A classic red telephone box, an English village, and a sweet story of books and libraries pretty much had me at the premise of this story! 32 year old Jess Metcalfe, who lost her parents at a very young age, was raised by her grandmother who poured herself into raising Jess. She read many, many books to her over her lifetime of living in the same house her whole life until her grandmother died. Mimi left enough of a nest egg for Jess to start over and spread her wings to fly and explore after she lost her job at the library. On a random car trip she "lands" in the charming village of Middlemass where there happens to be a cottage for sale. She buys the cottage which comes with a red telephone box that she has no idea what to do with. After a village meeting, she is asked what she will do with the smelly box. And after a suggestion of a little free library, she realizes all the books MImi left her would be a great basis for this little library. With a cast of quirky and interesting characters, Jess finds herself feeling at home with friends for the first time in years. But can she stay there without a job? Does she even want to stay? Her characters bring out the best, but believable, side of human nature. It is also a clean book which seems to be harder and harder to find these days. My thanks to NetGalley and Harpers Collins Publishers for this delightful e-book.

Jess is having a time of it. Her grandmother has just died and she lost her job at the library. Which means she now needs a change.

On a random drive out of town, while her house is being shown by a real estate agent, Jess finds the cutest little town, Middlemass, with a house for sale that she is immediately drawn to.

Unfortunately, the town (and house) comes with a grumpy neighbor, Aidan. Even more unfortunate, Aidan is the owner of the house Jess would like to buy, Ivy Cottage.

At first life is difficult for Jess as she settles into a new home. Ivy Cottage is a bit more rundown than Jess thought. But it doesn't take long for Jess to blossom in Middlemass and for her to start making friends.

While I wish the romance had been a little more at the forefront of this book, I am very pleased with the way the story was written. I enjoyed every moment of it and it was a definite favorite of the month!

This was adorable! I loved the little free library esque style in the english country side. It's the perfect little cozy book that makes you want to go hide away and read all day with your cats (or dogs). Maybe with some coffee. I don't know, it was just perfect.

Poppy Alexander- thank you for this heartwarming and delightful read! I went a little out of my comfort zone with this read and I'm thankful that I did. Jess was so inspiring, relatable, and such an easy character to love. Jess was so easy to love and she had so much depth. Aidan was frustrating from the beginning, but I knew over time we were going to love him. The characters individual relationships is what made the book special to me. It was easy to understand that Jess was going through something really difficult. At the same time she still put herself out there and formed these once in a lifetime relationships. While having such a strong impact on her friends lives and the community. It's a timeless story of loss, love, growth, all while trying to figure this thing called "life" out. The Littlest Library made me laugh, cry, and do a lot of reflecting. I was getting so frustrated any time I needed to book the book down. Each character was so unique and special, yet they all blended together to create a beautiful story together. Go pick this book up if you haven't already!

I loved this book to start: After her beloved grandmother dies and she loses her librarian job, Jess packs up to start anew in a small hamlet Middlemass. Among the litany of problems with her new house is the little phone booth in front of her house, which is technically municipal property. Using her grandmother's books, Jess turns it into a little library - but not everyone in the town is on board (what?!). The home's former owner Aidan is Jess's grouchy (but good-looking) neighbor across the street and father of precocious preteen Maisie - one of the many people with whom Jess connects in the town.

With a drawn-out drama of the phone booth (that is solved in the *most simple way possible*) and tepid romantic chemistry (that started out with such promise), I struggled to stay connected with this book. I liked the Stars Hollow-esque town and the kooky cast of characters. Overall, I tend to find British romances a little too cute and tepid (I felt the same about the similarly named Last Chance Library). If you are looking for something sweet and slow, this is a great choice.

I’m not even going to lie. I picked up The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander because of that adorable cover. Who can resist a charming little red phone booth converted into a library? I sure couldn’t! I went into this book expecting a story just as cute as the cover and got so much more. The Littlest Library is a heartwarming story about community, family, and finding your place in this world. Oh and of course, it’s also about books. 😊

When we meet the protagonist, Jess Metcalf, she is having a rough go. She has just lost her job as a librarian, her grandmother has recently died, and when Jess tries to take a drive to clear her head after dealing with her grandmother’s estate, she takes a wrong turn and her car breaks down right in the middle of a tiny town in the English countryside. What Jess doesn’t realize at the time is that her wrong turn and subsequent breakdown is about to change her life in ways she never could have imagined.

