KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery | Melanie Fishbane

repost for @BarbaraJean:

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead: Summer Edition! In June, we‘ll be reading Maud, YA historical fiction based on LMM‘s teenage years. Then we‘ll tackle Mary Henley Rubio‘s biography of LMM over July & August, with discussions at the midpoint and at the end of the book.

All are welcome—let me know if you‘d like to join in for either or both books!

#BuddyRead
original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2592644

30 likes

BarbaraJean

Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery | Melanie Fishbane

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead: Summer Edition! In June, we‘ll be reading Maud, YA historical fiction based on LMM‘s teenage years. Then we‘ll tackle Mary Henley Rubio‘s biography of LMM over July & August, with discussions at the midpoint and at the end of the book.

I currently have @megnews @Bkwrm7 @lauraisntwilder and @Prairiegirl_reading on the tag list for Maud in June. All are welcome—let me know if you‘d like to join in for either or both books!

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Linsy, Jerdencon, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, AnneCecilie, Centique, StayCurious, kwmg40, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents, julieclair

julieclair Please add me to the tag list for June! Thanks! 2d

BarbaraJean @julieclair I‘ve added you—great to have you on board for June! 2d

TheAromaofBooks I think I will be skipping in June, but will be back for the July/August read!! 1d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks 👍 I've got you down for Gift of Wings in July/August! 1d

35 likes4 comments

lauraisntwilder

Ana of California | Andi Teran

pick

I thought this was a good reimagining of Anne of Green Gables. There were some familiar moments and situations, but the story was fresh. There were quite a few characters that were either completely new or drastically different. Having it be a unique story, rather than just a retelling, made me more invested in how things would turn out. #kindredspiritsbuddyread

15 likes

BarbaraJean

Ana of California | Andi Teran

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Ana of California discussion - part 5 or just a bonus question/comment because I have to ask…

Seriously, what was up with the bear?! I spent way too much time trying to figure out how its paw could look like this, and how a full-grown bear could be hidden behind a man, unnoticed. And its later role in the story felt out of place and far-fetched. What did you make of the bear?!

Bkwrm7, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

julieclair The bear thing was so bizarre! It felt like we jumped into magical realism every time the bear appeared. But I am glad he was a kindly bear! 🐻😉 4d

lauraisntwilder I have no idea! It's California, so there's gotta be a bear to match the flag?? 😂 4d

BarbaraJean @julieclair Yes - magical realism is a good description! Genre whiplash. 😂 @lauraisntwilder Ha! I live in California and didn't think of the flag connection! It was just so weird. (edited) 3d

julieclair @BarbaraJean #GenreWhiplash ! 😂👍😂 3d

24 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Ana of California | Andi Teran

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Ana of California discussion part 4

Is Ana of California dependent on Anne of Green Gables, or do you feel it stands on its own?

Parallels to Anne aside, did you enjoy the book in its own right?

Bkwrm7, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

julieclair I really enjoyed this book, and feel it worked just fine as a stand alone novel. Noticing the parallels to AoGG was fun, but not at all necessary to enjoy and appreciate this book. 4d

lauraisntwilder It definitely stands on its own. I think the ways it diverged from the original were its strengths. 4d

Bkwrm7 Agreed @julieclair and @lauraisntwilder - while it was fun to see how Teran had adapted things, this was a rich experience all on its own and could definitely be enjoyed without being aware of its roots in Anne‘s story. I was disappointed to see it doesn‘t appear Teran has written anything else! 3d

BarbaraJean @julieclair @lauraisntwilder @Bkwrm7 Absolutely agree - I think this is how a contemporary retelling should be done! Teran hit so many of the right notes for a retelling, but didn't let herself be tied so tightly to AoGG that she couldn't tell Ana's story naturally. It's a strong book on its own because Teran made the story her own/Ana's own. And I'm also disappointed she doesn't have other books yet! This was such a good debut novel. 3d

25 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Ana of California | Andi Teran

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Ana of California discussion part 3

The central characters in Ana are updated and reimagined, but retain similar relationships with Ana as the original characters did with Anne.

Did these characters‘ relationships with Ana have the right feel to you?
Which worked or didn‘t work?

Bkwrm7, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder I felt like the Marilla and Matthew characters were swapped, in terms of how they related to Ana. Abbie liked Ana from the start, while Emmett, who had to work with her like Marilla in the original, took longer to voice his approval. Minerva never became friends with Ana, like Rachel does with Anne, but maybe with more time? 4d

Bkwrm7 @lauraisntwilder Agreed about the Abbie and Emmett swap - and relieved that Abbie and Matthew‘s story arcs didn‘t exactly parallel one another! I thought the relationship with Rye worked as a good parallel to the Diana/Anne relationship. The only one that felt significantly different to me was the Ana/Cole vs. Anne/Gilbert relationships, Ana and Cole had a much shorter time opposed to one another with more external forces keeping them apart. 3d

Bkwrm7 Overall I thought the updates worked really well even when they differed from the original dynamics. 3d

See All 6 Comments

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder @Bkwrm7 At first, the swap in the brother/sister relationships to Anne was distracting! I was looking for more direct parallels. But I think that was my issue rather than the book. It's interesting that in both the Anne retellings we've read, they've chosen to keep the Matthew character around. We talked about this in Alpine Path, so many of us felt Matthew's death was key in Anne's maturation. But Ana didn't need extra trauma! 3d

