was completely unexpected but definitely pulled on the heartstrings but led to the middle becoming a bit feverish, being driven by this desperate need to have a baby which really began to annoy me.

The protagonist, Dodie, seems to be intended as coming across as selfless, empathic and caring but really (particularly in the middle) she came across as self-absorbed, arrogant, slightly ignorant and incredibly selfish to the point that she couldn't/wouldn't be there for her family and friends in their times of need, and then she questions their loyalty and how much they care for her in her thought process after she realises how rubbish she's been as a person. This really bugged me. I understand the concept the book was looking at how desperation can make people irrational (especially when it comes to the desire for children), but Dodie got to a point where she let her desire for a child consume her life to such an extreme level that she neglected her family and friends, new relationship and her responsibilities both professionally and personally. Having said this, towards the end she becomes a bit more likeable again and you do still root for her, but I equally found myself rolling my eyes at her after she developed as a character in the way that she did in the preceding chapters. The other characters are predominantly really likeable and I would quite like the concept of a book around some of them (like Coco and Mark, Maddie or Geraldine and Kendra).

Overall, as a debut novel, it was good, but there were just aspects of the story and some of the writing that left a bitter taste in my mouth. I would recommend this book if you want an easy read and you don't get too annoyed by characters if they're a little unlikeable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC of The Lending Library!

What I enjoyed: I enjoyed the way that Dodie described her love for books and for the library. It felt like someone took a trip into my mind and wrote down my thoughts. I also feel very at peace surrounded by books and I'm not sure what I would do if my local library shut down! We also get to meet a number of Dodie's friends and her sisters. Those female friendships were the saving grace of this book––I love to see strong female friendships in books!

What I did not enjoy: The romance. I felt like we never got to know Shep, and what we do see, I didn't like. His charactered seemed so distant. We get to see Dodie fall in love, but I had a hard time understanding why she fell for him––was it just based on his looks? It also seemed like Dodie fell for him so quickly just because she was looking to get pregnant (another piece of the story I found to be a bit ridiculous). Women have more value than just being a mother!

The writing itself was pleasant, but the pieces of the storyline that I didn't enjoy were difficult to ignore and left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth by the end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the arc in exchange for a review.

This book was ok for me. I went into with a light mind and wasn't expecting much and I'm glad I did. I think if I went in with higher expectations it would probably have been a train wreck for me. But given that I thought it would be just a fluff filler book for me, I def enjoyed the book and as a book lover related to it very much. Don't go in expecting anything and you may be pleasantly surprised.

A lot of my reads lately have been quite heavy so I decided to give the Lending Library a go.

When the local library closes for refurbishment, Dodie decides to set up her own Lending Library in her sunroom. The plot of this book does move away from the library and centres around fertility, adoption and romance.

I've seen a lot of negative reviews on Goodreads but I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was an easy read and a bit lighter than what I've been reading recently.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union publishing for my copy.

Gorgeous book! I loved the characters and the plot line. It isn't my normal choice of genre but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

I wanted to like this book. But every detail I did get, I just did not get why. Why is this book set in 2008? How does this art teacher afford a house and art supplies and books for her hobby lending library and then be so not used to budgeting she's shocked when she runs up her credit card? How is the sunroom at the back of her house small but able to fit sixteen bookshelves? There is a lot of telling, instead of showing, which gets old to read. I was hoping for a fluffy, comfortable tropey filled romance. But this was more white savior-complex, narcissist than romance. I m a librarian, my job is not all writing personalized bookmarks for each person, it is a hard skill I have developed but I'm supposed to believe she naturally has a knack for teaching, painting, librarianship, baking, and childcare? But she panics when a recently adopted baby doesn't go easy peasy at bedtime? How was she an au pair and yet knows absolutely nothing about separation anxiety? That was my quip. The whole thing was not believable and I was not motivated to suspend disbelief because of my love of the characters or plot, I didn't love either. The author told me the character was "woke" and she would be the best mom ever but I never saw any real proof, no showing what kept being told. What thirty two year old acts and speaks and thinks like this protagonist? I felt nothing when a break up happened, when her best friend died suddenly. Her feelings didn't stir any feelings in me. I truly wanted to like this book but it did not capture me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for a honest review

I thought this was a great story! The story of Do and her fear of not being able to have children and the obsession she has with making it a reality without realising how it is impacting not only her and her family and friends but also the community. The heartbreak that she experienced as a child and how that impacted her future relationships as well as fueling her obsession with wanting to have a child felt real.
I loved the idea of the library and how it brings the community together and lets people feel safe while also being connected to others.
Overall the story was a great read and I felt that the author did a fantastic job to bring the characters to life

From the description given, I really thought I was going to like this book, I wanted to like this book- but they can't all be winners.

