What a sweet story of a woman with a big heart and many books who creates a lending library in her home.  Beautifully told, the story is full of overthinking, contemplation, friendship, love, laughter, children, parenting, want-to-be parents and self-discovery. Dodie is a simple character on the outside, yet we find the complexity of her is what makes her immensely special indeed!

The premise sounds cool library closes and protagonist decides to open her own.  And then you think about it, small town or not, would you invite your neighbors and strangers into your home to borrow your books?  Hard pass for me and it was not at all plausible for me.

2.5★s
The Lending Library is the first novel by American author, Aliza Fogelson. After a major disappointment in her art career, Dodie Fairisle quits the anonymity of New York City, and the undermining of her ego by her narcissistic boyfriend, and heads to the small Connecticut hometown of her art school friend.

Soon, she has bought (or her parents have bought her) a quirky but thoroughly charming little house in Chatsworth, has a position teaching art at the elementary school, enjoys the town’s café, library and bookstore, has some close friends, and feels at home, comfortable, secure and loved.

The only thing missing is motherhood, but for that, of course, she needs a man, a conspicuous absence in her current life, although her good friend Sullivan has circumvented that need by adopting a sweet little boy from Ethiopia. Dodie becomes painfully aware, though, that her biological clock is ticking louder and faster than she had thought.

But then her beloved library is suddenly shut down due to safety concerns. It may be an inconvenience for Dodie to travel to the next town for her book fix, but she knows that for some patrons, especially the children, the trip will be impossible, and purchase at the bookstore will be beyond their budget.

For Dodie, the solution is clear: a lending library, and soon the volume of books donated precludes a classroom location; Dodie’s own sunroom proves to be the ideal location. It’s there, through book clubs and storytimes, that Dodie gets to know the residents of her adopted town more intimately than she had ever expected.

So far, so good.

Then Dodie takes up with a hot guy who recently broke with his girlfriend because she wanted children, and he wasn’t ready. And Dodie does NOT mention her own urgent motherhood aspirations.

And then, with a full-time job that barely covers her costs of living and running a community library, and a not-ready-to-father boyfriend, Dodie abandons practicalities, gets all entitled and decides she must have a certain little boy. And when offered help, pride gets in the way of accepting it.

Initially, Fpgelson’s protagonist seems to (mostly) have her heart in the right place, but is often irritatingly flakey, naïve and immature, and morphs into self-absorbed and shallow, while most of the support cast is rather one-dimensional. It feels like we jump into the story half-way through, by which time we are meant to know and love the characters, and care about what happens to them. Sadly, this is not the case.

The initial premise of the story, the lending library, has great potential, but the novel is then hijacked by Dodie’s obsession with acquiring the child, which gets boring quickly. The copious insertion of book titles and meal descriptions doesn’t rescue it. Ultimately, way too predictable, disappointing and a bit of a chore to finish. Unable to recommend this one.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

This was more sad than I was expecting. The main characters best friend get killed in a car accident and she had just recently adopted a baby. The main character decides to also open up a library after the town library is shut down. The main character I think was really not that bad. I know that there is not a problem with adopting a child but sometimes people want the experience of having their own children and are sad when they can't got through with it. The character does go throught character development through the story so that she isn't as panicked about having children because she starts accepting that things are just meant to be. 

*Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy for an honest review!*

The title of the book - The Lending Library - was the reason I chose to read the debut novel by Aliza Fogelson. Sadly, that entire storyline becomes almost a side note in the entire book. It gets lost as does almost every other story thread because there are too many. I am disappointed that this was not the book I expected. I was definitely not the right reader for what this book actually is. 

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/09/the-lending-library.html 

Reviewed for NetGalley.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of The Lending Library in exchange for an honest review. It was a quick, light read for a good rainy night. One of the things I really liked about this book was the idea of starting a Lending Library. That would be a cool goal to have  when I'm older and nestless. One of the things that I really did not enjoy is the MC not communicating her feelings upfront to those close to her. It was frustrating and hard to empathize with the main character. If you are looking for a quick, fluffy read, Lending Library will do the trick.

The Lending Library was an enjoyable read. I appreciated the realness and complexities of the problems Dodie experienced. I would enjoy reading about Dodie's friends and family in future novels!

It doesnt support or open after I download the pdf version of it. It's also not showing in my shelf in netgalley and I cant open it to read Please look into the issue and if you can send me the pdf in my mail ID- taniagungunsarkar@gmail.com I cant read the book from here. Please look into the issue

Thank you to NetGalley for this book. Upping it to 3.5 stars.

I really wanted to read this because of the library theme. It reminds me so much of my and other Little Free Libraries out there in the world but in a different type of setting which was Dodie's home, her sunroom to be exact when the library which is like her second home, closes for 2 years for renovations.

This book was so much more about books and her library. It was about love, adoption, death, family, and so much more. Her sisters Coco and Maddie were a hoot and all of her library friends who helped her out.

