Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley
Before starting this review, I went back and read my review for The Little Paris Bookshop. Years later, the bookstore that I mentioned in that review is gone. In some ways, it feels as if America is further away from books than before – not only with the various book bans that have been going on but with the independent bookstores that have been closing. At one point I lived within a twenty minute walk or a ten minute trolley ride from four independent bookstores. Now, it is more like forty minutes to an hour, and I didn’t move.
And yes, I know Booktok and Instagram, still exist. And we have Goodreads. There’s Librarything. But in some of those cases, book love feels more performative or even judgmental. Graphic novels don’t count as books to some people, audio books aren’t reading say others. There are people who gush about how much they love books as they stand before book cases where the books are spine turned in or color coded. And you can tell, just tell by listening, that they haven’t read the book they are gushing about. But it doesn’t matter because now multiple people are saying you can’t say anything bad about a book because of an author’s feelings over their book baby or something.
Sigh. And yes, I realize I was being judgmental in the above paragraph.
Yet, in some ways that’s way we need books like this.
Or maybe we should all move to France – the land of wine, cheese, and books.
This book isn’t so much a sequel to the Bookshop novel, but more of an addendum as it is the novel that inspires the characters in that novel. This book is about Love and Marie-Jeanne. Marie-Jeanne is orphaned though she has two devoted if a bit strange adopted parents. Despite the deaths of her parents, her life is, thankfully, free of trauma. Because of her relationship to love, she can see soulmates. This perhaps makes the love story part of the book a bit too simplistic and predictable, but that really isn’t the point.
Like it’s forerunner, this book is a lover letter reading. The books mentioned including the Claudine books but also the great works of literature. What is more importantly, people’s relationship to books and literary play a central role. Francois, Marie-Jeanne’s father, starts a mobile library because of his relationship and view on books. Part of this books best sequences are his attempts to get people to read. And that’s where the other part of love comes in – not only love of literature and the feel of a physical book in your hand but also the love of discussing literature with those around you.
Marie-Jeanne comes into her own and discovers she who is by reading. This use of discovery is actually quite lovely and illustrates the power of books to help us understand ourselves. In many ways, that is the point of this short novel. While told largely via the viewpoint of Love, the book isn’t so much about the romantic love that fills much of its pages – but about the love of the written word in all its forms as well as love for those around us.

This was an incredibly symbolic exploration of love, where it comes from and what it does. Someone has described this book as being about "a young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love". This is a gross under-representation of this book and the overwhelming depths hiding within.
While reading this book, I felt as though I wasn't giving it the emotional and mental capacity that it deserved. I'll blame it on my brain's trouble to comprehend French names which really stifled my enjoyment of the book.
The premise of a group of people traveling through the countryside loaning out books is such a special and lovely one. I absolutely adored the main three characters of Marie-Jeanne, Elsa, and Francis, but I loved the thoughtfulness and hidden vulnerabilities that each character showed throughout the story.
The Little Village of Book Lovers is an astounding, breathtaking, and beautiful book.

The story begins narrated by Love and continues with doses of other ethereal characters like Death and olive trees. Telling the story from the perspective of Love was really interesting to me, and the book was poetically written. The book’s pacing is pretty low key, but thoughtful and has an interesting mix of magical realism at the heart of the book. The story ends in a delightful note, and I think the underlying arc is that you can’t really understand love, even love itself.

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for my honest opinion.

I found this to be a lyrically and extremely beautifully written book. However it starts at a slow pace but stick with it, trust me, because it is well worth the read, how could it not be? It is about love.

This book was hard to follow for me. The random cut ins with love and the olive tree had me totally confused on the story. The story seemed to drag in most places. I think just the format of the book did not work for me. The basic storyline (without all the extra stuff) was interesting but only 2/5 stars interesting.

4/5 stars

I really struggled to get into this book, while it’s unorthodox format and clunk start almost had me walking I’m glad I persevered as it turned into a poetic story of how a choice can shape a community and change one’s life. If you’re a sucker for magical realism, found community, and lyrical writing keep going in this book, it gets better I promise.

Every new book holds the excitement of possibilities; the opportunity to evoke emotion or to open our eyes and hearts to new ideas and learning, as well as take us on an adventure. This is how I feel when I start each new book. As a lover of books, I was sure that a book with the words Book Lovers in the title would definitely be the right book for me. However, it ended up being a DNF @ 50%, which is extremely rare for me.

The narrative is very poetic in its delivery and almost lyrical at times in its description. I persisted until halfway through, but the story dragged somewhat and did not contain enough to draw me further in or hold my interest.
Many other readers may love this book. Unfortunately, it did not strike a chord with me.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Beautifully written and reads like a series of quotable phrases. It’s a bit slow paced but well worth the journey for it’s all about love.

I adore the writings of Nina George. Her prose is simply beautiful, and The Little Village of Book Lovers is no exception. It is a lovely book that is a joy to read. It is full of interesting characters and sprinkled with life lessons, as are the rest of her books. George also does such a terrific job of making the setting a character. She makes the reader want to visit every small town and city her characters do.
Unlike her previous works, The Little Village of Book Lovers is a little more cerebral. The narrator is Love, and an olive tree is a main character. The story walks the line of fantasy. It is a story about finding love and the powers that bring us together. In the end, it is also a love letter to books and the power they have in our lives. How books can influence our thoughts, show us that we are not alone and even physically bring us together.
If you are looking for a sweet, lyrical novel without anything controversial or uncomfortable, The Little Village of Book Lovers is for you.

