Book People

by Paige Nick

A comedy about a group of book lovers who literally lose the plot.

Norma Jacobs is your average accountant, running a book club on Facebook and living quietly with her gamer boyfriend in London. Except for the part where she’s being threatened by a deranged author and questioned by the police about attempted murder. All just as she’s started a new job as the only forty-two-year-old intern in the history of publishing.

Harry Shields is a crime writer desperate to hit the big time when a negative review of his latest book on Norma’s page results in him having a spectacular public meltdown. He gets cancelled, his events get cancelled, and before you can say ‘author behaving badly’, he’s plotting revenge and stalking his nemesis.

By the time Harry’s gone viral, and Norma’s given up trying to stop him, the online book club has over a hundred thousand rowdy members, and the comments section is a (literal) riot. Entertaining until one member ends up in a coma.

A savagely funny satire about online media and cancel culture, for everyone who thinks books are harmless.

Genres: Fiction

397 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Hinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really easy, enjoyable, light, quick read. I’m scared to leave a review after reading this book 🤣. You’ll understand once you start reading :)

[Helené Coetzee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful, warm, and cozy book! The perfect page turner that got me out of a reading funk. I love Paige Nick's sense of humor and style, both shining brightly in this new novel. The whodunnit element kept me guessing to the end, and I found the plot built around book review drama endlessly entertaining. Book People are odd people, but they are also MY people. Disclaimer: I work for the Book People publisher, Pan Macmillan, but read and reviewed this out of my own free will with no obligation to say anything.

Five stars for a book that shows how FUN book binging can be!

[Balthazarinblue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to hear the author speak in a few days so I thought I should probably pull my finger out and actually start reading Book People, lest I become one of those book people. I needn't have worried about the time crunch I'd put myself under because this is the ultimate curl up on the sofa and read it front to back in a weekend kind of book.

Light, hysterically funny, and just a touch absurd, Book People follows Norma, the founder and only moderator of a Facebook book club. Originally started to share bookish thoughts with her IRL friends, the Good Book Appreciation Society has blossomed in popularity. It has an exponential growth spurt when author Harry Shields takes umbrage to a particularly disparaging review and can't resist the urge to clap back. Things snowball out of control just as Norma's personal life careens in unexpected directions. Soon there are stakeouts, career changes, a police inquiry, and questionable takeout orders, while Norma has a mid-life crisis in only the way a certified #WordNerd can.

This has a really cozy, nostalgic kind of humour to it that reminded me of Bridget Jones's Diary and the Shopaholic books. Harry is the most endearing love-to-hate antagonist. He walks around the book stepping on the most obvious rakes, forever bewildered when they smack him in the face. If you've ever been in an online book club, the mixed media addition of forum posts and comments will feel hilariously familiar.

[Riley Herbert-Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paige Nick's Book People is a rip-roaring novel about a bunch of book lovers who, quite literally, lose the plot. It is funny, warm and inviting and exceptionally entertaining! I could not put it down. With witty banter, hilarious mishaps, and literary references that will have you laughing out loud, this book is perfect for any book lover.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, this was a book club read that I would not have picked up of my own volition. I'm sure this is right up many people's alleys, just very much not up mine.

[Angela Lambson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent the Easter weekend in the company of two of the book world’s funniest authors. Paige Nick (Book People) and Jojo Moyes (We All Live Here) both light up a page and I’ve been deliciously wrapped up (with a chocolate bunny or two) in their equally madcap stories. Book People, Paige Nick’s seventh novel is a hilarious look at the absurdities of social media, seen through the lens of Norma - admin of Facebook’s Good Book Appreciation Society - and her quirky cast of cleverly drawn characters. She conjures fully-developed characters with nothing more than a well-chosen phrase or observation, and manages to thread in some deeply relevant online ills without detracting from the laugh-out-loud fun. Loved it! A South African author who deserves a global audience. Hope this is the novel that catapults Paige Nick into Jojo Moyes’ stratosphere. And hope it goes to reprint …

[Shawn Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an early copy of this book, to do a giveaway for my own online book community, which is probably why I related to Norma so much!

