Lynn Austin

Dear Readers,

Lynn Austin is one of my go-to authors.  When I need just a good story I love picking her books up and reading them.  The only problem is I have read all her books now and have to wait for a new one to come out.  Wonderland Creek by Lynn just released and it was so nice to be able to read it. 

Set towards the end of the depression, it focuses on a need that was created by one of the programs Roosevelt started.  He started funding for libraries all over the country in communties that hadn't had them before.  The problem was, there wasn't enough funding for more books.  Alice hears about the need for books in Kentucky and decides to do a book drive and then bring the books herself.

 

It all sounds like a great idea except Alice is just a bit obsessed with books and reading.  It is the only thing that is important to her.  More important than her family, more important than her boyfriend and more important than her friends (I was a bit shocked when she got a book out at a funeral and started reading).  So when she loses her job and boyfriend all in one day she decides to head to Kentucky univited to deliver the books she had collected.

This starts an adventure that Alice was not expecting. She is asked to do things she has never done before.  She learns to cook over a woodburning stove, she survives without electricty, she learns to ride a horse and she learns that reading is not the only thing that is important in the world. 

I really liked this book for several reasons.  It was a good read and I learned about a part of the country that I have visited several times and find just beautiful.  The book is also set in a time period that, in Kentucky, isn't written about much.  It was a difficult place to live anyways and the depression made it even harder.  To learn about the people of that area and what they did to survive, but also help each other, is amazing. 

Now when I read books like this I know God knew what he was doing setting me in this time in history.  I really like running water, indoor bathrooms and electricity.  Cars are great and being able to just get any book I want is awesome.  So there was nowhere in this book I said, "Boy do I wish I lived there/then."  But it was good to read about it.

Happy Reading