I really adored Jess. She’s just so sweet and it’s obvious how much she loves her grandmother, Mimi. When I learned that her grandmother had practically raised her, my heart just broke all the harder for Jess when Mimi died. I also found it incredibly moving that Mimi, who knew she was dying, had boxed up all the books that she and Jess had treasured over the years to make sure that Jess kept them all. I loved the bond between these two women so much and especially that their bond was made all the stronger by the books they shared. Mimi’s last wish is for Jess to go out and find herself a new adventure, rather than stay in their old house alone. When Jess’ car breaks down in this cute little town in the country, she decides it’s a sign to do just that and buys herself a little cottage that happens to have an old red telephone booth on its property.

As much as I loved Jess, I really think the star of the book is this red phone booth and all that it symbolized, both for Jess and for the people in her new community. When Jess decides to clean it up and turn it into a little library, using hers and Mimi’s books, it gives her both a renewed sense of purpose and a wonderful way to connect with the people in the town, who haven’t had a library of any kind in years. They are starved for books and Jess is their hero. It made me smile watching so many people come and check books out, chat with each other and with Jess. There’s also a bit of a slow burn romance involving Jess and a grumpy neighbor that was enjoyable to read about, but I have to admit that I was pretty tunnel visioned on the library and the magic its books worked on everyone. Who knew a little phone booth and some books could create such a renewed sense of community to a town and give a young woman the fresh start she’s looking for?

I love books about books so I fully expected to enjoy The Littlest Library, but let me tell you, it far exceeded my expectations and left me with the biggest smile on my face. An absolute gem of a book!

After the death of her beloved grandmother and the loss of her library job, Jess needs a fresh start. When she stumbles on a fixer-upper cottage in a quaint village in the English countryside, she buys it without thinking twice. The decommissioned phone box out front makes for an odd yard ornament, but it turns out to be a perfect library for the town. As the villagers borrow books, Jess begins to build relationships with her new neighbors, and they all discover the power of connecting someone with the right book.

If you've ever turned to a Great British Bake-Off binge in times of trouble, love the Cameron Diaz/Jude Law portion of The Holiday, or find solace in the pages of books, this might be the story for you. Following Jess Metcalfe as she stumbles into a delightfully pastoral new life is a joyful experience, but Alexander doesn't shy away from the heavier emotions either. Jess struggles with grief and anxiety, afraid to allow herself to be happy for too long for fear of the tragedy that she believes is inevitable. Watching Jess grapple with this was a comfort in its own way, with instance after instance showing that happiness can follow difficult times. I especially enjoyed the magic of the little library, with inscriptions from Jess's grandmother helping the villagers when they needed them most. Though the pacing and timeline were occasionally confusing, I loved the broad cast of characters and never found it difficult to follow the side stories. The romance was sweet and understated, which I always appreciate, and the overall effect of the story was idyllic and wonderful.

This was a cute little story (pun intended) in which we follow Jess who is starting over in life in a small country town. As part of her new living accommodations she has become the caretaker of an abandoned telephone box and decides to turn it into a library. While I did enjoy the focus on books throughout the story, I did feel that there were a few too many convenient plot points. One of which was the resolution to the main conflict. I definitely did a bit of eye-rolling, but I was still entertained and for that I commend the author.

What a lovely surprise this little novel turned out to be! Warm escapist fiction with enough literary references to satisfy anyone who appreciates the written word. Those who follow my blog will know that romance is not my usual genre of choice, but I found this book ticked all the boxes for me just now. It made me escape into the charming Devon village of Middlemass for a time.

Though as with most romance fiction, I knew from the onset that things would end on a positive note, the journey was an enjoyable one with characters that were easily imagined and extremely sympathetic. Jess Metcalfe was a woman whom I would like to meet, so living her life for a few hours was indeed a pleasure. Her charming picture-postcard cottage, her new friends, her handsome neighbour Aidan, and even her two kittens made for a welcome escapist read. The author even references one of my childhood favourite books "Tom's Midnight Garden" and my favourite classic "Jane Eyre".

This romance novel contains themes of starting over, overcoming insecurities, forging friendships, community spirit, and of course the healing power of books.

Highly recommended to those readers who want to get away from real life for awhile, especially those who are ardent book lovers.

