I am increasingly reminded of Alexander McCall Smith's idyllic Botswana, as I get deeper into the stories of Finfarran. Lissbeg is a lovely little town where, sure, people have troubles, but they don't let them rule or ruin their lives, and they pull together to pull through. Hanna the librarian continues to work at engaging her community, this time through a book-and-film club, even as her future and past are both crowding into her consciousness. Conor the library assistant and his fiancee Aideen cope with the planning for a double wedding that may be turning into someone else's fantasy, and not fulfilling their own. Jazz, Hanna's daughter, finds herself adrift after a relationship ends, and starts wondering whether Finfarran is the right place for her to be. And Rasher, a marginalized kid, turns up under Saira Khan's wing, and struggles to overcome his past and the prejudices that have kept him from thriving. All these stories are told with light, engaging language, the characters realistic and charming, and the setting as beguiling as ever. I'm totally in love with this place! ( )

The Month of Borrowed Dreams is the 5th entry in Felicity Hayes-McCoy's 'Finfarran Peninsula' series, set on Ireland's West Coast. I had read a previous entry - The Transatlantic Book Club - and quite enjoyed it.

There is a large cast of characters in this series. It did take me a few chapters to get back up to speed on who was who.

Hanna and the library are the starting point of the novel, this time running a book and cinema club. Familiar characters are again met and other previously minor players take a larger part this time around. There are many I'm fond of and enjoyed revisiting. I have to say that the enigmatic Fury O'Shea, who seems to turn up at the right time and knows what is, or isn't needed is a favorite of mine. He runs a close second to his dog - The Divil.

Love takes center stage this time round, with engagement, marriage and relationships explored in a number of characters' lives. You'll easily find players you enjoy - and there's always at least one (two for me in this latest) who seem to be a problem.
I appreciated the descriptions of the Irish countryside and would be very happy living there! Hayes-McCoy has a cottage of her own in Ireland and the setting details benefitted from this first hand knowledge with lots of descriptions.

This is a lovely, paced, gentle series that will appeal to readers who have enjoyed Nancy Thayer or Maeve Binchy.

I chose to listen to The Month of Borrowed Dreams. The reader was Marcella Riordan. She has a lovely, lilting Irish accent that is just perfect for this book. She has an expressive manner of speaking. She changes up the tone and timbre of her speaking to portray the many different characters. The narrating speed is also sped up or slowed down. I did find the sped up voices to be a bit hard to understand as in addition to the speed, the tone ratchets up to a shrill level. There's one character (Eileen) who seems to laugh at the end of every sentence and I found her bits to be very annoying. That same laugh is used with a few other players as well. ( )