Book people are crazy sometimes and I love them 😂 This book highlights the many little idiosyncrasies of people that love books. They can have diverse values, communication styles, intentions, and opinions, and yet they all share a love of books. A great unifier!

This read was a fun one and had me laughing and gasping the whole way through. It’s silly and fun, has great twists and turns, and poses so many good questions of the literary world in such creative ways. I would recommend this to anyone who has a love of books and readers!

Plus always proud to support local SA writers 🇿🇦

[Susan Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wickedly funny, loosely based on real life, this is the story of an online book club gone rogue. Featuring a self-obsessed author whose life is turned upside down after a negative review of one of his books, a quiet accountant who runs the book club and has to navigate moderating the increasingly unhinged comments section, and the self-appointed Facebook policewoman who reports anything and everything to the admin, the setting will resonate with anyone who has ever belonged to a WhatsApp group or a Facebook community. It’s all laughs until the police become involved…

As a member of the real life Good Book Appreciation Society, I have been looking forward to the release of this book, and Paige Nick has not disappointed.

My advice?
- Join the GBAS on Facebook
- Sign up for the monthly newsletter
- Buy Book People and prepare to be entertained

[Beryl Eichenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a book by novelist, columnist, advertising copywriter and FMR Book Choice host and editor, Paige Nick so it was with delight that I welcomed her newest novel ‘Book People’. Always up there with current trends Nick takes us into the world of online book clubs. No wine (but some whine!) – it’s all about the books – or is it?
As the founder of the hugely successful Good Book Appreciation Society (GBAS) on Facebook (based in SA) Nick has taken this book club, placed it in the UK and, with her wonderfully humourous pen, written a riotous story around it. I am one of the more than 23 000 members who regularly refer to this page for new reads, soaking up the comments from subscribers. Because there are strict rules to posting I rarely detect dissention and certainly no self- promotion. Yes, I know admins can remove posts if rules are broken…so perhaps it’s those posts that prompted Nick to bring us this hilarious novel? The swiftly whipped away comments that could cause a furore? With tongue firmly in cheek this is a look at how, when folk don’t know when to shut up, social media can ignite a storm, spawning a sizzlingly funny story that we can all easily relate to.
I sailed through it. All the right ingredients for the perfect book club read – along with that glass of wine, Nick has aced it with her imaginative style, irreverence and acute observations. Nothing escapes her sharp eye. Her characters are shaped around their comments, she rounds them out, giving them lives that are slightly larger than life but oh so relatable. She builds the story through their landscapes in a modern, quirky easy-to-read layout. When escalating tempers lead to plots of murderous revenge – there’s no telling where this might go - it’s almost a thriller – with twists and turns, never predictable. It takes a real talent to write humour and Nick has that in buckets!
Hateful Harry Shields (as I dubbed him) is an author who shamelessly self-promotes his books on GBAS. That and having a couple of alter-egos to promote on his behalf. Narcissistic, smug and self-satisfied, married to the long-suffering (but not for much longer) surgeon Victoria. Bookaholic accountant Norma Jacobs started GBAS some years ago and, with a membership of some 13 000, this is her happy place. Boyfriend Steve is a gamer and so-called writer, suffering from writer’s block, he is a sloth of note, living off Norma and thoroughly unlikeable. His reaction when Norma drops a big, ego- deflating bombshell (no spoilers) and that she has changed her well paid job to become the oldest, poorly paid intern in the publishing industry, is less than supportive.
But all hell breaks loose when someone – apparently an elderly member – posts a scathing review of Harry’s crime novels. Unable to ignore this Harry goes into meltdown mode, deranged possibly the better word, and the comments fly. Harry just can’t let go and as membership soars so do tempers, relationships teeter on the brink, revenge plans send Harry down a rabbit hole. The page goes viral, Harry is persona non grata. Cancelled. And when a member ends up in a coma and the cops are brought in – whodunnit? A delightful romp opening up all the pitfalls of airing your views on social media and the calamitous results that could result.
My signs of a good read are my reactions – so when you see me chortling happily, or perhaps (in extreme cases) slamming the book and groaning outwardly at a character’s antics - that my friends, is a recommendation! There were extreme reactions to this one – making it a deliciously satisfying read. So, stop your doom scrolling; pick this up for a respite. I learned a lot about facebook habits, trolling, and the like, adding some potent words to my dictionary – was forced to look at BookTok and am all round aiming to sound smarter about this new ‘speak’. But most of all I ‘get’ what cancel culture really means. Ouch! Book People is a real winner.

