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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
Took me forever to finish. I just didn't like Hanna that much and really didn't like her mother. Non sympathetic characters.
DNF - abandoned!! As a librarian I wanted to like this book, but she was a stereotypical librarian shushing people and not wanting to help them. Got about 1/3 of the way through and decided I didn't like the characters, there were too many storylines, and this wasn't a good librarian portrayal. Buh bye! Life's too short to read bad books.
I enjoyed this book but it was a little slow for me…
It was a bit predictable, but I didn't mind. Especially when was as warm as a knitted throw around your shoulders. The characters were familiar to me, and well developed. I found myself commiserating with them. This was time well spent.
This book was sleepy, but I really enjoyed it. It was a good story.
I do not know when I first read this book but as soon as I started reading it recently I realised I had read it before.
It is an uplifting read set in Ireland on the Finfarran peninsula and features Hannah the Lissbeg Librarian, her mother Mary, her daughter Jazz, her ex Malcolm, Conor who helps out at the library and a whole host of supporting characters living and working at The Edge of the World.
There is a strong sense of community, of values and friendship and working together. The library has to be saved and in doing so Hannah herself is saved as she finds peace and harmony in the old house belonging to her great aunt Maggie which she ends up renovating with the help of two goats! Balance is restored in her heart and in the local community.
A feel good read indeed.
It is an uplifting read set in Ireland on the Finfarran peninsula and features Hannah the Lissbeg Librarian, her mother Mary, her daughter Jazz, her ex Malcolm, Conor who helps out at the library and a whole host of supporting characters living and working at The Edge of the World.
There is a strong sense of community, of values and friendship and working together. The library has to be saved and in doing so Hannah herself is saved as she finds peace and harmony in the old house belonging to her great aunt Maggie which she ends up renovating with the help of two goats! Balance is restored in her heart and in the local community.
A feel good read indeed.
Good for fans of Maeve Binchy who is mentioned several times in the book. Hanna has moved back to Ireland after her marriage in London failed. She took a job she does not really enjoy as the librarian of a small branch that serves rural towns on the west coast. To escape her mother’s house Hanna decides to restore a shanty left to her by an aunt. But, when things seems to be looking hopeful a council proposal threatens to close the library and it is left to Hanna to rally others to try and make life better for everyone.
Story was mostly enjoyable, though Hanna was basically a cranky spinster librarian which is a cliche that never sits well with this librarian. Also, there were several times where I could not figure out who the dialogue belonged to. Somethings people were speaking but there were not quotes and then quotes would appear making it hard to determine it a character had actually said something or just thought it. Point of view also changed frequently making it difficult to determine which character was having thoughts.
Story was mostly enjoyable, though Hanna was basically a cranky spinster librarian which is a cliche that never sits well with this librarian. Also, there were several times where I could not figure out who the dialogue belonged to. Somethings people were speaking but there were not quotes and then quotes would appear making it hard to determine it a character had actually said something or just thought it. Point of view also changed frequently making it difficult to determine which character was having thoughts.
hopeful
lighthearted
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
Too sappy and sentimental. It should have been funnier, or had more shenanigans.
Set in an [imaginary] rural peninsula in Western Ireland, Hayes-Mccoy here introduces the people and stories to be told in her Finfarran Peninsula series. In fact, it doesn't really get off the ground until the final third, at which point its true charm has gripped hold and I am ready to continue reading the series.
While told from several perspectives, here we are primarily behind that of Hanna, the divorced middle-aged librarian of the village library and county bookmobike. Hanna hides behind high stone walls of bitterness, shame, disillusion, fear, and anger. This in fact is one of the problems at first because you just want Hanna to 'get over herself' already! But there are sufficient glimpses of a different person lurking underneath, and occasional cracks in the walls that make it possible to stick with her. Plus the community really does grow on you, as does the 'save-the-library' to save the town plotline.
Bonus: the library at the center is housed in a former convent, something that is very creatively and critically interwoven into the story. And this serves to meet one of the 2019 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge prompts. I slotted it into ATY 2019 #16 multiple perspectives too.
While told from several perspectives, here we are primarily behind that of Hanna, the divorced middle-aged librarian of the village library and county bookmobike. Hanna hides behind high stone walls of bitterness, shame, disillusion, fear, and anger. This in fact is one of the problems at first because you just want Hanna to 'get over herself' already! But there are sufficient glimpses of a different person lurking underneath, and occasional cracks in the walls that make it possible to stick with her. Plus the community really does grow on you, as does the 'save-the-library' to save the town plotline.
Bonus: the library at the center is housed in a former convent, something that is very creatively and critically interwoven into the story. And this serves to meet one of the 2019 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge prompts. I slotted it into ATY 2019 #16 multiple perspectives too.