This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page review: A life-affirming love story for book lovers
The ultimate love story for any book lover.
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page: The key details
- Publish date: 29 January 2026
- Genre: Romance
- Publisher: Viking/Penguin
- Available formats: Hardback, ebook, audio
- Series/standalone: Standalone
- Length: 400 pages
Blurb: 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. Mainly, because Joe died five months ago…
The gift is simple – twelve carefully chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.
And so begins a reading-inspired journey that takes Tilly around the world; from bustling sidewalks in New York and the tree-lined avenues of Paris to the tranquil Tuscan countryside and the white sands of Bali. With the help of the bookshop owner, Alfie, Tilly starts to discover who she is now, after Joe.
But can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page: The review
I knew This Book Made Me Think of You was going to be good as soon as I learned the main character is called Matilda. Well, Tilly, as she’s known to her friends. A book editor by day, Tilly goes through the worst possible thing imaginable: she loses her husband Joe to cancer. Just as they were starting to plan their life together, when conversations about starting a family were still fresh, it’s all snatched away. Tilly is left to try and rebuild, but she’s lost.
It turns out that Joe had a bit of time to plan, however, and so before he died, he left Tilly a very special gift: 12 books, one for every month of the year. A strange phone call from Alfie at the Book Lane bookshop changes Tilly’s life – but of course, she doesn’t know it right away.
What follows is a year of Tilly adjusting to life after losing her husband, punctuated by a series of books that have been purposefully chosen to help her live each day to its fullest. There’s a copy of Matilda, of course; Tilly’s namesake book and one to help her rediscover her love of reading. There are cookery books, to ensure she’s eating properly. Books about travelling, camping, running. Things either Tilly used to love, or things that she and Joe had planned to do together.
Libby Page has written this novel with love and compassion. It’s beautiful, emotionally-charged and compelling from start to finish. It’s a raw, realistic look on how grief affects us, and a reminder that, even when we’ve endured the worst imaginable loss, life still goes on. There’s still room for new adventures, new memories and, perhaps, even new love.
And despite the loaded emotions here, This Book Made Me Think of You still has plenty of moments of levity. Natural dialogue and likeable characters means you’ll often be reading this with a smile on your face. There’s a blossoming friendship between Tilly and Alfie, which is beautiful to observe. Both characters are complex, very well written and they’ve been an absolute joy to spend time with.
This Book Made Me Think of You was my first book from Page, but it absolutely will not be my last.
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