A book with the words “Dewey Decimal” in the title was just too much for this librarian to pass up – luckily for me. Josephine Carr’s latest book moves her out of suspense and into the realm of chick lit, a move that appears to have been made wisely. At times funny, occasionally silly, this is a chick lit novel with some heart and warmth. And despite a couple of qualms, that made it well worth the read.

Ally Sheffield is in love. At the age of forty and after 15 years of contented celibacy, she is in the big L. The only problem is, the object of her desire doesn’t know she exists. He is Aleksi Kullio, the new conductor of the Philadelphia Philharmonic. After seeing him conduct, Ally falls instantly, madly in love. Ally will do anything to win her man and sets off on a course that will change her life.

If all this sounds a bit unbelievable, never fear. Dewey Decimal is written in the first person and that’s what makes it work. The reader knows how Ally is feeling every step of the way. Her quirky honesty comes through:

“So picture me, a librarian spinster, falling in love with a married man I didn’t know and had no chance of ever knowing. I would have doubted it myself except that the body tells you when you fall in love. My body sure did. Simultaneously, I felt like I was going to throw up, pass out, and have a heart attack.”

And when she adds a few paragraphs later “This was love, inexplicable and absurd and utterly pointless. My silly heart beat fast with the joy of it,” you believe her and empathize as well.

What moves it beyond a story about infatuation and how the girl is going to get her guy, is how Ally uses her newfound love to stir up her own life. Falling in love is really just the crowbar Ally uses to pry herself out of her own comfortable rut. When she says she’s content with her life (pre falling in love) it’s entirely believable and true, but contentment can be a trap. Finding herself feeling something so strongly reinvigorates Ally. She’s taking action. She’s changing herself. She’s exploring. And that’s all pretty fun to watch.

You’ll notice I haven’t spoken much about the man (or is it men?) in Ally’s life. That’s because they aren’t the point. It’s not about the guy and that makes for a refreshing change. So much chick lit revolves around the bitterness and loneliness of young women without men in their lives. Ally’s proven she can happily live without and now wants to explore what it would be like to live with a man.

Two quibbles. One has to do with Ally’s profession and work life. It didn’t always ring true. Some of her work behavior doesn’t fit with what I know of librarians and her public library setting seemed closer to a small town library then a branch of the very large Philadelphia library system. These are things that probably wouldn’t even occur to other readers, but likely will be noticed by fellow librarians. The second is probably a fairer complaint to make. Near book’s end a plot point comes out of nowhere and not only makes no logical sense, but is completely unnecessary.

Those minor problems aside, this is a delightful coming of age story of a forty year old woman. And that’s something we can all, sooner or later, relate to.