This collection features four adventurous, entertaining novellas by four gifted storytellers. As an avid reader and educator, the courageous packhorse librarians are a favorite literary subject of mine. These stories capture the essence of the Great Depression Era government funded Pack Horse Library initiative created to distribute reading material and to promote literacy in remote areas of the United States. Although the historical setting for the project was Appalachia, most of these authors chose to use an alternate setting which worked well for their story. In these stories, believable characters, smoothly flowing plots, richly described settings, sweet romance, and inspiring faith threads, combine to make a quick, informative, enjoyable read. If you love historical Christian fiction and anthologies, this book is a great choice for you!
I received a complimentary copy of this book in e-book form from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Excellent romance collection about saddlebag librarians. Very diverse stories even though they share a common profession. These were new jobs that opened up in a time when jobs and money were scarce. Many men had to leave home to search for jobs. People who lived in the mountains didn't have access to a library, some didn't have schools. These librarians brought books to them, often in perilous conditions. Many of the people were reclusive and untrusting, at least at first. The books gave them many benefits, including education. Entertaining read, nothing boring here! Christian historical.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#TheLibrariansJourney #NetGalley

Loved the book. The main character developed nicely and the writers style was enticing. Would recommend to other readers.

This was a fun collection of novellas. All four novellas are set during the Great Depression and are about travelling librarians. This was such an interesting concept as I didn’t know anything about this initiative before reading the books. All four books are fun, quick reads that are full of romance. Perfect for short escapes into another time. Love’s Turning Page and For Such a Time were my favourites.

A unique collection about a little known piece of American history! I didn’t fall in love with the stories in this collection, but I did enjoy learning about the packhorse librarians. 3/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoy reading about the pack horse librarians during the Great Depression, and I thought all four of these short stories were great. I especially enjoyed the third one, Book Lady of the Bayou and loved the chemistry between Lily Bee, Evie, and Lamar.

That being said, I had a huge issue with the endings of each story. The stories were well-paced for the most part, but the end of each one was so rushed that I felt it took away my enjoyment of them. It’s one thing for a story to end abruptly, but for all four stories in one book to end the same way was a bit disappointing. I almost wish they were their own independent books so they could be extended and not be limited in their word counts.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4254209096

I think the idea of the book was unique. I wasn't aware that during the Depression, there were traveling librarians, especially women. The first book, I was not too fond of it. It was a little too cliche, especially the villain part. The other books were better and more enjoyable. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in a quick, easy read.

Thank you to Barbour Publishing Inc. for allowing me to give an honest review of this arc. Got this from Netgalley. :)

I love this type of book! You get four wonderful novellas by four outstanding authors that provides hours of reading pleasure. The novellas are the perfect length to curl up with at the end of the day. I love reading about the pack horse librarian's and this was perfect. I highly recommend this book.
I received a complimentary copy from Barbour Publishing, Inc via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was unaware of the traveling librarians during the depression before reading this book and found that fascinating. Also a little scary. Those women were brave.

Love's Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey
Interesting story of romance that showed well the poverty of the time and how hard life was. The set up kind of reminded me of The Waltons.

For Such a Time by Patty Smith Hall
This is a second chance romance which is one of my favorite tropes. It had a great ending satisfying the needs of both characters well.

Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk
I loved how the librarian became so attached to her patrons and through her service wins them over.

The Lawman and the Librarian by Kathleen Y’Barbo
This one had a different feel to it. It took a while into the story before we got to the traveling librarian job. There was a lot of set up for it. And there was a bit of a mystery/suspense in the plot along with the romance.

Overall, I found the stories interesting and they each drew a good picture of what life was like in these areas during the depression.

Strong Christian themes
Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: a little-mild
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book through NetGalley and voluntarily chose to review it.

4 short stories about Packhorse librarians in the 1930's. Each of these stories could have been expanded into full length novels in my opinion. They all kept my attention although the first and last stories were my favourite. I also liked the more accurate representation of the depression and how that affected the characters. All in all, I enjoyed learning about the Packhorse Librarian program and found it very interesting.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC of #theLibrariansJourney

The Librarian's Journey is a novella collection published by Barbour. It contains four novellas--all historical romance. The theme is FDR's pack horse librarian program part of the Works Progress Administration during the Depression. Essentially, librarians traveling in country/rural areas where bookmobiles did not/could not go.

