Rilla of Ingleside: October Review

Well, October is officially over! (what am I even typing this is insane!!!) I can't believe that October is already over! EEEEP but that means that it is NOVEMBER and this month is Thanksgiving and Christmas planning and YES I'M SO EXCITED!!! *screams to infinity and beyond*

Anyways, I was debating on whether to do a month-in-review post or the review for the Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge, but not too much happened this month, and I didn't want to bore you with a month in review post that didn't have anything in it. SO, I decided to go with the book review. (which may be boring anyways but whatever)

This is the last book in the series, which means that it is also the last review! I still haven't found The Blythes are Quoted, unfortunately, so I will not be able to do that review. If I ever get it, I will absolutely do it, though! :) 

As you can probably tell from the title, this book is primarily about Rilla, Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter. Rilla is introduced at the beginning of the book as a tall, attractive, cheerful girl of fourteen. She loves to laugh, hates to work, and her goal is to have as much fun as possible while she can. 
In the middle of the book, WWI begins, and many of the young men that Rilla knows, including her dear brothers and Kenneth Ford, head off to fight for their freedom. With all of her siblings moved out of the house, Rilla is left at home to face what she believes will be a very dull year. However, when she discovers a tiny orphaned baby and brings him home in a soup tureen, her life completely changes as she learns how to be responsible and able to care for the baby. Through the years of waiting, joy, pain, and loss, we get to see Rilla grow up, becoming more responsible and capable than anyone thought possible. 

This book. fasdlkjfeoiwureljlr WHERE DO I EVEN START IT WAS AMAZING! It is my favorite book of the series (or at least tied with the first one!), and it made me cry because it was just so beautiful. I felt like I was right there the whole time, watching and experiencing everything, and I loved it!!

Ugh I don't even know what else to say except that it was fabulous, I absolutely recommend it, and you haVE TO READ IT NOW.

A huge HUGE thank you to Elyssa over at Purple Ink Studios for creating/hosting the 2016 Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge! It was a TON of fun to do, and I am so happy to have been a part of it! Thanks a million, Elyssa! :) ♥

Have a lovely day! :) 

~Megan ♥

P.S. NANO STARTS TOMORROW Y'ALL. *screams* Are you ready?!?!?

Rainbow Valley: September Review

Guess what post I am doing today? Finally, I am back into the Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge!! (Uhhh, it's about time, Megan. :p) I KNOW I kind of became a slacker with reading, but this month I decided that even though my time was pretty crunched, I would at least read the next Anne book. A long road trip provided the perfect opportunity, and I read the entire thing in one day! SO (as you probably already figured out), I am going to review Rainbow Valley, which is the seventh book in the Anne of Green Gables series! 

So this book really isn't about Anne and Gilbert as much as it is about their kids. And actually, the minister's children are what the book is even more about. The minister, John Meredith, is a widowed father of four young children who is rarely aware of what is really happening. He always seems to be in a deep reverie of some kind, and because of this, his children are getting into all kinds of scrapes. They are often the center of the gossip in the town, and many of the old ladies are horrified at what comes out of the manse.

Shortly into the book, another little girl comes on the scene. Her name is Mary Vance, and she is a little orphan who was found by the manse children after she ran away from her cruel mistress. She stays at the manse for quite some time, and there is no end to the adventures and crazy mishaps that come from it. The Blythe children, the Merediths, and Mary form a wonderful friendship, and they spend many days in their little sun-kissed Rainbow Valley. 

Between the children's adventures, the happenings around the village of Glen St. Mary, and even a bit of romance, this book was delightful. It is an easy read, and a really entertaining one as well! I highly recommend it! 

Have you read Rainbow Valley?

What has been your favorite Anne book so far?

Have a lovely day! :) 

 ~Megan  ♥

Anne of Ingleside: July Review

Another month has ended, which means it is also time for another book review for the reading challenge!

This month, I read Anne of Ingleside. It is the sixth book in the series, and it follows Anne's life after she and Gilbert have five (soon to be six) children. I really like how L.M. Montgomery was able to highlight on each of the kids as individuals while still keeping Anne as the main character. 

