A couple of weeks ago, My writing critique group opened with an icebreaker question about favorite novels that dealt with books or were set in bookshops or libraries. Since reading is one of my favorite pastimes, I thought that might make for a fun blog post as well.

The first few are Christian fiction (titles link to my reviews).

Hope Between the Pages by Pepper Basham. This dual-time novel is set in one of my favorite places to visit, The Biltmore House in Asheville, NC, and in the library, my favorite room there. In 1915, Sadie, the resident library servant overhears a guest speaking about books. He seemed to love them as much as she does. Servants were to remain “invisible,” so she can’t speak to him directly. She leaves a few books she thinks he would like on one of the library tables. He thanks her by leaving a note for the “Library Fairy,” beginning a longtime correspondence.

In modern time, her granddaughter, Clara, owns a bookstore in Biltmore Village. The shop needs repairs and her uncle wants her to sell to a conglomerate. In searching for the missing deed, she finds a box of her grandmother’s with notes addressed to the “Library Fairy.” She learns things about her family that she never knew but has more questions, setting her on a journey of discovery.

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron. Amos Darby and Charlotte Terrington are secret childhood friends with a love for books. But she was an earl’s daughter and he was a tenant farmer’s son, so there was no hope for anything more between them. He goes to fight in WWI and comes back scarred. She is now widowed with a daughter. They open rival book shops near each other and have to work together to help each other and their neighbors survive what’s called the “Forgotten Blitz” or Coventry Blitz” of WWII.

The Island Bookshop by Roseanna M. White. Kennedy has a career she loves in D.C., but when her sister falls from a ladder in NC, Kennedy returns home to help her and run their grandmother’s bookshop. She knows she can’t avoid Wes–the man she used to love but who married her best friend, Britta. Britta has passed away but Kennedey feels she knows too many of their secrets to ever have a relationship with Wes beyond acquaintances. When Kennedy discovers a different name on the lease than their grandmother’s, she goes searching through records in the attic. She finds surprising news about her grandmother’s immigration from Croatia during WWII and the difficulties she encountered.

The Orchard House by Heidi Chiavaroli.This one is not a full-out Christian fiction, but there were references to forgiveness, faith, and yielding to God. The Orchard House was the name of one of Louisa May Alcott’s family homes and the one where she wrote Little Women. The bare bones of this plot are based on facts: a woman wrote to Louisa asking about information concerning her brother, whom Louisa had tended while working in a Civil War hospital. The author imagined their correspondence and relationship growing. In the modern day story, two girls find their letters and seek to learn more while dealing with their own problems.

Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay. Samantha (Sam) has been brought up in the foster care system. At one home, she discovered classic books and found them a refuge. She’s offered a grant to go to graduate school by an anonymous donor who goes by “Mr. Knightley” (a character in Jane Austen’s Emma). His only stipulation is that she write to him occasionally and tell him how she’s doing. Her letters become “one-sided soul purgings,” since she doesn’t think she’ll ever meet him in person. Plus they are full of literary references. Many of Katherine’s earliest books were, but the farther she went, the more elements she included that I didn’t like. So I don’t read her any more, but this book shines.

The Christmas Book Flood by Roseanna M. White. Jolabokaflod is an Icelandic tradition that translates to “Christmas Book Flood.” It began in 1944 near the end of WWII. Due to shortages, books were the main gifts. A tradition began Christmas night of people reading the books they had gotten for Christmas, often while enjoying hot chocolate. Sounds like a great idea to me!

Here are some secular choices:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson is a fictional story about the actual Pack-Horse Librarians, who would take donated books by horse or mule to people in remote regions of the Appalachian mountains during the Depression era. Another aspect of this book is the “blue people” of Kentucky whose skin had a recessive gene which colored their skin. There were a few bad words and one scene I didn’t like, but overall it was an interesting story.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Germans captured the Channel Islands during WWII. When one group is accidentally caught out after curfew, they make up a literary society that they’d met for. But now they have to meet for real with a German chaperone, who eventually leaves them on their own. They find that books help pass the time, draw them together, and encourage each other. After the war, one of them writes to a newspaper columnist for information about a book, telling a little about their society. Curious, she wants to know more. So she travels over to get to know the people in their book society. Unfortunately, there is a smattering of bad words, including the Lord’s name taken in vain.But otherwise, this is a charming book. And the movie is good, too.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. This one is not fiction. It’s based on real letters between an American author and a British bookseller from 1949-1969. It was fun to watch their different personalities come out through their writing and their relationship develop over the years.

I know I have probably read more bookish stories, but these are the ones that are coming to mind right now.

How about you? Do you like books set in bookstores or libraries or books with a lot of literary references? What’s your favorite?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)