Love's Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey is set in the Ozark Mountains. FDR's program technically didn't serve this area/community. So the author took a few liberties. I wouldn't have minded those liberties with location, but, I wasn't a fan of the story overall. This book had...UNNECESSARY villains. Characters that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever except to wear the bad guy villain hat and provide a cheap excuse for a hero to emerge as THE HERO and save the heroine. It's bad enough when a romance has one...but when a story has more than one...well...I have a hard time liking it. I also thought the hero wasn't all that likable.

For Such A Time by Patty Smith Hall is set in Georgia. Ruth Sims, our heroine, is a former nurse. She lost her job due to budget cuts due to the Depression. She never wanted to be "a librarian," but she needs a job. She's returned home to the community she grew up in, and she's reunited with a former love--now a school teacher. Reunited as in they are now working closely together to serve the community. She longs to serve the community...but as a nurse...not a librarian. Can this new job give her the opportunity to do a bit of both? I liked this story. I did.

Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk is set in Mississippi. I really liked this story. Lily Bee Davis is the book woman. She meets a little girl, Evie, and Evie's reclusive father. (The father just happens to be super cute.) As she begins to serve the community, she loses her heart as well....I already mentioned I enjoyed this one. I thought the characters were well done. I loved that this story loves calling out certain books by name. Like Lily choosing The Velveteen Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh for Evie especially. Other titles are included as well for other patrons--I remember someone reading Little House in the Big Woods and maybe Pollyanna.

The Librarian and the Lawman by Kathleen Y'Barbo is set in West Virginia. It may just be my favorite and best from this collection. (Though I also really loved the third novella). Lottie Trent, the heroine, hasn't had the easiest life. Her family has secrets. Secrets BIG enough that they've had to change their name and move around a bit. Secrets that keep her parents a little jumpy and over-protective. Lottie falls in love--sorta instantly--with Clay Turnbow. Clay has declared his love and his intentions to marry her. She thought about it for like five minutes and was like WOW that would be great. Things didn't work out then--1925? 1926?--but ten years later when they are both in different places in their lives and careers...it might just. Clay is now an FBI agent going undercover...and Lottie is a book woman. I really loved this last story so much. I loved the characters and the plot.

Overall, the book collection only gets better and better as you go along. I would rate the first story as two stars. The second as three stars. The third as four stars. The fourth as five stars. I am glad the stories were arranged this way.

A Librarian’s Journey is a series of short stories by five different authors. These are wonderful stories about the the Pack Mule Library Initiative during the Great Depression. This initiative was to bring literacy to remote areas of the Smoky Mountains and Ozarks. These brave women each took on the responsibility of riding pack mules to take books to the most isolated people. Each story will warm your heart and reminds us of the great value of our Librarians through time and how these four brave women in the most difficult of times made sure those in need had literature. I loved these stories and give this 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own. Very well storytelling that has great value to share and understand.

3.5 rounded up. This is a collection of four unconnected novellas of all sweet stories set during the Great Depression and featuring featured traveling librarians.

Since these were novellas, there wasn't a lot of time for development, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much was fit into each. Love's Turning Page and Librarian and the Lawman both featured a bit of mystery and excitement, and Book Lady of the Bayou had great development of setting. For Such a Time had what I thought was the most well-developed romance and was my favorite out of the bunch.

Would recommend for quick, sweet Christian stories.

Four Novellas to get lost in, all featuring a different area that took advantage of FDR's program that gave jobs to women to get books and magazines into the hands of those who lived very rural and in the mountains.

Each of these stories are set in different states, but share a bit of sweet romance, intrigue and some danger that will keep you page turning for answers, before I knew it I was on to the next read!

The time of these reads was during the great depression, times were hard and these brave women brought a bit of joy to those in need.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Barbour and was not required to give a positive review.

