The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

From acclaimed author Shauna Robinson comes a bookish, millennial story about a young woman looking to start a new chapter in her life, and in doing so finds a community built around the books we love and the stories we can't forget.

Who decides which stories are worth telling?

Maggie Banks's life is a bit of a mess. After losing a job and moving back home with her parents, she's desperate for a new Life Plan. So when her best friend asks for help running her struggling bookstore in the quaint town of Bells River, Maggie jumps on the opportunity. She doesn't even like books, per se, but anything's better than obsessively checking job boards from her childhood bedroom.

It turns out Maggie's not prepared for small-town life. More specifically, the strict rules enforced by the local historical society: the bookstore is only allowed to sell "classics". But with a town full of people looking for fresh stories, Maggie knows she'll have to get creative to keep the store afloat.

And so begins Maggie's underground book club: fun, goofy, and totally against the rules. Catering to the stories folks actually want to read and making fun of the stuffy "classics", Maggie falls in love with books and realizes the power stories have to build community. But with a historical society itching to catch her and shut her down for good, and a budding relationship with an adorably strait-laced inspector weighing on her conscience, everything starts to fall apart. And just as Maggie feels herself becoming a part of the community, she unearths a town secret that could ruin everything. She'll have to figure out what's more important: the books that formed a small town's history, or the stories poised to change it all.

A warm, funny book club read about community, finding yourself, and the transformative power of stories, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is a much-needed novel perfect for readers of The Storied Life of AJ Fikry and The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. View Less