Litsy

Can‘t wait to dig into my #AuldLangSpine list from @Amiable ! I read and liked 9, 10, 12, and 15 and can tell I‘m in good hands! 2, 3, and 13 were at least in the precontemplation phase of the TBR, so they‘re getting bumped up. 1 is totally new to me but looks great, and 6 is one I encountered awhile back but had forgotten about. Several others look like winners as well! Thanks @monalyisha for a great match!

Soubhiville The Correspondent is showing up on so many lists! 8h

Amiable Have you read “Stoner” by John Williams? I read it a few years ago and LOVED it. “The Stone Diaries” had similar vibes, only from a female point of view. (Also? Read “Stoner” if you haven‘t yet!) 5h

fredthemoose @Amiable I don‘t think I‘ve ever heard of Stoner, but I‘ll add that to the list as well! Thanks! 5h

Deblovestoread Had to screen shot Amy‘s list. They are always varied and fantastic. @Amiable (edited) 2h

28 likes4 comments

monalyisha

The Ghost Orchard | Helen Humphreys

I had a great reading month! Two of these made my #AuldLangSpine list (Women & Other Monsters, which most of my IRL book club was disappointed in, so…caution), & The Ten Year Affair. Thematically, 10 Year & All 4s are very similar…but I preferred 10 Year, which is far less experimental (which I suppose makes it more “boring”), but still very funny!

If I‘d had room, I would‘ve added The Ghost Orchard to my list, too. So good.

monalyisha On a tangentially-related note, I won‘t be running the kids‘ fantasy book club at the library in the New Year, so I won‘t have the juv titles mucking up my stats and graphics. 😅 Aesthetically, it‘s been driving me nuts! 🙈 Lost Evangeline was 100% for me, though. I love children‘s literature; I just don‘t always love choosing titles for myself that are intended to appeal greatly to a wide range of 10-year-olds. 1d

shortsarahrose I loved Women and Other Monsters but definitely understand why not everyone would like it. The combo of cultural criticism and memoir is just a form that works well for me! 1d

monalyisha #AWreads2025 14h

55 likes1 stack add3 comments

lauraisntwilder

Emily's Quest | L.M. Montgomery

pick

I finished this reread over the weekend, the weakest of the series. But I still like it. Teddy Kent reminds me of my own childhood crush (reader, I married him), so it's easy for me to overlook some of the book's faults.

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Lindy

Uiesh / Somewhere | Jos�phine Bacon

Cake for breakfast. Looking forward to starting this GG winner from Innu Elder Joséphine Bacon today. #Indigenous #Canadian #WomenInTranslation

TrishB That looks like a fine breakfast! 3d

Lindy @TrishB I‘m leaning heavily on rice, lentils and vegetables for supper. 😉 3d

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thebacklistbook

Deck the Halls: A Canadian Christmas Carol | Helaine Becker

Tree status report. With lights on.

TheBookHippie Yay!!!! 🎄🎄🎄 3d

dabbe ♥️🎄💚 3d

15 likes2 comments

LitsyEvents

Christmas with Anne: And Other Holiday Stories | L. M. Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsChristmas will begin in ONE week! Join us to read a daily cozy holiday story from L.M. Montgomery.
The schedule is above. Most (but not all) of the stories are available in the tagged book, and as we go, I'll post links to where you can read stories online. All are welcome!
Comment if you're not tagged and you'd like to be on @BarbaraJean post just follow the hashtag.

Born.A.Reader Ooh I'd like to join! This book is in my annual Christmas books 📚 any way. 😍 5d

BarbaraJean @Born.A.Reader Yay! I‘ll add you to the tag list! 5d

29 likes1 stack add2 comments

BarbaraJean

Christmas with Anne: And Other Holiday Stories | L. M. Montgomery

A #KindredSpiritsChristmas will begin in ONE week! Join us to read a daily cozy holiday story from L.M. Montgomery. The schedule is above. Most (but not all) of the stories are available in the tagged book, and as we go, I‘ll post links to where you can read stories online. All are welcome! Comment if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be.

Jerdencon, JenlovesJT47, AnneCecilie, lauraisntwilder, monalyisha, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents, julieclair

JenlovesJT47 Yay! ♥️💚♥️ 5d

Jerdencon Just downloaded the book! 5d

julieclair Looking forward to the coziness! 5d

30 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily's Quest | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Emily‘s Quest discussion - 4/4

“‘The Murray pride,‘ whispered Mrs. Kent, staring at her.
‘After all, Emily Starr, I believe pride is a stronger passion with you than love.‘
‘Perhaps,‘ said Emily, smiling.”

What role do you see Emily‘s pride playing in her relationships with Teddy and Ilse?
Do you agree with Mrs. Kent, that pride is a stronger passion for Emily than love?

