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Special hardcover classic copy

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I’m a proud book nerd: the kind of book lover who clorox wipes the front cover of books and then use packing tape to make it genuinely mine. Many a books have been damaged due to this, but no matter. I love them that way.

Last month we started listening to Anne of Green Gables on Audible, and it was a fabulous experience for us. Anne is so dramatic, spunky, assertive, loyal, and an empathic character. It made me sad that my first reading of this heart warming book was a nightmare in 7th grade.

I was a late bloomer in school and my English teacher despised me, or so it seemed. She knew I was struggling to keep up but that was all the acknowledgment I got from her. If your English skills stinks, diagramming sentences and writing book reports are pure nightmare assignments. It was a humiliating experience to sit in silence for long periods after she asked me a question. I thought, ‘she’ll get tired of waiting and move on.’

“My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.” 

As an adult I can truly enjoy the story and characters than when I was a middle school student sweating over the long chapters and feeling helpless with the list of study questions she assigned us.

It’s better now. I’ve moved on from that unspectacular experience!

“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

Categories: books

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singlikewildflowers

Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!

19 replies ›

  1. I love ❤️ Anne of Green Gables! I just read it for the first time last year. I’d only ever seen the movies. It’s such a great book!!
    Who narrated the audible version you listened to?

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    1. I’m glad you got to read the book! It’s well written and Anne’s character so lovely. I didn’t think my kids would like it but they love how she spoke dramatically. The narrator is Mary Sarah by Trout Lake Media. Hope you get to check it out…she tells the story well!

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  2. Hi! I enjoyed the way you reflected back on the middle school experience and used little quotes to move the post along
    Well done
    And I have not really taped books but inside them down and I also write in them and fold
    Back the pages.

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  4. I hated diagramming sentences in school – what a waste of time in my opinion.
    I read the “Anne of Green Gables” series long ago – L.M. Montgomery was a Canadian and a big deal in Canada so likely most Canadians have read the series. There was a TV series about Anne as well. A fellow WP blogger, also a Canadian, likes L.M. Montgomery and has blogged about her several times. I know you don’t have much spare time, but maybe it can be part of a lesson plan to accompany listening to the book on Audible for you and the kids.
    Here is a link to the first and second blog posts:
    Part 1: https://thehomeplaceweb.com/2021/05/20/anne-of-green-gables-the-original-manuscript/
    Part 2: https://thehomeplaceweb.com/2021/05/27/the-journals-of-l-m-montgomery-author-of-anne-of-green-gables/

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    1. I recently realized that the author was Canadian. I keep forgetting that you grew up in Canada…doh! this terrible memory of mine.
      I’ll check out her blog. Learning about L.M. Montgomery and talking about the characters has been fun for all of us; it’s still ongoing and the Audible version is fantastic.

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      1. I’ve never tried Audible – I look forward to retirement (whenever it is, hopefully soon) to resume reading which was something I really enjoyed. I was an avid reader when I worked downtown because I took the bus and read on the bus for years. Yes, I thought maybe it was a teaching aid for you, or simply for you to enjoy the posts and info.

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      3. lol…I accidentally posted the comment without finishing. I started Audible last fall after the whole hospital bouts with Ellis. Our writing curriculum recommends read alouds, and I had no energy to do that. A teacher recommended Audible as a teaching device and it’s done wonders for us.
        I thought it might be a short term thing, but it’s working out well. You can sample part of a book before purchasing and if you’re a member you get a lot of books to choose from.
        I hope you try Audible soon. You can get a trial period for free on Amazon and libraries offer some free audible books. I can imagine how much you read while taking the bus. Good way to spend the commute time. Thank goodness you didn’t get motion sickness!
        We recently listened to Matilda read by Kate Winslet and Pippi Longstocking my Esther Benson. So good!!

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      4. I remember Pippi Longstocking from my youth, but had to Google Matilda as that was not something I read or knew about. So you can turn the Kindle or e-reader on for all of you to hear it at the same time then? Very interesting. I hear the ads for Audible on the radio. I worked with a woman years ago and her father was blind and they used to get him recorded books to read – this was long before Audible was popular. That sounds like a great way to read. I have a couple of Rubbermaid tubs in the basement of pocketbooks my mom and I bought and she read, but I have not yet … it will be for retirement. I read one book at New Year’s weekend, but started another book last Fall with the intention of reading one chapter a night … ask how far I get with that?

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  5. Hi Esther – I just sent you a couple of posts in a comment to read about L.M. Montgomery – I think you, as a “book nerd” will like these posts from fellow blogger Joni.

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      1. You’re welcome Esther … I know you will enjoy these two posts since you enjoyed the “Anne story” – you’ll get to them in your spare time of which you have NONE!

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      2. Linda, how do you know?! Spare time feels like guilty stolen time. When I do something for myself reading, napping, or being on the computer, the guilt takes over. I have this unexpressed expectation that I always need to be mommy.
        I’ve had terrible allergies today so I had time to just be. I did check out those two links. Learned a lot about the backstory of L.M. Montgomerey’s sad marriage and troubled motherhood with one of her sons. What a difference from the optimistic and lovely Anne character she created.

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      3. I found the story of L.M. Montgomery interesting too Esther. After you read the Anne character – she did write brilliantly. I have just heard this morning that climate change will continue to make seasonal allergies worse very year. Great. I contacted the allergist and will go next Thursday to resume shots. It used to be a drop-in basis and had been like that since 1975 when I began. After COVID, they started doing appointments. I don’t like that as in the Winter I only went if it was clear outside – not going out in ice and snow for shots for Spring allergies. And in 2020-2021 Winter we had no vaccinations available yet, so I suspended my shots; I did the same thing this Winter as the Omicron virus was surging. So they dilute my serum and I have to build back up to just once a month again. I may suspend appointments every Winter … they know I don’t like to drive, but I always return in Spring. I could walk it as it’s only four miles round trip, but the cars go speeding by at 55 mph +.

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  6. I’m pleased you are enjoying the Audible version of Anne of Green Gables. I love that quote on the back of the book. It’s so true. I’m sorry you had that horrible experience in school, though. There wasn’t much laughter in that.

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    1. You’re right…not much laughter in my first read of Anne of Green Gables nor a good memory of it. Glad I revisited the story with Audible and reading a copy of it; would’ve missed out otherwise.
      It’s a wonderful story. One of my blogger friends shared a link with me about the backstory of Anne. You may be interested. L.M. Montgomery had a difficult married and mothering life. Such a contrast from her happy Anne character. https://thehomeplaceweb.com/2021/05/27/the-journals-of-l-m-montgomery-author-of-anne-of-green-gables/

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