This was done really well for a Christmas book!

The connection between the challenges being faced and something festive is well-written and works well.
It’s not schmaltzy, but there is romance and the connecting of people that does give it a festive heart-warming feeling that’s well-worth investing in.

A delightful and festive read, I loved how cozy cute it was and it definitely put me in the seasonal spirit. This is full of heartwarming moments, but it’s not your average romance., it seems to focus on the friendships and other relationships around the story, this is a fun and humorous story but also with a more serious side. Highly recommended.

Oh this was a simply wonderful story. Who doesn't like a wintry, Christmas story based around a mobile library and the characters that inhabit it?

The story unfolds with Molly coming back to her home town after leaving London and wondering what her next move will be. Spending time with her father at Christmas she reconnects with friends (for a bit) her community and sees it differently from when she grew up there. You get drawn into the story and the wonderful array of characters, wanting everyone to have a happy ending.

I don't often read anything that is not horror, or fantasy, but this was a delight, and the prose were so good and comforting. Mr Barnett has such a wonderful way with words, and phrasing, that I felt I was there alongside the people frequenting the library. Will definitely put this in my Christmas re-read list along with A Christmas Carol.

Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this for an honest review.

Molly is living in London with her boyfriend but after breaking up finds herself returning to her hometown in a Northern ex-mining town to live with her Dad Jack.

After initially feeling like a failure for leaving the big city lights behind and not being able to find a job in the approach to Christmas, Molly is encouraged to go out with her Dad on the mobile library that he drives from area to area.

Jack doesn't just provide books to the members of the communities that he goes to, it is soon evident to Molly that her Dad is key in making people feel seen and makes them feel that they belong and are not alone. Potential council budget cuts threaten the mobile library service without Jack being aware of it but a customer of the library is one of the decision makers behind those cuts.

This book beautifully weaves the stories of Molly, Jack and their customers together with more than a few romances developing between the library goers. If you love romance, books and Christmas, you can't go wrong with this book!

To me I love a christmas book the whole year round. I needed this injection of christmas joy and romance to get me through the rain and hail weather. Was just the tonic!

I'm sure this will be a lovely cosy read so I am going to save it for next Christmas. I've read the first few chapters and it's such a lovely start so hope it will continue to the be the perfect Christmassy read!

Eine herzerwärmende Geschichte über Neuanfänge, Gemeinschaft und die verbindende Kraft von Büchern.

Nach persönlichen Rückschlägen kehrt Molly McGinley in ihre Heimatstadt Merry-le-Moors zurück und unterstützt ihren Vater Jack bei der mobilen Bibliothek des Ortes. Diese Bibliothek wird schnell zum Treffpunkt für die unterschiedlichsten Charaktere, die alle auf der Suche nach Zugehörigkeit und Trost sind.

Barnett gelingt es meisterhaft, die Atmosphäre einer kleinen Gemeinschaft einzufangen und die Bedeutung von Zusammenhalt und Freundschaft hervorzuheben. Sein Schreibstil ist flüssig und einfühlsam, wodurch die Charaktere lebendig und authentisch wirken. Die weihnachtliche Stimmung wird subtil, aber wirkungsvoll vermittelt, ohne in Kitsch abzudriften. Ein besonderes Highlight ist die Darstellung der mobilen Bibliothek als Symbol für Hoffnung und Gemeinschaft.

Fazit: empfehlenswerte Lektüre für alle, die in der Weihnachtszeit nach einer inspirierenden und warmherzigen Geschichte suchen.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy

I Really enjoyed this book, I was such a good quick cozy christmas reads. I will 100% be reading more from this author

I love a good small town story especially when it is christmas themed! Molly was such an interesting character and i loved the idea of a movable library! There were so many characters that loved finding their happy place within the library and it really brought everyone together and connecting. The father was so sweet and created this wonderful idea of a mobile library to bring everyone together. I wish i could do something like that!
I feel like the romance happened pretty fast but overall it was sweet and definitely what the story needed.

I received a free copy of, The Little Christmas Library, by David M. Barnett, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a lovely Christmas read. We meet Molly who goes back home to Merry-Le-Moors to re-evaluate her life. She moves in with her dad, Jack who is still mourning the death of his wife. He drives the local mobile library, which Molly helps in out in. There's such a wide range of people who use it, and they begin to turn it into more of a community hub, until they find the library is under threat. Can they find a way to save it?

I really enjoyed this book. Whilst it is a Christmas themed book, it could be read any time of the year as the main theme of the book is more to do with friendships/family and community spirit. Molly is a lovely character, and I really like her dad Jack, who for me steals the show! Of course, being a library worker, I couldn't think of anything better than driving a mobile library, so I would have happily took Jack's job if you had asked me. The book is filled with likeable characters and they all add their little bit to the storyline.

The story is filled with lots of heart-warming and light-hearted moments. Whilst it does have some romance in it, it's not your typical romance read, and focusses more on the friendships and relationships between all the different characters. The book cover suggests a fun, humorous read, and whilst it is all of that, it's much more of a serious story than the cover suggests. I was hooked into Molly and Jack's story right from the beginning and didn't want to put it down until I'd finished. Lovely!

I read this over Christmas and was the perfect story to get me in the holiday mood! 5 jingle bells! Definitely a great read during the holiday season

Sweet, engaging and just so different to other romantic themed stories I have read, the premise of this was just so new and fun! I adored our characters and lived getting to know them.

I started reading this before Christmas to try to get me in the festive spirit. It is exactly what you would expect from a Christmas book but with a sprinkle of magic. Some of it is very silly but a nice easy read.

What a charming read! A genuinely warm and funny book based around a community who have come to rely on the mobile library for far more than just books. Lovely!

The Little Christmas Library is a lovely festive read. Relatable characters with some twist in their stories I didn't see coming but sweet how a very different group of people can unite and find friendship through a love of books.

A really enjoyable easy read for Christmas, perfect for getting into the festive spirit!

I particularly loved the warm and cozy setting and ultimately enjoyed the premise of the book. The cover leads you to expect a fluffier book and that is exactly what we got!

The perfect Christmas Eve read. A library fairytale.

I bet it would be great for a quick read on Christmas Day too - available from Kindle or wherever you download your ebooks.

A beautiful story with fantastic characters. This book was a lovely mix of friendship, love and Christmas magic.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed this one. A light festive read set in an old mining village that is still living in misery following the collapse of the only substantial source of employment decades before, the local coal mine.

We commence on a negative tone with the main character, Molly’s, return to the village where she grew up, having turned her back on London after not only being made redundant but finding her partner had been having an affair.

She’s drafted in by her father to help him at the local library… a mobile library! The library attracts a wide variety of local residents who, on the face of it, couldn’t be any more different from each other but they soon realise they have something in common… loneliness.

The library acts as a focal point for much needed community spirit and some damn right therapy… as is often the case, we never truly know what’s going on in people’s lives or in their minds.

Just when the community is finding itself again, and the residents are establishing some much needed social connections, the library is threatened by cuts to the public purse. Can it be saved and the positivity maintained?

I found myself focusing on some important lessons whilst reading this book:

1) the heavy weight of loneliness

2) that friendships can form from the most unlikely of sources

3) the importance of not casting assumptions on the character or intentions of others; and

4) the therapeutic side of libraries and what a shame it is that their importance are becoming less and less in the face of cuts in public spend.

This represents a great read if you’re looking for something light over the festive period but still looking for some content to reflect upon, thereafter.

“I discovered me in the library. I went to find me in the library.” 📚