Anne of Green Gables...can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner

One of my reading goals this year is to read more classics. So far, I’ve read two…which is pretty good, I think. Three, if you count Midnight’s Children as a modern classic (I do – I have thoughts on that book for another time). So I guess three is the right number. I have an actual list of classical titles I want to read this year and slowly but surely, I am checking them off. But today I am here to talk about one in particular, and that is Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

The first thing I would like to say about this book is that I can’t believe I never read it as a child or teenager. What on earth was I thinking?! I absolutely loved this story for multiple reasons.

Anne is D. R. A. M. A. T. I. C. and I am here for it. Weren’t we all a little melodramatic as preteens? Weren’t we all prone to absolutely ridiculous statements of our imagination? No? Just me? Okay. I felt that this novel was beautifully descriptive and have a lovely and whimsical sense of place.The writing is just plain good.

There were so many times that I stopped and wrote down quotes, but my favorite was this: “If you have big ideas then you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?” Yes, girl. Yes you do.

Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of relatability with Anne due to the fact that she was an orphan, passed around from family to family before accidentally landing one that kept her; she lived in the early 1900s; she lived on a farm; the list could go on. But I did relate to her on a creative level. I remember my own childhood imagination and saw that in her character, and I was endeared by her, charmed by her. She was a voracious reader, as was I. She loved flowers and make-believe, as did I. She was simply the cutest, as was I. (JUST KIDDING)

I am extremely glad that I read this book and will probably read it again, or even pick up the next in the series (because YAS there are more). But for now, I am going to leave you with this little synopsis and final thoughts:

Anne Shirley is an unwanted orphan that is reluctantly taken in by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. Wildly creative and a little bewildering to them, eventually she wins their hearts and settles in to find her place in Green Gables. In time she meets Diana, her best friend, and attends school, where she experiences the timeless trials and tribulations of school children. We watch her grow from a scrawny girl to a young woman and observe her navigate situations we have all found in our own lives. Her dramatic personality and vivid imagination help you to see what she sees, be where she is. LM Montgomery has captured the love of many readers, mine included, in this fiery young woman. This title is appropriate for young readers, but I highly recommend to adults as well. It may take you back, flinging you into nostalgia as it did for me.

alright, go read something delightful! Here’s a snap of Monkey enjoying the beautiful day that I took the book photo.