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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek cover art

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Written by: Kim Michele Richardson
Narrated by: Katie Schorr
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Publisher's Summary

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER

A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER

A PBS BOOK PICK

The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything―everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome’s got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.

Cussy’s not only a book woman, however; she’s also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she’s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.

Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere―even back home.

©2019 Kim Michele Richardson (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Average Customer Ratings
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Blue book woman of Kentucky!

I loved this book! It’s my first by Kim Richardson but definitely will not be my last!
The characters are complex, deep, and very relatable! The history seeped from each chapter. I struggle for words to describe this book. It’s the best book I’ve read this year-I do book challenges every year with the aim of reading more every year. This book rates very highly in all of my years. I stopped a few times to look up things mentioned, as a northern Canadian I know very little about the southern states, and that historical information just added more to the story. The narration is amazing. I could listen to Katie Schorr for days!

Get this book!

I found myself thinking about the story and characters when I wasn’t reading. I had a hard time putting the story down. So now it’s your turn to read and I can finally get some sleep, until the next great book interrupts my slumber!

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12 people found this helpful

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What an interesting story! Loved it

I loved many things about this book. I learned about new things, the Pack mule Librarians and blue skinned people!
The narrator did an excellent job! She was able to create many different voices.
The story itself was very well written. I also appreciated the closing where the author explains what was historically accurate!
I will definitely read more by this author

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7 people found this helpful

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A great surprise

This was a wonderful book.

It came as a surprise I must admit. It was the "deal of the day" on Audible and I quickly read the presentation, so quickly I thought I understood it to be a fantasy book.

And then I started listening. Fist of all the narrator was extraordinarily good. I stopped at some points thinking how good the writing was, before getting back into the story.

The end was excruciatingly difficult to get through. I could not believe people could be so terrible to someone they knew. Someone they knew was helping all around her.

I learned a lot while reading this book. I had never heard of the "blue people". Of course I knew about babies being born with a heart malformation which would make them become blue by lack of oxygen when they had their heart pumping faster because of exercise or emotion, but not people with a blue skin because of a genetic problem. The author's note at the end of the book was very informative.

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5 people found this helpful

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Engaging historical fiction

I really felt for the character of Cussy Mary. The narrator had a nice lilting accent that drew me into the time period. I also learned a lot about the persecution of "coloreds" in the 30s in Kentucky. A moving story about a woman trying to live her life honestly.

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4 people found this helpful

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fascinating

I really liked this book an easy listen, some very bleak and hard issues about color and poverty.
wonderful factual story that came alive for me

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3 people found this helpful

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great

I really enjoyed this book, the content was interesting and characters memorable. loved the cadence of speech ,the narrator was perfect.

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3 people found this helpful

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A valuable read

Loved it!, if you have ever felt any type of discrimination you will feel a kinship to the main character . A must read.

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3 people found this helpful

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Beautiful Story!

This book was not only a great story, it was also interesting to learn of the blue people. Before hearing it, I was not aware of such a person existing. Loved this book.

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2 people found this helpful

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loved it! hard time stopping in between.

reader was a perfect choice for this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the listen and look forward to the next.

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2 people found this helpful

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Thoroughly enjoyed

I loved this book all the way thru. The narrator was so believable and I learned about something I had no knowledge in.

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2 people found this helpful