A Librarian’s Journey is a series of four novellas by three different authors. These are heartwarming stories highlighting the Pack Mule Library Initiative during the Great Depression, and bring the struggles of that era to light. Each of the stories focuses on a brave woman who went on horseback to take library books to remote communities.

These are easy reads, with authentic characters and a valuable historical focus, told from a Christian perspective. An excellent choice for lovers of historical fiction.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and Net Galley. The opinions are my own.

Four women. Four stories of bravery.

The Librarian’s Journey has four stories, in four locations, written by four gifted writers. With the heart of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, The Librarian’s Journey is a historical romance with a bit of suspense.

Set during the Great Depression, as part of FDR’s Works Progress Administration, four women are hired as Pack Horse Librarians and set out on horseback—or mule—to bring the library to remote and often dangerous communities.

Each author gives the reader a different insight into the trials and dangers of the Pack Horse Librarians. Each author sheds light on the silent and stoic bravery of these women. To think there were actually women who risked their lives for the sake of literacy is both inspiring and thought-provoking. I kept asking myself: What do I to risk helping others?

The first story, Love’s Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey, was one of my favorites. It gave me bits of history and of course, a believable love story.

For Such a Time by Patty Smith Hall, was another favorite. I hadn’t thought that taking such a potentially dangerous job was imperative for some families to put food on the table. What begins as just a job, turns into a love and appreciation for each family receiving a treasured book.

Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk, had an altogether different flavor, but continued the insights into the bravery of the women who brought more than books to the secluded homes—they brought the world.

The Librarian and the Lawman by Kathleen Y’Barbo, had intrigue, suspense, and, of course, a love story.

The common thread within all these stories—and what was most endearing to me—were the recipients of the tattered and worn books and magazines. The families, especially the children, whose worlds were suddenly opened to possibilities. Evermore speaking to the power of good stories.

I highly recommend The Librarian’s Journey for those interested in good stories highlighting little-known times and heroes in history. And, of course, clean, believable romance.

I received an advance ebook from #Barbour the publisher and #Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

Overall I rate this book as 3.8 stars. A pretty good read with a solid finish.

I had only heard of one of the authors before and I enjoy reading compilation books such as these to get to know other authors--so thank you Barbour Publishing for putting this together. The stories are such that I would let my teen daughter read them--clean, cute, about books and history. The last story by Kathleen Y'Barbo stole me away. I was hooked from the beginning and only put it down a couple times to go do something I had to. Excellent storytelling with an unexpected approach to telling a story about the Book Women. That portion gets 5 stars from me. For Such a Time by Patty Hall was a solid 4 stars for me--I enjoyed these characters very much. I felt like it was a little bumpy of a beginning but I got into the character's pursuits and story, especially once we hit chapter 8. Hall leaves the reader with quite a few memorable quotes and thoughts.

I most enjoyed the stories that prefaced the truth of the WPA with the librarians and the location that the story took place. When placed outside of a "normal" packhorse librarian state, I appreciated the authors who gave reason for it through their characters. (We think it's a great idea so we're going to support it here on our own.) I like the more "true to history" storytelling.

The Librarian's Journey
by Patty Smith Hall, Cynthia Hickey, Marilyn Turk, Kathleen Y'Barbo
Pub Date: October 1, 2021
Barbour Fiction

Being a librarian I am a sucker for good stories about packhorse librarians. Thanks to Barbour Fiction and Netgalley for the ARC. I found this to be a wonderful collection of stories!
I enjoyed that the short stories were of great length to read in one sitting.

I highly recommend this book.

5 star

This is a great book if you like short stories! There are four stories and each one is a delight to read! All are clean and terrific stories of different pack-horse librarians that overcome various troubles in their journeys. Great reading!

Thanks to FDR's Pack Horse Library Initiative during the Great Depression, women had the opportunity to work for $28 a month delivering books to rural communities. The four stories in this collection were eye-opening and provided a look into a time when times were bleak, 1 in 4 people were jobless, and few women had the chance to work outside the home. Although all four stories are about traveling women librarians, they each brought to the table different bits of information about the WPA program and different experiences had by the heroines of the stories.

