Many people who love to read Isabella Alden’s books also enjoy the novels written by her niece, Grace Livingston Hill.
If you’ve ever searched for some of Grace’s titles, you’re not alone. Used copies of her novels are hard to find. If they are listed for sale on Internet sites, such as Ebay, fans immediately snap them up.
In the days before the Internet, fans had to search through used book stores to find her books. In some cases, they turned to newspapers to try to find copies. Here’s one example:
In the 1990s an Illinois newspaper had a regular column called “Good Neighbors.”
The column shared readers’ advice on a variety of topics, and gave readers a chance to ask or answer questions.
In March 1996 they ran a brief paragraph in the Good Neighbors column:
The newspaper received quite a few responses! Here are some of them:
You can tell there was a little bit of a bidding war going on, with some readers offering to pick the books up and pay for telephone calls (at a time when there were “toll” charges for calling a number in a different area code).
It happened again in 2001, when “M.B. of Lexington” offered to give away dozens of Grace Livingston Hill books:
It sounds like the newspaper was quite surprised to learn so many people were interested in novels that were written (at that time) almost 100 years before. And yet, Grace Livingston Hill’s books are still popular!
How about you? Do you read and collect Grace Livingston Hill novels? Do you have a complete collection? What are the methods you use to hunt down copies of her books?
Isabella Alden 
I do read GLH books! I can’t do the paper ones anymore, the print is just too small. So I have purchased all of the ones available for e readers!
Through her I discovered Mrs. Alden. I am now rereading for the 5 or more time, A Pocket Measure.
Definitely one of my favorites of hers!
Being able to adjust font size is one of the best things about e-readers, Melissa! And The Pocket Measure is one of my favorites, too. —Jenny
Love Grace Livingston Hill! I collect her books for my kindle. One way is through Christian Book Distributors, and another way (free)) is some titles are available via Amazon and Project Gutenberg. Also check out google books (google play) for free downloads. I have almost all her ebooks, and I don’t think I have paid more than $3.99 for any of them.
Those are great places to find Grace’s books for Kindle, Janet. It’s definitely easier to collect her books now than it was 20 years ago when those newspaper snippets were published! —Jenny
Google Books has a lot. Used to be free, now with. Increased popularity there is often a charge. But on the positive side more of them. Also many Isabella Alden books. Funny when searching for Pansy a lot of flower books come up.
I’ve seen magazines pop up in search results, too, Barbara! —Jenny
I have nearly 90 Hill books on Kindle, and I love them. I am excited that there are many more not digitized yet, so I have them to look forward to.
With 90 of Grace’s books on your Kindle, you definitely have some titles I haven’t yet read, Therese! You’re right that there are still some of her books to look forward to; just have to keep looking! —Jenny
Knowing I was a Grace Livingston Hill fan, my sister-in-law gave me a huge box containing over 50 of her books in paperback in 1997 for Christmas! I have added to my collection and have read and re read all of them. I also found 7 original copies, cloth bound in an obscure antique shop in Ohio which I cherish!
Wow, Patti, you have a great collection! Even though Grace’s books are easily available in e-book format, I love having the print editions on my “keeper” shelves to re-read, like you do. —Jenny