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Kim Michele Richardson

Biography

Kim Michele Richardson

A native-born Kentuckian, Kim Michele Richardson is the New York Times, L.A. Times and USA Today bestselling author who has written six novels, a memoir and, most recently, two children’s picture books. The works have been published in more than 18 languages, and she is a two-time Southern Book Prize finalist.

Her novel THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK is taught widely in high schools and college classrooms and has been adopted as a Common Read selection by states, cities and colleges across the country and abroad, and was a Favorite Read by Dolly Parton in People.

Kim Michele was inducted into the Kentucky Women’s Remembers Exhibit in 2025 by Gov. Andy Beshear for her contributions to Kentucky, and was awarded a Doctorate in Humanities from Eastern Kentucky University. She lives with her family in Kentucky and is the founder of Shy Rabbit, a writers residency, and a literacy initiative, Courthouses Reading Across Kentucky & Beyond. 

Books by Kim Michele Richardson

The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy
by Kim Michele Richardson - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

In this stand-alone and companion novel to the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival and the magic of the printed word, THE MOUNTAINS WE CALL HOME is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky life: examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life.

The Book Woman's Daughter
by Kim Michele Richardson - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good. Picking up her mother's old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn't need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren't as keen to let a woman pave her own way.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
by Kim Michele Richardson - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

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 has 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.

GodPretty In The Tobacco Field
by Kim Michele Richardson - Coming of Age, Family Life, Fiction

RubyLyn Bishop is luckier than some. Her God-fearing uncle, Gunnar, has a short fuse and high expectations, but he’s given her a good home ever since she was orphaned at the age of five. Yet now, a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, RubyLyn itches for more. Atmospheric, poignant and searingly honest, GODPRETTY IN THE TOBACCO FIELD follows RubyLyn through the course of one blazing summer, as heartbreaking revelations and life-changing decisions propel her toward a future her fortunetellers never predicted.