The Lonely Hearts Book Club

A young librarian and an old curmudgeon forge the unlikeliest of friendships in this charming, feel-good novel about one misfit book club and the lives (and loves) it changed along the way.

Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely...but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane's day that when Arthur doesn't show up one morning, she's instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.

Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden...and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur's gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart--and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.

Books have a way of bringing even the loneliest of souls together...

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Published Mar 28, 2023

366 pages

Average rating: 7.21

163 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

MandiCole11
Oct 29, 2025
6/10 stars
3.5
Ann Bredemeier
Oct 18, 2025
6/10 stars
the characters were so diverse and interesting and the story unfolded in an uplifting way. Truly a good easy read. I loved Arthur and how he finally came into his words.
literarily_occupied
Aug 12, 2025
8/10 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHare!
Apr 30, 2025
10/10 stars
Best book I read in a LONG time!
MaggieParedes
Feb 10, 2025
6/10 stars
While the title and the premise was really cute, I felt like this book dragged on forever.

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