Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
I'm wavering between 4 and 4 1/2 stars for this one. For the most part I really liked it, but
Catherine.
Made me crazy.
And there are other librarian- and old-book-specific things that made me a little nuts, but I know those are fairly me-specific and may or may not bother anyone else.
The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a dual-timeline story that wouldn't exist without books. Its main characters (Chloe in the present, Catherine and Jasper in 1960) are true lovers of books, even if (because?) Catherine and Jasper make a habit of writing notes to each other in the margins of their favorite ones at the local library where Chloe (now) and Catherine (1960) both work(ed). For the most part they are books that the general public will probably be familiar with, and may even recognize *some* of the quotes from, which was fun. Prolific readers (of books that were available in 1960) might also notice other more subtly-hidden Easter eggs in a character's garden before another character mentions them *if* they're paying close attention.
Essentially, this is a book written by someone who loves books for people who love books with characters who love books.
But...it's not a romance. There are two romances between the pages, but an HEA is not guaranteed by the time you finish. It's a women's fiction (as much as I hate that label, I don't know what else to use with books like these) with romantic elements. It's absolutely swoony at parts, but it doesn't necessarily last.
The writing is lovely--I have so many highlighted lines that I know there's no way I'll be able to copy them all into my "favorite quotes" section of my reading journal, which is tragic. I'm going to have to (gasp!) be selective. The horror. ;)
I loved Chloe, Jasper (past and present), Zach, and Chloe's brother Noodle/Aloysius--they were all just delightful. Ms Gilmore gives us plenty of POV characters here, depending on what part of the story is being told--it has 5 parts altogether, and the POVs shift slightly depending on which part of the book you're in--and though I don't always enjoy so many characters giving us their opinions of everything, it really works well here. The notes left in the book margins are so much fun to read--you absolutely see why Chloe is determined to find them all--and the two different fonts that they're written in is fun too (though be warned, they didn't transfer to the ARC as it is read in a Kindle. In the Edelweiss online reader, though, the formatting was closer to what the finished book is like). It wasn't at all difficult to keep track of the two different timelines, and it felt like the author gave us just enough of each to tell her story well.
Catherine, though, is a piece of work. I'm not a fan of romances where one character makes all the decisions for the other without their consent or knowledge because it's "for the best" or "for their own good" and she takes her decision-making to a whollllllle new level. For the most part I did enjoy her as a character and totally "got" what Jasper saw in her, but when she decided to go where she did with her whole I'm-going-to-make-decisions-for-everyone-because-I'm-not-a-romantic-and-romantics-can't-be-trusted-to-make-the-right-choices schtick, she lost me as a fan. Might Jasper have wanted to make different decisions? Probably. Might they have made things harder for one or both of them? Again, probably. But does that mean she has the right to cut him out of the decision making completely by pulling the stunt she does? Absolutely not.
As someone who currently is a (real, not a "not-quite-a" like Chloe) librarian, all the talk of old books that have been sitting around in basements and old deserted cabins until people come find them and take them home to read just makes me cringe. The day before I finished reading this book our library got several donations of books from people that were so old and dirty and--some of them--visibly moldy that you could smell them from the top of the stairs from where they were sitting in bags and boxes on the landing below. And that's not an uncommon thing, sadly. Even when books are loved, they're not going to last for years and years without extraordinary help--this is why archivists exist. So while my reading brain was thrilled that Pepper's grandma got a paper copy of [b:Pregnesia|6515274|Pregnesia (The Recovery Men, #3)|Carla Cassidy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188677l/6515274._SY75_.jpg|6707066] to read from the library basement (shoutout to the author for including that Harlequin classic!), my librarian brain was trying hard not to cringe at the state that old bag of romances would probably be in after being dumped in a basement for so many years.
Also--speaking as a full-fledged librarian again--Chloe can absolutely finish her library science degree online, without leaving her town, her job, or her siblings. The school I went to is *only* offering their MLIS online, and has been since 2017. I completed my entire degree online, while working full-time and with 2 teenagers at home, so it can be done. Her other big concern is money, of course, and it is expensive--but as the person responsible for 3 minors and who doesn't make a lot of money herself, financial aid would be available.
And finally--one last Catherine gripe--all jobs in the book field are worthy. If you want to work in books, find the job or job that speaks to you. Working in a library is great, if you want to work with books and people in that capacity. Working in publishing is also great, if you want to work with books, agents, and authors in the pre- and publication stages. Teaching reading or ELA or being a professor of literature are all jobs that book lovers can enjoy, if that type of work appeals to them. Be an author! Work in editing! There are plenty of book-centered jobs out there for people who love books, including reviewing (though for most of us that's an unpaid side gig, or a very low paid side gig). I know it was just my--already by that time--anti-Catherine bias that took umbrage at her advice to Chloe at the end, but since it was at the end it's going to stick with me for a while.
Rant over ;)
If you love books and think a dual-timeline journey through quite a few of them with lots of little literary-themed surprises throughout sounds like fun, then this could be the book for you! I had a lot of fun reading it, even though I didn't love everything about it. If you're one of those all-books-are-precious-treasures-and-we-must-keep-them-ALL kinds of people, then you'll love it for sure.
Rating: 4 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Catherine.
Made me crazy.
And there are other librarian- and old-book-specific things that made me a little nuts, but I know those are fairly me-specific and may or may not bother anyone else.
