In 2023, I set a goal to finish one book per week. I’m aiming to listen to 30 minutes of an audiobook per day (while cooking, cleaning, and/or driving) and read 10 minutes of a book. By doing this, I hope to fairly easily be able to finish one book per week.
You can follow along on GoodReads to see what I’m reading, what books I finish, and the star rating I give each of them.
Book #2 of 2023: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
This is a book I never would have picked up on my own, but it came so highly recommended by multiple people that I decided to try it because it was free to listen to on Libby. I’m so glad I did because it is one of those books that will stick with you for a long time.
This book explores not only the Pack Horse Librarian Project that was started by Roosevelt’s New Deal — a project dedicated to bringing literary to people who lived far away from access to libraries — but it also dives deep into the Blue People.
I had never heard of either the Pack Horse Librarian Project or the Blue People and the book inspired me to dig deeper into both of them. It was fascinating and heartbreaking to learn about.
If you enjoy well-researched historical fiction about important pieces of history that aren’t widely known/talked about (at least I’d never heard of either!), this would be a good read. It does have some language and a few more adult-themed sections, but overall was well worth the time I invested listening to it.
I felt like the story was slow in parts and skipped around a little, but it was still moving and drew you in. I’m giving it 4 stars because of what I learned from it and because I’ve talked about it multiple times with multiple people since listening to it — which always signifies to me that a book resonated with me.
If you’ve read or listened to it, I’d love to know what you thought!
Rating: 4 stars
Children’s Book Suggestion: The Oak Inside the Acorn
This book was recently given to us as a gift for David’s adoption and we’ve since read it almost every single night before bed. Kierstyn calls it the “Acorn Book” and requests it very often!
It’s a beautiful story to remind us that we aren’t all called to be the same thing, but that if we let God use us in the ways He has gifted us, we can make a big impact. It’s a simple story with beautiful pictures and deep meaning.
Note: This is a longer book… but one that is great to read before bed because Kierstyn sometimes will fall asleep while listening because it has multiple paragraphs on some of the pages! 🙂
I loved it!! It was fascinating to learn about the pack horse librarians and the KY blue people. Now you need to read “the Book Woman’s Daughter”. 🙂
That is on my list to hopefully listen to soon!
I finished Ann Voskamp’s, Waymaker. I thought it was an excellent read
I’m currently reading Kara Tippett’s, The Hardest Peace. So far, I love the book.
I loved both of those books!
I finished Can You See Anything Now. It was highly recommended somewhere and I wish I could remember where 🙂 It was too wordy and poetic for me. I’m kinda a straight forward kind of girl. It had a gospel redemption message but was so full of coarse and even vulgar language that I can’t recommend it. I probably am not the right artsy “creative” audience for this book. I’d give it 2 stars.
I’ve just started the Thoene’s AD Chronicles First Light. I don’t know how I haven’t read this series as I devoured both The Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles series when I was in my 20s 🙂
Thank you for the recommendations!
I read this book over Christmas and loved it! It was fascinating to learn about the Pack Horse Librarians. I also love interesting medical conditions, especially from long ago. This book spurred me to dive into some research on the Blue People. So very interesting! I’m going to read the sequel this year!
I’m hoping to listen to the sequel soon!
I read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek when it was released. It profoundly affected me. It is a book I now recommend to others. I love history and after reading I read and researched more on the Blue people and the mobile libraries. This is an amazing story!!
I appreciated the author’s notes and info at the end!
This is a great book. I have read all of this authors books. If you read her life story you will be amazed at how she has survived. Her story is sad but she is a survivor. I learned a lot from reading her works.
Oh! I had been planning to go check on her other books. Thank you for the recommendation!
I read the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek over Christmas break and it was very good. I also learned a lot – parts of it were fascinating and heart breaking.
I felt so similar to you!