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Little House in the Big Woods. Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1932. 238 pages.

It's been almost five years since I last read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. These are pure comfort reads. Though not every single book in the series is equally satisfying. I've never finished Farmer Boy, for example.

Little House in the Big Woods is an enjoyable, nostalgic read celebrating "the good life" of a young family. It is a way of life being celebrated or remembered. The focus is just on much on how Ma and Pa used to do things, as it is on the characters themselves.

Attention and detail given to preparing for all seasons of the year, washing, cleaning, cooking, baking, hunting, storing and saving for winter months, celebrating with family and extended family, etc. In the first chapter alone, the reader learns the joys of smoking venison and playing with a pigs' bladder not to mention the how-to's of making head cheese. Each episode, each observation offers the reader a window into the past. Some things have changed--and changed a lot--other things have remained the same. One of the things that resonates in this book--in this series is the love and joy of family life. Pa. Ma. Mary. Laura. Carrie. Each are part of the family. Each are important, valued, loved. The relationship of Laura with her parents and Laura with her sisters and Laura with her beloved dog, Jack, are timeless.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Rainbow Valley. L.M. Montgomery. 1919. 256 pages.

The Meredith children are struggling to raise themselves as readers will come to see if they read Rainbow Valley. Their father is a Presbyterian minister--an absent-minded minister; their mother is dead. There is an aunt that makes an effort to keep house, but her efforts don't always include keeping the children. So Jerry, Faith, Una, and Carl have plenty of time for trouble. Not that they seek it out, it just happens to find them time and time again. Like when Faith and Una accidentally get the days of the week confused, attend Sunday School on a drearily rainy Saturday and do their laundry and dirty work in full-view of the church-attending crowd on Sunday. (I believe Methodist.) The children are always do something to shock someone in the congregation or community. But their intentions are all good and honorable.

The Meredith children are best friends with the Blythe children: Jem, Walter, Nan, Di, Shirley, and Rilla. The two families love to be together: telling stories, playing together, imagining dream worlds together. Readers catch a glimpse of the Anne, Gilbert, and their children...but the story truly begins to all four Meredith children.

Another child in their group is the crazy and always unpredictable Mary Vance, an orphan discovered by the Meredith children and later adopted by Mrs. Elliot. She can be hard to take, even her closest friends feel this way at times. But she sure does keep things lively!

Rainbow Valley ends in a lovely romance. Mr. Meredith gets a second chance for love, as does a delightful woman named Rosemary West. The children help bring these two together--in a touching way.

There are also some haunting sections of this one as L.M. Montgomery foreshadows the coming Great War (World War I). This is the novel where Walter first gets a glimpse of the Pied Piper coming for them all...a theme later picked up in Rilla of Ingleside.

I definitely LOVED this one. Like Story Girl and The Golden Road, it captures the ups and downs of  day-to-day life through the eyes of children.

“It is never quite safe to think we have done with life. When we imagine we have finished our story fate has a trick of turning the page and showing us yet another chapter.” 

Read Rainbow Valley

• If you love L.M. Montgomery
• If you love classics, children's classics, cozy historical novels
• If you love good storytelling 
• If you're looking for stories about preacher's kids 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Anne's House of Dreams. L.M. Montgomery. 1917. 227 pages.

Anne's House of Dreams is a lovely book in L.M. Montgomery's Anne series. It opens with Anne marrying Gilbert Blythe. The two honeymoon in their new home on the other side of Prince Edward Island. The two adjust to life together and settle down within the community. There are plenty of kindred spirits to be found, though in this book and in subsequent books, they are now known as 'the race that knows Joseph.' Readers meet Captain Jim and Cornelia Bryant--two extremely vibrant and eccentric characters. Who could not love Captain Jim? And isn't Cornelia fun?!

Leslie Moore is also Anne's friend, but their friendship is strained at times. Anne being too happy by her friend's reckoning. Leslie has had a sad life: her younger brother killed in a farm accident, her father committing suicide, having to protect her mother from the harsh realities of life by agreeing to marry a horrible man, being trapped in an abusive marriage, etc. When readers first meet Leslie, her husband is deserving of pity himself, a tragic sea accident having changed him dramatically, he has the mind of a child but the strength of a man. And then there is Susan Baker! Susan plays a much larger role in other books in the series--particularly Rilla of Ingleside.

The book chronicles the first few years of Anne's married life. There is a focus on friendship, family, community. There is also a mingling of hope and sorrow.

Favorite quotes:

"Stoutness and slimness seem to be matters of predestination."

"Jane was not brilliant, and had probably never made a remark worth listening to in her life; but she never said anything that would hurt anyone's feelings--which may be a negative talent but is likewise a rare and enviable one."

"Ah, there's the rub," sighed Anne. "There are so many things in life we cannot do because of the fear of what Mrs. Harmon Andrews would say."

"That evening Green Gables hummed with preparations for the following day; but in the twilight Anne slipped away. She had a little pilgrimage to make on this last day of her girlhood and she must make it alone. She went to Matthew's grave, in the little poplar-shaded Avonlea graveyard, and there kept a silent tryst with old memories and immortal loves."

