To be honest with you, I wasn’t thrilled with the November selections for Book of the Month, but I chose this next read because I know it was highly anticipated. I loved Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You series, but this was my first go with her down the historical fiction road.
Book 50:
The Giver of Stars
by Jojo Moyes
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
October 2019
Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, The Giver of Stars is the fictional story of one group of women who road into the Appalachian Mountains between 1935 and 1943 as a part of the Pack Horse Library Project, Eleanor Roosevelt’s traveling library. Delivering books to those in remote regions of Kentucky, these women saw all kinds of characters and watched stories unfold as they passed out stories to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them. In their quest, they’re toughened up, bonded together and the center of the town’s controversies.
Favorite Quote(s):
“Look outwards, Alice […] Not much point worrying what the town thinks about you – nothing you can do about that anyway. But when you look outwards, why, there’s a whole world of beautiful things.”
– Jojo Moyes, The Giver of Stars
Awards (based upon my brief research):
None yet.
Pages:
400
My Overall Rating:
3.5 – I was super intrigued by the concept of the pack horse library – I love that that was a thing back in the days, and I like to think that if I lived during that time, I would have signed up to ride the minute the opportunity became available. That being said, from the historical side, I would say it was very lightly historical. There weren’t really any major historical events recounted in the book other than the library.
From the story side, it was just cute. It was a nice, easy read, but it wasn’t ripping me apart or making me cancel my plans to stay home and finish my book. I got more into the story in the last quarter of the book when the plot picks up, but until that point it wasn’t anything I was going to push on my friends.