James (who is referred to as Jem) is Anne and Gilbert's oldest child. He looks out for his younger siblings, and he has a love of animals.
Nan and Diana are twin girls who look nothing alike. Nan has brown eyes and brown hair, while Di has red hair and green eyes. Nan even questioned whether she is really a Blythe when one of her friends convinced her that she was switched with another girl at birth.
Walter is a quiet, imaginative, inquisitive little boy. He is sensitive and kind, and a generally lovable character. 
Shirley is the "baby" of the family at the beginning of the book. He is the favorite of Susan, the house keeper and informal member of the family who took care of him for a while after he was born.
Rilla is the youngest of the Blythes, and she was born early on in the book. She talks with a lisp and has funny quirks about her that make her an adorable member of the family. 

When Aunt Mary Maria showed up for a "short" visit, the entire house was thrown into turmoil. She is an extremely disagreeable person who is never afraid to offer her opinion. She ended up staying for much longer than expected (or hoped for), making life miserable for the entire household. 

Anne of Ingleside is a lovely book. It shows the ups and downs of Anne's everyday life with having six kids and being married to a doctor. She is grown up, but just as busy and lively as ever, with plenty of stories, laughter and love to go around.

It has been really neat reading this entire series and being able to watch the characters grow up through the books. As always, this book comes with my enthusiastic recommendation! 

Have you read this book before?

Which book in the series is your favorite?

Have a lovely day! :)
  
 ~Megan ♥

   
Read my last post here: July 2016: Month in Review

Anne's House of Dreams: June Review

I took a month off of the Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge in May, and I am really excited to get back into it again! The book for this month is Anne's House of Dreams, and I will start by saying that it is definitely one of my favorites!! I will have a really hard time writing this review without any spoilers!! Enjoy!

The book starts off with Anne and Gilbert's wedding. The two settle down in a little house at Four Winds Harbor and quickly make close friends with Captain Jim, an old sailor who is now the keeper of the lighthouse. He is full of fascinating stories of his days as a sailor, and his dream is to put them all into a life book someday. He becomes a sort of grandfather to Anne and Gilbert, and he is one of my favorite characters through the book.

Another person that Anne and Gilbert meet is Leslie Moore. Leslie is a beautiful girl with a tragic past, and she is a hurting and bitter person. Very soon after meeting her, Anne hears about what happened in her past, and she is filled with compassion for Leslie. She wants to be friends, but Leslie proves very hard to love. Through the book, you really get to see Anne reaching out to Leslie, and how much good their friendship does for them both. 

I really appreciate it when books aren't happy-go-lucky the whole time, and this book definitely broke out of that stereotypical story line. It showed a side of Anne that was almost refreshing. Anne and Gilbert have their own set of difficulties, and you really see Anne grow as a person through that. 

This book was fabulous. I have read reviews for it before that made me wonder if I would really like it, but it is one of my favorites of the series so far. This review doesn't even do it justice, because I can't squeal about all of my favorite parts without it all getting spoiled! I suppose you'll just have to read it yourself to find out!! 

Have you read this book before?

If you have, let me know in the comments so we can squeal together about it! 

Have a lovely day!!

~Megan ♥

Anne of Windy Poplars: April Review

April has said goodbye, which means that it is time for a book review! :) This month's book is Anne of Windy Poplars, and (of course) it was a great book! :) 
OH, and a quick side note: I will be taking the month of May as one of my "break months" for the reading challenge, so my next review will be at the end of June. Enjoy! :) 

I will admit, it was a little harder to get into this book. Most of the first half of the book was letters from Anne to Gilbert, and it took some time to get through those chapters. (But hey, that's why I take a whole month to read the book, right?) 

The book starts with Anne once again far away from Green Gables, but this time, she is teaching at a private school in Summerside. This new job and new territory brings its own set of new challenges for Anne. From a prickly superintendent to the local "royal family" that runs the school their way, it is all that Anne can to just stay on track and teach. 

Even with all of the challenges, Anne makes time for new friends and connections. She becomes very close with Elizabeth, a young girl who is starving for affection, and through Anne stepping into her life, some pretty amazing things end up happening. (As usual...no spoilers!) There are three women that Anne moves in with as a boarder, and through the book, you really see her forming bonds with each of them in a different way. 

Like I said, much of the book is letters to Gilbert, in which, Anne talks about teaching, her students, and fellow staff members. It's not boring like you would imagine a book full of letters to be....in fact, I found myself forgetting that I was reading a letter most of the time! 

Over all, this book was great! I wouldn't say it was my favorite, but it was really good all the same. My advice would be to keep plowing through! The beginning is a little difficult to get through, but you can really get into the story, and it gets easier pretty fast.

