The Lonely Hearts Book Club
Sloane is a librarian in a small town who enjoys a snarky back-and-forth with a curmudgeonly patron named Arthur. When he doesn't show up as usual, she gets concerned and finds that he's not well. With his quirky neighbor, Maisie, Sloane starts a book club to ensure that Arthur is cared for.
The two women work their way into Arthur's life, and the club gradually expands to include other misfits. You'll love the depiction of book clubs as connection points (even when members have VASTLY different taste!). A lovely novel about the power of friendship, found family, and community.
This post may include affiliate links. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Please see Disclosures for more information.
Publisher’s Description
A young librarian and an old curmudgeon forge the unlikeliest of friendships in this charming, feel-good novel about one misfit book club and the lives (and loves) it changed along the way.
Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely…but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane’s day that when Arthur doesn’t show up one morning, she’s instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.
Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden…and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur’s gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart–and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.
Books have a way of bringing even the loneliest of souls together…
