Anne of Avonlea

SPOILER ALERT:
I'm reviewing the Anne of Green Gables series, and it is now time for the second book, Anne of Avonlea. But be warned - if you haven't read the first book yet, this post may have spoilers (for the first book, not the second.) Unless you prefer to read them out of order which is NOT something I do. I hate reading books out of order. I feel like I'm always missing information. Anyway, if you don't like spoilers and reading a series out of order, don't read this post.

Anne of Avonlea picks up where Anne of Green Gables leaves off. Anne is now 16 and has a teaching job. She and Gilbert are now friends, there is a new, grumpy neighbor, and Anne tries her hand at matchmaking after meeting a lovely old maid named Miss Lavendar. Marilla and Anne also adopt a pair of twins named Davy and Dora.

I love all Anne books, but I do think that some are better than others, and this is probably one of my favorites. It's filled with more beautiful quotes, such as: "Isn't this a day left over from Eden?" and "After all, I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those in which anything 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 has this talent for putting feelings into words that I wish I had, but unfortunately lack. The last quote sort of sums up that feeling of a summer's day in which there are "little pleasures" such as going swimming and getting ice cream with friends. It gives the impression that there are different kinds of happiness, like the happiness after a pleasant day that Anne describes, and the happiness after you've found out you're going to Disney World. Anne of Avonlea is funny, too. Anne hasn't quite grown out of getting into ridiculous scrapes yet, and with the twins (especially Davy) getting into their own situations, there are lots of hilarious accidents.

Most of the Anne books I wouldn't recommend for people who like a lot of chases and general excitement, because they might be bored with it, but hey! It never hurts to try new things! I never thought I would like Anne of Green Gables, but I got them for Christmas when I was about 12, and I've read the entire series about six or seven times (don't judge, it's my favorite books.)

Anne of Green Gables

For my first post I thought I'd do my most favorite book in the entire world...Anne of Green Gables!

Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery, is about an orphan girl named Anne Shirley who is adopted by siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. When she arrives in the village of Avonlea, she turns it upside down with her vivid imagination and knack for getting into scrapes. Throughout the book, Anne meets her best friend,  Diana Barry, the gossiping old neighbor, Mrs. Lynde, and the mischievous Gilbert Blythe. Anne of Green Gables takes place in a fictional town called Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, in Canada. In real life, Avonlea is actually Cavendish, P. E. I., where the author, L. M. Montgomery, grew up. Green Gables, the house that Anne comes to live in, is actually Montgomery's cousin's house, and still exists today as a museum dedicated to the book series (It is one of my dreams to go see this place and all the things that are described in the book!)

This is my favorite book, as I have already mentioned! I just love the character of Anne. Her imagination inspires me so much to enjoy the little things and the beauty of nature. I love the story as well. The situations that Anne manages to get into are pretty funny! There are also many quotes that I agree with. Here are a few that apply to my life, at least:

"Isn't it nice that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

"It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will."

"I couldn't live where there were no trees -- something vital in me would starve."

Pretty much all of those are very true for me, especially the last one. In fact, once I tried the advice of making up my mind firmly to enjoy the dentist...as much as I could. Turns out, that day they decided to play Disney music at the dentist (and I loooooooove Disney,) so even if the cleaning was disagreeable, I sang every word of the songs while I waited. And I didn't care if the little kids saw a big kid like me nailing every word to "You're Welcome" from Moana!😜

In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend Anne of Green Gables to anyone who thrives on suspense and thrill. I've recommended this book to a few people who didn't like reading as much as I did, and they thought it was boring (at the time, my brain couldn't compute this.) So I would recommend this to someone who loves reading as much as I do, or who love beautiful images rather than thrills and chills.