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander… if books had a heart, The Littlest Library would have the biggest heart. Jess's life is just fine thank you. It's quiet and comfortable. But then her beloved grandmother passes away and she loses her job at the local library. Jess needs a new start and a new adventure.( I'm in the same place, thanks jess!) Through a random series of events (is anything really random?) Jess finds the adorable ivy Cottage With the mysterious red telephone Box. And perhaps, this will be the next chapter in her life. Is she brave enough to turn the page, to venture forward? Read this heartwarming and heart touching adventure to find out. Jess is my hero 💕

I have always heard of people say "this is a character driven story" and I read mostly plot driven stories so I never really understood what that meant until I read this book.

This book is almost entirely character driven so if you don't like that I would suggest finding something else. Unfortunately I found this book to be pretty slow up until maybe 65% in.

In this book we fool Jess after she moves to Middlemass a quiet little town in England. She is navigating grief as she just lost her grandmother, and is honestly pretty lost. This town continues to open doors for her, as she makes friends and opens the Littlest Library in the telephone box that sits in her front yard.

I think my favorite part of this story was how the library brought people together. This library always had the right book for the right person. The community and the reader is able to find a lot of peace through the little notes that Jess's Mimi left in some of the books.

I would suggest this book to someone that likes a sweet, story about finding one's self, making friendships, and learning to live with grief.

The idea of a little library built into an abandoned British phone box is all it took for me to pick up this one!

Jess has worked at the public library for years but she loses her job. She decides to move since she has no-one left. She finds a cute little cottage and outside is a telephone box she makes into a library. This is such a cute book, loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and to the publisher Harper Collins.

When Jess Metcalf lost her job, she had almost nothing left. She had lost her grandmother, who had raised her. The library closed, shutting down her job along with all the other librarians’ jobs. She still had her home, the one she had moved into when she was 4 and her parents had died in a car accident. Now she’s alone. Her best friend Hannah moved to New Zealand to get married and have a baby. Jess has no family in town, no job, and no real reason to stay. So on an impulse, she puts her home up for sale and takes a road trip.

On the day that her house was going to be shown to potential buyers, Jess couldn’t stand to be there, so she decided to drive for a while. She was heading towards the ocean when she came across a traffic jam and took a quick turn to keep from sitting in the road for who-knows-how-long. She found herself in the small village of Middlemass, and that was where her car died.

As Jess looked around, she saw a duck pond, an old red telephone box, and an adorable cottage. She only got a couple of minutes to look at the cottage before getting yelled at by a man who needed to get past her car on the road. He helped her get it going again, not so much from kindness as irritation at her blocking his way, and Jess got back on the road. But she couldn’t get that cottage out of her head, and when she found out that there was a buyer interested in her house, she called and made an offer on the cottage.

It happened quickly and without a lot of forethought, so when Jess got everything packed up and moved, she found out that maybe the cottage wasn’t in the good shape she had originally thought. Mostly, it would just take work. Cleaning and painting inside, weeding and pruning in the garden. But it still has a lot of potential. And it’s hers. But she still has to figure out what to do with that old phone box out front.

It doesn’t take Jess long to meet up once again with the grumpy man who had helped her with her car. He’s named Aidan and he lives next door. He was the one who had sold her the cottage. It was where his grandfather had lived, and as Jess talks to him, she not only feels a attraction to him, she learns that she can’t just tear down the phone box. As part of the deed to the cottage, she is required to keep it and make it useful for the community. He suggests she go to the next council meeting to find out what they are expected her to do with it.

Jess has never been to a council meeting before, but when the four council members all arrive, they suggest Jess move to the table with them instead of sitting in the audience, as no one else comes to the meetings. They talk about possibilities for the phone box, and when the possibility of a library comes up, Jess grabs on to that. She has boxes and boxes of books she wasn’t sure what to do with, so it would be easy for her to stock, and her years as a librarian would help her keep it organized. It’s decided, and Aiden is volunteered to make the shelves.

As the spring and then summer goes by, Jess gets herself settled into the cottage. She unpacks and repaints. She cleans out the gardens and plants vegetables. She prunes back the roses and pulls down the overgrown vines. She scrubs the phone box and sets up the library, watching out her windows as people stop by and borrow books. Sometimes Jess offers a suggestion or offers a listening ear. She start to make friends. She meets Aidan’s 12-year-old daughter Maisie and talks to her about anime. She sees the community start to come back together after many years of their connections eroding. The little library is giving the community a place to gather again.

