The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks - by Shauna Robinson (Paperback)

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

"A sparkling bookish story about rules just begging to be broken." -- Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World and The Friend Zone

I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books. If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules.

When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend's struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn't easy. Bell River's literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat.

And in Maggie's world, book rules are made to be broken.

To help save the store, Maggie starts an underground book club, running a series of events celebrating the books readers actually love. But keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when Maggie unearths a town secret that could upend everything.

Maggie will have to decide what's more important: the books that formed a small town's history, or the stories poised to change it all.

Review Quotes

As recommended by Good Housekeeping, Country Living, and more!

"The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is a charming romcom about finding your own path and never being scared to break the rules. It's also an uplifting celebration of the power of books to change people's lives. Visit your favorite bookstore, curl up in a comfy chair and savor every word!" -- Freya Sampson, author of The Last Chance Library

"A sparkling bookish story about rules just begging to be broken...I couldn't get enough!" -- Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World and The Friend Zone

"Charming, uplifting, and funny." -- Booklist

"Consider me an official member of the Maggie army! I found myself rooting for every character in this warm, welcoming tale of a woman coming into her own. If you've ever found comfort in a book--or a bookstore--then you'll enjoy watching Maggie discover how powerful the right story in the right hands can be." -- Lucy Gilmore, author of The Lonely Hearts Book Club

"Delightful and deeply felt, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is one woman's instantly compelling search for herself woven into a celebration of how stories enliven and inspire community. It's the perfect book for book lovers." -- Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of The Roughest Draft

"Shauna writes for the girls without dream jobs, the pandemic babies who moved back in with their parents and are just trying to figure it out, and the extroverts who find purpose in bringing people together. This novel is a book lover's dream, with subtle social commentary to boot." -- Iman Hariri-Kia, author of A Hundred Other Girls

"This richly-plotted romance from Robinson (Must Love Books) is full of charming characters and will appeal to fans of Jenny Colgan, Abbi Waxman, and Katarina Bivald." -- Library Journal