Anne Marie Ryan

Can a Christmas miracle save the bookshop on the green? It's almost Christmas and the snow is falling in the Cotswolds. Simon and Nora, the owners of the bookshop on the green, are gearing up for the festive season - but the shop is in trouble. Nora is delighted when a customer comes in and buys a book that's been on the shelves for years - but is it enough to keep the bailiffs from the door? Full of mulled wine and mince pies, Nora and Simon come up with a plan to rouse the community spirit, sending out six books to lonely members of their village. One by one, the villagers come to the shop, all of them touched by the gesture and feeling already a little less alone. The books fly off the shelves, but will it be enough to save the shop? Or do Nora and Simon need a Christmas miracle...? A gorgeous, feel-good read about the power of community, perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson.

The Six Tales of Christmas

Irin 

Brimming with kindness, hope and love,The Six Tales Of Christmas was an absolute joy to read! I knew I’d love reading the book the moment I read the blurb. I mean, it centers around a bookshop- that won my heart in the first place, but WHOAH! I didn’t expect to enjoy reading Simon and Nora’s story so much. :’) 💜

From the very beginning, I was drawn into the cozy and atmospheric nature of the story. I loved how Nora and Simon never forgot to show how much they cared for each other, even after being married for 25 years. I literally swooned while reading about them. This line in particular melted my heart – “The years had changed them both, but they’d never run out of things to talk about. How could they, with over ten thousand titles in stock?” LOVE LOVE LOVE. Simon and Nora literally proved that COUPLES WHO READ TOGETHER, STAY TOGETHER. 😭😭😭

Books are my favorite things in life, and I really appreciated how The Six Tales of Christmas showed the power of books. Each of the characters in the book (both strangers and friends) were connected by the strong thread of hope that Simon and Nora created. I loved seeing how the books bought light in their lives, in the best way possible. The book also had such a warm, community feel to it. I felt as if I was sitting in The Stowford Bookshop and seeing different events of the book play out in front of my eyes. 💖

Don’t let the pretty cover fool you though. The Six Tales Of Christmas discussed some important topics like depression and grief as well. Mental Health was one of the main features of this book, and I think that’s something that makes this book different from all other festive books for me kudos to the author for approaching this topic in such a well-written manner!

AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON ALL THE BOOKS THAT WERE RECOMMENDED THROUGHOUT THE STORY. My tbr pile got a lot bigger, hehe.

These are some of my favorite quotes from the book : 

1) The book-lined shelves still held worlds of possibility, and the power to transform lives within their pages.

2) Nora had spent hours in that very same armchair with her best friends – Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking and Mary Lennox – the heroines of her favourite children’s books. As the shy, only child of a single mum, Nora had learned from a young age that as long as you had a good book for company, you never needed to feel lonely.

3) One of the joys of browsing in a bookshop was that you never knew what sort of treasures you might find. Or the people you might meet.

4) As he watched her go, Simon was reminded of how fortunate he was. True, he might not have provided his family with the material comforts of his own upbringing. Nor had he achieved any deeds worthy of writing a biography about. But Simon knew that in the ways that truly mattered, he was a success. He’d married a penniless bookseller and gained the most valuable thing in the world. Love.

5) Lewis had described her suffering, and the ever-changing nature of grief, exactly . He understood that grief wasn’t a linear process, for all the talk about its different stages. Despair can hit you out of the blue, Nora knew, months – even years – after losing someone you love. Just when you thought you’d accepted your loss, you suddenly wanted to rage at the universe. And he understood the fear of forgetting . A Grief Observed had helped Nora realise that moving on with her life wasn’t a betrayal of her mother, but the best way to honour her.

6) There’s no shame in illness.

7) The message I hope people will take away from my book,’ he said, ‘is that in times of trouble, help comes in many different forms – from family, from friends, from strangers’– here, he caught Nora’s eye and nodded –‘and from between the covers of books. Never lose hope, because happy endings are possible and the next chapter of your life might turn out to be the best.

*** P.S - I received an e-arc of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Six Tales of Christmas

Reviews