L.M. Montgomery

[ladyjune98]

I am a big fan of L.M. Montgomery's books, and have read all of the Anne of Green Gables books, Emily of New Moon books, and many others. I've been collecting them and as many are out of print I have had to turn to eBay. I tend to like her novels and series better than her short stories, which hit me as being overly sentimental (okay, okay, so the books all are too, but each ten-page short story is packed with as much sentiment as an entire novel) and very similar to each other. I am especially fond of Jane of Lantern Hill (which is out of print, so I got it off eBay, and then the next week accidentally dropped it in a puddle!) and The Blue Castle.

Does anyone else like Montgomery? What are your favorite books and stories by her?

 

[Word_Addict]

I love Montgomery as well. Have you read her book The Tangled Web? It is a little different from the bulk of her work, but it is a fun read. I love her portrayal of the idiosyncrasies of two family branches.

 

[Clementine13]

I like Montogomery. My best friend and I were so obsessed with the Anne of Green Gables books in sixth grade; we would name people in our class characters who were similar to them. And she was Anne and I was Diana. Although we are both freshman now and not very close, we still talk about those days.
I have read only her Anne series and I thought it was so great. It was just the thing I needed: light, emotional, romance, etc. She's ntot my favorite author but certainly is one of my most loved. Whenever I think of her books, I think of myself in sixth grade and how different things were. (Yes, I know sixth grade is not that far away, but it seems like it is.)
I'm planning on visiting P.E.I. in the future, but don't know if it will actually happen and when. But maybe one day I'll go there and revisit the past.

 

[ladyjune98]

Have you read her book The Tangled Web? It is a little different from the bulk of her work, but it is a fun read. I love her portrayal of the idiosyncrasies of two family branches.

Yes! My favorite memory of that book is when my grandfather came to visit us once, he was so bored that he picked up this book, which was lying around, and read all of it! He started on Emily of New Moon next, but looked so miserable that my mom took mercy on him and found something else for him. That has nothing to do with the book, though.

I love the way Montgomery creates extended families, like in A Tangled Web. They have so much character--the individuals and the families, too. I also like the oppressive extended family in The Blue Castle. We people today could learn a thing or to from the clan pride in Montgomery's books.

 

[Word_Addict]

I read a variety of books, but when I am in the mood for something similar to Montgomery or Alcott, I have a difficult time looking for books. Do you have any recommendations?
By the way, you might like the author Robin McKinley. I love her writing style, simplistic yet full of imagery and well-drawn characters.

 

[ladyjune98]

I read a variety of books, but when I am in the mood for something similar to Montgomery or Alcott, I have a difficult time looking for books. Do you have any recommendations?
By the way, you might like the author Robin McKinley. I love her writing style, simplistic yet full of imagery and well-drawn characters.

I've never found anything quite like Montgomery, but here are some of my favorite books that have elements in common with her stories:

Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The true story of a family with twelve children. It's hilarious.

The All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot. True stories of a Yorkshire vet. Also hilarious.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. A book of letters exchanged between characters. They live on an island where the government keeps outlawing the use of different letters. Very clever.

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. I loved this book about the same time I started getting into the Anne of Green Gables books, in about sixth grade. It's about a girl who overcomes her hateful mother to go to school. She earns her way by catching and selling moths to the Bird Woman.

By the way, I love Robin McKinley, especially Spindle's End. Any other recommendations for me?

 

[Word_Addict]

The only book by James Herriot that I remember reading is a picture book--I read it long ago. Something about a Christmas kitten...
Cheaper by the Dozen--I love that one.
You might like Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett. It is a lovely "quiet" book, and after reading it, I was instantly possessed of a desire to visit New England. One of these days.
Also, Eva Moves the Furniture is a good book, different, but good. I fell in love with it after reading the first few pages.
Frank R. Stockton is a lesser-known short story writer. He is known mainly for his story "The Lady or the Tiger."
Lastly, before I weary you further, I appease my romantic side with Betty Neels and Grace Livingston Hill. They are conservative compared to mainstream romance and not overly dramatic. But with any type of romance, you either love 'em or hate 'em.