My main issue with this book was that I just could not connect with the main character what-so-ever, and it got to the point where I was just so disconnected from her that the things she was doing and saying genuinely annoyed me. (Granted, I am young and in a long-term relationship and nowhere near the 'having kids' stage of my life yet, so I'm probably just not the intended audience).

The main character Dodie wants to have kids asap. She wants a baby so badly, that she lets her longing for one literally consume her full life, letting pretty much everything else she's got going on fall away into the shadows and crumble into nothing-ness. At various points in this book she comes across as arrogant, selfish, and self-centred.

I also had a slight issue with the structure and pacing of the book. Each chapter contains a month worth of happenings in Dodie's life, which often means there's a lot of things crammed into the chapter that is unconnected to the paragraph that came before it. This was abit jarring to me and I personally just prefer each chapter to be one self contained thing that adds to the bigger picture.

I feel really awful saying this, but I truly feel like I can only give this book a rating of 1/5 stars. I feel really bad because it’s the authors first novel and I want to be supportive, and I really truly thought I would enjoy it, but I just have to be honest.

The Lending Library is the debut novel by author Aliza Fogelson. I decided to give it a read because it’s about books and libraries, both things I love. Books are a great escape and while reading this I felt as if I was part of Dodie Fairisle’s life. I think I would consider this books genre to be chick lit. Dodie is a little different in my opinion, but very likable. She moves from the city where she studied art, to a small town to be close to her friend and takes a job at the school as the art teacher. During the closing and remodeling of the towns library, Dodie decides to open a lending library in her sunroom of her own home. The book centers around other subjects such as romance and fertility and adoption so it has many topics going on to hold your interest. There were sad parts to the story but it only made it feel more lifelike and real. Overall, I thought it was really good for a writers first novel and I’d like to read what she writes next. I think this is a book many people would enjoy and I would recommend it to all readers of women’s fiction and romance. I’d like to thank NetGalley for the arc that I got off of Read Now to read and review. After long thought, I have decided to give this book a 4 star rating.

Great premise. I love libraries. I love borrowing (and buying!) books. I even like lending books! This book started out pretty strong. I thought, "Awesome! An upbeat go-getter sort of main character. This will be nice!"

I could tell a bit early in that I just wasn't going to like her. I think the turning point into dislike was the moment when she couldn't understand her one friend's stance on remaining child-free.

I wanted to love it, and I'll probably try anything she does next, but this one is not for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

I'm very sorry to say that this novel was definitely NOT good. I just hated Dodie. How self centered can she be?
Usually I adore books about libraries and bookshops, but this was bad.

<i>"I finally fell asleep thinking about settling down in my favorite reading nook surrounded by books and the shafts of light streaming through the windows"</i>
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What a warm, heartwarming book this was! First and foremost, this is not my typical genre to read. But after weeks are reading true crime and thrillers, I need something lighthearted and cozy. The Lending Library is the <b> debut</b> novel by Alize Fogelson. I am a HUGE fan of debut novels. There is just something about not knowing the writing style of an author. Then opening the first page of their first masterpiece. I'm glad I wasa able to be a part of this.
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<i>" You could get exactly what you were looking for or surprise yourself. And at the library, you didnt even have to pay !" </i>.
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I won't give full synopsis in this review. However, I will say our protagonist in this story is Dodie and here is a super quick synopsssss : A single mid 30's woman, Dodie, upped her life from New York and moved to Chatsworth where she was an art teacher. Chatsworth is a small, charming, picturesque town where everyone knows everyone (you know what I'm talking about). ANYWAY, when the Chatsworth's library closes indefinitely, Dodie is left with nowhere to go, as her favorite place is getting lost in books (hell yeah ,sisterrrr). So Dodie decides to take matters into her own hands and create a Lending Library.....right out of the sunroom of her (beautiful) home. Surrounded by her adorable best friends and the hospitable townspeople, Dodie realized tht the Lending Library has not only changed her life but changed the town as well.
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Unfortunately, I had to give this book a 3.8. I really did enjoy this book, however, there was never a solid foundation of a plot. I got alot of "coming of age" vibes from this but I can't really place this novel in that category as all of the woman are in their mid thirties. I just wish it gave me <b>more</b>. It was so beautifully written but I wish I had a plot to follow from beginning to end. The issues arising in the book grabbed my attention but the issues and my attention didn't last long. <b> For those who like Lifetime movies, this is what this book reminded me of</b>: a little cheesy, a little heartwarming, want to look way but you keep watching.
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