This was a very positive book. It shows many different types of grief and how difficult and different each experience is. It deals with friendship and loneliness, the first having an impact on the second. The main theme though is about the different aspects of ADHD. These are introduced slowly and all who have the diagnosis or think they might have it have moments of self doubt and also positivity. Mental health is also discussed. All these issues are dealt with but the book is not depressing, it is uplifting. A positive book which also recommends books to the reader and explains why the characters feel they are their favourite books. The idea of Desert Island Reads is a new one for me, but it is brilliant. Thank you to all for allowing me to read this interesting book.

The Forgotten Book Club is an absolute gem of a read. Light and charming, it weaves together friendship, literature, and second chances in the most heartwarming way. The characters are instantly likeable, and I found myself genuinely caring about their journeys.

There are proper laugh-out-loud moments that had me grinning in public, and just when I thought I had it all figured out, it delivered some beautifully touching scenes that brought a tear to my eye.

A perfect choice if you’re after a feel-good story with a bit of emotional depth. I couldn’t put it down—and didn’t want it to end. Highly recommend

Thank you @
#Netgalley and #Avon for the opportunity to read

What a lovely book. Really enjoyed the story and liked the idea of a silent part in a book club. It also raises knowledge about ADHD and how that affects people.

This is a story about Grace, who has been grieving her husband who died suddenly a few months earlier. Her daughter and grandson, who are both concerned about Grace being lonely and isolated, encourage her to attend the book club that Frank had belonged to and meet some new people.
Grace is reluctant, primarily as the bookstore where the club meets is in the store that used to be an antique shop she worked in. However, Grace does attend and although the first visit has her fleeing, she soon finds herself drawn to this disparate group of people and true friendship is founded.
This is a lovely story of grief, loneliness, mental health, friendship and hope. It also had me adding several titles to my TBR list!
Thank you Netgalley and and Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

This was a wonderfully cosy and comforting read, showing the way that books can connect us all.

Grace has recently lost her husband Frank, who was an avid reader and was part of a local book club. Grace is looking for ways to reconnect with him, and is persuaded to join the book club despite not being a reluctant reader, and when she's met with a group of people she knows nothing about all reading silently she leaves - it's almost like the silence scares her too much.

But she's persuaded to return, and soon the book group begin to share their fond memories of Frank and she starts to learn more about the compassion he showed others and through them she gets a sense of herself back and the man she lost who brought so much to other people.

The book club was full of such wonderful people that you couldn't help but want to be part of the club yourself! And through the books he left behind, Grace starts to fall under the spell of the books too especially when going through his reading journals where his innermost thoughts were left behind. She also offers her help to others in the group going through their own struggles and you really get a wonderful sense of community and the power of people helping one another - we need more of that in the world please!!

The Forgotten Book Club is such a heartwarming read!

While it took me a few chapters to get into a groove of reading, I enjoyed getting to know Grace from the start. As a therapist, who exists in the world of grief and loss professionally and personally, I connected and appreciated her grief so much. Each character that follows was a joy to read about. I found myself having more questions about the book club members and couldn't wait to see where the book took them.

I appreciate the author's efforts to normalize conversations around ADHD, 'neurodiversity', and mental health overall. It added a real life layer to the book that I found drew me in more.

Overall a feel-good read that I needed during these times!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review. I very much enjoyed Kate Storey’s The Memory Library and was comforted by a similar heartfelt tale woven with loss and longing. I adore books about an assorted group of people who come together with one common interest and become a found family.

Grace was not a reader but her husband Frank was. He even went to a book club in town and always wanted her to come. Grace was mad when Frank died but thought to honor him by checking out the book club. It turns out they knew him well and thought so highly of him, and they also knew all about her as Frank talked highly about Grace. Grace didn't intend to join, especially when she found out it was a silent book club. But she came to care about these people and they also brought her closer back to Frank. The book club saved Grace and gave her new life. I thought this was an unusual concept , a book club where you read in the companionship of others, sharing if you like or not. I've head of it, and dismissed it but now see how warm and embracing it is to sit among others to read, albeit different genres or types, yet all enjoying the art of reading which is what draws them together. I enjoyed this book, it would be great to discuss in a book club. For fans of Evie Woods, this would be for you too. Many thanks to #netgalley #katestore #forgotten bookclub for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Seventy-year-old Grace is dealing with the grief of losing her husband Frank a year ago. When her grandson suggests she attend the book club Frank had been a member of, she reluctantly goes. I enjoyed the book club sections where Grace met new friends and realized she likes to read. However, all the references to symptoms of ADHD were too much, and I lost interest and would just put the book down for a while. Thanks to the author, Avon Books UK, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

We book lovers so enjoy finding new books about the love of books. This lovely story features a grieving main character who returns to restart her dead husbands book club. She finds a interesting group that reads in silence for an hour. Here she finds companionship and connection. Some theme here of mental health done with empathy and care.
I loved the characters and the friendships that were so important to each book club member.
The author includes wonderful book recommendations to add to your TBR. A very enjoyable read.
Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity. I highly recommend this book .