#LMMReread

lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I completely think pride is Emily's primary characteristic. But I actually think it may have been LMM's as well, so it checks out. Emily does and says so many things based on “what people will think.“ I can somewhat understand her interactions with Teddy - fearing that her feelings are more serious than his - but she still allows pride to override her desire to be with him. 4d

TheAromaofBooks As a side note, I was also disappointed in the way that Ilse and Emily's friendship just sort of disappeared here. I understand that it's part of growing up, but it felt like Emily purposefully refused to say anything of her true feelings to Ilse - again, because of pride - and it felt strange that they could be the best friends in the world!!! and neither of them even knew that the other liked either of the boys that they also were close to?? 4d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Oh, I hadn't thought about that pride connection with LMM! But YES, that rings true in so many ways. And I agree about Emily and Ilse's friendship. Ilse is so clueless as to what's going on with Emily, I think partly because she's kind of oblivious to emotional nuances... but also, Emily withholds SO much out of pride. Plot-wise, the withholding is necessary since the resulting misunderstanding is central to the conflict here ⬇ 2d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...but it's so sad to me that their friendship becomes just this surface shell of what it was when they were younger. All four were such chums growing up... I really liked their little group. They seemed so well-matched. And the way they all withhold their true feelings breaks that up on all sides. Except for Perry. Good old Perry. 2d

25 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily's Quest | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Emily‘s Quest discussion 3/4:

Emily‘s writing is a key theme (if not THE key theme) in the Emily books. What did you think of how LMM chose to flesh out Emily‘s writing career in this final book of the trilogy?

Do you think Emily‘s writing was overshadowed by the themes of romance and the back-and-forth with Teddy and Dean in this book?

#LMMReread

lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks

lauraisntwilder I think I might think the writing part was overshadowed by the romance, if Anne had ever gotten anywhere with her writing. Just in comparison to Anne, Emily's writing seems so important. 5d

TheAromaofBooks If anything, I think Emily's writing is held back by her own pride and ambitions. She doesn't sacrifice her writing for Dean - she does so because she thinks it's not good enough. And I actually don't get the impression that she is going to stop writing after she marries Teddy, because he understands how important it is to her. (Unlike Dean, ironically.) However, I think the STORY somewhat gets overshadowed by focusing on Emily's romance instead ⬇ 4d

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) of her writing - I feel like the main plot of Emily would be summarized by her choose between two men rather than her spending her time writing. And maybe part of the problem is that LMM wanted to write about a woman who wants to write, but her publishers/readers want to read about a woman finding love? And consequently this book feels a little compromise-y. 4d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Yeah, Emily's writing is so central to who she is, while writing never seems central to Anne. Emily can't NOT write! That still comes across even though there's so much romance drama in this book. @TheAromaofBooks I think you're right that the story in this book specifically shifts its focus to the romance. This book overall is super uneven, and I agree--it feels like a compromise between who LMM envisioned Emily to be ⬇ 2d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...and what her publisher/readers wanted the book to be. In her journals, when she was discussing the first or second Emily book, she mentioned something about how she couldn't write the romance the way she wanted to, either. I'm SO curious what these three books would have been like if LMM had been able to free herself from the “what would people think“ inhibitions! 2d

21 likes5 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily's Quest | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Emily‘s Quest discussion 2/4:

LMM‘s comments in her journals about Emily‘s Quest indicate she found it difficult to write, and thought it was “no good.”

Do you think her writing difficulties show in the novel? If so, in what ways?
Do you agree with her assessment that it‘s “no good”? What do you see as the book‘s weaknesses?

#LMMReread

lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I'll drop a little reminder here for @TheAromaofBooks and @lauraisntwilder that we'll be finishing up Vol. 6 of the journals this week! 5d

lauraisntwilder I don't think it's "no good," but I can see why she saw it as a decline in quality. But also, she didn't want to write it, so how could she love it? 5d

TheAromaofBooks I'm obviously not a fan of this book, so I tried to think about it a little more objectively, as a piece of writing and not just a story. I wouldn't say that it's “no good“ but I can see why LMM felt frustrated by it. Like @lauraisntwilder pointed out, she didn't particularly want to write this book, and I wonder if, perhaps subconsciously, some of her resentment comes through, by giving Emily a hard time and a somewhat ambiguous ending. 4d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks Right?! It had to be frustrating to write a book she didn't want to write. In her journals she talks about hating having to write “to order,“ and she doesn't mean these books specifically, but I think that feeling shows in some of her sequels (especially the later add-on Anne books, like Anne of Ingleside). I agree, I don't think it's “no good,“ but I can understand why she felt that way. And it's not AS good! 2d

20 likes4 comments

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