But as Jess is finding healing and happiness, she also feels like her joy could end at any minute. When her parents died, she went from happy to desolate in the blink of an eye, and she’s never been able to completely recover from that. And when she finds herself needing a job but not finding one close to her new cottage, when her flirtation with Aiden takes an unfortunate turn, when certain members of the community come after the library because of small town politics, Jess worries that her run of happiness is ending. Can Jess finally find a happy ending for her story, or will she be forced to give up her cottage and her phone box library?

Poppy Alexander’s The Littlest Library is a sweet, heart-warming story of finding a place for yourself after grief and loss. Jess’s story is healing as she creates a new life for herself in the small village, and the idea that even a small library can help bring a community together reminded me that hope is powerful and magic is possible.

I loved The Littlest Library. This has not been an easy year for me, on both a personal and a cultural level. I am tired and burned out and needing to read stories of healing and sweetness. This book was perfect for that. It was a breath of fresh air after breathing in smog, a vase of hand-cut roses on the table or a jar of homemade jam made from fresh fruit from a friend’s garden. It was just what I needed when I needed it, and I am grateful for that. If you’re needing a dose of hope and healing, I recommend The Littlest Library and maybe a fresh fruit trifle with a splash of Scotch in it to share with your closest friends.

Egalleys for The Littlest Library were provided by Avon Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

So heartwarming and well written. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face while reading this!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Jess Metcalf’s tranquil life is suddenly in turmoil when her beloved grandmother passes away and she loses her job at the local library. Realizing she must start a new life, she packs her grandmother’s treasured book collection and moves to a small town in England. The small cottage leaves much to be desired, but Jess is determined to make it her home. The big question is what is she supposed to do with the tiny phone booth sitting in front of her house? She’s really surprised to learn she owns that too.

Jess misses her job as a librarian so much that she decides to make her grandmother’s book collection available to the community. She sets up the phone booth as England’s littlest library. She’s thrilled when she sees how receptive the small community is and everyone is borrowing books. The town seems to draw together over their new library.

Even her bad-tempered neighbor seems to be interested and she’s more than a little interested in him. The one downfall is that Jess needs a paying job and there are none available in this small town. Her new life might be over before she knows it.

This book oozes charm. What a sweet, heartwarming book! As a book lover, it warms my heart to see a town come together over books.

The characters are well developed. These are people you could cheer for and really care about as you read about their lives.

The romance is sweet and moves at a steady pace. It’s not overwhelming. It draws out all the emotions the characters are feeling and melts your heart.

I never read anything by this author before, but I’m impressed with this one and will be on the look out for any more books. Reading this left we with warm, fuzzy feelings A true “feel good” read. I enjoyed everything about it, even the adorable cover!










FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sweet and heartwarming, THE LITTLEST LIBRARY has something for every reader seeking a tale with a dash of romance, book references, a small town with appealing characters and delightful gardens. It’s a list of the perfect components for a book that’s impossible to put down and charming as can be. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this one. It was cute and I love books about books. It felt very character driven and I like that. The detailed writing was phenomenal. I loved the love story in the background.

Such a warm and charming read! Loved following Jess's journey navigating with her grandmother's passing and building a life in a quaint village with just enough happening to keep things interesting. She's incredibly likable, and I'm a sucker for anything related to Little Free Libraries.

Along with the purchase of her new home, Jess comes to own a little red phone booth out in the front yard. In discussions with town council, she realizes it's an amazing opportunity to put her grandmother's books to use in the community, which no longer has a library. The Little phone box library quickly becomes a popular spot and, through it, we get to meet the lovely cast of characters in town.

And then there's Jess's neighbor, Aidan, and the undeniable connection between them. It's sweet to see the pull of their attraction while also contending with Aidan's ex, who is not subtle about wanting to be back with him. This part was a bit belabored but of course I couldn't keep from wanting them together.

Lovely and comfortable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon books for this advanced copy.

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander is a beautiful story about how one person - and her love of books - can change a whole village. When Jessica Metcalfe looses her librarian job a year after losing the grandmother who raised her, she takes her best friend’s advice and sees it as a chance for a fresh start. She places the home she grew up in for sale and takes a drive, only to have her car stall in front of a run-down cottage for sale in a quaint little village in the country. When her home sells that day with two weeks to move, Jess takes it as a sign and buys the cottage sight unseen, and starts on a grand adventure.

Full of books, friendship, remembering those that have been lost, and learning to move on, The Littlest Library will warm the heart.