"My very happiest moments have been when I had tears in my eyes--when Marilla told me I might stay at Green Gables--when Matthew gave me the first pretty dress I ever had--when I heard that you were going to recover from the fever. So give me pearls for our troth ring, Gilbert, and I'll willingly accept the sorrow of life with its joy."

"It's rather hard to decide just when people are grown up," laughed Anne.
"That's a true word, dearie. Some are grown up when they're born, and others ain't grown up when they're eighty, believe ME."

"Soul ache doesn't worry folks near as much as stomach-ache."

"Our library isn't very extensive," said Anne, "but every book in it is a FRIEND. We've picked our books up through the years, here and there, never buying one until we had first read it and knew that it belonged to the race of Joseph."

Fun with Captain Jim:

"Life may be a vale of tears, all right, but there are some folks who enjoy weeping, I reckon."

"I've kind of contracted a habit of enjoying things," he remarked once, when Anne had commented on his invariable cheerfulness. "It's got so chronic that I believe I even enjoy the disagreeable things."

"Heretics are wicked, but they're mighty interesting. It's jest that they've got sorter lost looking for God, being under the impression that He's hard to find--which He ain't never."

"But it ain't our feelings we have to steer by through life--no, no, we'd make a shipwreck mighty often if we did that. There's only the one safe compass and we've got to set our course by that--what it's right to do." 

Fun with Cornelia:

Anne looked in some surprise at the white garment spread over Miss Cornelia's ample lap. It was certainly a baby's dress, and it was most beautifully made, with tiny frills and tucks. Miss Cornelia adjusted her glasses and fell to embroidering with exquisite stitches.
"This is for Mrs. Fred Proctor up at the Glen," she announced. "She's expecting her eighth baby any day now, and not a stitch has she ready for it. The other seven have wore out all she made for the first, and she's never had time or strength or spirit to make any more. That woman is a martyr, Mrs. Blythe, believe me. When she married Fred Proctor I knew how it would turn out. He was one of your wicked, fascinating men. After he got married he left off being fascinating and just kept on being wicked. He drinks and he neglects his family. Isn't that like a man? I don't know how Mrs. Proctor would ever keep her children decently clothed if her neighbors didn't help her out."
As Anne was afterwards to learn, Miss Cornelia was the only neighbor who troubled herself much about the decency of the young Proctors.
"When I heard this eighth baby was coming I decided to make some things for it," Miss Cornelia went on. "This is the last and I want to finish it today."
"It's certainly very pretty," said Anne. "I'll get my sewing and we'll have a little thimble party of two. You are a beautiful sewer, Miss Bryant."
"Yes, I'm the best sewer in these parts," said Miss Cornelia in a matter-of-fact tone. "I ought to be! Lord, I've done more of it than if I'd had a hundred children of my own, believe me! I s'pose I'm a fool, to be putting hand embroidery on this dress for an eighth baby. But, Lord, Mrs. Blythe, dearie, it isn't to blame for being the eighth, and I kind of wished it to have one real pretty dress, just as if it waswanted. Nobody's wanting the poor mite--so I put some extra fuss on its little things just on that account."
"Any baby might be proud of that dress," said Anne, feeling still more strongly that she was going to like Miss Cornelia.
"I s'pose you've been thinking I was never coming to call on you," resumed Miss Cornelia. "But this is harvest month, you know, and I've been busy--and a lot of extra hands hanging round, eating more'n they work, just like the men. I'd have come yesterday, but I went to Mrs. Roderick MacAllister's funeral. At first I thought my head was aching so badly I couldn't enjoy myself if I did go. But she was a hundred years old, and I'd always promised myself that I'd go to her funeral."
"Was it a successful function?" asked Anne, noticing that the office door was ajar.
"What's that? Oh, yes, it was a tremendous funeral. She had a very large connection. There was over one hundred and twenty carriages in the procession. There was one or two funny things happened. I thought that die I would to see old Joe Bradshaw, who is an infidel and never darkens the door of a church, singing `Safe in the Arms of Jesus' with great gusto and fervor. He glories in singing-- that's why he never misses a funeral. Poor Mrs. Bradshaw didn't look much like singing--all wore out slaving. Old Joe starts out once in a while to buy her a present and brings home some new kind of farm machinery. Isn't that like a man? But what else would you expect of a man who never goes to church, even a Methodist one? I was real thankful to see you and the young Doctor in the Presbyterian church your first Sunday. No doctor for me who isn't a Presbyterian."
"We were in the Methodist church last Sunday evening," said Anne wickedly.
"Oh, I s'pose Dr. Blythe has to go to the Methodist church once in a while or he wouldn't get the Methodist practice."
"We liked the sermon very much," declared Anne boldly. "And I thought the Methodist minster's prayer was one of the most beautiful I ever heard."
"Oh, I've no doubt he can pray. I never heard anyone make more beautiful prayers than old Simon Bentley, who was always drunk, or hoping to be, and the drunker he was the better he prayed."
"The Methodist minister is very fine looking," said Anne, for the benefit of the office door.
"Yes, he's quite ornamental," agreed Miss Cornelia. "Oh, and very ladylike. And he thinks that every girl who looks at him falls in love with him--as if a Methodist minister, wandering about like any Jew, was such a prize! If you and the young doctor take myadvice, you won't have much to do with the Methodists. My motto is--if you are a Presbyterian, be a Presbyterian."
"Don't you think that Methodists go to heaven as well as Presbyterians?" asked Anne smilelessly.
"That isn't for us to decide. It's in higher hands than ours," said Miss Cornelia solemnly. "But I ain't going to associate with them on earth whatever I may have to do in heaven.

