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224. Why Maggie Banks

Posted on April 12, 2023April 11, 2023 by caritagardiner
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I've read a lot of M/F, M/M, F/F, and even throuple romance novels. Shauna Robinson's The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks offers the first F/R book I can remember. Yes, there's a M/F relationship that develops through the story. That relationship has a meet cute, shows the characters learning to trust each other, and fills other tropes and expectations of the romance genre, but I wouldn't put the budding romance between Maggie and Malcolm at the heart of the story.

Instead, I'd argue that in this tale, Maggie banks learns to love reading. The main/point-of-view character Maggie is floating aimlessly through life, unable to find a career that suits her. When her best friend needs a maternity leave substitute at the small-town, classics-only bookstore she runs, Maggie offers to step in even though she doesn't like to read.

I don't want to give any spoilers because I do recommend that you read this book (abbreviated review below), but I'll offer this: When you read it, notice how Maggie's relationship with reading changes through the story. Robinson offers an homage to literature. Yay!

Can you think of other books that show a character's journey from non-reader to reader? Please share any thoughts in the comments.

Short Review:

title: The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

author: Shauna Robinson

publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

publication date: November 1, 2022

pages: 336

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: hmmm. I'm writing this after-the-fact. I don't remember anything's being gross or potentially triggering.

summary: it's above

tropes:

  • enemies-to-lovers
  • forced proximity
  • ailing town
  • stranger to town
  • stuck in the past

what I liked:

  • everything about reading, books, bookstore, learning to love literature
  • the grumpy boss
  • the twist in history

what I didn’t like:

  • I don't remember any downsides

overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • 340. Why I Ride (Guest Post)
  • NetGalley Review of These Summer Storms
  • NetGalley Review of Destination Weddings and Other Disasters
  • 339. Why Pan
  • NetGalley Review of The Summer You Were Mine
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