BarbaraJean @Bkwrm7 YES - the Ana/Cole dynamics were super different. I don't think Cole was fleshed out enough for me to get a good read on him. He didn't feel at all like Gilbert, which could have worked (Rye didn't feel like Diana, but their dynamics as friends felt like Anne/Diana). But with Cole, neither the person or the relationship had the right feel for me. I missed the Anne/Gilbert rivalry and the way Anne's own pride and resistance kept them apart. 3d

BarbaraJean Also also about Abbie/Matthew parallels - I thought it was interesting that Anne immediately connects with Matthew, but Ana keeps Abbie at arms' length. Anne is so starved for love, and so open that she completely accepts Matthew's affection for her. They're fast friends, right away. But Ana is jaded and self-protective, and too cautious/uncertain of Abbie to let her in. That's something that felt very real to me about Ana as a character. 3d

19 likes6 comments

BarbaraJean

Ana of California | Andi Teran

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Ana of California discussion part 2

What did you think of the way Teran updates and recontextualizes favorite moments from Anne of Green Gables?
Did those scenes feel natural within this novel?

Bkwrm7, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder Honestly, the mushrooms surprised me, since she'd set it up that Abbie's homemade wine was on hand. But I was glad it went that way. There's no way it would have felt believable that Ana was innocent if she'd given Rye wine. 4d

Bkwrm7 I really enjoyed how Terran remixed some of these - the hair incident, the Rachel Lynde offense and apology, and the mushrooms in particular. Although the whole thing with Rye telling her parents that Ana gave her the mushrooms really changed the complexion of that from the original. But Rye is a much fuller character than Diana in a lot of ways which was nice. 3d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Me too - I totally thought the homemade wine or cider would be how that played out! @Bkwrm7 The twist with Rye blaming Ana surprised me, but it also underlined Ana's fear (and the very real danger) of her being sent back. That paralleled Anne, but in a much more intense/serious way. I think those small changes made that plot thread much deeper, and fleshed out Ana & Rye in ways that served their relationship and the story well. 3d

BarbaraJean Also, I thought the reinvention of the Rachel Lynde scene was really well done. I was super impressed at the way Teran took Anne's experience as an orphan - disadvantaged and marginalized, in many ways - and drew parallels to the experience of a minority foster kid. It rang true for me both as a reimagining of Anne, as well as just as a standalone story of a struggling foster kid given another chance. 3d

17 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Ana of California | Andi Teran

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Ana of California discussion part 1

Does Ana ring true for you as a version of Anne Shirley?
Which aspects of her personality felt particularly Anne-ish?
Where does she diverge from Anne?

Bkwrm7, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

julieclair Ana as a character does ring true to me as a version of Anne Shirley, particularly with her adorable penchant for talking, and her spunky strength. The plot, however, seemed only very loosely connected to Anne of Green Gables. After the initial "brother and sister want a boy orphan and get a girl orphan" situation, I didn't see a lot of parallels. I'm interested to hear if others saw more connections than I did. 4d

Bkwrm7 I thought Ana‘s temper nicely mirrored Anne‘s, her drawing worked as the same sort of creative outlet as Anne‘s writing, and her escapes to the woods link to Anne‘s love of nature. 3d

BarbaraJean @julieclair It really was a much looser connection to Anne, but with lots of scenes that paralleled Anne, it made it feel more closely connected for me! Also, I felt the way Ana went between several bad foster homes & group homes echoed Anne's past really well. @Bkwrm7 Yes - I really liked Ana's connections to creativity & beauty. Ana being enamored with the natural beauty she found in Hadley, both the ocean & the woods, felt very Anne-ish to me. 3d

BarbaraJean Ana's connection to music, to me, felt like a difference from Anne, but not in a bad way. I liked the points of divergence, because they made Ana feel like her own person rather than trying too hard to make her a carbon copy of Anne. And the differences felt like this is who Anne might have been if she had been born in the present day, in Ana's circumstances. 3d

julieclair @Bkwrm7 @BarbaraJean Good points about other parallels. Especially the connection to nature. I completely missed that! 3d

15 likes5 comments

BarbaraJean

Ana of California | Andi Teran

Just a reminder that our #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion of Ana of California will be this Saturday, May 27. I started and finished reading it over the weekend, and really enjoyed it—looking forward to discussing with everyone!

All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be. 😊

Bkwrm7, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks

julieclair Please add me to the tag list! We are visiting family this weekend, so I‘m not sure how much time I‘ll have to participate in the discussion, but I really enjoyed the book. 6d

BarbaraJean @julieclair I will add you! Feel free to jump into the discussion later if you don‘t have time over the weekend. 😊 6d

TheAromaofBooks Looking forward to everyone's thoughts!! I definitely enjoyed this one more than Anne of Manhattan 😂 6d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks 😂😂 Me too!! 5d

33 likes4 comments

LitsyEvents

Ana of California | Andi Teran

repost for @BarbaraJean:

I revised our #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead schedule for the rest of the year & forgot to post an update.🙃 So here you go! Because Gift of Wings is so long, it's now over July/Aug. Then I switched Magic Island & Grace of Wild Things—Magic Island is designed to be read alongside the Rubio biography. And, Grace of Wild things is a “witchy“ AoGG retelling, so it seemed fitting for October. Join in when you can!

LitsyEvents #BuddyRead

original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2586278 3w

28 likes1 comment

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