Today’s review is about THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU by Libby Page. It’s a contemporary fiction focused on working through grief that ends on a hopeful note. Libby receives a monthly gift of book for a year from her deceased husband. Each is a thoughtful pick that helps her process her loss and live life again.
Author: Libby Page
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Berkley
Publish Date: February 03, 2026
Print Length: 416
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This Book Made Me Think Of You Synopsis
Synopsis
A woman receives an unexpected gift from the man she loved and lost—a year of books, one for every month—launching a reading-inspired journey to live, dream, and love again in this glimmering and heart-stopping novel.
Twelve books. Twelve months. One chance to heal her heart…
When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. But mainly because Joe died five months ago….
When she goes to pick up the present, Alfie, the bookshop owner with kind eyes, explains the gift—twelve carefully chosen books with handwritten letters from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.
At first Tilly can’t imagine sinking into a fictional world, but Joe’s tender words convince her to try, and something remarkable happens—Tilly becomes immersed in the pages, and a new chapter begins to unfold in her own life. Monthly trips to the bookstore—and heartfelt conversations with Alfie—give Tilly the comfort she craves and the courage to set out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to share her journey with others, her story—like a book—becomes more than her own.
This Book Made Me Think Of You Review
THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU starts about six months after Tillie lost her husband, Joe, to cancer. She is deep in her grief and going through the motions in life. When the new year comes around, she receives a phone call from Alfie, owner of her local bookstore. She learns that Joe organized a gift of 12 books for Tilly, one for each month with handwritten letters. Tilly resists at first. But she slowly allows herself to go with Joe’s vision and open up to friends and family, new and old.
THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU was a delight to read despite the heavy theme of grief. The book is easy to get into with approachable writing. It introduces ways to work through and begin to heal from grief through the mechanism of Joe’s gifts. What I really liked about this is the author doesn’t belabor each method of healing. Instead, she shows the reader via Libby so the reader can also move through their own feelings about processing grief.
Although this book is about a specific kind of grief associated with the loss of a loved one, I think anyone who has experienced grief–especially deep, long-lasting, isolating grief–can connect with this book. I found it rather cathartic and it brought up some feelings in me. What stood out to me the most was the isolation part of grief, which is twofold. There is the act of isolating oneself from everyone because it is too mentally taxing for a number of reasons. That could be because one might feel that everyone around you doesn’t know how to be around a sad person, so it’s easier to avoid people rather than make them feel comfortable around your grief. Or they might try to gently suggest you move on before you’re ready and you don’t want to deal with that. So you may temporarily (or permanently) lose friends.
Then there’s the metaphorical isolation where it’s hard to explain to someone how you feel if they haven’t also gone through the same experience. You just want someone who gets it without having to explain yourself. And through Joe’s gift of books Libby opens up to the world again and finds people who empathize and get it. Once she opens up (which is hard to do), she realizes there’s a whole silent community of people she can related to who help her start to heal.
Even though this book is about working through grief, it definitely ends on a hopeful note. It was really nice to read something hopeful and uplifting, especially given the current state of the world. I definitely recommend picking up this book if you need a change of pace and a story that ends happily.
Rating: 4.5
Content warnings: death, cancer, grief
Reading format: Hardback
Aww this sounds very sweet! I like that it has a hopeful ending despite the subject matter. I’m imagining how much time Joe spent putting it together😁
It was a lovely read. 🙂 If you ever need a change of pace from horror & fantasy, try this one. 😉
Ive wanted to read this one ever since I first saw the cover 😂 it sounds beautifully moving and its wonderful to hear that it manages to end on an uplifting note despite its heavy topics. Im glad you enjoyed it 🥰
It is wonderful…I hope you get a chance to read it soon! My main motivator was I forgot to suspend my hold for this from the library, so I had to pick it up otherwise I’d have to go back to the end of the holds line. 😛
Lovely review! This was one of my favorite books so far this year!
Thank you! I’m glad I read it even if I had to make time for this hold to unexpectedly come in!
I’ve never heard of this book before, but your review sounds lovely especially with how deep you seem to resonate with Libby’s experience. Thanks for sharing – it truly convinces me to pick this one up!
I’ve not been through the main character’s experience, but I’ve gone through some very isolating things that caused and are causing grief, so I could relate to the story in that way. So I thought it did a good job of mentioning it in a way that works well in the story without coming off as preachy. I definitely recommend it if you decide to read it. 🙂