[Beata · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does one write a review about a book where the central plot point revolves around books reviews? Just write down some thoughts and don't overthink it, I guess! So here are some of my thoughts five minutes after having put the book down (maybe look away if you're put off by a bit of stream of consciousness).

To start, I reckon I'm the right audience for this book. And if you're wondering who that audience is, well, the title says it all.

Book People was a very enjoyable read, one of those that you unintentionally end up finishing in a day. I think that's a pretty good measure for how good a book is, so kudos to the author for that!

I consider myself a bookish person, and belong to a couple of Facebook book clubs - such a book club being an important aspect of this story. The posts and the comments set out in the book had a definite familiarity to them, with all the classic online book club archetypes being represented. In other words, they feel authentic. It's quite amusing to see repetition of the conversations you see online IRL, and the predictable trajectory of the comments (even if exaggerated a little for satirical purposes).

The writing is quite witty, and I think it only gets funnier as it goes along. There were a few laugh out loud moments for me (kudos to the author again, comedy is hard!)

I wasn't sure what to make of the book in the beginning - a lot of the characters seemed quite one dimensional at first (or perhaps exaggerated, which makes sense in a comedic/satirical setting).

Perhaps the story is a bit of a repetitive beginning, which lends itself to a slow start where there was a lot of unpleasantness (i.e. meeting characters who make you want to give them a right klap, seeing lots of toxicity and dysfunction in relationships - which reminds me, those poor women who end up parenting their significant others!)

But if you don't mind having some unlikeable characters around - I don't - then you will be fine.

Going back, that is not to say that there was no character development. And where some characters didn't change, maybe that's also the point. There are some definite narcissists in this book, and how many have you encountered who are capable of changing and accepting responsibility?

There are a lot of themes tackled in this book - generational differences and struggles, the online world, writing, the publishing industry, careers, relationships etc. So there is a lot going on, but it doesn't feel like it while reading it. The story contains great observational humour, insight, and there is that feel of truth in what the author writes.

Lastly, there is some mystery to the plot, and it comes together nicely in the end. Some plot points were a little predictable - although I wouldn't go so far as to call them all obvious. But some predictability didn't really bother me or detract from the reading experience, I still didn't know how it would all end!

Please no one hurt me if you don't agree with my review, slightly worried emoji.

P.S. I want to know what Train Smash was about.

[Erik Salamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love a good story told through layered (preferably slightly unhinged) characters. That being said, I absolutely loved Book People. You often read about people who get cancelled or unintentionally went viral, but never hear much about the people behind those stories, "what were they thinking", "what are they going to do now". In telling those stories Book People gives one a lot to think about the times we are living through. I found it very smart and absolutely fricken hilarious.

[Rika Burger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny book! So real! If you've ever been part of any social media groups, you'd probably recognise some of the GBAS Facebook group. Some people simply take themselves too seriously. Moral of the story: Take it easy, just be lekker!

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great fun read. Loved it

[Julie Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could give this 3.8 stars, I would. A really fun read!

[Hanlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norma Jacobs isn't particularly fond of people and didn't really plan on running a book club, yet she unexpectedly found herself at the helm of one boasting over ninety thousand members. "It was more like having a baby than a hobby,"

This fictional story (largely!) revolves around a prominent Facebook book group, The Good Book Appreciation Society.  Within this community, members engage in discussions about books they've read, sharing their positive and negative opinions, and seeking recommendations. While generally well-behaved, occasional disagreements occur, and things can get out of hand; in this instance, things got badly out of hand!

Harry Shields, an author and self-proclaimed "book expert," shamelessly used the group to promote his second novel, Once on a Tuesday, both under his own name and through numerous fake accounts. Following a negative review, a situation arose highlighting the common wisdom among authors to avoid online disputes with reviewers. Unfortunately, Harry ignored this advice, which led to a significant escalation of the conflict, ultimately resulting in things blowing up in his face and Harry being cancelled.

Yikes! How do you write a book review about an author getting revenge on a reviewer?
This book was a highly entertaining read that had me laughing and cringing at the same time. Perfect for anyone who's ever been in an online book club and a real lesson in knowing when to shut up! If you're a book nerd who loves to chat about books, this is a must-read!

[Ron Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reviewing Paige Nick's latest novel Book People, one must understand that there is almost no limit to just how obsessive writers can be in promoting themselves and in denigrating rivals. Nick's hilarious book explores the old adage that "It is not enough to succeed, others must fail", a particularly bitter piece of snark first expressed by a writer (Gore Vidal, who has succeeded greatly as a novelist, and fought bitterly with others). One thinks of Orlando Figes, a noted University of London historian who was busted a few years ago writing fake reviews on Amazon praising his own (already very well regarded) books and trashing those of his peers under a pseudonym, an act of academic self immolation that acts a warning to other authors who might try the same after a few glasses of sherry and a few swipes on the iPhone. One thinks as well of the 1981 Booker Prize ceremony when a "senior publishing figure" punched Fay Weldon's literary agent in the face after the author trashed publishing and publishers in general on stage. This happened the same year the reclusive JM Coetzee, winner of the Booker that night, refused to attend the event partly out of "shyness" (a wise choice, given that the event was a minor riot, complete with a power outage). More recently, in 2019 author John Banville was phoned by some hoaxter with a "grudge against the Swedish Academy" who falsely informed him he had won the Nobel Prize in literature, leading to much embarrassment when he had to tell friends and family later that he had only been punk'd by some anonymous literary weirdo and was not, in fact, a Nobel laureate.

This is all by way of saying that authors, publishers, and readers can go a little cray from time to time, even at the most rarefied echelons of the industry, never mind down in the steerage with the first time authors, self-published writers, cranks and conspiracy theorists who are forever punting their works online and are unlikely to win any prizes at all. Add into the mix the readers, whose reviews can make or break your novel, or at least ruin your day with an unkind assessment. Readers who give one star to a novel because it is "dull and muscular" (a rough, offhand review from Book People) or who decide to demolish a book out of spite, misogyny, homophobia, zealotry or all of the above. Add wine, drugs, resentment, obsessiveness and mix in the Internet and you have fuel for disaster and of course satire. There is simply no way to overstate how absurd things can get online when one is dealing with writers, who spend most of their time in front of a computer anyway either writing or, more likely, procrastinating and checking out their reviews over at online book sites like The Good Book Appreciation Society, the Facebook group at the root of all the bother in Nick's comedic offering, and a fictionalised version of a real life group by the same name that Nick actually administers.

Nick's new novel explores just how bad things could get if one particularly resentful writer were to come across a particularly brutal review of his recent novel in such a group and take it in his head to get even irl. Hilarity ensues, but for anyone close to the book trade it is an uncomfortable kind of hilarity as ninety percent of what happens next is pretty close to what could easily happen, given the neuroticism of writers who, nowadays, are at the mercy of anyone with an Internet connection. One thinks about why Faulkner stopped working at the post office: "I'll damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp." Today's writers have it even worse than Faulkner did: they serve faceless readers who can access free Wi-Fi. Most of them are lovely, of course, and we all depend on them for a living. Some of them not so much.