Marie Jeanne’s father wants to start a book bus and travel through the mountains in Southern France to share his love of books. Marie-Jeanne has a way of connecting two people who are in love and is looking for her own love. The story is told in chapters, each one narrated by a new person, Fate, Love, etc. With so many characters I found it difficult to follow. The book started out strong and was so lovely to read, but then it all just sort of fell apart. Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for my copy of The Little Village of Book Lovers.

This was an okay book. I liked the idea, but the book just sort of dragged on for me. The writing is fine, but I just couldn't quite get into it. Maybe I'll give it another chance down the road to see if I can warm up to it more.

An amazing story! All book lovers with a penchant for historical fiction and a touch of magic will adore this book.

Such a wonderful story told by the feeling of Love as a person. From the beginning of the story Marie-Jeanne can detect where love touches each person, but she has to figure out how to get those same people connected to those who will be a good match. She tries to just introduce them but it doesn't work well, so she thinks of a way to bring them together with one of my favorite things to do, read books and she gets her kind adoptive father to help her and it works, but you'll have to read the book to find out how.
I love that there is no malice or meanness in this story and all of the characters are just finding joy where they are until love appears. I just love it. If you love "The Little Paris Bookstore," you will love the whimsical feeling you get from this book, an in a way, this story is an offspring of "The Little Paris Bookstore." Truly a feel good story.

I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this wonderful story. Love is really something.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
This review will appear immediately on Goodreads.
Many of my patrons (and I mean many) enjoyed Little Paris Bookshop. They will also enjoy this book.
For me, and to quote a song, ‘I must’ve got lost somewhere down the line’. I couldn’t really latch onto the characters or storyline. I’ve read other Nina George books and enjoyed them.
We will just say, it me, not you, on this one.
I will still recommend it to patrons who want something lighter than the historical fiction books I read. It might even be done in a book club.
I always round a little up on prepub, so it will be a 3 this time.

This book totally hit me on a different level than most do, the writing is excellent. This book was absolutely stunning. This is a must read!!
I just reviewed The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George. #TheLittleVillageofBookLovers #NetGalley
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I received a temporary digital copy of The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George from NetGalley, Ballantine Books and the author in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Marie-Jeanne's adopted father gets an idea to start a book bus and share novels along the mountains in the south of France. Marie-Jeanne has a special ability to see love and connect others, and desperately wants to experience being in love for herself.

I loved the writing in the first half of The Little Village of Book Lovers. Chance, Fate, Wonder, Time, Pragmatism being characters was extremely interesting and Love being the narrator was excellent. The story itself fell short. It must have been realized that half the novel was written and there was no actual story, so drop the beautiful writing and exchange it for an actual story line, which was incredibly predictable because by that time everything needed to have an ending and tying it up perfectly would be the fastest way to do so. For such a short book, it took me so long to read as I keep putting it down. Too many characters and a mess the reader has to get through -- for what, a few beautiful descriptions in the beginning? I would have stopped reading, except I felt the responsibility to finish for the review.

3.5/5 stars
The Little Village of Book Lovers is a must-read for fans of Nina George’s The Little Paris Bookshop. If you are curious about the book which Jean Perdu always recommends, this is that book! Narrated by Love, the story follows a wide cast of characters and how books have the power to change their community and bring love into their lives.
The Little Paris Bookshop is one of my favorite books and I love how it balances a lively plots with little bits of wisdom/life lessons. However, this spin-off book relies too much on the later and leaves very little room for plot. It felt very slow with little to no conflict, until the very end of the book. I really liked the concept and getting to know each character but I was left wanting more!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

In the beginning we return to Jean Perdu, from the first book “The Little Paris Bookshop” who described himself as a literary apothecary. He sold books from a barge on the Seine river, where he would match a book to his clients, to give them what they needed.
In this novel, Perdu gives us the story of a book that healed him, brought him happiness and helped him get on with his life.
The main character was Marie-Jeanne an orphan, who as she grew was able to see Love in different ways through a persons “light”. I must say for awhile I was a bit confuse with the story line, because an Olive tree could talk as well as other virtues, with the main one being love and how to achieve it.
Once I got into the story and realized who was an actual person and how they all related to the virtues presented, it became a fascinating story, with Marie-Jeanne being the conductor, who could help channel the feelings of people who needed it.
It still had the love of books and ways to get people to expand there lives by reading, mainly in the small rural areas where people thought reading was a waste of time, or their wives or children might be influenced by it.
I will probably re read it in the future, and see how I interpret it then.
I have loved this authors books and look forward to her future stories.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine

I had to DNF this book. The story was tedious and I did not like the book. I could not relate to the story.

The Little Village of Book Lovers was such a great book. It tells the story of a girl who can see a glow on people. The glow is the mark Love has left on the people around her. So she ( and Love) try and get soulmates together. What I really loved about this was the style of storytelling, especially when after a character spoke, in italics would be what they really wanted to say. It really made the book easy to relate to and kind of magical. The book did take me a bit to really get into, but once I got used to the narrator's style and figured out what was going on, it really grabbed me.