Jojo Moyes is one of my favorite authors and I love reading her books. I think my personal favorite is The Girl You Left Behind, though Me Before You was also excellent.
Anytime I get picked one of her books, I simply can’t pass. She is a tried and true author who always writes exceptional books. But this book was about more than just a big name author.
The summary of this book would have appealed to me even if it was by a debut author! Horses and books? What could be better!
Summary
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.
The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky.
What happens to them—and to the men they love—becomes a classic drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. Though they face all kinds of dangers, they’re committed to their job—bringing books to people who have never had any, sharing the gift of learning that will change their lives.
Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope. At times funny, at others heartbreaking, this is a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond. (Summary from Goodreads).
Review
Moyes typically writes novels that are more contemporary, with the exception of books like The Girl You Left Behind. Her modern romances are unforgettable but I think her historical novels are equally well written and exciting and boy oh boy did Moyes pick an exciting topic!
I adore horses and a novel with women librarians delivering books on horse back completely had my heart. Absolutely wonderful! This book is full of strong women with much diversity sprinkled throughout and even though I am not a huge fan of books set in the Great Depression, reading this one was mesmerizing. I couldn’t get enough and stayed up late reading this one on more than one occasion.
I know there has been some controversy around this book and The Book Women of Troublsome Creek. I haven’t read The Book Women of Toublesome Creek so I can’t comment or compare the two books, but I will say that any book that takes on such a fascinating subject as women delivering books on horseback in the back woodsy country gets my vote! I love books that take previously unexplored narratives in history and this book does just that and from what I have heard, The Book Women of Troublesome Creek does something similar.
This book was a wonderful delight to crack open each time I wanted something to read. Moyes does not disappoint and I think this book has taken the place of The Girl You Left Behind as my favorite Moyes novel. So much to love here and a wonderfully written story about strong women!
The Lit Bitch 
I’m very suspicious of this book, because of the similarities between it and “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” by Kim Michele Richardson. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tomiobaro/jojo-moyes-the-giver-of-stars-kim-richardson-bookwoman-of
I agree I was as well, but I haven’t read The Book Women of Troublesome Creek so I can’t really speak to their similarities or how they are different etc. I just happened to read this one first and loved it, I do plan on reading the other book and see if that changes my opinion in any way etc.