“Hello. My name is Norma. I am an English major and a literary snob. If there were such groups as Literary Snobs Anonymous, I would stand before their podium addressing my captured audience saying those exact words to my fellow literary snobs.” —Norma Best Boucher
Let me begin by saying as far as English majors go, Norma is standard fare. The whole lot of us are literary snobs. Don’t believe me? Round up 10 English majors over the age of 40 and ask if any of them have read the Twilight series. Odds are, the metrics will be disastrously bad. Stephenie Meyer achieved massive global literary success—I respect that. But I haven’t cracked the spine on one of her books. To be honest, I don’t read romance novels. I don’t have a taste for them in the same way sushi just isn’t for me. My well-read niece mentioned Colleen Hoover’s name a few years back; I didn’t have a clue. (She’s only the biggest and best-selling romance writer, who knew?) Imagine my surprise when I recently found myself in the middle of a romance novel.
For my birthday, one of my dear friends gave me This Book Made Me Think of You. When I read that it’s “a love letter to reading, bookstores, and the power of shared stories,” I dove right in. I met Tilly Nightingale, a young widow. I liked her from the start. The book’s premise was even more likeable: Tilly receives a phone call from a London bookshop owner who explains that her late husband, Joe, has left a posthumous birthday gift for her at the shop. With the owner Alphie’s help, Joe leaves Tilly twelve carefully curated books—to be picked up each month for a year. Books take her places, literally and figuratively, to help her navigate life without Joe.
Could I predict the book’s ending? Of course. But props to Libby Page for not giving way to oversentimentality. Her book is warm and funny. With plenty of book recommendations too! Despite the whole book snobbery admission, I enjoyed This Book Made Me Think of You. In the words of Adriana Trigiani, this is “the feel-good novel of the year.”
