This book was beautiful and moving in a way that we need right now. It reminds us that even if it takes a military to win a war, it takes our neighbors and community to keep us going. This book was a wonderful historic book, set during WWII in London. I can see this book will be a book club staple for years to come.

My love of historical fiction set in WWII England drew me to this book, the fact that the author is Annie Lyons sealed the deal. Gertie Bingham owns a bookshop in a tight knit community in the outskirts of London. Bingham Books is a very popular place for both regulars and new visitors alike. Gertie has a way of uniting people with the perfect book. Her employees are dedicated and loyal. Of course, no bookshop is complete without a community of quirky characters. War is declared and Gertie along with her faithful lab, Hemingway find ways to draw the community together and help those that need it. Things take another turn and the story becomes even richer when Gertie takes in 15 year old Jewish refugee, Hedy Fischer. Annie Lyons has a beautiful way of weaving characters’ stories and relationships together. I could not put this book down. If you enjoy historical fiction set in WWII England, books and bookshops, this is the book for you. It will be available July 11th. Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC of this wonderful book.

Gertie didn’t know what to do after losing her husband but with the help of a friend she takes in a Jewish teen whose parents sent her to England for safety. Together they teach each other how to not give up.

It was soo good. It really hooked me in and I couldn't put it down. I especially enjoyed the recommendations and that it was a different aspect of WW2. I highly enjoyed the characters and it was a great read for me. Would recommend to historical fictions lovers and those looking to try out historical fiction.

I loved Annie Lyons’ previous novel, “The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett,” so I was excited at the prospect of reading an ARC copy of her latest book, “The Air Raid Book Club.” The novel begins with a prologue set in London in 1911 when Gertie Bingham opens a bookshop with her husband, Harry. The next chapter is set in the years before World War II with Gertie a widow for the last three years. She is still running the bookshop with help from a young woman named Betty Godwin and an older woman named Miss Snips, who had been the head librarian where Harry worked years ago before opening the bookshop with Gertie. She has delegated much of the management of the shop to Betty, who orders books and arranges the monthly book club. Gertie is contemplating retiring to the seashore, since the bookshop and her home no longer bring her joy as she mourns the loss of her beloved husband, Harry.

Gertie’s life takes a sudden turn when, at the prompting of Charles Ashford, an old friend of Harry and her late brother, Jack, she volunteers to take in a child fleeing the Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany. She is paired with Hedy Fischer, a 15 year old from Munich. At first Gertie resents the intrusion and finds it difficult to break through Hedy’s reserve, but eventually they come to rely on each other. Hedy works with Gertie at the bookshop, becoming as indispensable there as she is at their shared home. Too soon, war breaks out with its nightly air raids, as the Nazi’s drop bombs over London. Since the back of the shop has been declared an air raid shelter, Gertie decides to help ease the anxiety of the shelter’s inhabitants by starting an air raid book club.

As in her previous novel, this book is filled with warm, charming and sometimes eccentric characters, who band together to ease each other’s burdens. The story offers hope, fellowship and love in the darkest of times, demonstrating how a traumatic experience shared with a caring community can help those involved survive and even thrive. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with well-drawn characters who help each other grow and reach their full potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was wonderful - I know it will be a best seller. I have attached the link to my Goodreads review and will write a bookstagram report on it shortly @ifihadapennyforeverywordread

THANK YOU for letting me have an e-copy of this book.

Oh this was precious. It can be a bit dauting when the book aims to cover multiple years, but I believe Annie Lyons was successful at telling Gertie, and the town's, story. There were a few moments early in the book with a time jump backwards that I was not prepared for and I had to read to make sense of what year I was in. However, other then that I think it flowed incredibly well and it was fantastically heartwarming, but was able to relay that stress and sadness of war for those that were home.
This is a homefront book so it can feel a bit disjointed from the fighting and no one knows the horrors that are going on. But the stories that the cities and villages in England provide us with are still so worth knowing! I loved the sense of community in the book and being able to see the characters grow and mature before my eyes.

4.5 ⭐️s (but only because I felt like the end was a bit rushed)

Let it be known that after thrillers, historical fictions are my favorite books to read. The Air Raid Book Club was a unique viewpoint into the experiences many and during WWII. It was very different than many I have read.