"Thank goodness we can choose our friends. We have to take our relatives as they are, and be thankful if there are no penitentiary birds among them."

"Do you know, Cornelia," said Captain Jim gravely, "I've often thought that if I wasn't a Presbyterian I'd be a Methodist."
"Oh, well," conceded Miss Cornelia, "if you weren't a Presbyterian it wouldn't matter much what you were. Speaking of heresy, reminds me, doctor--I've brought back that book you lent me--that Natural Law in the Spiritual World--I didn't read more'n a third of it. I can read sense, and I can read nonsense, but that book is neither the one nor the other."
"It is considered rather heretical in some quarters," admitted Gilbert, "but I told you that before you took it, Miss Cornelia."
"Oh, I wouldn't have minded its being heretical. I can stand wickedness, but I can't stand foolishness," said Miss Cornelia calmly, and with the air of having said the last thing there was to say about Natural Law.

 Fun with Susan:

Is it not funny nobody ever asked me to marry him, Mrs. Doctor, dear? I am no beauty, but I am as good-looking as most of the married women you see. But I never had a beau. What do you suppose is the reason?"
"It may be predestination," suggested Anne, with unearthly solemnity.
Susan nodded.
"That is what I have often thought, Mrs. Doctor, dear, and a great comfort it is. I do not mind nobody wanting me if the Almighty decreed it so for His own wise purposes. But sometimes doubt creeps in, Mrs. Doctor, dear, and I wonder if maybe the Old Scratch has not more to do with it than anyone else. I cannot feel resigned then. But maybe," added Susan, brightening up, "I will have a chance to get married yet. I often and often think of the old verse my aunt used to repeat:
There never was a goose so gray but sometime soon or late Some honest gander came her way and took her for his mate!
A woman cannot ever be sure of not being married till she is buried, Mrs. Doctor, dear, and meanwhile I will make a batch of cherry pies. I notice the doctor favors 'em, and I do like cooking for a man who appreciates his victuals."

 "And did you notice his ears and his teeth, Mrs. Doctor, dear?" queried Susan later on. "He has got the nicest-shaped ears I ever saw on a man's head. I am choice about ears. When I was young I was scared that I might have to marry a man with ears like flaps. But I need not have worried, for never a chance did I have with any kind of ears."

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Clementine and the Spring Trip. Sara Pennypacker. 2013. Hyperion. 160 pages.

 Clementine has to be one of my favorite heroines. I just LOVE spending time with her. I love reading about her family life AND I love reading about her school days too. She always has an opinion, and she's always got something on her mind! In this book, Clementine is excited but nervous about an upcoming field trip to Plimoth Plantation. At first she felt comfortable about going because she was going to partner with fourth grader, Margaret. (Clementine is in third grade.) Clementine was going to help Margaret by doing all the "dirty" work, and Margaret was going to help Clementine by teaching her to eat quietly. The "rule" of the fourth graders being that no noisy foods are ever allowed. But when a new student arrives, a girl named Olive, well, plans change. The teacher assigns Olive to Clementine, and with the teacher and the principal telling Clementine that this will be a GOOD thing, she has to accept her disappointment. But noisy eating isn't the only thing worrying Clementine and her classmates, no, there is the dreaded bus number seven with "the cloud." This is the SMELLIEST bus ever, a thing of nightmares. And oh how the kids like to make comparisons as to what it smells like and why!!!

The novel is great fun focusing on Clementine at school and home. I would definitely recommend this series.

Read Clementine and the Spring Trip

• If you love children's books
• If you're looking for a heroine to love and adore (like Ramona, Moxy Maxwell, or Ida May, etc.)
• If you've enjoyed Clementine, The Talented Clementine, Clementine's Letter, Clementine, Friend of the Week, Clementine and the Family Meeting.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Anne of the Island. L.M. Montgomery. 1915. 272 pages.

Anne of the Island is one of my favorite books in the Anne series by L.M. Montgomery. This is the book that focuses on Anne's college years. Readers meet Anne's best friends from her college years: Priscilla Grant, Stella Maynard, and Philippa Gordon. Anne receives oh-so-many proposals in this one. One proposal comes from her very best friend, Gilbert Blythe. But Anne knows herself, knows that she could never settle for anything less than her IDEAL man that she's crafted in her imagination. It's a good thing she meets him at college! From their first meeting until the BIG day he proposes, she's almost certain that he is oh-so-perfect for her. True, he doesn't have a sense of humor, well, much of one. And true, he isn't really the sort you share things with. But, oh, he knows his poetry. His name is Royal Gardner...

Anne isn't the only one trying to make big decisions in this one. There is the unforgettable Philippa Gordon. Take her as she is--for better or worse--for there will never be another. Though she has dozens of beaus, wealthy beaus too, she falls hard for the one man she's sure will never be able to accept her...for he's a minister!

Though the book focuses on her college years, Anne is able to visit Avonlea almost every year. And there are plenty of chapters set in and around Avonlea. So readers are able to keep up with the characters they've come to love: Marilla, Rachel Lynde, Davy and Dora, Diana, etc.

