L. M. Montgomery (1874–1942)

I grew up watching the movie adaptation with Megan Follows and always loved it, so it was high time to read the book.

It's a sweet story, and I love how dramatic Anne is. I love that she's an orphan, that Marilla and Matthew are siblings and not spouses; I love Anne's silly feud with Gilbert and her insta-friendship with Diana. I just love the story.

I read this aloud to my nieces (ages 12, 11, 9, 7) and realized there are a lot of passages describing the nature scenes. Many sentences are long and wordy, which makes it a more difficult pick to read aloud. And there are several words included whose meanings I'm unfamiliar with, despite being a life-long reader - which is not a bad thing! It just surprised me, since so many people read this book as children.

Now we're off to watch the movie! [Edit: It had been years since I'd seen the movie and I didn't realize how many differences there were between it and the book. The movie rearranges a lot of things and I now realize I love the book even more!]… (mais)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery is a story about an orphan named Anne
who is sent to the town of Avonlea. This story is set in Prince Edward Island in the fictional town of Avonlea.

Anne is a skinny girl with freckles, fiery red hair and a temper to match. She is very defensive of her hair and always makes sure people know that her name is spelled A-N-N-E not A-N-N.

Anne Shirley arrives at the Green Gables at age 11. She wants to stay there forever but Cuthberts are expecting a boy and are willing to send her back to the orphanage for a boy. Will she go back to the orphanage?

Anne makes many remarkable memories at the green gables such as making a best friend. Her best friend's name is Diana Barry. Diana and Anne have been best friends almost as long as Anne has been at the Green Gables. In a part of the story (As they put it) Anne sets Diana drunk and Diana’s mother Mrs Barry was livid at Anne and doesn’t let Anne see Diana for months till Anne saves Diana’s little sister from a sickness.

When Anne is 16, she goes to a school in Charlotte town to study for a teachers certificate. She gets her certificate in less time than a lot of the people there and gets the opportunity to go to university but she declines it after the sudden death of 1 of the Cuthbers.

This is a good book in my opinion. I would suggest this book for ages 10 and up. This was an OK book, but I don’t think that I would read it very often.

By Nora… (mais)

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery is a 1926 publication.

What a lovely story!

Initially, I was skeptical of the way Valancy was treated by her family! It hardly seemed possible for a woman her age to be infantilized that way- but Valancy, spurred on by a grim diagnosis, finds the courage to free herself from her bondage and for the first time in her life she feels free….

While my frustration with Goodreads grows by the hour, one consistent advantage is that I still discover books I might not have otherwise. I was not aware that L.M Montgomery had written any adult novels until my Goodreads friend Antoinette wrote a review for this book. I added it instantly- though it has taken me a few years to finally get around to reading it.

This is one of those books one wishes they had discovered earlier- but better late than never. This book is in the public domain- so you won’t have any trouble finding it. I highly recommend it. While there is a melancholy atmosphere attached to it for much of the story, it still has a kind of whimsical quality to it and of course some really nice surprises- and come on- you know the story will end on high note- so go forth- and enjoy an all around sweet, feel-good story for a change- you’ll be glad you did!… (mais)

The 7th Anne of Green Gables book takes place one year after the previous book. Anne rarely appears and strangely enough Rainbow Valley was much more prominent in the previous book. This book has an overreaching story arc of the family in the manse; a minister and his four children. The children are the bane of the town and everyone including them thinks the minister needs a wife to "bring up" the children.

Of course, I enjoyed the book but missed Anne being prominent. She would have been perfect to matchmaker as she's done in previous volumes but sadly she doesn't get involved. I did really enjoy the manse children, Mary Vance, and the youngish old maid sisters. Anne's children were best friends of the manse children and played a strong role in the novel but again it was the manse children getting into all the scrapes. Enjoyable but only a so-so entry in the series.… (mais)