The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer was the perfect book to read while on vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In a time of depression and financial hardship, Addie Cowherd was living a college girls dream and working her journey to becoming a novelist. Until the day she was told her college tuition was not being payed, Addie didn’t realize the depression had hit her family or that her father had lost his job. Addie had no choice but to leave school and search for money of her own. Through connections in the library web Addie was able to take on a traveling librarian job through the WAP. While it sounded like a perfect set up of being able to stay in the world of books while earn a living, the job took Addie into the mining hills of Kentucky where the people were hesitant of newcomers and didn’t exactly roll out the carpet for her. Luckily for Addie there were some welcoming people that taught her the ropes and the value of friendship while Addie taught the town a thing or two about hospitality and perseverance.
I am a lover a books and words so this story spoke right to that area of my heart. I loved the struggles the characters went through to get books in their hands and to share those books with others. I loved the character relationships that brought the worlds of college life and mining town together and the gift of letting those not like you into your world and how much can be learned from that. At one point when the townspeople almost break Addie, her mother reminds her that her traveling library job is more than a job, it’s a ministry, I loved that!
The book is written so that each chapter skips around from character to character allowing for different points of view as well as different voices. Sometimes this can cause confusion but Kim Sawyer did an amazing job of keeping the story in line while adding these dynamics.
I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys historical fiction or christian romance. I would say this is well suite for young adults and adults. I give it 4 stars.
Thank you Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.
Army of Readers 