The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

This one was cute! Less romance than I was expecting but I love a FMC that breaks the rules.

I spent the better part of the book wondering why Maggie agreed to work in a bookshop when she hates books, but also why her friend thought this was a good idea. And while Maggie has some great ideas, she does EVERYTHING behind the back of the person she should be discussing things with. Maggie is a snob who has no reason to be snobbish and somewhat clueless in that she never thought about event planning as a career. “I like throwing parties and organizing events, but I couldn't possibly think of a job that would fit me!” insert eye roll here.

Loved the overall concept, books set around books don't always work but this one did it for me!! Maggie and her journey were beautiful, the little love story going on the side was cutee 🫶🏼
Fun, light, cutsie read 💗

This was a quick read with a breezy, conversational style I liked, and the setting and most of the characters are pretty charming. 

The plot and the main character were just really, really bad. The protagonist, Maggie, hates classics and makes no effort to learn about or sell them and then is disappointed when no one buys them. She has a little bet with her boyfriend where she reads a book he recommends and he does an activity she chooses, and while he at least tries everything she doesn't take her part seriously at all and doesn't even read one of the books. She lies constantly, including in a cover letter for a job she applied for (about her availability!!! Girl if they hire you that's the one thing they need to be true!), things that affect the livelihoods of people she claims to care about (including stealing something from her boyfriend), falsifies her sales reports at work and breaks into her boss's office to blackmail him about his grandfather. No one stays mad at her for long about this, which is absurd. 

No idea how the “society” that runs the businesses in town was supposed to work, since it seemed like one guy just calling random shots and not a board or anything. No place in the history of the world would operate like this.

Also this is more pedantic but the author apparently majored in English and this bugged me: the bookstore didn't carry any books published after 1968 for Reasons (for a guy who wanted to make money the boss was really into making it hard to sell anything) and another character (who likes classics) implies that the only books by Black authors that it's possible for them to carry are slave narratives. I can buy Maggie not knowing about the Harlem Renaissance because she's stupid but Malcolm? Come on.

3.5

Four stars for a completely original plot. A bit “cozy,” but main character (ADHD woman) enjoys an interesting growth/self-realization. Concisely written.

The audiobook contains a funny little (accidental?) broken third wall between ch 31 and 32 (at 8:38).

I read this book free on Hoopla.