The last few chapters of this one are oh-so-magical.

Favorite quotes:

"We mustn't let next week rob us of this week's joy."

"I suppose we'll get used to being grownup in time," said Anne cheerfully. "There won't be so many unexpected things about it by and by--though, after all, I fancy it's the unexpected things that give spice to life."

"When I'm grown up I'm not going to do one single thing I don't want to do, Anne."
"All your life, Davy, you'll find yourself doing things you don't want to do."
"I won't," said Davy flatly. "Catch me! I have to do things I don't want to now 'cause you and Marilla'll send me to bed if I don't. But when I grow up you can't do that, and there'll be nobody to tell me not to do things." 

"But FEELING is so different from KNOWING."

"Facts are stubborn things, but as some one has wisely said, not half so stubborn as fallacies."

"What's my conscience? I want to know."
"It's something in you, Davy, that always tells you when you are doing wrong and makes you unhappy if you persist in doing it. Haven't you noticed that?"
"Yes, but I didn't know what it was. I wish I didn't have it. I'd have lots more fun. Where is my conscience, Anne? I want to know. Is it in my stomach?"
"No, it's in your soul," answered Anne, thankful for the darkness, since gravity must be preserved in serious matters. 

"All life lessons are not learned at college," she thought. "Life teaches them everywhere." 

"Mrs. Lynde was awful mad the other day because I asked her if she was alive in Noah's time. I didn't meant to hurt her feelings. I just wanted to know. Was she, Anne?" 

"I think it's quite natural that a nine-year-old boy would sooner read an adventure story than the Bible. But when you are older I hope and think that you will realize what a wonderful book the Bible is." 

"Miss Stacy told me long ago that by the time I was twenty my character would be formed, for good or evil. I don't feel it's what it should be. It's full of flaws."
"So's everybody's" said Aunt Jamesina cheerfully. "Mine's cracked in a hundred places. Your Miss Stacy likely meant that when you are twenty your character would have got its permanent bent in one direction or 'tother, and would go on developing in that line. 

"What are you reading?"
"Pickwick."
"That's a book that always makes me hungry," said Phil. "There's so much good eating in it."

"The year is a book, isn't it, Marilla? Spring's pages are written in Mayflowers and violets, summer's in roses, autumn's in red maple leaves, and winter in holly and evergreen."

"We are never half so interesting when we have learned that language is given us to enable us to conceal our thoughts."

"When you've learned to laugh at the things that should be laughed at, and not to laugh at those that shouldn't, you've got wisdom and understanding."

"There is a book of Revelation in every one's life, as there is in the Bible. Anne read hers that bitter night, as she kept her agonized vigil through the hours of storm and darkness."

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Golden Road. L.M. Montgomery. 1913. 213 pages.

The Golden Road is the sequel to The Story Girl. It picks up exactly where The Story Girl leaves us--a cold November. Beverly and Felix King are still visiting their cousins Dan, Felicity, and Cecily, and the unforgettable Sara Stanley (The Story Girl). Also among their friends: Sara Ray (who cries a LOT) and Peter Craig (who doesn't). In this book, they decide to start a paper together. Each will contribute articles, essays, stories, editorials, etc. Sample papers are collected throughout this book. Also each will attempt to make and keep resolutions for the New Year. The upcoming year will have many adventures in it. Mostly good, though some bittersweet. For example, this will be the last year they are all together as a group. The stories continue, of course. Some of these stories are horror or mysteries, but there are one or two love stories...including that of the Awkward Man.

What I enjoyed about both books was the opportunity to get to know these characters in their day-to-day lives. I liked the focus on friendship and family. I liked following their adventures over a two year period.

Favorite quotes:

We may long have left the golden road behind, but its memories are the dearest of our eternal possessions; and those who cherish them as such may haply find a pleasure in the pages of this book, whose people are pilgrims on the golden road of youth.

For there is no bond more lasting than that formed by the mutual confidences of that magic time when youth is slipping from the sheath of childhood and beginning to wonder what lies for it beyond those misty hills that bound for the golden road. 

The delight of the world had been ours on the golden road. It had enticed us with daisies and rewarded us with roses. Blossom and lyric had waited on our wishes. Thoughts, careless and sweet, had visited us. Laughter had been our comrade and fearless Hope our guide.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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After reading TAKEN last year, I discovered I really like Robert Crais' books. I'm a little late to the fan party, I know--the man has written a good bookshelf full of mysteries.

So I picked up his recent release, SUSPECT. The book opens with a chapter written from a military K-9 dog's perspective; I was choked up by page ten... As a writer, it left me in awe. Don't we all wish we could write that powerful of a story?

How about you, readers and writers? Which author do you admire?

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The Story Girl. L.M. Montgomery. 1911. 220 pages.