But, that said, Nick doesn't hold back on other writers, particularly Steve, the boyfriend of a character named Norma who runs fictional version of The Good Book Appreciation Society. Steve has quit his midlevel job at Amazon(!) to write his own Great British Novel, although he seems to spend his days playing video games, watching sport on the TV, eating junk food and going to the pub while his erstwhile girlfriend has to balance off the non-paid responsibilities of the fractious Facebook group and her soul crushing work as an accountant. In the last year, Steve has produced almost nothing, a source of disappointment to Norma, as well as irritation. At one point an argument between the two of them breaks out that will feel extremely familiar to many writers who have been caught loafing when they should be writing. Steve protests, "Writing's not like that, Norma. You don't just sit down and bash out a couple of thousand words a day." Norma replies, "I thought that was exactly what writing was like...You know, made up of time spent writing."

Nick also manages to bring us into the bowels of a London publishing house, where piles of unread manuscripts lurk in basement "slush piles", a source of fun and amusement to underpaid Gen Z interns who use them to make mocking TikTok videos. We are also led down the aisles of a chain bookstore, where employees are treated with contempt and the love of literature has been replaced by cynical book placement meant to maximise sales. Nick handles all of this with a wry sense of humour: her 42-year-old Norma is hopelessly out of date compared to the fresh-faced employees in the publishing house and the bookstore, many of whom are (ironically) ambivalent about the act of reading in the first place.

We also meet the odious (but equally familiar) Harry Shields, who tirelessly punts his novels on The Good Book Appreciation Society while happily putting a flamethrower to others' work under one of his many online aliases. His second novel doesn't seem to be selling well. Eye rollingly entitled Once a Tuesday, it has gotten the thumbs up from a few reviewers but is not beloved on TGBS, whose denizens are tired of his tireless "self-promo". This novel follows Harry's first novel, Monday Never Comes, which is not universally beloved on the site either. As our Harry finishes The Wednesday Protocol, one thinks he will never really be beloved by readers young and old alike. Nick just gets pompous writers like Harry: the ridiculous titles they dub their novels with, their penchant for moving their unsold books around on bookstore shelves so buyers can see them better, their arrogance and their utter desperation when the Internet turns on them, usually through their own doings. Moreover, all of this weirdness happens in the face of relatives and friends who think the entire writing gig is somewhat ridiculous, and bad reviews from people like Edna Molton (Harry's faceless online nemesis) on Facebook groups are nothing to worry about for normal people, surely not worth plotting murder, as Harry does.

The novel is infused with online conversations taken from the fictional version of The Good Book Appreciation Society, and one wishes these could have been graphically reprinted the way they would actually look on a Facebook group, but anyone familiar with how Facebook works will get the very "in" humour of Internet pettiness, including the ever annoying comments by one reader who always wants to spread "love and light" while the rest of the members squabble. Nick's writing reminds me of the zany fun of PG Wodehouse and Mary Robson. Short, slick chapters make this an easy read and the exasperation the characters have for one another never really spins into darkness. Nick is a good-hearted writer---many of us would have killed a few of these characters before "the end". I was also reminded of The Novelist, by Jordan Castro, which manages to capture the strangeness of what people say online as well as the urgent oddness of actually opening a computer to interact, stalk and hate on people one will never meet. Paige Nick knows this world intimately, and Book People slips between characters' real life issues with jobs, significant others, age and rage to the ever present online world that is with us... watching, judging and reviewing.... even while we sleep. To her credit, Nick makes us laugh about it.

[Andy – And The Plot Thickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I never wanted to run a book club. Or any club. I think you should know that from the start."

Norma Jacobs runs a lovely book club on Facebook, The Good Book Appreciation Society. Apart from the odd disagreement, it's all quite pleasant. Until an angry author – crime writer, Harry Shields – decides to respond to a negative review of his book. This leads to a chain of events that ends up with Harry getting cancelled, Norma being threatened, and a book club member in a coma in hospital. Who knew a book club could be so dangerous?