Let me know what you think of the series so far! If you are planning on reading these, but haven't yet, I hope this review helps you get an idea of what you are diving into! :) Again, my next review will be at the end of June, for Anne's House of Dreams.

 Have a lovely day!

~Megan ♥

Anne of the Island: March Review

Again, I am late posting the review for this month, but I am happy to finally have the time to blog again! :) SO, here is my review for Anne of the Island! Enjoy! :)

This book was really good. It isn't my favorite of the books I've read so far, but I still really liked it a lot. There was quite a bit of romance (no spoilers!) and it was just as creatively and beautifully written as the previous books! You know how some book series are really, really good to start off with, but the more books that the author writes, the less enjoyable they become? So far, this series has not been even close to that. I am enjoying every book, and I am always excited to start a new one!

In the beginning, Anne is preparing to go to Redmond. Charlie Sloane and Gilbert Blythe also went, and the entire book highlights their four years in college. Something that I enjoyed about this book is that in addition to all of the happy parts, there are also some really sad parts, which really balanced out the book and kept the story from becoming too cheesy. There were so many new characters introduced in this book that I'm not going to list them all. However, there are two people in particular that I'm going to highlight on, and a lot more that I am not going to mention, because I don't want to give anything away! :) 

Philippa Gordon was a character that came to the scene a little early on in the book. She is an outgoing, flighty, and rather ridiculous girl, so she really makes the book interesting. I will admit, there were times when I found myself annoyed with her, but throughout the book, you really see her mature more. There is a little bit of an unexpected twist in her story as well, which I LOVE!

Aunt Jamesina was another one of my favorite characters from this book. She was kind and motherly, but she also had a good deal of spunk and youthfulness left in her. She was the housekeeper in the place where Anne and a few of her friends were living for the school year, but she was more like a mother to them than a maid. 

Those two were my favorite of the new characters. Like I said, there were a LOT of new people introduced, but these two really played a part in making the story interesting. 

I LOVED this book! If you have read it, let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your opinion! 

Have a lovely day!

~Megan ♥

Anne of Avonlea: February Review

 Hello, everyone! I am finally going to write out my Anne of Avonlea review! I reviewed the first book in the series last month, so if you want to read that, you can do so here. Oh, and if you are coming for a complete summary of the book, I am not going to give away any spoilers! You will simply have to read it yourself to find out all of the best surprises. :) 

As I read this book, I realized (once again) that there was a lot that I missed when I read Anne of Avonlea before. In fact, I felt like I was reading it for the first time, and I was completely unaware of all the cool connections between characters in the story. I guess I am learning a lesson about thoroughness!

In this book, there were several new characters introduced: Paul Irving, Miss Lavender, Mr. Harrison, Davy, and Dora. Paul Irving was one of Anne's students who became a true kindred spirit and friend. Miss Lavender was a charming old lady whose house Anne stumbled upon by accident. However, it was one of the best mistakes that Anne ever made. Davy and Dora were twins whom Marilla adopted, and Mr. Harrison was the "cranky" neighbor who was greatly changed by the end of the book. All of these people formed some sort of bond with Anne, and she impacted each of their lives in different ways.

The first chapter begins with an introduction to a now sixteen-year-old Anne, who has moved on to a new chapter of life as a schoolteacher, committee organizer, and a soon-to-be college student. She makes new friends, meets difficult obstacles, and matures as she learns how to overcome them. By the end of the book, Anne had gained a whole new perspective on life and friendships. I love this sentence at the end: 

"The page of girlhood had been turned, 

as if by an unseen finger, 

and the page of womanhood was before her, 

its charm and mystery, 

it's pain and gladness."

I got the impression that Marilla changed a bit as well. She wasn't as dry and sarcastic as she used to be, and there were a few moments when her tenderness really showed. She even went so far as to adopt a set of young twins when one of her relatives died, an undertaking which would certainly change her life and the complete atmosphere of Green Gables.

 I loved this book so much that I ended up reading it a second time when I finished it early! I am giving it a five-star rating, and I am so excited to continue the rest of the series! 

Have a lovely day!

 ~Megan ♥

2016 Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge: January Review

Happy February! Wowww, it's soo hard to believe that January is already done and past. I have my January report card and February Resolutions still to do, so there will be a little bit of rapid-fire posting this week! (I hope you don't mind. ;))

Thankfully, I was able to finish Anne of Green Gables! (actually, I'm kind of sad that it's over, but I'm looking forward to the rest!) This month is Anne of Avonlea! I was going to answer some discussion questions about the book, but I changed my mind and decided to just write my own review.

