The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks
Out now!
An Indie Next pick for November 2022
A LibraryReads top ten pick for November 2022
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
One of Good Housekeeping’s Best Fall Books of 2022
One of Shondaland’s Best Books for November 2022
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.
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Also available in the UK!
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks has been published in the UK under the title The Secret Book Club.
Praise for The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks
“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
“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
“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
“The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is a charming story 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