Imagine that you are the owner of a successful bookstore in a close knit neighborhood of London. You have already survived WWI and with it, all the devastation that it brought. You never thought you’d see another war, let alone a “great” one. Yet, here you are, being asked to welcome in a young German girl (before war has even been raged with England) and deciding do you stay and run your beloved bookstore or do you count your blessings and split. Throughout this beautiful depiction of a community striving to survive and thrive together, the authors quote “Wars weren’t fought by generals or politicians, they are fought by armies of originary people battling, struggling, and holding up one another as they pushed forward.” was beautifully put on display time and time again.

I came to love the (very) many characters and I felt like I, too, would be welcomed into their book club.

Thank you William Morrow Books for the ARC!

It’s 1938 and Gertie is a widow trying to run the bookshop she and her husband founded. The bookstore was their dream, and after losing him, Gertie is struggling. As the war rages in Germany, Gertie decided to take in a refugee, a teenage girl named Hedy.

Gertie and Hedy form an unbreakable bond. They decided to start an air raid book club. Together with the help of neighbors and bookstore customers, they hold their book club. They lift people’s spirits all over the country.

While books can only provide a temporary escape - the bonds their have formed helps them through some dark days.

Review:

This book was simply beautiful with wonderful writing. I loved the story of Gertie and Hedy. Be prepared though, not a ton happens in this book, its more about getting a glimpse into the life of a wonderful woman and the child she took in. The last third of the book was stunning though, just how things came together. I enjoyed learning this aspect of the war. While I knew some jewish children were able to escape, it was interesting and heartwarming to hear that some of them ended up in amazing homes.

This one was almost a five star for me, but I felt that the lack of plot just knocked it down about half a star. This is still a phenomenal read and I highly recommend you check it out July 11th.

Thank you to the publisher William Morrow, @williammorrowbooks, and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Heartwarming" has become an overused, nearly meaningless expression. It is however, the most perfect description of this wonderful book. Gertie Bingham, at the outset of the story, which takes place in late 1930's London, is lost. Her husband has died and the joy and fulfillment that came to her from together running a book shop has died with him. So has the other love of her life-reading. Her dog Hemingway is the only anchor keeping her from drifting away from life altogether.

At the same time, in Nazi Germany, Hitler is closing his trap on Germany's Jewish population. Many would gladly leave all they have behind to be able to escape but few if any countries will take them. England has agreed to accept a limited number of Jewish children but without their parents. Their journey has come to be known as the Kindertransport. English families are called on to take them in and Gertie, although initially reluctant, agrees to her friend Charles' request to take an older child. This child is Hedy Fischer and The Air Raid Book Club is the story of how Gertie, Hedie, Hemingway, their neighbors, friends and relatives, bound by love for each other and their common love of books, make it through WWII.

Without being mawkish, this book is uplifting. It reminds us of how important family and friends are. It reminded me why I love to read. I loved this book and I am most grateful to HarperCollins and Netgalley for this ARC.

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons is a beautiful, wonderful, and emotional WWII-era novel that is truly one of the best books I have ever read.

This is now truly one of my favorite books ever. I had given up on HF as of late, and I am so glad that I read this.

Reading this beautiful, heartfelt, heartbreaking, but yet promising story leaves me feeling happy, warm, and hope for the human spirit. Following along with the residents of Beachwood during WWII was just magical. Gertie, Hedy, Charles, Billy, Elizabeth, Miss Crow, Miss Crisp, Betty, Margery, Gerald, Mrs Constantine, Sam, Hemingway, and the love surrounding one another and Bingham Books…it just really connected with me.

I can’t praise this book enough, and no description I can give here can do it justice. I will definitely read this again.

5/5 stars enthusiastically

Thank you NG and William Morrow for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 7/11/23.

3.5 stars. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. The Air Raid Book Club was a sweet novel about the power of books bringing a group of people together during one of the most trying times in history. I enjoyed this story and the entertaining collection of characters that were featured. It was especially interesting to learn more about how the air raids (and the war, overall) affected the everyday citizens of London and their efforts on the homefront. There were times when the book dragged on a bit and I felt it was a little overly sentimental, which is why I have not rounded up to four stars. However, if you are a lover of historical fiction, I recommend reading this book.

