Review of the Anne series

Hi dear followers! Unfortunately, I have long been absent from the wonderful book blogosphere. I still love my blog and all of your blogs, but October proved to be an exceptionally busy month! I have been diligently working on my first book, among all of the other concerns and happenings of life :).

On to my review...Like so many other girls (young and old), I have always loved and been enamored by Anne of Green Gables! It's hilarious because I've actually used "Anne" as an icebreaker before! You mention the books or the CBC tv miniseries and you become instantly bonded in kinship with other women lol. There's just something about Anne, her spunk, her overactive imagination and her ability to always turn lemons into lemonade...not to mention her endearing love story with Gilbert Blythe! I know that characters such as Rhett Butler and James Bond have made women swoon over the years, but for me, Gilbert is the one I fell in love with! :)

Anyways, I recently re-read the entire Anne series, which is 6-8 books depending on whom you ask. The 7th and 8th books technically just focus on her children and their doings, rather than about Anne's life...therefore, I decided to only read the 6 books about Anne. Below, is a brief synopsis and analysis of these charming and enduring novels. I hope after reading this review, you too will be inspired to revisit this old friend. Enjoy!

All books written by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Anne of Green Gables:

In this book, quirky, daydreaming Anne Shirley comes from an orphanage to live with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Her antics are laugh out loud cute and funny, and while she drives Marilla fairly crazy, she ends up winning the hearts of everyone she meets.

I love all of Anne's girlhood dreams in this book. LM Montgomery so accurately portrays the adventures and daydreams that most little girls have and it's so cozy and charming to revisit those golden days of youth! Anne's friendship with Diana Berry remains one of the sweetest and most compelling stories of female friendship that I've ever encountered in literature. It makes us all want to have that "bosom friend."

Anne of Avonlea:

In this book, Anne grows up a little bit, but still has plenty of her endearing misadventures! Gilbert is falling in love with Anne, but while Anne learns to accept his friendship, does not yet care to have romance in her life. During the course of this 2nd novel, several new "kindred spirits" are introduced and Anne teaches for several years at the Avonlea school.

This book was a little bit slower paced than Green Gables, with several random side stories, but overall, an excellent and heartwarming 2nd addition to the series.

Anne of the Island:

This happens to be my favorite book of the series! In this novel, spirited Anne attends Redmond College in Kingsport and begins to discover her love of writing. Several new characters are introduced including Anne's new friends Stella and Phillipa. Anne gains a suitor in this novel, much to the chagrin of Gilbert Blythe who is also attending college at Redmond! At the very end of the book, Anne realizes that it is, and always has been, Gilbert who she loves...*sigh*! :)

Anne of Windy Poplars:

This book is mainly comprised of letters written by Anne to Gilbert as they are engaged, but sadly, parted while Anne moves away to teach at an all girls school, and Gilbert begins attending medical school. The letters are sweet, touching and funny as she chronicles her newest misadventures in a new place. You can't help but feel (along with Anne) a little homesick for Green Gables and Avonlea, but it is fun to read about her experiences with teaching and growing into a graceful and happy woman.

Anne's House of Dreams:

In this book, Anne once again wins the hearts of all she encounters, including a sad young woman with a mystery behind her sadness. Here, Anne and Gilbert are reunited after several years of being engaged, are married and beginning their new life together in a small, cozy house at Four Winds Harbour.

I loved reading about Anne's newlywed bliss with Gilbert...you've rooted for them to end up together for so long that it's a huge "Yay" moment when they finally get to settle down!

Anne of Ingleside:

This was perhaps my least favorite Anne book, but I didn't dislike it by any means...it just focuses a lot on Anne's kids and has her giving up her writing. Anne (Mrs. Doctor Dear) and Dr. Blythe move into a huge, impressive mansion closer to town, which Anne names Ingleside. In this book, Anne is getting ready to have her 6th child and the rest of her children are all a fun mixture of Anne and Gilbert! By this novel, Anne has obviously changed a lot and is now a mother, but she remains a dear friend to all who read about her.

Review of Something More

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. Sarah Ban Breathnach tries to sell to women that we have something "missing" and we need to fill up that hole inside of us. I definitely agree that women can give so much of themselves that we need to "rediscover ourselves," but Breathnach just seems to talk a lot about herself and her divorce in this book and presents her ideas in a rather rambling and jumbled way.

I'm only giving this one 2 keys, but Breathnach's other book (which I read several years ago), Romancing the Ordinary was actually one of the best self-help/inspirational books I've ever read! Breathnach's ideas of how to connect with our five senses in simple ways was very comforting and inspiring to read. She includes recipes in this book from making herbal tea to homemade facials and fun things to add to your bath. With this book, Breathnach really does make you want to fall in love with the simple pleasures of life!