This children's book by L.M. Montgomery focuses on a family of cousins. Beverly (the narrator) and Felix are visiting their aunts and uncles and cousins on Prince Edward Island while their father leaves the country on business. The cousins are Dan, Felicity, Cecily King and Sara Stanley (aka The Story Girl). Two non-relations complete the group, Peter Craig, a hired boy on one of the King farms, and Sara Ray, a neighbor girl prone to excessive crying. Each child is unique, and they don't always get along with one another. Some are very stubborn and opinionated. The book chronicles their adventures and misadventures May through November their first year together. The Story Girl has many, many admirers. She charms just about everyone with the sound of her voice. She's a natural storyteller and she uses that to her advantage plenty of times. (For example, she makes friends with more eccentric 'characters' in town; she gets money out of a man who never ever contributes to any cause.) But she also uses her stories to amuse and entertain her friends on a daily basis. Sometimes these are true stories based on family history, the community, etc. Other times the stories are more imaginative and might-have-been-true stories. A couple of ghost stories, a couple of love stories--including a story on how kissing was discovered.

My favorite chapters were about 'the judgment day.' They read one day (Saturday perhaps?) in a newspaper that the Judgment Day is the next day at 2PM. They believe it. They worry that tomorrow really is the LAST DAY. Some are full of regrets, some make resolutions. They take great comfort in being together until the very end. I really enjoyed this section because Peter decides to start reading the Bible beginning with Genesis. What he discovers after spending hours in the Word is just how much he LIKES reading the Bible and how interesting it really is. Though the judgment does not happen, though life soon returns to normal for just about everyone...Peter keeps with the Bible.
I also enjoyed the 'dream books.' Each decides to keep a special book to record ALL their dreams. They get together daily and share their dreams, each trying to out-dream the other. Then a few of them get the 'clever' idea to eat disagreeable foods so they have more interesting, more troubled dreams...

I liked these stories, these adventures. I liked seeing the children with one another. Loved their conversations and arguments.

Favorite quotes:

“There is such a place as fairyland - but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the common light of common day. Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”

“Well, I don't know," said the Story Girl thoughtfully. "I think there are two kinds of true thing - true things that are, and true things that are not, but might be.” 

"If voices had colour, hers would have been like a rainbow. It made words LIVE. Whatever she said became a breathing entity, not a mere verbal statement of utterance. Felix and I were too young to understand or analyze the impression it made upon us; but we instantly felt at her greeting that it WAS a good morning--a surpassingly good morning, the very best morning that had ever happened in this most excellent of worlds."

"It's no wonder we can't understand the grown-ups," said the Story Girl indignantly, "because we've never been grown-up ourselves. But THEY have been children, and I don't see why they can't understand us." 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Anne of Avonlea. L.M. Montgomery. 1909. 304 pages.

Anne of Avonlea is a delightful book. Anne may be a young woman just beginning her teaching career, but she's still in many ways so very young. In Anne of Avonlea, readers

• meet Anne, Diana, Gilbert, Fred, and others in the A.V.I.S society, reading of their adventures and misadventures in "improving" the village 
• meet Mr. Harrison and his parrot, Ginger, they also learn Mr. Harrison's BIG secret which is only revealed AFTER the big, big storm prophesied by an eccentric man...
• see Anne as BIG SISTER to the twins Davy and Dora, orphans that Marilla adopted early in this second book; Anne has to ANSWER hundreds and hundreds of questions to satisfy a young Davy
• see Anne become teacher of the Avonlea school; seeing Anne struggle between her theories and actual practice. Will she tame Anthony Pye? Also we meet the teacher's pet, Paul Irving.
• meet Miss Lavendar and Charlotta the Fourth. 

Because of Marilla's failing eyesight, Anne has decided not to go away to college, instead she'll be teaching at the school in Avonlea. When she's not busy teaching, she's spending time with her friends--old and young. Her best friend, of course, is Diana Barry. While some guys may have started falling in love with Anne and wanting her attention, Anne has no time at all for her own romance. Gilbert judges correctly that Anne is not ready for any declarations of love from him...or anyone, and so he's patiently giving her all the time she needs, just happy to be her good friend. Readers may be anxious for Anne to grow up and see the obvious: Gilbert is THE ONE. But Anne is not in a hurry to be an adult. And I think that's for the best.

My favorite part of Anne of Avonlea is Davy. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Davy (and Dora). I think the twins bring a glorious liveliness to Green Gables. I love seeing Anne with the kids, especially with Davy. I love seeing her nurture him, and I love hearing all her explanations to his 'why' questions.

Have you read Anne of Avonlea? Did you enjoy it? Were you disappointed?

Mr. Harrison about Mrs. Rachel Lynde:

"I detest that woman more than anybody I know. She can put a whole sermon, text, comment, and application, into six words, and throw it at you like a brick."

"I never was much of a talker till I came to Avonlea and then I had to begin in self-defense or Mrs. Lynde would have said I was dumb and started a subscription to have me taught sign language."

Fun with Davy:

"Anne," said Davy, sitting up in bed and propping his chin on his hands, "Anne, where is sleep? People go to sleep every night, and of course I know it's the place where I do the things I dream, but I want to know WHERE it is and how I get there and back without knowing anything about it...and in my nighty too. Where is it?"

 "I wish people could live on pudding. Why can't they, Marilla? I want to know."
"Because they'd soon get tired of it."
"I'd like to try that for myself," said skeptical Davy.

Paul Irving to Anne:

"I've prayed every night that God would give me enough grace to enable me to eat every bit of my porridge in the mornings. But I've never been able to do it yet, and whether it's because I have too little grace or too much porridge I really can't decide."

