8 Books About Books for Booklovers

Allie Boelsterli
April 19 2021
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I have been a bookworm my entire life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been both a devourer of books and a devout appreciator. The only thing I love more than books are the stories they contain. So, when a book I read is also filled with such ardent appreciation of books, I can’t help but love it just the tiniest bit more. These eight books are all fantastic in their own right—incredible thrillers, sweeping historical fiction, delightful romances—but the fact that they include bookloving main characters and bookish settings make them all the more special to me.

Close Enough to Touch
by Colleen Oakley

I loved Colleen Oakley’s CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH. It is a heart-wrenching story that follows Jubilee, a librarian who is allergic to human touch. Over the years, she has closed herself off from the world in order to keep herself safe. One fateful day, a man named Eric—who is facing his own struggles and trying to determine when his life went so off course—runs into Jubilee at the check-out desk of his local library. As the two get to know each other, Jubilee finds herself opening up to Eric, and the world, in new and exciting ways. The novel is equal parts funny and heartbreaking, and it’s perfect for readers of Graeme Simsion and Jodi Picoult.

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Close Enough to Touch
Colleen Oakley

“A witty, inventive, and bittersweet” (Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author) love story for anyone who’s ever wanted something—or someone—just out of reach, Close Enough to Touch will delight fans of Jojo Moyes’s One Plus One and Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project.

Can you miss something you never had?

Jubilee Jenkins is no ordinary librarian. With a rare allergy to human touch, any skin-to-skin contact could literally kill her. But after retreating into solitude for nearly ten years, Jubilee’s decided to brave the world again, despite the risks. Armed with a pair of gloves, long sleeves, and her trusty bicycle, she finally ventures out the front door—and into her future.

Eric Keegan has troubles of his own. With his daughter from a failed marriage no longer speaking to him, and his brilliant, if psychologically troubled, adopted son attempting telekinesis, Eric’s struggling to figure out how his life got so off course, and how to be the dad—and man—he wants to be. So when an encounter over the check-out desk at the local library entangles his life with that of a beautiful—albeit eccentric—woman, he finds himself wanting nothing more than to be near her.

Charming and utterly unique, Close Enough to Touch is “a story that overflows with compassion, humor, and the impulsive need to read just one more chapter until you reach the very satisfying end” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author).

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The Other Black Girl
by Zakiya Dalila Harris

I think anyone that loves books has considered pursuing a career in publishing. I was definitely one of those bookworms who was looking to crack into the industry any way that I could. For women of color, breaking into the industry is made especially challenging in so many ways, and THE OTHER BLACK GIRL shines a light on and examines the discrimination that many women experience. In this novel, Nella is a twenty-six-year-old assistant who is the only Black employee at her publishing company. When another young Black colleague begins working at the company, Nella is thrilled. But before long, her new coworker Hazel becomes the office star and Nella finds herself losing a competition she didn’t know she entered. What begins as unsettling soon turns nefarious as threatening notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk. THE OTHER BLACK GIRL is The Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out for the publishing industry—an unputdownable thriller that also makes sharp observations about the business of books.

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The Other Black Girl
Zakiya Dalila Harris

“Riveting, fearless, and vividly original. This is an exciting debut.” —Emily St. John Mandel, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Hotel

Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada in this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing.

Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.

Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW.

It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career.

A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.

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Lost in Paris
by Elizabeth Thompson

There’s something about books and Paris that just seem to go perfectly together. Bookworms will find a kindred spirit in Hannah Bond, who lives quietly in the British countryside giving Jane Austen tours. When her mother shows up out of the blue, she brings with her an envelope containing the deed to an apartment in Paris. At the heart of this novel is a diary from Hannah’s great-grandmother Ivy, detailing her exciting days in Paris featuring famous novelists, such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Hannah and her mother retrace Ivy’s adventures through the city and find themselves connecting in ways they never had before.

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Lost in Paris
Elizabeth Thompson

“A luscious, layered story of inheritance, heartbreak, reinvention, and family. I adored this book.” —Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author

When a deed to an apartment in Paris turns up in an old attic trunk, an estranged mother and daughter must reunite to uncover the secret life of a family matriarch—perfect for fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Beekeeper’s Daughter.

Hannah Bond has always been a bookworm, which is why she fled Florida—and her unstable, alcoholic mother—for a quiet life leading Jane Austen-themed tours through the British countryside. But on New Year’s Eve, everything comes crashing down when she arrives back at her London flat to find her mother, Marla, waiting for her.

Marla’s brought two things with her: a black eye from her ex-boyfriend and an envelope. Its contents? The deed to an apartment in Paris, an old key, and newspaper clippings about the death of a famous writer named Andres Armand. Hannah, wary of her mother’s motives, reluctantly agrees to accompany her to Paris, where against all odds, they discover great-grandma Ivy’s apartment frozen in 1940 and covered in dust.