I'm definitely going to check out her other books at some point, but I just wouldn't necessarily recommend Something More.

Synopsis in a Sentence: This is the real-life story of Jodee Blanco, who was ridiculed and bullied for years at school.

My Thoughts:

This was such an inspirational book, and one that I feel all parents should read, regardless if their children are being picked on at school or not. If your child is not being bullied, this book might help give you some information and resources on what to do if it does start happening.

Jodee is truly a heroine for what she had to endure during her teenage years, and she did it with a lot of grace!

My favorite part of the book is where she and her family take a trip to Greece (where their ancestors are from) and Jodee begins to finally come into her own. She realizes that their is this whole other world out there, filled with people who will treat her with dignity.

My least favorite part of the book is obviously all of the heart wrenching scenes of what the bullies did to her. Hard to read, but gives you a realistic portrait of how cruel some teenagers can be.

Sorry such a short review today...it's been a busy week! :) Happy Tuesday!

Ode to Nicholas Sparks

Hi dear followers...I first would like to say again that I haven't forgotten about any of you or about my book blog...I've just been really busy with "life" lately. As soon as things settle down some, I will definitely be going to your blogs for updates and to read your awesome reviews!

So lately, I've re-read two Nick Sparks favorites (A Walk to Remember and The Notebook). I've also read two of his newer ones (The Last Song and Dear John). They all seemed like summery type reads! I have always loved A Walk to Remember for its old-fashioned ambiance and the sweet story of love and hope over disease. However, I remember liking The Notebook more than I did this time around. It is a quick read, but I forgot about how totally sappy it is haha. I do enjoy the perspective of how Noah is an old man reflecting back on how he and Allie fell in love, but I found myself realizing that I actually like the movie version a lot better than the novel! In the film, their love story is fleshed out and given detail...for example, the scenes where Allie smashes ice-cream into Noah's face and when they eat pancakes for dinner at Noah's dads house. With poignant moments like this, we are able to understand how Noah pines for Allie after all the years. In the book, Sparks seems to "tell" rather than "show" how they fell in love. I was actually a little shocked even when I realized how he simply skips over their entire courtship and instead focuses on them getting back together years and years later. This is one of the only cases where I like the movie better than the book! I can still appreciate some of the romance and the ideal of life-long love depicted in the novel, however :).

The cover of The Last Song is haunting and beautiful and I actually read this book on a beach vacation! There is real sand in the book now as well as the sand depicted on the cover! Despite the cover, I found this book to be extremely dull to be honest. The sappy teenage romance is sort of cute, but it feels forced. I found out later that Sparks actually only wrote this book so that a movie could be adapted from it for Miley Cyrus to star in...this just kind of took the charm out of it for me. I did love the side story of the turtles hatching and being so fragile, trying to find their way to the sea. Also, the relationship between Ronnie, her brother and their father is a realistic and poignant one. I could have done without the teenage angst and silly romance, and been left with a great book about a father's relationship with his changing kids.

Dear John was actually a little bit of an exciting read. I read it pretty quickly because I wanted to see if John and Savannah ended up together. I found it hard to believe, though, how Savannah seemed so in love with John and he was like this massively hunky solider and then she suddenly decides she can't wait for him any longer. It just didn't seem to fit the personality Sparks initially gave her. Even though the ending is bittersweet, I found myself actually being moved by John's sacrifice, which I didn't expect to feel. Once again, I liked the movie version better than the book!

Overall, I loved A Walk to Remember, but I could have done without reading the others. It's a little sad because I really want to like his books, but they always just end up seeming a little too sappy, underdeveloped and unbelievable for my taste. I don't think I will read anything more by him for a long time unless I hear somewhere about a fantastic new one. Sad, but true! :)

While my town dries out of record-setting, epic flooding from Hurricane Irene, let me ask you:
What’s your book with weather events? Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Blizzards? Real? Fiction? Doesn’t matter … weather comes up a lot in books, so there’s got to be a favorite somewhere, huh?

My answer:

Interesting question! I actually do seem to crave certain genres/books during various seasons or even weather patterns during the year! In the summer, I lean toward chick lit, and other light, happy books...for example, I just re-read the entire Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. It was great re-visiting Anne and all of her spiritedness and adventures...it just seemed an appropriate series for the summer! However, when it's raining outside and during the fall and winter, I seem to crave deeper and more complex reads. For instance, I hope to really delve into some good fantasy books this upcoming winter. Thanks for the question!