As a Library patron and employee, I was very interested to read about the horse riding librarians of Kentucky. This book lived up to my expectations. The main characters are the librarians who face the rough terrain, plus the stubborn hill people of Kentucky. Add in the owner of the local coal mine who happens to be the father in law of one of the librarians who is in a disappointing marriage, but loves her work delivering the library materials. The characters are interesting and the storytelling is compelling. I enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my patrons.

As soon as I heard that this was about the WPA Pack Horse Librarians program during the mid 1930's, I wanted to read it. I would have LOVED being a pack horse librarian. Even after reading Moyes' vivid description of how hard life was in Kentucky's Appalachia region, the draw of riding beautiful trails all day to bring reading material to families scattered across the region is enough to make heartsick for missing out on this time.
There are several different themes that allow for good discussion for book groups: environmental concerns, workers rights, women's rights, civil rights, small town life, familial obligations and expectations, etc.

I've always been a fan of Moyes books. She has employed her considerable talents in character development to a historical story this time around and made a beautiful novel. The history of the Pack Horse Library project in Appalachian Kentucky is not well known outside Appalachia. She has rendered it well, with respect for the culture and the period, and without the stereotypes of illiteracy the story usually underscores. Instead she chooses to focus on the bravery of the women who had to overcome a lot of resistance to bring library services to rural Eastern Kentucky. As a librarian and Appalachian regional bibliographer, I am glad she chose this story to tell. Thanks to a Netgalley ARC, I will be heartily recommending this book to not only those with an interest in history, but to anyone who enjoys strong writing. Moyes could probably write about a day in anyone's life and make it interesting. Mark it on your calendar for October and buy copies for friends for Christmas.

In 1936, President Roosevelt's WPA program established libraries that delivered books to families in the remote areas in the Appalachian Mountains. Members of the community donated books and storage facilities to house their libraries. Librarians on horseback would travel the various mountain trails delivering reading material to families and schools in these remote areas. The librarians would have to provide their own horses.

This story is about a mining community in a remote area of Kentucky and the five women who are the horseback librarians.

Jojo Moyes brings the reader an unflinching look into the hardscrabble lives of the inhabitants of rural Kentucky during the 1930s.. A place of intolerance born of ignorance and isolation and a few brave women who endeavor to change their community against great odds for the better.

What a wonderful story! JoJo Moyes has done it again.

GIVER OF THE STARS is different than the contemporary fiction that Moyes has written in the past. However even though this novel is based on true events and people it is Moyes's rich character development and the story line of these ladies that drives the novel.

I knew little of the WPA library but love that i learned more about it from reading this novel. The strength and fortitude these ladies showed is incredible. I want to learn more about this initiative. I loved how books, literacy and the act of reading or providing the books to read empowered all the characters.

Absolutely loved it. Cant wait to share when this novel releases october 8 2019. I can boldly predict that it will be best seller!

This book is so beautifully written. Strong women and libraries?? Count me in! Will be buying this for everyone I know.

I was beyond thrilled to receive an ARC of this title from NetGalley, as I have read almost everything else that Jojo Moyes has written. So, you’d think I’d be prepared for the book, right?!

But no. Nothing like what I expected. Everything I SHOULD have known would be contained in this perfect, glorious, exquisite book. It has everything. It IS everything. Historical. Based on actual events. Romance. Mystery. A cast so rich and beautifully written even into the third and fourth tier. A landscape that is so perfectly described as to make me actually weep for the prospect of Alice having to miss it.

And the books. The Library. The devotion to the written word. “Just the facts,” as Margery would say. Such a joy of a book. Love is too small a word for how I feel about this book. 🤓💜📚

This book was such a lovely surprise. Moyes could've depended on tropes and stereotypes of Kentucky/Appalachia and instead treated the region as an additional lovely, complicated character. A delightful quick read encompassing friendship, romance, and the power of the written word.

What I read of this book was very good. Great character development, and an interesting glimpse into the history of the horseback librarians. The ARC wasn't the entire book, so I am looking forward to reading the whole story.
Thanks You NetGalley for this preview

A celebration of strong women trying to make a life in the world they have been thrown into by men and the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky. When Alice meets Bennett Van Cleeve she is entranced and sees marrying him as an escape from the rigid formality of life in England that she doesn't fit in to. But life in Kentucky is not what she imagined and Bennett changes so completely from the charming man in England. Alice finds an escape from the VanCleeve's by joining the Horseback Librarians. Margery O'Hare is trying to escape her past as the daughter of a dead moonshiner as part of the Horseback Librarians. Together, Alice, Margery and the other Horseback Librarians are trying to spread knowledge and joy of words as the powerful men in the town are fighting against this knowledge. But will the truth come out or will the town believe the words of the powerful men?

Wish this was the full galley. Definitely want to read more!. The subject is fascinating and the first chapter is intriguing.

I thought this would be the entire book but it was only the beginning of the book. I really liked it and I look forward to being able to read the entire book in October. I love this author.

Jojo Moyes never disappoints me, and her newest book The Giver of Stars looks on track to be a winner. I'm looking forward to reading the complete book, as this was just a short sample.

This is only a brief excerpt (which was a huge disappointment) but I was hooked from the beginning.

I can't wait to read the entire thing.

It’s the height of the Great Depression Alice Wright imagines she is leaving her boring like in England for a new life in America with new husband, Bennet Von Cleve. But life in Kentucky is stultifying, with an overbearing father in law who believes women should be seen and not heard. In a desperate attempt to stave off boredom, Alice answers a call from Eleanor Roosevelt, promising to help deliver library books to people in rural Kentucky. She and two other women become known as the horseback librarians of Kentucky in this fascinating book about the beginnings of our country’s commitment to libraries for all Americans