 

[Herenya]

I've read all the Anne books, and the Emily books and a few others. I think the Blue Castle is my favourite (I believe this was the book and I sat down and read it three times in one go!) I like Emily much better than Anne, too. Anne could be infuriating at times...

 

[tartan_skirt]

I read Anne of Green Gables a few years back, for me it was hard to get into at the start but after a while I really enjoyed it. Thats all I've read though...

Umm... theres more than one Anne of Green Gables book?

 

[Clementine13]

Umm... theres more than one Anne of Green Gables book?

Yeah, there's more than one Anne of Green Gables book. There's actually eight. The first three are Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island. Don't worry, I didn't know there were eight books at first either.

 

[ladyjune98]

Umm... theres more than one Anne of Green Gables book?

Clementine is right. There are eight. They take Anne through childhood, school, college, university, work, marriage, and children. I actually grew with Anne. I was only interested in the first book when I was a child. When I went to college, I was very interested in the second and third books, where she goes to college and university. After I graduated, I was very interested in the book where she works (teaching school). Now that I'm a newlywed, I'm pretty interested in the fifth book, where she is married. I think every girl and women should have access to the full set of Anne books.

 

[ladyjune98]

Thanks for the recommendations, Word Addict. I'll add them to my to-read list.

 

[Bookworm88]

This thread is one of the reasons I love having joined this forum. I looked through the threads for an author I recognized, and discovered a bunch of names of other books that I now have to find. I loved the Anne of Green Gables books. I listened to the Audiobook versions of the first three or four, and then the library didn't have the audio books of any of the rest.

 

[Idril Silmaure]

I grew up with Anne and I absolutely LOVE L.M. Montgomery! The Emily books are great too, has anyone ever seen the television series of them? I don't think it was overly popular, but I watched it and actually thought it was quite good. That was years ago now, though.

 

[direstraits]

I loved Anne of Green Gables the TV series starring Megan Follows. I had taped it and rewatched it countless times. It's a lovely story.

Then I found that it was based on books.

I didn't go out of my way to get them, but I did get a free copy of House of Dreams as an ebook. Unfortunately, I hated it. It's probably not the story, but the writing that did (or didn't do) it for me. I couldn't stay with the story, the narrative was too all-over-the-place and dialogue was hard to follow.

ds

 

[Mafalda]

Lucy Maud Montgomery is one of my favorite Authors. When I was a child I saw the TV Series starring Megan Follows. Then my mother bought a german copy of "Anne of Green Gables" for me. I've read this book a thousand times . Later I got all translated copys of the Anne Series, which doesn't include rainbow valley.

Now I've the Anne Series completely in english, and also the Emily series. But I haven't read the Emily Series yet.

 

[Mafalda]

I didn't go out of my way to get them, but I did get a free copy of House of Dreams as an ebook. Unfortunately, I hated it. It's probably not the story, but the writing that did (or didn't do) it for me. I couldn't stay with the story, the narrative was too all-over-the-place and dialogue was hard to follow.

Maybe this happend because Anne's House of Dreams isn't the first book of the series. It's useful to read the Anne books in order. Here is the first one: Anne of Green Gables at gutenberg.org

 

[Prairie_Girl]

When I was a little girl my mom and dad taped the Megan Fallows mini-series for me when it aired. I still have the tape close to 20 years later, and yes it still works. I also own all the Anne books, though the only one I've read over and over is the first one. It's beautiful and wonderful and I love it. I've never read anything else by her though, maybe I should pick up on of the Emily books when I need something light.

 

[Mafalda]

I've never read anything else by her though, maybe I should pick up on of the Emily books when I need something light.

Same here. The Emily series are on my shelf, but so far I haven't read them.