“The Lonely Hearts Book Club” - Lucy Gilmore

 📖 From the minute Sloane - a young librarian at the Couer d’Alene public library - has an unpleasant meeting with cantankerous Arthur, I was immediately reminded of “The Reading List”.  TLHBC brings together a disparate group of strangers who despite all their dissimilarities, share two common traits: loneliness, and a love of books (though they don’t all recognize they possess these traits).

📖 I thought Arthur’s part was wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly given the way he is described to us, but other than that, I thought this was a sweet read, with lovable characters. If you enjoyed “The Reading List,” you’ll want to give this one a read too!

📖 An added bonus in TLHBC is the gang’s sometimes wildly entertaining, and other times critical analysis of novels in their book club meetings. For example, the parallels between Maisey the eternal caregiver, and the butler in “Remains of the Day” was interesting. My favorite was their observations about “The Joy Luck Club” because they told us quite a lot about the characters in TLHBC as reflections of “The Joy Luck Club”; most obviously, the relationship between Maisey and her teenage daughter Bella, and Matteo and his diva of a mom.