The title of this book made me wonder: how can you forget a book club? Well, the answer becomes clear early on in the story. Grace lost her husband Frank a year before the book begins, and she has almost forgotten that he ran a book club. Encouraged by her grandson Jude, she visits the book club and is quite taken aback to find out that there’s not a common book to discuss. Each member brings what they want to read, sits in silence to read and at some point in the evening there is some chat. Sounds like a great idea to me! I loved all the references to the books the group were reading and their reasons for reading them. You could easily compile a rather varied reading list from the various suggestions. Grace was moved, as was I, to find that her husband was most definitely not forgotten by the book club and had been held in very high regard.

I really enjoyed getting to know the various members of the group (including Earnest!), finding out about their stories and what had brought them to the silent reading club. Their reading group was almost not so much about the books as about building a caring and supportive community.

There are a couple of very thought-provoking themes in the the book which are also often rather moving too. At the beginning of the book, Grace is deep in grief and views her loss, understandably, as an ending. Through the new friendships she makes, she begins to view this period of her life, as a new chapter with new possibilities, not an ending. There is also a focus on neuro-divergence and how people’s opinions and understanding of that have changed in recent years.

The Forgotten Book Club is a really heart-warming book, definitely one to read if you are looking for an uplifting story. It’s a celebration of the power of books and reading to bring people together.

"Life can begin with a single story. You just have to Bring Your Own Book…
For three decades, Grace supported her husband Frank’s passion for books, despite not being a reader herself. Since his passing, their shelves echo longingly, and Grace’s heartache has only grown.

When Grace’s grandson suggests joining Frank’s old book club to feel closer to him again, Grace reluctantly agrees. Yet, upon arrival, she discovers this isn’t a typical book here, members settle in for an hour of reading… in silence."

This is not what I expected but is a really thoughtful and inclusive story.
Grace is a great character, not perfect, but entirely believable. She thinks that the book club will help her get over her husband's death but instead she learns much more about him and those he loved.

The Forgotten Book Club is a tender, character-driven piece, very much about the people at the heart of the story. I always enjoy a book within a book, or novels set in the bookish world, so this charming story featuring an unconventional book club, could not have been more perfect for me! The writing style is reminiscent of Fredrik Backman with a strong focus on the transformative power of community, friendship and kindness. I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written narrative and will be reminiscing about this eclectic cast of characters for some time to come. A truly heart-warming and emotive book, that captures the joy of reading.

Trigger Warnings: Grief and Loneliness

Rating: 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 on NetGalley

A beautiful story with wonderful characters and great character development. A story of loss and feeling lost. Of finding your tribe / book club, and being found. Of finding your voice and being the voice of "the mission". A story of being supported and of being supportive. This heartwarming story has the emotional aspects of several important and relevant daily issues... Grief, ADHD, etc. The silent book club has a goal of highlighting these issues and helping others. Thoughtful, emotional, touching.

I found the overt and constant mention of ADHD quite off-putting. An initial mention to set the stage for Frank's goals with the book club would've made sense; but repeatedly seeing that acronym looming in paragraph after paragraph turned the story into an activist piece instead of an enlightening and enjoyable story. Unfortunately this colored my entire experience with this ARC.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5/5. I really enjoyed reading this author's previous work, The Memory Library, so I was very grateful to receive this ARC from NetGalley. This book was a story about grief, community, healing, and mental health. The main character, Grace, is struggling to manage her grief after the loss of her husband. She previously was fairly introverted and relied on her husband for social interactions. Grace's daughter and grandson urge her to join her late husband's bookclub to meet more people who share a connection.

Grace begins to explore her grief, connect with others, and we learn more about the stories of the other bookclub members along the way. My one thing that I thought was a bit overdone was the constant references to ADHD and the different ways that it can be displayed. I appreciate what the author is trying to do by bringing more awareness to neurodivergent individuals, but it was a bit much and broke some of the flow of the story. This book was uplifting while it touched on heavy topics. I loved all of the different book recommendations and references throughout (love that she shouts out Anxious People by Fredrik Backman especially) and want a bookclub cat like Earnest.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK, and the author for this ARC copy.

Thanks NetGalley. I loved this book. The characters were believable and storyline just right. Fried and loneliness is an awful thing to experience but it was wonderful how graces husband understood this. It is so essential that one carries on with life without feeling guilt

A wonderful book about people who love books, which makes it perfect for book lovers. It shows that impact that a book can have on people along with the impact that people can have, it does deal with hard hitting topics such as grief and mental health but in a really empathetic way. I went into this book not knowing what to expect and found that I really enjoyed it.

A lovely, warm story of grief, loss, family and learning to live again. There was a fabulous cast of relatable characters in this well written tale. As a late diagnosed neurodivergent person, I did appreciate the authors portrayal of ADHD but after a while it did feel a little clunky and overdone. That said it was accurate and it was nice to see a positive portrayal of strengths as well as the frustrations.