Lonely Hearts Book Club

I really ought to stop reading general fiction, even if the book is about a librarian/books. I generally come out the other end vaguely disappointed and bored, and then I have to figure out if it’s a “me” thing, or a “book” thing. It could honestly go either way with this one, so I’ve given it my 3-star “it’s a perfectly adequate book” treatment, with a huge librarian-centric caveat at the end.

To summarize, Sloane Parker, librarian, meets cantankerous old Arthur McLachlan, ex-literature professor and history buff while shelving books at her library. After taking pot shots at her Pollyanna attitude towards life and her reading list, Arthur leaves, and Sloane finds out that the rest of the library staff live in perpetual fear of this guy coming in (every day, like clockwork) because of how awful he makes them feel. Sloane being, well, idealistic and librarian-y, decides to work at befriending him. The two become, maybe not friends immediately, but chummy adversaries who exchange barbs everytime they meet. Except for when Arthur suddenly doesn’t show up one day and Sloane gets worried. Then again the next day, no Arthur. Sloane gets incredibly worried, her boss tries to talk her down, but instead she…accesses his patron records without cause to do so(!), writes down his home address(!!), and cons her fiancée into driving her there so she can spy on the guy to make sure he’s okay(!!!). She finds out he’s medically not okay, but it’s through this intervention that she becomes his de facto caregiver because she doesn’t want to leave this poor old man alone, and a good thing too because she lost her library job after defying her boss and using his personal information without cause and needs something to do. The rest of the book revolves around Sloane, Arthur, and an impromptu book club that springs up around them, including a nosey neighbor, an estranged relative, a driftless friend who can’t decide what he wants in life, and a enemy/former friend. Each book club member has their own viewpoint in the book, and we learn about their struggles and problems in life, and how the book club comes to mean so much to them.

It's a heartwarming book in places, but ultimately I found each member’s book club story a bit boring. They each come to the book club with baggage of a sort, and we follow them as the book club members help each other to a conclusion of sorts. Some of the viewpoints/stories are better/more believable than others, and none of them are all that deep or complex. I wasn’t satisfied with how the book ends either; we resolve each person’s conflict (sort of), and then the book ends without a proper wrap-up…we just stop having sentences. It’s a perfectly adequate book for, say, an easy book club read or someone looking for some easy to digest general fiction, but I was left disappointed and kind of impatient for my audiobook copy to finish in the end.

And now a bit for the librarians out there who were just as horrified by Sloane’s actions as I was. Sloane accosts this old man in her own library, encourages his rude behavior by responding in kind, and doesn’t ban a patron who verbally sends employees into tears whenever he shows up. Then, she looks up his own personal address information and goes to spy on him (admittedly with good intentions) for good measure! I’d be horrified and mortified if an employee of mine did that to a patron. Just….no. Didn’t like the librarian inclusions at all. Don’t stalk your patrons, guys.

I really ought to stop reading general fiction, even if the book is about a librarian/books. I generally come out the other end vaguely disappointed and bored, and then I have to figure out if it’s a “me” thing, or a “book” thing. It could honestly go either way with this one, so I’ve given it my 3-star “it’s a perfectly adequate book” treatment, with a huge librarian-centric caveat at the end.

To summarize, Sloane Parker, librarian, meets cantankerous old Arthur McLachlan, ex-literature professor and history buff while shelving books at her library. After taking pot shots at her Pollyanna attitude towards life and her reading list, Arthur leaves, and Sloane finds out that the rest of the library staff live in perpetual fear of this guy coming in (every day, like clockwork) because of how awful he makes them feel. Sloane being, well, idealistic and librarian-y, decides to work at befriending him. The two become, maybe not friends immediately, but chummy adversaries who exchange barbs everytime they meet. Except for when Arthur suddenly doesn’t show up one day and Sloane gets worried. Then again the next day, no Arthur. Sloane gets incredibly worried, her boss tries to talk her down, but instead she…accesses his patron records without cause to do so(!), writes down his home address(!!), and cons her fiancée into driving her there so she can spy on the guy to make sure he’s okay(!!!). She finds out he’s medically not okay, but it’s through this intervention that she becomes his de facto caregiver because she doesn’t want to leave this poor old man alone, and a good thing too because she lost her library job after defying her boss and using his personal information without cause and needs something to do. The rest of the book revolves around Sloane, Arthur, and an impromptu book club that springs up around them, including a nosey neighbor, an estranged relative, a driftless friend who can’t decide what he wants in life, and a enemy/former friend. Each book club member has their own viewpoint in the book, and we learn about their struggles and problems in life, and how the book club comes to mean so much to them.

It's a heartwarming book in places, but ultimately I found each member’s book club story a bit boring. They each come to the book club with baggage of a sort, and we follow them as the book club members help each other to a conclusion of sorts. Some of the viewpoints/stories are better/more believable than others, and none of them are all that deep or complex. I wasn’t satisfied with how the book ends either; we resolve each person’s conflict (sort of), and then the book ends without a proper wrap-up…we just stop having sentences. It’s a perfectly adequate book for, say, an easy book club read or someone looking for some easy to digest general fiction, but I was left disappointed and kind of impatient for my audiobook copy to finish in the end.

And now a bit for the librarians out there who were just as horrified by Sloane’s actions as I was. Sloane accosts this old man in her own library, encourages his rude behavior by responding in kind, and doesn’t ban a patron who verbally sends employees into tears whenever he shows up. Then, she looks up his own personal address information and goes to spy on him (admittedly with good intentions) for good measure! I’d be horrified and mortified if an employee of mine did that to a patron. Just….no. Didn’t like the librarian inclusions at all. Don’t stalk your patrons, guys.