The Little Village of Book Lovers is one that I was highly anticipating. I could not wait to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, I was unable to connect with the story. I gave up halfway through. It might have just gone over my head. There were some very beautiful quotable moments. Which makes me believe a different reader would enjoy this story.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this lovely arc.

I didn’t finish this one. It just wasn’t my cup of tea I guess. I wanted to love it cause I love WWII books. I think I’ve read so many of the same ones lately so this didn’t appeal to me anymore. Anyway… I will probably revisit this in a few months and like it more then.

What an incredible premise this story has. It is about love in every respect- family love, romantic love, the love of friends, , love of self and most unusually love of the natural world. Human feelings of love and hate etc are all involved in creating nothing short of an artist’s palette of how to paint a picture of the blossoms of love. I was hoping and expecting to be enchanted.
To achieve this beautifully creative end, Nina George has described the role of books and stories which give meaning and definition to life.
The characters in this book use a bookmobile to share the love of reading with the denizens of the French countryside, while searching for romantic love for themselves and each other.
For me it fell short. There was an underlying foundation of magic and mysticism. We have a young woman who searches for the actual light that love brings. She can see it. And love personifies and speaks to her as do the trees. Fantasy abounds. Conversations are taking place with inanimate objects come to life. It was difficult for me to follow the action. It was more difficult to connect with these very airy characters. Try as I might, I just could not.
I wish to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George is absolutely wonderful! Nina George has such a way with words and language, and Simon Pare has such a way with them and the translation.

I have loved all of Nina George's books that have come to my library in English. To have Southern Lights, a fictional novel from The Little Paris Bookshop, come into being as The Little Village of Book Lovers, who could ask for anything more?!?!

This story has fantastic elements about love, revolution, books, humanity, wonder, and language. It is simply fantastic! I adored this book!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I remember reading Little Paris Bookshop, and being so enthralled by Nina George's story-telling; it felt as though you had really stepped on board Jean Perdu's floating bookstore while he was on his adventures. Unfortunately, in this book, I felt very little of that story-telling. There were points in which I had been transported to Nyons, but the book as a whole felt very disjointed and fragmented.

Part of this was because throughout the book, it was unclear to me who the protagonist was supposed to be. It seemed like it was supposed to be Marie-Jeanne, as she was the one who had the ability to see people's lights. But, there were enough frequent interjections by "Love" that it felt like maybe they were supposed to be the protagonist. The interjections felt a bit like whiplash -- I was just getting used to hearing the story from Marie-Jeanne, and then suddenly, Love would jump in.

And, while the smattering of characters that Marie-Jeanne was playing matchmaker for were unique, because there were so many of them, it was both hard to feel attached to any of them and hard to see how they were connected, beyond their personal connection to the mobile bookstore. Because each chapter focused on a different character or story, it felt more like I was reading a collection of vignettes rather than a cohesive story.

The idea that Love, Logic, Fear, and other virtues come to children in different amounts is an interesting one, and it was an interesting premise for a story if someone -- like Marie-Jeanne -- was touched by Love, and therefore given a little bit of Love's superpower. Unfortunately, the idea was better than the execution, and I found myself disappointed.

I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Nina George’s books and her newest, The Little Village of Book Lovers, does not disappoint. While I usually steer away from magical or fantasy type books, this one (narrated by Love and a young girl’s conversations with an olive tree) is just too charming to miss.

Francis is an odds-and-ends delivery man who decides to start a library bus to deliver books to the community. After some resistance, the idea catches on and everyone is enjoying reading and discussing books. Meanwhile, his foster daughter, Marie-Jeanne, is seeing the glow of love everywhere. With the help of an older woman from the community, Marie-Jeanne decides to hold a book club to bring people together not only to discuss good books but also to find love.

I really enjoyed this book even with its mystical tone. The characters are all so endearing and charming, I loved them all. A quick easy read that will warm your heart. I would highly recommend this book or any other by this author. Happy reading!

I enjoy Nina George's writing. This story makes you stop and think and also makes you smile. The characters are all very unique individuals but love is in the air. Not only with each other (which they don't know yet) but for their love of books and their titles. The THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF BOOK LOVERS has a good beginning that keeps you going. I highly recommend that you read the author's notes in the back of the book first, especially if you have not read Nina George's first book THE LITTLE BOOKSHOP IN PARIS. Which by the way is awesome.

I was happy to be able to read this ARC by NetGalley. The story, at times, was beautiful. It was also odd and confusing. I wanted so badly to connect with the characters, but felt I didn’t really get to know them. The descriptions of locations in the book were beautiful and made me want to travel there to eat the foods and visit the olive tree and climb the mountain and read all the books. Maybe this story was too philosophical and not literal enough for me? I’m not sure. While I didn’t love this book, I am glad I read it and know it will likely be a favorite of those readers who love beautiful language and thought-provoking notions.

Marie can see the marks love leaves on people and it's even more obvious when true mate is close to them. As she adult, she has mobile library and brings books and loves all over the area. She's always wondering when she'll find her true love...

I had never read any of Nina George's novels, and so was unprepared for The Little Village of Book Lovers, where magic realism populates this small village. It did take me a while to move beyond the multiple narrators of the olive tree, love, death, fate, to discover the plot that lay below the surface. As the title suggests, this novel is about the power of books to change lives.

One of the main characters, the junkman Francis, decides that his village needs books, which will have the power to change lives and move people beyond their narrow existence into a wider world. His determination to make books available to everyone, rather than the previously narrow access that was provided by bibles, is at the center of this novel. Francis' motivation is linked to the needs of his foster daughter, Marie-Jeanne, who sees the power of love in everyday lives and items, including in books. To create a better world for Marie-Jeanne, Francis secures a book bus to bring books to the village.

Nina George clearly believes in the power of books. The Little Village of Book Lovers begins by offering literary classics to village readers, but soon enough, the village readers want more variety and need more variety to discover who they are. Most importantly, love of books soon becomes love of one another. I rarely choose to read magical realism, and in whole sections of The Little Village of Book Lovers, I felt a bit lost, but for readers who embrace magical realism, The Little Village of Book Lovers is a book that will be cherished and enjoyed.

I want to thank the author and publisher for making this ARC available to me, in exchange for my honest review. The Little Village of Book Lovers isn't a novel that will appeal to all readers, but I have chosen to rate this novel based on the kind of reader for whom Nina George created a book they will love. Thank you also to NetGalley for suggesting this novel.

Nina George once again writes from her heart! With endearing characters and a beautiful story about love and books. This one sentence in her book sums up the entire story – "If Love is the poetry of the senses books are the poetry of the impossible." Thank you Nina for turning your fictitious "Southern Lights" into a novel! This is a must read for Nina George fans!!!