When Chautona Havig announced an Anne of Green Gables themed reading challenge for October, I knew I had to participate. Chautona and her daughter came up with eight prompts and a free space. I managed to read a book for each of the spaces and black out my card. Here are the books I read. . .
- “Call me Anne with an E” (a book starting with the letter E) Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn features an island nation devoted to Nevin Nollop and his famous pangram “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” As a result, an entire island focuses on education and writes lengthy epistles to each other. When one of the tiles falls off the memorial, the council decides Nollop wishes people to no longer use that letter. As the book progresses, more letters become banned, epistles shorten, and people become banished. I enjoyed seeing the letters go from erudite to barely comprehensible gibberish.
- “Kindred Spirits” (if you liked. . . you’ll like. . .) Nothing Else but Miracles by Kate Albus. Chautona claimed this book reminded her of Anne when she first came to Green Gables. Dory and her brothers do their best to keep their family together while their father fights in WWII. I did not like this book as much as A Place to Hang the Moon. Dory did too much sneaking for my comfort. Also, Albus teased us with something the characters did not know and never found out during the book.
- “I suppose it was a romantic way to perish” (someone dies) Written Off by Barbara Cornthwaite is the third book it the Wilkester Mysteries series. While I gave the first two books in the series five stars, I did not enjoy this book quite that much. I liked the concept of the mystery stories which include details of crimes showing up in Katrina’s piles of papers to grade. I think some of Katrina’s choices do not fit in with the character I got to know in the other books.
- “I love a book that makes me cry” (a tear-jerker) Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery. Books do not actually make me cry. Several people have claimed this book made them cry, so I thought it would fit this prompt. Rilla really grew as a character throughout the book. Some of the parts were sad, but the book still did not make me cry.
- “Graveyard of buried hopes” (a spooky book) The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright tells the story of women vanishing near a castle built in the woods in the Midwest. The spooky atmosphere of the book made it a perfect read for October. One problem I have with Wright’s books is her tendency to focus on physical attraction between characters too much. I would rather read more words dedicated the mysteries.
- “No mistakes” (a character gets a fresh start) Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster reveals the growth of Jerusha “Judy” Abbott as she goes from orphan teen to educated young lady. A member of the board of trustees at the orphanage where she grew up pays for Judy to attend college for four years. I enjoyed the first couple of years, but I liked her less as she went through her last two years.
- “When your imaginations come true” (sci-fi or fantasy) Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney by Daniel Schwabauer follows a down-on-her-luck personal claims lawyer as she becomes embroiled in schemes of intergalactic proportions. It took me a while to get into this book. I think the synopsis gave away way too much of the plot. I did not like Maxine as a character and did not care about the scrapes she got herself into. I think I am becoming a person who just does not like books which feature a lawyer as a main character.
- “Life is worth living as long as there’s a laugh in it” (comedy) The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith chronicles the everyday life of the main character. I just did not catch the dry, British humor. The main character just seemed to be a bit of a sob to me.
- “I’m so glad we live in a world with Anne-tobers” (free space) The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner follows sisters Flossie (13) and Bertha (16) as they navigate young womanhood while their father is investigated as a potential Communist. While the bulk of the story focuses on Bertha and her quest to join an all-women’s baseball team, Flossie steals the show sometimes. She reminds me so much of Anne in the first Green Gables book. I enjoyed the book, but it could have been stronger on Christian elements. The book also ended rather abruptly, but I suppose that matches with the events in the story.