From Book Club Bites:

After reading both, I was confused and surprised that so many readers were vehemently choosing one or the other. The books were very different to me and BOTH worth reading. I’ve completed separate posts going into more detail on each. You can check out the posts on The Giver of Stars and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek for more.

Yes, the topic is Pack Horse Librarians, a Works Progress Administration program enacted by Roosevelt in the 1930s to bring books to rural Kentucky, but both authors created a book on the same subject in very different way. After I finished both books, I did finally read the article and, to me, the similarities outlined were minor.

https://bookclubbites.com/the-giver-of-stars-and-the-book-woman-of-troublesome-creek/

Interesting. I thought the similarities were glaringly close.

I suspect the two authors were writing about the same subject form different perspectives. They may even have been using similar reference works.

It may be due to similar reference materials but it seems suspect.