I love happy endings and wish it would have gone more into the future but I have an idea of what happened and what would happen eventually.

This just wasn't the story for me. I couldn't empathize with the main character and her obsession with having a baby, apparently at any cost.

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The  characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming  Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming  Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I was a big fan of the premise of this book but it had moments where it lost me occasionally. 

Essentially, Dodie sets up a 'lending library' after the local library begins to have renovations and she eventually develops a soft spot for a certain guy who keeps coming to the library. It has a nice, easy read vibe which was highly enjoyable yet it seems to switch from this to a heavier topic.

A good portion of the book then starts to focus on Dodie's desire to become a mother and the inevitable ticking of her biological clock, so to speak. As someone who is quite a way off from having children, this was something that I couldn't necessarily relate to and found it detracted from the initial premise of the story - the lending library. It becomes a bit redundant in parts and whilst I enjoyed exploring and understanding the characters fears and anxiety for the future, I felt it lost its initial charm at points.

I still very much enjoyed this novel and I loved the idea of the lending library, it just got slightly muddled in parts for me, and, I think due to my age, it was a novel that lost some of its impact on me at times.

This was such a lovely read. As an avid book lover myself, Dodie really resonated with me. The only part that felt a little off to me was the adoption, at times it felt white savior-like and there was little context to how to raise a child in America while keeping ties to their culture.

The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson
.
.
Thank you @netgalley for my digital copy to read and review.
.
.
This was a quick and enjoyable read for me. Dodie’s character had struggles that I could sympathize with. I wasn’t very happy with some of the choices she made but in the end things worked out ok. 
I think I liked the first half of the book more than the second half. I loved the idea of the lending library that Dodie made in her sunroom! And that she wanted to mentor children from her school, provide the library as a refuge for them to get away from real life when they can. But then the book sort of left the lending lobrary and focused on Dodie’s burning desire to be a mother. Which, as a mother, I can understand the desire. But it was sad that she focused on that to the exclusion of everything else that was important to her. 
.
I gave this book 3⭐️⭐️⭐️, I still enjoyed it despite it feeling like 2 different stories.

As the title suggests, Dodie is a book lover.  As a recent transplant from Brooklyn to rural Connecticut to accept a job as a grade school art teacher, Dodie has found comfort in her local library.  However when the library closes its doors indefinitely,  Dodie must act quickly as she knows she is not the only member of the community who relies upon the library.  Dodie decides to run her very own collection of books in her home into a small lending library.  What first starts as an exciting new adventure quickly turns into something more, leading Dodie's life in strange but wonderful new directions.  While there are important and conflicting life decisions in store for Dodie, she knows there are always a few good books lying in store full of good advice to steer her in the right direction.  
The Lending Library is a fast paced, feel good novel with hidden depth, covering some deeper topics such as adoption as a single mom.  As a book lover myself and a librarian, I found Dodie easy to relate to and enjoyed the inclusion of sections from some of my own favorite books that were tucked into the plot.  The importance of reading, especially for children and the access libraries afford its citizens to books and other importance resources is central to the plot line as well.  Overall I enjoyed the story and think it will appeal to library and book lovers alike.

I would love to run a library so this book really appealed to me. I liked the community of people who were involved. The only bit of the story that didn’t do it for me was the whole baby storyline.

When Dodie's small town library closes she opens a lending library in her sunroom. Totally relatable for book lovers who find solace between the pages.
This wasn't just a cute romance story there were some dark parts too.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.
#TheLendingLibrary #NetGalley

The Lending Library was definitely a feel good, light summer read. For the majority of the time it was very lighthearted and fun, but it does get a bit deeper as the story progresses. I thought the beginning felt a little unrealistic but it also had such a "feel good" vibe that I was totally okay with it. I did start feeling a little weird about the adoption overseas process, because it felt white savior like, but that's also very much a thing people do. Towards the end I felt less connected because there was such a shift in focus. Dodie's relationship with Shep towards the end also felt a little inauthentic. Overall though, the story was a solid three star book.

This book started off really well but lost itself somewhere in the middle. I think some of the plot elements such as the woman who adopted a baby from Ethiopia with no real context to how it would be to bring up a black child in America really let the novel down. It was also very clean and nicey nicey while having problematic undertones.

Dodie is a daydreamer who gets lost in the stacks on a daily basis. But soon she will lose her 2nd home, the Chatsworth library is closing. Like most readers, Myself included, we have enough books we don't need a library but we go there for the camaraderie.  Missing that Dodie is presented to us as a layered character who has yet to feel fulfilled in some aspects of her life. Even her family teases her for her passion of books. To not feel alone she turns her home into a little library.  We get to meet the zany neighbors that need each other more than they just need a good book.  When the author adds another layer to Dodie we know what she needs before she does. Told in 1st person as Dodie we start out in 2007 and grow with every page. Could she even play match maker on herself? Could motherhood be an option in her future. 
Even though Dodie is a grown up that doesn't mean she has finished evolving.