This book is fun, funny and fabulous. As a member of the real-life The Good Book Appreciation Society, I can say with safety that I don't think any authors have ever been cancelled due to the group. In fact, authors are encouraged not to comment on reviews of their books. Otherwise, there might be a Harry Shields situation.

The more deranged, angry and unreasonable the cringeworthy Harry becomes, the funnier the story is, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The story is interspersed with Facebook comments from the book club, which the author (with permission) took from the real-life group. These are so relatable and make the book appealing to any book lover who's ever interacted with other book lovers online.

A must-read if you're looking for something witty, acerbic and highly entertaining.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book People by Paige Nick is in a class of its own: very clever and very funny; well, very funny if you’re a reader and have never had to cope with a mean, nasty review. What writer wouldn’t want to hit back at such a thing! What would I have done if a stranger had ever smacked one of my children? The problem here is the writer and the reviewer are both unhinged to start off with.

Norma runs an online book review club. She has left her job as an accountant and, at 42 years of age, taken up an internship with a publishing company. Unfortunately for Norma, she lives with Steve, a lazy, layabout wannabe author who spends his days on the couch wearing big headphones, mucking about on his laptop and hacking Norma’s credit card.

Harry is a ferociously self-promoting author, the victim of the aforementioned mean, nasty review. He is married to Victoria, a surgeon whose tolerance for his obsessive nature is wearing thin.

This a terrific read. Unlike Harry’s nemesis I don’t comment at all on books I haven’t liked but I liked this one. A lot! I’m going to look for more of Paige Nick's books now; what a find this one has been.

[Pete Farlam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this out of curiosity and loyalty since I'm a member of the Good Book Appreciation Society on FB. It was very funny and while I really didn't like the two main male characters very much (Harry and Steve), at least Harry is able to develop as a character, and they are both excellent foils for Norma. Paige Nick says that writing this was much more slog than fun but the fun really does shine through. This is nerdy, book fun (and I even liked seeing the names of the slush-pile authors, who were often one letter away from real authors - such as Simone Winchester). This was excellently done and it really works as a comic romp through the publishing world.

The real GBAS is a much-better behaved forum than the fictional one (perhaps in the early days it was wilder) but any Harry-wannabes out there, be warned. Getting cancelled is a real possibility!

[Bridget McNulty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny in parts (which is so difficult to do!) and thought-provoking.

It is so hard to write funny, but Paige Nick makes it look easy. This book was a pleasure, from start to finish. And it gave me a surprising behind-the-scenes empathy for people being cancelled and feeling completely incredulous about it.

If you’re looking for something easy to read that still makes you think and stays with you for weeks afterwards, look no further.

[Hannah McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun, and so silly, and so funny! I'm not normally a satire girl, but this one gets a thumbs up. (I admit to finding the main character's boyfriend odious and wondering how she stayed with him for so long, and then remembered how I've dated some choice characters myself... oh, the salt in the wound! It stings us, Precious!)

[Bronwyn Kotze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! After seeing a review by Gus Silber, I bought a copy... and was not disappointed. Hilarious, especially if you belong to any online bookclub.
I'm now going to hunt down more of her books.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read based on a real book club that I belong to on Facebook, "The Good Book Appreciation Society". Great light-hearted read with funny characters. I'd love to know all the drama behind the scenes of the actual page!

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, light-hearted and enjoyable!

[Penny de Vries · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful entertaining read. Also a brilliant exposé of social media toxicity.
And witty.
Great dialogue too - so natural.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

well written with a dry humor. Paige has a good voice.

[Erica Smythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful read - lots of laughs and WTF moments!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect light read. Some convoluted plot twists that all made sense eventually. Definitely recommended

[Nici · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this delightfully amusing. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!

[Stephanie Muller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, very entertaining read. The characters are caricatures, and there are some very funny lines.