Love's Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey

What happens when two people, who adamantly claim they have no interest in getting married, are thrown together by their passion in caring for mountain people? Grace is a spitfire who dreams of being a career-woman and balks at marriage the more she's pushed towards it. Anthony is set on his new career as a schoolteacher and no, he isn't totally Mr. Perfect; his archaic ideas about women being homemakers is a sore topic between the both of them.

This story is set in the Ozarks rather than the Appalachia where most of FDA's program was carried out, but you'd barely notice the difference in scenery. Whenever I think of the Appalachians, I think of moonshine and poverty, two elements that are present in Love's Turning Page. The only thing missing is Ozark English, a dialect present in the Ozark region, akin to Appalachian English, which is present in the Appalachians.

Although Love's Turning Page is a short story, the plot isn't rushed. Significant details pertaining to life in 1936 are included; I could imagine someone in 1936 winning a glass bottle of Coca-Cola in a three-legged race or eating chipped beef toast for dinner. However, these details are not overly-done nor do they get in the way of the storyline.

There's also sociological insight given regarding family life during the Great Depression. Prior to reading this story, I knew textbook facts about the Great Depression, but I never thought much about how it affected marriages or family dynamics. There are a few mentions in Love's Turning Page about how some family men left their wives and homes either to look for jobs elsewhere or because they were too embarrassed about not being able to provide for the family any longer (the story called it a 'poor man's divorce').The history buff in me savored these gleanings from the reading.

I've seen the name Hickory Hollow used in other books, but as always, it makes me think of a sleepy, quaint town where families cooked simple but delicious dishes and everyone knows everyone else's name. The Hickory Hollow in Love's Turning Page was the same in that aspect.

The one odd thing in this story were the repeat names. It's a little hard to scroll back to previous pages in an e-ARC, but I'm almost positive there are a couple repeat names: Hank and Mabel. I thought it was a little unusual of the author to reuse names for different characters even though they had vastly different personalities. It didn't affect the plot, but it was a tad bit strange.

In This Moment by Patty Smith Hall

This story is set in Georgia, and a few of the characters are friends of President Roosevelt. Cotton farms are mentioned and there's also a nod given to Roosevelt's polio condition. I was surprised by a brief mention of the famed Varsity restaurant in Atlanta. And since the setting is 1936, we also have the token mention of the female lead being told a woman's place is in a home.

My favorite scene was Ruthie and Will driving in his Model T. I imagined her wearing a dress, him wearing a suit, and both of them speaking in the twang we hear in old Hollywood movies. I also thought it was interesting how she only has to work 2 days a week, which kind of made sense because this story's library initiative isn't part of the official Roosevelt program.

Unfortunately, that's as far good as it gets because I had a very hard time liking the female main character, Ruthie. She's a nurse and with her masquerading as a librarian, the entire story seems more suited in a collection titled, 'The Nurse's Journey.' There was nothing "librarian" about her; her first instinct wasn't to read books to the children in the homes they visited, but to perform health check-ups on their occupants on the sly.

Not only that, she also often came across as judgmental, a know-it-all, and short-tempered. I love reading about spunky characters, but there is a huge difference between a spunky character and an irritable, b-word-that-shall-not-be-used character. Sometimes, books tend to reduce female main characters to hot-headed, closed-up people, and this story did just that. I was greatly disappointed. I want to read a story about a strong character who has faults just like any other human, but stories that play up the irrational woman trope aren't stories that I reread.

There were also double standards in the plot. The story highlighted the importance of nurses keeping patients' information confidential. And oh, how Ruthie fought to keep her patient's health needs confidential. But, even though she couldn't, wouldn't disclose to Will, her ex-boyfriend (also the town's schoolteacher and the real librarian in the story), the health problem another character had, she had no qualms telling her dad what the gist of the problem was a few hours later. And even though she self-righteously preaches about patient confidentiality, she gets miffed when she discovers Will didn't tell her about his mother's health problem.

Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk

This story is set in Mississippi, and there are swamps and (former) cotton fields galore. Lily Bee loves books and works as a book restorer before she becomes the town's traveling librarian. Reading about her duties as a book restorer brought back memories of my summer job working in the university library. Like Lily Bee, I also had to repair books and I could identify with her sense of fulfillment after fixing a well-read book.

