This is one of those books that is just plain easy to read. It's sweet and a little sad, but pretty much every character in here adores books and so naturally I find them sympathetic and not at all unreasonable in their shared quest to give away random books to people who look like they need them. The idea here, clearly, is that books are magic, and there are small intimations here and there that the books want to be given away, that they're looking for new people to affect, but really the magic lies in the fact that books are windows to other worlds, and that they can build connections between people, and inspire them to reach beyond themselves. Juliette, who is something of a loner, gets her life upended by this, and we're meant to see it as a good thing. I do, in fact, see it as a good thing, as Juliette's increasing withdrawal from life, at the beginning of the book, is cutting herself off not only from the people around her, but from her possible futures.

I do find the ending a little bit of an emotional let-down, I suppose, and somewhat abrupt, but it's a likeable book. One of those ones you read on a cold day with hot chocolate and a fire and a blanket, I think. A comfort read, that's what it is.