The Library of Borrowed Hearts is a dual-timeline story that wouldn't exist without books. Its main characters (Chloe in the present, Catherine and Jasper in 1960) are true lovers of books, even if (because?) Catherine and Jasper make a habit of writing notes to each other in the margins of their favorite ones at the local library where Chloe (now) and Catherine (1960) both work(ed). For the most part they are books that the general public will probably be familiar with, and may even recognize *some* of the quotes from, which was fun. Prolific readers (of books that were available in 1960) might also notice other more subtly-hidden Easter eggs in a character's garden before another character mentions them *if* they're paying close attention.
Essentially, this is a book written by someone who loves books for people who love books with characters who love books.
But...it's not a romance. There are two romances between the pages, but an HEA is not guaranteed by the time you finish. It's a women's fiction (as much as I hate that label, I don't know what else to use with books like these) with romantic elements. It's absolutely swoony at parts, but it doesn't necessarily last.
The writing is lovely--I have so many highlighted lines that I know there's no way I'll be able to copy them all into my "favorite quotes" section of my reading journal, which is tragic. I'm going to have to (gasp!) be selective. The horror. ;)
I loved Chloe, Jasper (past and present), Zach, and Chloe's brother Noodle/Aloysius--they were all just delightful. Ms Gilmore gives us plenty of POV characters here, depending on what part of the story is being told--it has 5 parts altogether, and the POVs shift slightly depending on which part of the book you're in--and though I don't always enjoy so many characters giving us their opinions of everything, it really works well here. The notes left in the book margins are so much fun to read--you absolutely see why Chloe is determined to find them all--and the two different fonts that they're written in is fun too (though be warned, they didn't transfer to the ARC as it is read in a Kindle. In the Edelweiss online reader, though, the formatting was closer to what the finished book is like). It wasn't at all difficult to keep track of the two different timelines, and it felt like the author gave us just enough of each to tell her story well.
Catherine, though, is a piece of work. I'm not a fan of romances where one character makes all the decisions for the other without their consent or knowledge because it's "for the best" or "for their own good" and she takes her decision-making to a whollllllle new level. For the most part I did enjoy her as a character and totally "got" what Jasper saw in her, but when she decided to go where she did with her whole I'm-going-to-make-decisions-for-everyone-because-I'm-not-a-romantic-and-romantics-can't-be-trusted-to-make-the-right-choices schtick, she lost me as a fan. Might Jasper have wanted to make different decisions? Probably. Might they have made things harder for one or both of them? Again, probably. But does that mean she has the right to cut him out of the decision making completely by pulling the stunt she does? Absolutely not.
Spoiler
Yes, what she does with her life is her choice. It's her body, her choice, 100%. And she decides she wants him out of her life--also her choice. But how she chooses to do it, with an OTT soap-opera-worthy lie? I'm not OK with that. Good thing it's Jasper that has to forgive her and not me, because I don't have it in me to right now.As someone who currently is a (real, not a "not-quite-a" like Chloe) librarian, all the talk of old books that have been sitting around in basements and old deserted cabins until people come find them and take them home to read just makes me cringe. The day before I finished reading this book our library got several donations of books from people that were so old and dirty and--some of them--visibly moldy that you could smell them from the top of the stairs from where they were sitting in bags and boxes on the landing below. And that's not an uncommon thing, sadly. Even when books are loved, they're not going to last for years and years without extraordinary help--this is why archivists exist. So while my reading brain was thrilled that Pepper's grandma got a paper copy of [b:Pregnesia|6515274|Pregnesia (The Recovery Men, #3)|Carla Cassidy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188677l/6515274._SY75_.jpg|6707066] to read from the library basement (shoutout to the author for including that Harlequin classic!), my librarian brain was trying hard not to cringe at the state that old bag of romances would probably be in after being dumped in a basement for so many years.
Also--speaking as a full-fledged librarian again--Chloe can absolutely finish her library science degree online, without leaving her town, her job, or her siblings. The school I went to is *only* offering their MLIS online, and has been since 2017. I completed my entire degree online, while working full-time and with 2 teenagers at home, so it can be done. Her other big concern is money, of course, and it is expensive--but as the person responsible for 3 minors and who doesn't make a lot of money herself, financial aid would be available.
And finally--one last Catherine gripe--all jobs in the book field are worthy. If you want to work in books, find the job or job that speaks to you. Working in a library is great, if you want to work with books and people in that capacity. Working in publishing is also great, if you want to work with books, agents, and authors in the pre- and publication stages. Teaching reading or ELA or being a professor of literature are all jobs that book lovers can enjoy, if that type of work appeals to them. Be an author! Work in editing! There are plenty of book-centered jobs out there for people who love books, including reviewing (though for most of us that's an unpaid side gig, or a very low paid side gig). I know it was just my--already by that time--anti-Catherine bias that took umbrage at her advice to Chloe at the end, but since it was at the end it's going to stick with me for a while.
Rant over ;)
If you love books and think a dual-timeline journey through quite a few of them with lots of little literary-themed surprises throughout sounds like fun, then this could be the book for you! I had a lot of fun reading it, even though I didn't love everything about it. If you're one of those all-books-are-precious-treasures-and-we-must-keep-them-ALL kinds of people, then you'll love it for sure.
Rating: 4 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
🤯🤬🤮
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed all the literary references and felt like the multiple POVs added a depth to the story. I appreciated the bit of clean romance and the mystery-ish aspect that kept the plot moving along nicely. I definitely recommend this one to fans of uplifting reads that aren't saccharine sweet or over-filled with tropes.
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A mystery disguised a romance with a found family trope? It’s more likely that you think. Listening to this audiobook had me hooked and I really enjoyed getting to hear the story from so many perspectives of the almost ensemble cast.