Her passion for reading is clear in the way she gets tingles just thinking about bringing books to people who don't have them. And in all honesty, she has got to really love books if she's putting up with traveling through a bayou that's home for alligators and other swampy creatures (including the mysterious Hoodoo creature that can't count to thirteen). The story has its comedic relief moments and I found myself chuckling while making my way through the chapters.

The diversity of the story's characters stuck out. All of them are so friendly and open, to the point of being gossipy. There are a few black characters, a cat called Mozart and of course, Lily Bee's love interest, Lamar, with the disheveled appearance, and his Shirley Temple-lookalike daughter, Evie. There are also bayou people who live in stilt houses and eat frog legs.

There are a couple social commentary points of note. It was interesting and sad to read how even back then, lumber companies were already destroying the ecosystem with careless logging or how cotton plantations wore out the ground by not rotating crops.

While reading all that made me feel angst, I had to smile when I read titles of books I read growing up, like Little Women or my all-time favorite, Anne of Green Gables. The one part that did not make me smile was Joseph's comment about how dressing immodestly causes men to fall in sin. I had to pause and wonder if that comment was a reflection of the thought back then or if it was the author's voice coming into play.

There was also something else that made me wonder if it reflected behavior back then. Maude, the black housekeeper in Lamar's family plantation house, always stays at the door of whichever family room Lamar and Evie are in, rather than joining them in the room. Even in regency novels, servants, particularly nannies, don't stand at the doorway but stand closer to their young charges.

My favorite quote comes from Miss Ida, the town's librarian: "(books are) educational food to feed their minds." I thought that quite neatly summed up what should have been the mission statement of workers in the Pack Horse Library Initiative. When one doesn't have the resources to provide food or clothes for others, bringing joy into their lives through books and education is an alternative.

The Librarian and the Lawman by Kathleen Y'Barbo

This story is set in West Virginia and Kentucky. Unlike the other 3 stories, this story has a strong mystery element. The mystery begins right from the first couple pages when it's hinted that something happened to Charlotte Rose's family when she was 12 years old. When the story opens in 1925, Charlotte, known as Lottie, is 15 years old and her beau, Clay, is 17 years old. A couple chapters later, it's 1936 and both of them are living separate lives after their budding relationship was thwarted by her father 11 years earlier.

I found it odd that it took Lottie's parents more than a decade to tell their adult daughter what happened when she was 12. Sure, I could understand not telling her when she was 15 and still growing up, but to belligerently hold on to it and intentionally live lives of fear for years and years? Even when she was told the secret, it was her mom who caved and revealed what it was after Lottie pleaded to know. Lottie's father, like most of the other men in the story, was an authoritarian figure living a life of cowardice.

The male characters in The Librarian and the Lawman left much to be desired. They were all quite frustrating to read about, from her dad who thinks his adult daughter incapable of handling the truth about their past, to Chester from the post office who refuses to acknowledge the dangers of her delivery route, to the sheriff who doesn't offer to ride with her on a dangerous trip, to Stanton from the FBI who hard-headedly doesn't want to consider advice from those working for him.

Infuriating characters aside, I enjoyed the mystery and suspense in the story. While the other books in The Librarian's Journey focused a lot on the book delivery aspect, this story was mainly about the good guys trying to catch the FBI's target. However, after chapters of waiting for a grand resolution, I was rather disappointed when the resolution was a mere whimper rather than the anticipated bang.

There were a couple of factual discrepancies in the story. First, when the story moved to 1936, it's written that Lottie just celebrated her 24th birthday. I was a little confused and double-checked the dates. If she was 15 in 1925, she'd be 26 in 1936. Second, towards the end of the story, Lottie tells Myrtle that she has the latter's jar of honey and will give it to her later. A dozen pages earlier, it was noted that Lottie placed Myrtle's jar of honey in the drop-off location, a tree stump.

Although the mystery was central in this book, the author still manages to weave in nuggets of information about packhorse librarians, such as how some of them created scrapbooks for their patrons when there weren't enough books for everyone or how some of these women doubled up as mail carriers as well.