I'll start by saying that I love, love, LOVE this book!! *squeals*
I definitely enjoyed this book even more when I read it through slowly. I had missed several things when I read it the first time, and it was really cool to be able to read it again and pick up all the little details and hilarious quotes. I discovered so much more about different characters and their personalities. Through the whole book, I felt like I was there witnessing it all. It was so hard for me to take a break from reading it, and even harder when I realized that I finished it. I think the book is a really good introduction to what the rest of the series will be, and I'm really looking forward to reading the other books.

I realized that I had always viewed Marilla as a kind of  unfeeling woman, but the more I read the book, the more I saw that she had strong feelings and emotions.  She was not into showing strong emotion and giving a lot of complements (or, as she said it, "pampering vanity."). However, she loved Anne just as much as Matthew did, and she was just as proud of her. She was so worried about spoiling Anne that she shrank from expressing her feelings until much later.
Matthew, on the other hand, was not afraid of telling Anne just how much he cared for her.  He encouraged, supported, and cheered her on, even when she was "in the depths of despair." He was definitely a huge father figure in her childhood, and that really impacted her for a long time after he died.
Then there is Anne. I love her. Through the book, you see her transformation from an unwanted orphan to someone who both experiences and learns about friendship and love. This fiery, redheaded orphan girl has an imagination to span the galaxies, a quirky personality, and a rather overly-dramatic but hilarious way of expressing things. Yeah...I really like her. :)

There have been books that made me cry, books that made me laugh, and books that made me cringe, cast them aside, and vow never to lay eyes on their pages again. Anne of Green Gables did cause both laughter and tears, but I loved every second of it. It is hands-down one of my favorite books. I'm giving it a hearty five stars, and I would recommend it for every girl to read! Oh, and as for the guys reading this, you could read the book but I have serious doubts that you would enjoy it half as much... :p

                                                                                                      Have a lovely day!

   ~Megan ♥

*Read my last post here: Currently: Reading, Writing, and Ramblings

2016 Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge (introduction)

Happy New Year, everyone! Today I am going to post really quickly about the 2016 Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge! I posted a few weeks ago about doing this, and I am really excited about starting! 

The Challenge is hosted by Elyssa over at Purple Ink Studios, and to start off the year, I am going to be reading the first book, Anne of Green Gables. I will be reading one book a month, and I will do a review and discussion questions at the end of each month. Since there are only nine books, it will be really nice to have a few extra months of breathing room in case I fall behind, or even if I need to take a break. 
With that being said, Elyssa also has a post with her guidelines and schedule for how she will be doing the challenge. Her setup for the challenge is really good, so I definitely recommend checking it out! She has also included a few discussion questions (which I will be answering), and a free printable! 
As I mentioned before, I am really looking forward to this challenge, and I hope you are too! If you are planning on participating, the hashtag for this challenge is #ayearinavonlea. Have fun!
Much love, and a Happy New Year to you all! 

 ~Megan ♥         

*Read my last post here: DIY: How to personalize your own journals                 

2016 Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge

I love Anne of Green Gables. If you know me well, you probably know that this book series is my favorite of all time. I have read most of the series in the past, but recently I had the thought that I should read them all again. I mean, reading books is always something I'm open to, but never really take the time for. I am hoping to be able to get back into reading books more next year, and this is a great opportunity to do that!

I found this challenge over at Purple Ink Studios , and I was really excited about it! Basically, I'm committing to reading all nine of the Anne of Green Gables books in 2016. Normally, I read books very fast...especially if it's a book that is really good. However, I really want to read these over slowly, taking notes and such as I go. I may end up posting some book reviews on each one as well, but I'm not sure about that yet. We will have to see how it goes! :)

As I mentioned before, there are nine books in the series: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside, and The Blithe's are Quoted.  
I have not read Rilla of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, or The Blithes are Quoted. Apparently The Blithes are Quoted was published later on, and I had never heard of it! I'm really looking forward to finding and reading it!   

I am beyond excited for this challenge! Not only do I get to read my favorite book series of all time, but I get to set goals and work towards accomplishing them, which is something that I really love to do. 

So, with all of that being said, it's your turn! This challenge is open to everyone who wants to do it, so if you have a blog, you can comment below with a link to your own post. If you don't have a blog, but still want to do the challenge, just comment below and let me know! Let's do this together! :)  

*More details in the original post

   ~Megan ♥