📚⭐️Book Review: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes🐎

Newsletter #13: *Based on a TRUE* Brave Tale of the Packhorse Kentucky Librarians

Welcome to another newsletter folks and the first book review of my goal to read a novel a month a part of my year end reading goal. This one I am particularly excited to share with you, not only because it has been on my TBR pile for a while, but because it is a spectacularly great read that happens to be full of adventure, some romance (ooh la la), books, literacy, and friendship, but even more cool is that it is based on a true story of what is known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky, as part of Elenor Roosevelt’s travelling library project.

⭐️ Setting the Scene:

Picture this, you and a group of other women bravely set forth on horseback to ride through the Kentucky Mountains to deliver books to less fortunate families in order to promote reading and literacy in a time where a woman’s role was believed to be supporting her husband at the homestead, not out on her own. Some haven’t had much horseback experience, and the town you live in- is skeptical of this endeavour, but alas you set yourselves out for the challenge banding together to deliver books. Well, that is almost exactly the premise of Jojo Moyes excellently crafted The Giver of Stars.

⭐️ Characters that will warm your heart:

Set in Baileyville Kentucky, in Depression Era America, is the story of four women- our main characters- who signed up for exactly that. Their names are Alice, Beth, Izzy and Margery-. Women who may have started out as strangers, but through their determination and bravery soon became friends and known as the Packhorse Librarians. However, the story isn’t just about their physical journeys up the mountainside, but their own personal struggles and challenges as well as each woman figures out what exactly they are capable of, is challenged in some way and continue to come together throughout all sorts of circumstances.

In this way I fell in love, not just our main character Alice, who came from overseas, and only arrived in Kentucky because of who she married, so being from the outside I couldn’t help but root for her. However, she is just an example of truly well developed characters with strong, but different personalities and their own journeys of growth and self-realization as individual woman and librarians. Note: There are others characters, for instance those who oppose this library project that act as antagonists that only strength our characters fortitude, connection with each other and determination to prove to those who maybe believe that this library isn’t a good idea wrong, but equally deserve a mention in making this story an interesting one.

⭐️ Rocky Road All the Way Through:

Again, keeping in mind that the time frame of this book is set in and how bold it is at the start for these woman to do what they are doing, you might find yourself amazed at the determination they showed in carrying on despite what other’s believed, not only that, but as described in the book, the terrain is often treacherous in the remote areas, and reading the way they persisted through all sorts of seasons of weather and life determined to deliver books to those who didn’t have easy access to them, and maybe convince others to start reading amazed and inspired me.

⭐️ Last Thoughts on This Epic Tale:

Over-all I couldn’t help but add this one to my good reads favourites, because it wasn’t just a good read, but a great read. One that captured my heart, with its tales of bravery, friendship and determination to the personal growth each librarian experienced in their journey right down to the fact that in some ways as a book lover and reader I related to their mission of just wanting others to have access to books and be able to read. So, I conclude by saying that the wild ride this book took me on was wholeheartedly worth it, and thus I am glad to have finally gotten around to reading it.

The Giver of Stars…. deserves all the stars!