Favorite quotes: 

"You're never safe from being surprised till you're dead."

“One can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once.” 

“After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

“Anne had no sooner uttered the phrase, "home o'dreams," than it captivated her fancy and she immediately began the erection of one of her own. It was, of course, tenanted by an ideal master, dark, proud, and melancholy; but oddly enough, Gilbert Blythe persisted in hanging about too, helping her arrange pictures, lay out gardens, and accomplish sundry other tasks which a proud and melancholy hero evidently considered beneath his dignity. Anne tried to banish Gilbert's image from her castle in Spain but, somehow, he went on being there, so Anne, being in a hurry, gave up the attempt and pursued her aerial architecture with such success that her "home o'dreams" was built and furnished before Diana spoke again. ”

“…I think,' concluded Anne, hitting on a very vital truth, 'that we always love best the people who need us.” 

“When I think something nice is going to happen I seem to fly right up on the wings of anticipation; and then the first thing I realize I drop down to earth with a thud. But really, Marilla, the flying part is glorious as long as it lasts...it's like soaring through a sunset. I think it almost pays for the thud.” 

“It takes all sorts of people to make a world, as I've often heard, but I think there are some who could be spared,' Anne told her reflection in the east gable mirror that night.” 

"If we have friends we should look only for the best in them and give them the best that is in us, don't you think? Then friendship would be the most beautiful thing in the world." 

"In this world you've just got to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and take whatever God sends."

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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L.M. Montgomery Short Stories, 1896-1901. L.M. Montgomery. 142 pages.

This short story collection features nineteen short stories by L.M. Montgomery. Stories in this collection include: "A Case of Trespass," "A Christmas Inspiration," "A Christmas Mistake," "A Strayed Allegiance," "An Invitation Given on Impulse," "Detected by the Camera," "In Spite of Myself," "Kismet," Miriam's Lover," "Miss Calista's Peppermint Bottle," "The Jest That Failed," "The Pennington's Girl," "The Red Room," "The Setness of Theodosia," "The Story of An Invitation," "The Touch of Fate," "The Waking of Helen," "The Way of Winning Anne," and "Young Si." While I didn't absolutely love each and every story in this collection, I enjoyed almost all of the stories. A few I really did LOVE.

I really did love "The Jest That Failed" perhaps because it reminded me a little of Edith Wharton's Roman Fever. In "The Jest That Failed," a few mean students decide to play a trick on Grace Seeley, a poor classmate that they look down upon. Wouldn't it be absolutely hysterical if Grace thought the most popular senior boy, Sidney Hill, was asking her to the prom? But their trick doesn't work like they hoped!

I also enjoyed "An Invitation Given on Impulse." This is how Montgomery described the heroine, Ruth Mannering..."If they had thought about it at all, they would probably have decided that they did not like her; but for the most part they simply overlooked her" and "painfully shy and reserved." This story is how one of the more popular girls decided to go with her impulse and invite "poor Ruth" to her home for the holidays instead of her best friend. This visit transformed Ruth in oh-so-many ways, and for the first time the girl catches a glimpse of what friendship is all about.

"Kismet," is an interesting story of a failed marriage that has been given a second chance...depending on the results of a horse race! This husband and wife meet accidentally after years of living separately. Both are surprised to see each other again, neither thought the other would be at the races. Conversation is strained at first, but, eventually these two happen upon an agreement. She's bet her money on one horse, he's bet on another horse...can these two make a success of it?

There is a wide variety of stories: some Christmas stories, some happily-ever-after romances, some tragic romances, some comedies, some rags-to-riches, some coming-of-age stories. They do range in sentiment. Almost all of the stories are interesting, however. All of them display human nature at its best and give a glimpse of Montgomery's greatest gift: her way of capturing human character and spirit with very few words.

Read this short story collection:

• If you're a fan of L.M. Montgomery
• If you enjoy short stories
• If you'd like to enjoy short stories but are somewhat resistant or hesitant to pick up short story collections
• If you enjoy a wide variety of stories: rags to riches, coming-of-age, family-friendly "feel-good" pieces, love stories--happy and tragic, ghost stories, comedies, etc.

 
© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Like waiting for a holiday, a vacation, or a very special event, anticipation is a big part of the pleasure and following along with Rachel Simon, via her blog and Facebook page, as she did a pre-release tour for her newest book, The Story of Beautiful Girl, helped get me through winter doldrums and kept the May release date firmly in my mind. I had read the online excerpt and was sure ...Beautiful Girl would become one of my favorite books. Titles that are on a special shelf in our home. Books that transport my mind, suspend time, wrap themselves around me like a beautiful quilt of memories.
The Story of Beautiful Girl did just that.

First, as a book designer, let me take a moment to comment on the packaging of this title. The cover art was featured on a CBS Sunday Morning episode (click the link to see the episode) months before the release. When I saw it, held up proudly in Central Publishing's New York office, I called to my husband, "They're showing Rachel Simon's book!" It was exciting, because I was already familiar with the distinctive silhouette of a woman, her hair bound up in a loose bun, her face slightly downcast.

