As Christian novels go, this one was on the higher end of sorta ok. I don't normally read Christian fiction (or much fiction at all, really) because contrived plots and forced dialogue make me craaazy and Christian fiction is the worst for this. Still, I was interested to read this one set in the South and taking place during the Depression. I liked the story and the mystery---the mystery shooter really did shock me. I had no idea. I didn't particularly like the main character's loose morals. I think this is my first Lynn Austin. Not bad---but not super great, either. ( )

Fun KY librarian history! ( )

Librarian Alice may pay more attention to books than the world around her. Then, she loses her boyfriend & her job, & decides to deliver donated books personally to Appalachian homes. This self-deprecating heroine & 1936 setting will charm & fascinate you.

Alice is a flat lander and a book nerd. it cost her a boy friend so she goes to Appalachia and learns a lot about life, love and giving. ( )

“If my life were a book, no one would read it. People would say it was too boring, too predictable. A story told a million times. But I was perfectly content with my life-that is, until the pages of my story were ripped out before I had a chance to live happily ever after.”
Alice Ripley is absorbed in books in her job as a librarian in a good sized town in Illinois. After losing her job and boyfriend, she decides to hand deliver the books she has collected to a tiny hamlet in Kentucky. She likens her life to a novel but is out of her element when she arrives in Acorn, Kentucky along Wonderland Creek.
I loved Alice with her spunk and imagination. “I felt like I had been pushed onto the stage in the middle of a very bad play and did not know any of my lines. I would have run for the hills if I knew which hills to tun to.”
Alice meets Librarian Mac who has secrets. Lillie was a favorite character. She is one hundred years old, a former slave and knows natural healing arts. Lillie has raised Mac from a baby. She is very wise and an outspoken Christian. Alice learns so much from Lillie and as a horseback Librarian in Appalachia.
This was such a great story. I was sorry to leave the folks in Acorn behind.
Wonderland Creek is a gem of a tale with references to all things bookish. The characters are real and live their faith with the purpose to love their neighbors and try to right injustices.
Every Lynn Austin book I have read is well written and unveils spiritual truths. I have enjoyed every on of them.
*I read a copy of this book as part of the Amazon Prime Reading program. All opinions are my own.* ( )