The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

Jojo Moyes, the author of the mega-bestseller Me Before You, is well versed in the art of earned tears. In her new book, set during the Great Depression in the U.S., she draws on the true story of the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky. The program was started by Eleanor Roosevelt to help deliver books to people who wouldn't otherwise have access to them in the Appalachian Mountains. It's a tribute to the healing, world-expanding power of reading (which we clearly believe in here, hence this column!), but it's also starkly feminist, a tribute to the power of willful females, even in a world where everyone tells them their goals are impossible. You'll cry, yes, but you'll also come away uplifted and inspired. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (October 8)