Inside the apartment, Hannah and Marla discover mysterious clues about Ivy’s life—including a diary detailing evenings of drinking and dancing with Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, and other iconic expats. Outside, they retrace her steps through the city in an attempt to understand why she went to such great lengths to hide her Paris identity from future generations.

A heartwarming and charming saga set in the City of Lights, Lost in Paris is an unforgettable celebration of family and the love between a mother and a daughter.

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In a Book Club Far Away
by Tif Marcelo

I devoured Tif Marcelo’s THE KEY TO HAPPILY EVER AFTER—a charming rom-com with a lot of heart. I was thrilled to find out she had more books on the horizon. And I was even more excited when I found out the plot of her newest novel, IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY. Three women—Regina, Sophie, and Adelaide—became inseparable during their book club days but they are wrenched apart after a betrayal destroys their friend group. Years later, they are pulled back together when Adelaide needs help and has no one else to turn to. Throughout the novel, they rediscover one another and the books that brought them together the first time. I love any good story that looks to explore female friendships and the power that they hold in our lives, and this new novel from Tif Marcelo is a perfect fit.

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In a Book Club Far Away
Tif Marcelo

From the author of Once Upon a Sunset and The Key to Happily Ever After comes a heartwarming and moving novel following three Army wives—estranged friends—who must overcome their differences when one of them is desperate for help.

Regina Castro, Adelaide Wilson-Chang, and Sophie Walden used to be best friends. As Army wives at Fort East, they bonded during their book club and soon became inseparable. But when an unimaginable betrayal happened amongst the group, the friendship abruptly ended, and they haven’t spoken since.

That’s why, eight years later, Regina and Sophie are shocked when they get a call for help from Adelaide. Adelaide’s husband is stationed abroad, and without any friends or family near her new home of Alexandria, Virginia, she has no one to help take care of her young daughter when she has to undergo emergency surgery. For the sake of an innocent child, Regina and Sophie reluctantly put their differences aside to help an old friend.

As the three women reunite, they must overcome past hurts and see if there’s any future for their friendship. Featuring Tif Marcelo’s signature “enchanting prose” (Amy E. Reichert, author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake) and the books that brought them together in the first place, In a Book Club Far Away honors the immense power of female friendship and how love can defy time, distance, and all old wounds.

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The Paris Library
by Janet Skeslien Charles

If you’re a historical fiction booklover, THE PARIS LIBRARY will check all of the boxes for you. It is, without a doubt, a booklover’s book. When asked to describe her book, author Janet Skeslien Charles says, “It’s Nazis versus librarians, and the librarians win.” And I cannot think of a better summary. THE PARIS LIBRARY follows a young woman named Odile who lands a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When WWII hits and the German army takes over the city, Odile and librarians join the resistance. It is a marvelous novel based on the true history of the American Library in Paris, and booklovers will all appreciate the constant references to books and the Dewey Decimal System that the author incorporates into the story.

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The Paris Library
Janet Skeslien Charles

Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.

A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors—The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.

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The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig

Matt Haig is always someone on my auto-buy list, so when THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY was announced, I knew this one would be no different. But I was even more excited to learn that the book is set in a library somewhere beyond the edge of the universe, where each book holds the infinite possibilities for the life you could lead. When Nora Seed finds herself in the library, she must figure out what is truly important to her in her life and what she would like to change. Matt Haig always seems to say so much about the human condition through fun and quirky plotlines and it’s truly a delight to read.

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The Midnight Library
Matt Haig

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The Library Book
by Susan Orlean

THE LIBRARY BOOK was my first book I read from Susan Orlean, but it definitely won’t be my last. This nonfiction book looks at the 1986 fire that broke out in the LA Public Library. The fire burned for over seven hours and destroyed over four hundred thousand books. Susan Orlean is looking to solve what caused the fire—and whether it was intentional or accidental. But along the way, she builds a beautiful account of the history of libraries in the United States, and the wonderful and ever-changing way that they help to serve their communities.

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The Library Book
Susan Orlean

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The Bromance Book Club
by Lyssa Kay Adams

I’m going to end this list on the happiest ending. If you haven’t heard of THE BROMANCE BOOK CLUB, you need to check it out. The story begins when Gavin Scott’s marriage falls apart. And if you think this is a bleak note to end on, I swear it picks up. Gavin’s friends bring him into their book club, where they read romance in order to become better lovers, boyfriends, and fiancés. Together, they are determined to help Gavin save his marriage. It’s a fun and heartfelt read that is perfect for all book clubs.

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The Bromance Book Club
Lyssa Kay Adams

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