The white background of the jacket has a pearl effect; I'm not sure how that was achieved, but it is understated elegance at its finest. The font used in the title is a work of graphic art and the orange-red letters are raised off the jacket. But wait, that's not all! When you open the book you are greeted with matching colored end sheets splashed with the silhouettes of feathers. A feather is also shown on the back jacket, with a baby's hand reaching toward it. I love the simple beauty of this jacket. It fits perfectly with the story and the sophisticated design continues on each page. And now, to the story...

The Story of Beautiful Girl is dedicated to "those who were put away." Even the front matter supports the design and tone of the story, with a beautiful verse by the Reverend Nancy Lane. I'm not giving it away, because you need to get this book and find these lovely touches yourself.

Simon begins her tale in 1968, with Part I: Hiding. We meet Martha, the widow, Lynnie, a young woman who is mute and mentally disabled, and Homan, an African-American deaf man on the run. The story continues in Part II: Going (1969, 1970) and we become closer to the characters and also learn the significance of the "red feather" as well as more details of past events pertinent to the story.

I don't want to reveal much about the plot, so I'll just say that Part III: Seeking scoots us to 1980, 1988, 1993, 1995, 2001, and 2011. I like the way each chapter has a title, along with the name of the character who is the focus of the chapter and the year. We meet additional supporting characters like Kate who worked at the at the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded where Lynnie and Homan start their story, and other folks whose paths cross with Homan, Lynnie, and Martha. The child hinted at on the back jacket is Julia, Lynnie's baby, who grows to adulthood by the last chapter in a heart-stopping scene that will make you feel as if you hear the music and see the images, like a movie, like a wonderful conclusion of a meaningful film that weaves a story around your heart and enlightens your mind.

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NOTE: For links to storm information, scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Well, if dogs could have a look on their face that says "I told you so" ...

Here's a personal timeline at our home here in Athens, Ohio, which is also the home of Lucky Press LLC (publisher) and Janice Phelps LLC (design). Four tornadoes touched down in Athens County last night, and 2 in nearby Meigs County.


7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2010:
I'm on the couch with the laptop writing and checking FB ). I hear thunder in the distance, know that Jackie our Chihuahua will not want to go outside in it, so decide to get them up early to get out before the rain hits.

7:30-11:00: Tyler and Jackie spend all morning huddled with me on the couch while I work on websites, work on illustration sketches, work on novel, check Facebook. We have a direct look out huge window to our beautiful woods and everything is gray, rainy, and wet. I love it--great day for creative work.

11:00-5:30: working on computer

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. I am on the phone with a publisher, oblivious to weather.

6:30 p.m. We turn the news on and hear reports of storm cells and a "hook" design in the system that looks dangerous. The area between Lancaster and Athens is in danger of tornadoes. I call our elderly friend, David, in nearby Logan (home of the beautiful Hocking Hills) and tell him to stay down on his first floor (he has no TV).

Now, here's where the canine wisdom comes in. Tyler (9-year-old Pekingnese) wants to sit right up against me, behind me on the kitchen chair. Jackie (7-year-old Chihuahua) is hiding under the table, taking a break from wondering why I haven't drawn her Autumn Season illustration yet. Farley just wants our food. After dinner (or more accurately, "supper"), Mark goes off for his ONE HOUR on the treadmill (are you impressed, because I certainly am!) and I wonder how, once again , I can sit on the couch while my husband works so valiently to stay fit.

I pull out exercise mat from its demanding place neara TV, turn on on-demand Parenthood episdoes I never saw when televised, and lie on the floor attempting pathetic "crunches." (

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I love to read. My bookshelves heave from the weight of books. My first reading influence was Michael Bond with his Paddington Bear books.
When I first started taking fiction writing classes decades ago, I was reading a lot of Lorrie Moore, Deborah Eisenberg and Tom Perrotta. I love their spunky styles. I like how one can tease out deep meaning from their works.
I would love to say my writing is similar to theirs, but I've been writing a novel that doesn't seem willing to be influenced by the folks I want it to be influenced by. An infusion of Lorrie Moore here, a dabble of Tom Perrotta there.
So, every once in a while, when I get asked "If someone were to read my fiction, who would my writing be reminiscent of?" I draw a blank. I mean maybe my style is Eisenberg-esque, but I can't see it.
When reviewing books and reading the promotional material, I recognize when the marketers are trying to position a book: if you like this New York Times bestselling author, then you will love this debut novel.
Obviously, to understand an unknown (read: debut novelist) it becomes important to build upon something we already are familiar with. But how do you determine that? Is it from what books have influenced you and whose style might pepper your own? Or is it from reading someone reading your work and telling you that it reminds them of X writer?
I don't know about you, but I think I'm missing that essential piece of being a writer.... The piece which enables me to read my own writing and determine whose writing it is most like. I can read someone else's writing and sense influences, but I cannot do the same with my own writing. (It's the holiday weekend, my brain seems to be turning to mush...is there a term that refers to all this writerly influence?!)

What about you? Can you read different writers, differentiating the common styles? Can you turn your discerning eye upon your own writing?If so, is this something you've trained yourself to do? Or is it something you have always been able to do?

Elizabeth King Humphrey, a writer and creativity coach, writes The Write Elizabeth blog.

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The clock is winding down, but there is still time for you to win your very own 2010 Book Lovers calendar by reminding us of your favorite author and their birthday!