I am slowly becoming a WWII fiction reader and it is because of beautifully written books like this one. I could not put this down it had me completely wrapped up in the story. This was so good.
I just reviewed The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons. #TheAirRaidBookClub #NetGalley
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This is one of my favorite historical fiction books to date!!! I fell in love with the characters and it transported me to London during WW2 and what it must have been like to been there during such difficult times. I also love how this focused more on the people at home versus the people on the front lines.

Received as an ARC through Net Galley. The Air Raid Book Club tells the story of a widow who discovers the lengths that a community will go through to protect what's important and the strength of found family.

Annie Lyons tells a phenomenal story of Gertie Bingham, who prior to World War II, has lost her husband and is running her town's bookstore herself. When she feels ready to retire, she is asked to take in a German immigrant girl right as the Blitz begins in London. As the air raid sirens ring out, the community begins to rely on Gertie and her store to provide some normalcy and help make sense of the chaos surrounding.

Gertie is a charming protagonist who questions her own motives, but finds support from a community who shares her values and passion. If you love Kate Quinn or Jacqueline Winspear's novels, but also The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, this is a must-read.

World War II British homefront is my favorite historical period to read about, so I was very excited to pick up this title. It is a gentle, heartwarming read about a bookseller who takes in a German Jewish refugee and their community who lives through the brutal Blitz. Until the last third of the book, there wasn't much plot or action. Most of the story is told through the descriptions and everyday actions of the two main characters, who are lovely ordinary people living in remarkable times.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

This book is an absolute treasure. I don’t typically read historical fiction, but I absolutely love books about books (or in this case, a book about a bookstore owner!). So I clearly had to give it a go, and I’m so glad that I did. The story is full of lovable characters, and I found myself rooting for all of them to find their happy endings. I strongly recommend this book.

First off, World War II books are my absolute favorite - and The Air Raid Book Club is one of the best I've ever read.

Synopsis: This book is set in London with main character Gertie Bingham, who owns a bookstore called Bingham Books. She ran it for years and years with her late husband Harry, and when Harry passed, Gertie felt like life had lost meaning. She felt lonely at home and her work at the bookstore didn't give her the same energy it once had. World War II looms, and Gertie's close friend asks whether she'd be open to opening to her home to Hedy, a Jewish child evacuated from Germany. At first, Gertie can't imagine taking in a child during her retirement years, but she has a change of heart, and throughout the duration of the book, we see how bringing Hedy into her home brought her a new sense of purpose and new definitions of love. A slow start, yes, but Hedy begins to open up and the two become fast friends that grows more into a mother-daughter relationship - and as the air raid sirens continue to go off in London, the two, along with other workers at Bingham Books, spark the idea of creating the Air Raid Book Club, reading books to distract from devastating wartime and then sending books to POWs as a means to fight back. The running theme is books - how they can change your life . and impact others. There's also a constant reminder that friends are the family you keep, that to get through hard times, leaning on close friendships is necessary and a gift.

This book is so well written, and I truly fell in love with all the characters. Gertie, Hedy, Charles, Sam, Betty, Mrs. Fortescue...the list truly goes on. Each character is so fleshed out, and all I know is that Gertie is someone I'd love to be friends with. I feel truly honored to have read this book before publication and I can't encourage it enough when it is available for purchase!

Thank you to William Morrow Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐️ This book follows Gertie as she takes in a teen right at the start of the war. Hedy is a 15 year old German Jew who is separated from her family for her safety. After a rough start, Hedy and Gertie find their groove with the help of their mutual love of books. Hedy eventually joins in working at Bingham books, which Gertie owns. This is also where the Air Raid Book Club was started. As the war progresses and news of lost friends and family come in, Gertie, Hedy, beloved neighbors and friends all find comfort in the bookclub. This book follows these two women through the entirely of the war and beyond.
I love historical fictions and have read several books based around WW2. I really enjoyed how this one was about the people left at home as opposed to people directly in the conflict, or in Hedys case where her parents made the decision to send her to London for her safety. The characters experience love and heartbreaking loss but the way this town of people support each other was touching. And I loved how they all came together in air raid shelters which seemed to become a place of growth, discovery, and togetherness.
Thank you netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honestly review!

I'll be buying this one when it is released later this year! I've read a lot of historical fiction, but this was a different take on the stereotypical WW2 story. I fell in love with the characters. Who couldn't love someone who also loves book so much?! This one pulled on your heartstrings and I'll definitely recommend it. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!