As a lifelong reader and almost-lifelong writer, I’d like this blog to be a place to share my thoughts on books and writing––and a place where you can share your thoughts, too. Together, we can discover new books and help each other as writers.
Some of my earliest memories involve reading––snuggling up to my grandmother while she read the Sunday comics, and lying in bed while my father sat in the hall and read books like Treasure Island and Robin Hood to my brother and me.
Then there was my mom, who always had a book ready when I had nothing to do. One of those books was Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This classic, written in the early 20th century, tells the story of Anne Shirley, an orphan who comes to live on a Prince Edward Island farm with a middle-aged sister and brother, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.
I remember the first chapter being hard to read for nine-year-old-me. But I plowed on, and fell in love with Anne when she appeared and rode home with Matthew along a flower-lined road she renamed the “White Way of Delight.” Later, I delighted in reading about the scrapes she got into––breaking her writing slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head when he made fun of her red hair, dyeing her hair green instead of black, and getting her best friend Diana drunk at tea by mistakenly serving currant wine instead of the non-alcoholic raspberry cordial.
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| Here's me visiting Green Gables, the farm that Montgomery visited as child and the inspiration for Anne's home. |
My favorite books still have strong female characters living lives different from mine. Some of my favorite authors are Elizabeth Berg, Anna Quindlen, Marie Bostwick, Cheryl Strayed, Lisa See, and Sue Monk Kidd. A few of my favorite children’s authors are Lois Lowry, Eve Bunting, Ann Rinaldi, Kate Messner, Patricia MacLachlan, and two writers I've met at workshops, Shannon Hitchcock and Joyce Hostetter.
Today, I buy Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid books for my grandsons and Annie Barrows' Ivy and Bean series for my granddaughter––and love them both. But Anne of Green Gables remains my favorite childhood book.
What was yours?
I somehow missed Anne of Green Gables as a child and was introduced to her via the movie when my children were young. I watched it recently with several of my grands. I know some folks don't love the movies as much as the books but seeing the movie first made it hard for me to enjoy the books. Sounds very un-literary of me, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAs a young reader, I loved Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski and Blue Willow by Doris Gates. Also Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
Thanks for the shout out in this post!
The Anne movie is excellent, so I understand what you're saying. The original book is written in an old-fashioned style, more wordy and descriptive than what we're used to today. When I was on Prince Edward Island, I bought an abridged book with photos from the movie and enjoy looking at it. It's called The Anne of Green Gables Storybook, published by Firefly Books.
DeleteP.S. I'm going to check out your books. I loved Anne Frank, too.
DeleteAs a kid, I loved all the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be The Long Winter. People overcoming hardships has always been a favorite theme for my reading (and for my writing, too). I moved on from Laura to Ann Rinaldi's books. Historical Fiction is my favorite genre. But I also devoured non-fiction, especially bios of Lincoln and Washington. I seldom go to movies of a book I read. They usually disappoint me.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading more of your blog posts, Liz.
Thanks, Kathy. I didn't read the Little House books, but I was at my daughter's when she and my grandson were reading The Long Winter. I loved it, too. I did watch the TV series and really enjoyed it. Glad I'm not the only one who likes Ann Rinaldi. Her books are so well done.
DeleteI loved the Nancy Drew books.
ReplyDeleteI did, too. You'll see in my next post.
DeleteI loved Nancy Drew. I think the very first book I read and loved lwas the Bobbsey Twins and The Boxcar Children. I remember being so impressed that they could set up a home in a boxcar and actually live there. There isn't enough paper in the world to write down all the books I like. Usually the one I'm reading is the one I love. I did enjoy Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. Not sure where all the negativity about that novel came from. It was vintage Harper Lee. Enjoyed reading this. Thanks. Happy you are on here.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Bobbsey Twins and The Boxcar Children, too. In fact, I couldn't wait for the next chapter when my fourth grade teacher read the Boxcar Children to us. And you'e right––we'll never run our of books to love.
DeleteSuch good memories of my daughter, Steph, and I watching PBS Anne of Green Gables. Sunday evenings we'd tune in to the next episode. Anne caught both our hearts and even now we still talk about our Sunday evenings with the perils of Anne on Prince Edward Island. I loved Anne's determination and her ability to turn any bad situation into something positive. Thanks! Loved the post.
ReplyDeleteI saw that production, too, as a movie, I think. It's also a book––abridged story with pictures from the movie. I bought it when we were on Prince Edward Island. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI read all the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew, but my favorites were the classical fairytales. I read them over and over and loved the beautiful illustrations. For my family and friend's children, collections of fairytales are my favorite gifts.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed fairy tales, too, but some of them could be frightening to me, like Hansel and Gretl, where the witch was fattening them up to be cooked.
DeleteLoved Anne of Green Gables too, and the Little House books! Now my son and I are reading the Chronicles of Narnia - I loved those books when I was a kid, and it is fun to be able to read them again. I think as a kid I was always hoping that I would find a doorway to Narnia somewhere myself! I also loved Mark Twain - I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a number of times - once on my own (i think I took it from my brother after he read it for school), once in high school, and then again in a college literature class. Of course I got something more out of it each time, but I love the way that Twain could skewer the culture through his stories and lift up the unlikely hero.
ReplyDeleteMark Twain is a fascinating author. Huckleberry Finn is read in school as a book for children and teenagers, but adults get so much more out of reading it––like Huck's dilemma about whether to risk going to hell for helping Jim. In the end he make the moral choice to help Jim. Twain was definitely telling us something about morality and the culture!
DeleteIvy and Bean books are fun. Some of the best books start off a little slow. Too bad we don't have the patience to read beyond the first chapter if the book is a little slow these days. Often books with a slow start have a great story.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about giving a book a chance. We all need a little more patience today.
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