August 2023 book review

Well, once again I managed to only finish one book in the month. I am still working on the last of the LOTR trilogy and am about a third of the way done with the actual story part of The Return of the King.

I realized that almost half the book is dedicated to Appendixes and added information, which I plan to read. However, I was delighted to see that I am close to finishing the actual story. This spurred me on, because as I have mentioned before, I can only read small portions of this and still sleep at night.

Fiction is rarely my friend.

So as a kind of break, I picked up the second in the Anne of Green Gables series and read that this month. I also started a book about Newfoundland, so hoping I have that and the LOTR to report on AT LEAST for next month!

Here are some thoughts from Anne of Avonlea.

This next book follows Anne through her first two years of teaching at the one room school house in Avonlea. It is bizarre to think that she was their teacher as she was only a teenager herself. The end of the book finds 18 year old Anne headed off to college and leaving Avonlea for a time.

I am trying to imagine in our culture how schools would be taught by what we consider high school aged children. Ironically, the twins that she and her adopted “mom” Marilla take in are kept home until age seven to begin their schooling. All very different to our approach of learning in school.

As with the first book, I loved the descriptions of the scenery and personalities of the area and it makes me want to visit Prince Edward Island. So that has been added to the bucket list. I also laugh again at the way Anne converses and how her mind jumps around. I can relate.

There were so many great passages in the writing. Some were poignant and some were just so excellent in the wording.

One of the ones I jotted down was in regard to a suspected problem student that Anne was going to have in class. Adult friends were projecting doom and gloom for her with this little trouble maker, but Anne was determined to win him over.

Her response to the naysayers was,

“Everything that’s worth having is some trouble.”
Anne of Avonlea, L.M. Montgomery, Bantam Books reissue 1992 (originally published 1909) Pg 69

Oh my.

How very true.

If you think of it, children, relationships, home owning, gardening, pets, faith journeys…all worth having…all come with some trouble.

The other thing I noted as I was reading was a page where the copywriter missed the e at the end of Anne. I was reading along and suddenly was lost in confusion wondering who the Ann without an e was.

It was still Anne…just a little typo.

It made me feel better about the mistakes I drop more often than I like.

So there you have my grand contribution for the month of August.

Here’s to better time management and increased focus for what I can offer you in September.

What is your secret for getting more reading in? I would love to know. Do you have set times and how do you increase your reading speed?

I have a tendency to go back over a paragraph a couple of times if I like the way it was worded.

Also, I feel like reading is a luxury that can only be indulged in after all the work is done, and all the work is never done! Hence the photo above…because I seem to be more on the run than sitting in a chair reading <3

Send me your thoughts, friends!

Thanks and have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!!!

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