The Giver of Stars in Bound Together

Oct 06, 2019 Angela M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: edelweiss-reviews

This is a wonderful tribute to how books can change people’s lives and to the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians, so of course I loved this book. I first heard of the Pack Horse Librarians when I read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. It’s a fascinating piece of history. This initiative was started by Eleanor Roosevelt as part of the Works Progress Administration set up in the mid 1930’s. At first I thought that this would be just a good story about a group of gutsy, dedicated women who brought b This is a wonderful tribute to how books can change people’s lives and to the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians, so of course I loved this book. I first heard of the Pack Horse Librarians when I read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. It’s a fascinating piece of history. This initiative was started by Eleanor Roosevelt as part of the Works Progress Administration set up in the mid 1930’s. At first I thought that this would be just a good story about a group of gutsy, dedicated women who brought books to people who would not otherwise have access in the hills of Kentucky. But as the story progressed, I found this book to be so much more.

Margery O’Hare, strong, feisty and independent heads up the program. Alice Van Cleve is a newlywed from England, who has come to Kentucky with her American husband, son of a heartless, cunning mine owner whose interest in making money is more important than the safety of the miners and the citizens of the town. She soon finds that her marriage is not what she hoped for. Izzy, the polio stricken daughter of an established, well to do family is suffocating in her mother’s smothering. Beth, the brash local farmer’s daughter and Sophia, the astute black librarian round out this group and are later joined by Kathleen, one of the women whose family benefited from the books these women brought to her home. As these women take to the road, we see the people of this place and time and their hardships - a father with black lung disease, his wife having to do so much of the hard work, a widowed father raising two little girls, the danger of the mines, the prejudice, the racist sentiments, the poverty, the sexist attitudes towards women. Moyes realistically portrays the things that might have happened in this small mining community in Kentucky in the 1930’s.

I loved how the friendships develop among these women who come to know each other, care about and support each other. They ride through treacherous conditions and I loved seeing how much the people came to look forward to their visits especially the children and how the books and magazines made a difference in their lives . Children learn to read. The sick find respite from their pain as the librarians read to them. I was moved by the impact that the books had, but also the impact that these women make, especially Margery on trying to right some of the wrongs by Van Cleve whose greed causes further suffering for these people.

I found the writing lovely in places, especially the descriptions of the mountains, the landscape. Pertinent quotes from some classic books at the beginning of some chapters was a nice addition - Little Women, The Red Pony and others that I wasn’t familiar with like a little blue book you’ll have to read about for yourself :). Louisa May Alcott could not have imagined the powerful role her book plays in this story. There’s a lot packed into the novel - love stories, friendships, a murder, a courtroom drama, fabulous character development, and as I said at the outset, a wonderful tribute to books and these courageous women and a fantastic piece of historical fiction. I’m a retired librarian so I can’t rate this any less than five stars. :)

I read this with Diane & Esil and as always a wonderful discussion.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Pamela Dorman/Penguin through Edelweiss. ...more

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Oct 08, 2019 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it

Shelves: lor-2019

4.5 when I first started reading this I thought, wonderful another story about the pack librarians, this set in Kentucky. Wondered how close it would be to the The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Except for the job itself and being part of the WPA, not close at all. I was also glad that do many authors are writing about little known history, of strong women who refused to bend and accept only the roles available at that time.

Then I fell for the characters, was pulled into each of their lives. W ...more

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Oct 15, 2019 DeAnn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019

4 romantic Pack Horse Stars

I am a huge fan of Jojo Moyes so I definitely wanted to read this one when I saw she was out with a new one. When I read the description, it reminded me of a book I read earlier this year “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” – now that one was a 5-star read for me and covered a topic that I knew nothing about. There has been some speculation about two books on the same topic and out about the same time, but I don’t want to dwell on that, I’d rather focus on this book. ...more

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Dec 19, 2019 ♥ Sandi ❣ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 351-more-pages-or-more, library, historical-history, 1-have, books-on-books, to-50-state-list

4 stars

Surprise, surprise! This is an author that I have not liked in any past book - I have not even been able to finish any of her past books - regardless of all the high reviews she has been given.

However...

I have given this book 4 stars! I really did enjoy it. I felt it started out much like The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson which I had just read, and really liked, but once into the story it veered off into different territory, while still talking about the book w ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2020 Martha☀ rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, historical

It is 1937 in remote Kentucky. A group of misfit and outcast women band together to form the area's first pack horse library unit, delivering books to folks who live at the fringes of society and bringing the joys of reading, literature and knowledge to their sheltered worlds. Either the women were strong-willed to start with or they became that way while carrying out their jobs but these women are put face-to-face with discrimination and gender role misconduct on a daily basis and they stand ta ...more

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Mar 31, 2020 Peggy rated it it was amazing

I read this book a few months ago. It still stays in my head. The courage of the women, the misogyny that is revealed, and all the efforts they make to overcome the challenges was so impressive. I loved this book!

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Oct 31, 2019 Cathy Ferringo rated it it was amazing

This is the first book of hers that I've read. I love a good story about pioneers (not that this is exactly) and I love books and libraries, plus have heard that she's a much-loved author. So that's why I decided to read it - a mishmash of half logical, reasons.

The thing that kept me reading and ultimately giving a 5 star was the characters. I loved this book so much. It seemed a bit slow at first to me but then at some point i got obsessed with reading it.

The ladies of the library all shine i ...more

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