The Boxcar Librarian delves into the life of three woman during the 1920’s and 30’s. The setting mainly in Montana and centered around the boxcar library that brings books to mining towns.
The power of books is expressed throughout this well researched novel which is based on fact. After reading this with fascination, I needed to gain further knowledge of the boxcar library.
Thank you NetGalley for this informative, entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I enjoyed this book immensely, the story of three young women Alice, Colette, and Millie spanning the years of 1923 to 1936, was a very entertaining story. The main focus was the creation of a boxcar library that would travel the rails from mining camp to mining camp in Montana, which was based on true events. The women each had an individual interest in the power of reading and literature, and each had the desire to share it with others. Each woman had a compelling story individually but they came together as a group to help each other. This story had a lot going for it, historical significance, a bit of romance, mystery, crime and punishment and it showed how difficult it was for women in the 1930’s. The writing by this author was excellent, the story flowed, in the beginning it was a bit confusing but it all came together in the end.The author did a tremendous amount of research and it is evident in this story. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys historical fiction about strong women.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book. It seemed very slow and at the same time was full of historical information well depicted. The book is set in mostly western Montana during the 1930s era of The Anaconda Copper Mining Company and mining camps. The Boxcar Library is a fictionalized version of the real Lumbermen’s Library of that era as well as the many women librarians who helped it succeed. These women survived by standing together and promoting books. I found it hard to like the characters. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Loved this book so very much! Highly reccomended it to my book club as well.
I will probably read this book again next year as well!

Compared to today, things were a little harder for women back in the Depression.

I liked the premise of this book, especially since it is based on real events.

Collette's scrappiness made her my favorite character, but this was a group effort and each character, and some peripheral characters, made it a great story of perseverance and the power of books and reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this draft.

I love the premise of this book. I loved the setting and the love of books displayed here . I loved that this book shows the transformative power of literature in people’s lives even if you are living in a tent camp and your library’ is a boxcar
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

Spanning the years from 1924 to 1936, this novel is based on the real story of a library installed in a boxcar, thanks to the dedication and persistence of a librarian. In 1924 the fictitious character Alice Monroe, based on Ruth Worden, determined to bring books to far flung mining and logging camps, and convinced the manager of the Anaconda Mining Company to provide a boxcar for a bookmobile. She find the ideal person to staff it in Colette Dunbar. Fast forward to 1936 when Millie is hired by the WPA to supervise the writing of a Montana guidebook which has mysteriously lost the completed first draft. The chapters alternate from Alice to Millie to Colette, and from 1924 to 1936, so the sequence is sometimes confusing. However, the back story of the union tensions and tyranny of the mining corporation make for a fascinating story of the dangers and hardships of the time, juxtaposed with the love of books and learning, and the power of friendships.

I thought this worked well as a Depression era novel, it had everything that I was looking for in a historical fiction book. The overall story worked and enjoyed how strong the characters were in this. I was engaged with what was going on and thought the overall feel worked with what I was looking for. I had enjoyed the previous book that I read from Brianna Labuskes and this had a maturity that I was looking for and continued to feel like it was supposed to. I enjoyed that this was based on a true story and that element worked in this novel.