Read more about the contest and share your favorite author’s birthday here. So go ahead – post a comment, help us remember all those fabulous authors who wrote the books that make us smile and take a chance at winning a 2010 Book Lover’s calendar!

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Every March we celebrate the birthday of the beloved Dr. Seuss.  Classrooms everywhere read Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and kids parade around in those classic red and white, striped top hats.  It is a day of fun for all.

This year, we are wondering, why stop at celebrating the birthday of only one of our favorite    authors? Let’s kick off the next decade of books and fabulous authors yet- to-come by remembering the birthdays of our favorite authors!

And as an incentive, we are giving away 10 copies of  the 2010 Book Lovers calendar, complete with author birthdays, stories about our favorite classics from Sails for the South Seas to Of Mice and Men, and pictures that every booklover wishes they could hang on their kitchen fridge! Plus, each copy helps First Book provide new books to children in need.

Want to get your own copy of the 2010 Book Lovers calendar?

Here’s how you can: post a comment mentioning your favorite author and their birthday by 11:59 pm ET on December 28^th. Ten participants will be chosen at random to receive their very own Book Lover’s 2010 Calendar.

Post a comment and help us celebrate all of the authors who wrote those books that make us smile!

Calendars can also be purchased by visiting www.bookloversstuff.com

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Yesterday I set Florian's Dinothesaurus and Lewis' The Underwear Salesman out on the chalk tray in my fourth grade classroom at the beginning of the day to shouts of, "YAY!" and "Can I read that during reading workshop?" Neither book made it back to the chalk tray during reading time -- both were read by individuals or with partners and passed from hand to hand to hand the entire time.

Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings
by Douglas Florian
Athenium Books for Young Readers, 2009

Surely you've seen the sneak peaks of poetry and art from Dinothesaurus at Douglas Florian's blog? If not, get over there right now and take a look! 18 dinosaurs are described with wit, wordplay, and creative multimedia illustrations.

There is a pronunciation guide for each dinosaur name (thank you, thank you, Mr. Florian!) along with the meaning of the name. These name meanings are rich for conversations during word study around root words. Seismosaurus (earthshaking lizard) and seismograph; Tyrannosaurus rex (king of tyrant lizards) and tyrant and rex; Troodon (wounding tooth) and Iguanodon (iguana tooth) and orthoDONtist.

The collection also includes a Glossarysaurus, a list of dinosaur museums and fossil sites, and a bibliography with suggestions for further reading.

Every illustration adds an additional layer of meaning to its poem and makes this a book that will bring readers back again and again.


The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse
by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Serge Bloch
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009

More wit, wordplay and multimedia illustrations to be had in this volume as well!

This book is packed with short poems (a couplet for the job of exterminator), brief poems (for the job of underwear salesman -- ha ha!!), vertical poems (for the job of elevator operator), poems that take to the streets (for the job of marathon runner), poems in two voices (for the jobs of talk show hosts and ventriloquists), poems that flop (for the job of gymnast), and poems that soar ( for the job of bridge painter and skyscraper window washer).

At the risk of being repetitive: Every illustration adds an additional layer of meaning to its poem and makes this a book that will bring readers back again and again.

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So, I've been tagged twice! Once at Booktopia by Mindy, and once at Tweendom by Juxtabook.
I decided to answer over here.

Here are the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your blog, answer the questions, and tag people in your post. Don’t forget to let the tagees know they were tagged, so leave a comment on their blog! And remember to let your tagger know that your entry is posted.

1. Who’s your favorite all-time author, and why?
I would have to say Robertson Davies. The Deptford Trilogy had a hand in shaping my adult tastes, when I read the books in High School. A big thanks to the English Department at A.N. Myer for putting it on the list!

2.Who was your first favorite author, and why?
I was obsessed with poetry when I was young, so I think it would be a tie between Shel Silverstein and Dennis Lee. I actually still have "The Puddle" by Lee committed to memory.

3. Who’s the most recent edition to your list of favorite authors, and why?
Scott Westerfeld. I started with So Yesterday, whipped through the Uglies quartet, and dove into Peeps, and The Last Days. His books are smart, perfectly paced, and oddly important.

4. If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, what would pop out of your mouth?
M.T. Anderson, Scott Westerfeld, Hemingway, Merilyn Simonds, Adam Rex, Oliver Jeffers, Jeanne Birdsall, and Jimmy Gownley. Ecclectic, non?

Onto the tagging!

3 Evil Cousins
breenibooks
BookJoy

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Home Made Side Walk Paint.
We've been doing a lot of temporary art, so by the time I run and get the camera, things are already dissolved, smooshed into an ambiguous blob, or (gasp!) still totally unfinished.
These paints may work best in warmer weather but we did it anyway.
The recipe for this is found in FEB 2008 Family Fun magazine:

• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. corn starch
• food coloring drops

By: Crystal & Naomi, age 3
Mammajam Gets Down

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My (almost 3 yr. old) daughter loves glue sticks, glitter and painting. So, we went with that.

* She did a blue/green finger painting and cut a sun with the circle punch.
* I cut waves from her painting and some construction paper fish.
* She applied glue to everything.
* We tacked it down together and topped it off with glitter.

By: Crystal & Naomi, age 2
Mammajam Gets Down

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