KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner | Lucy Maud Montgomery

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Another good short story for #KindredSpiritsChristmas - Four sisters who live on their own have a rich & very opinionated Aunt Susanna. Two of them are tasked with making Thanksgiving dinner for her & her guests, & problems arise when the neighbors‘ dog gets in the house & destroys the turkey & sides. It all works out & Aunt Susanna decides to pay for one of the girls to go to college. Cute & cozy as always. 4⭐️

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
#LMM

BarbaraJean

JenlovesJT47 #WinterGames2024 #HolidayBookDragons #TBRread #classics #LMMontgomery 55 points @LiseWorks 5h

15 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

The Short Stories from 1907-1908 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

“The Genesis of the Doughnut Club” is a new discovery for me this year—and a great way to kick off our #LMMChristmas #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead! All the food prep in this Thanksgiving story resonated with me this Thanksgiving weekend! I loved how LMM described “old maid” Aunt Patty finding her own way, and I loved the quotes above. Northfield sounds like Cavendish…😆 The story link is below, and we‘ll enjoy another Thanksgiving story tomorrow!

AvidReader25, rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Daisey, CogsOfEncouragement, Prairiegirl_reading, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean Link to “The Genesis of the Doughnut Club“ - https://www.online-literature.com/lucy_montgomery/1907-1908/17/ 18h

Prairiegirl_reading I can‘t wrap my head around it being December 1 today! Thanks again for sharing the link. This was a lovely way to start off the month. 😊 18h

CogsOfEncouragement I loved this one. She found so much meaning and purpose, maybe felt it even more so when she thought it was going to be in her past. She was a much needed caring adult in their young adult lives and that is beautiful. 17h

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BarbaraJean @Prairiegirl_reading I know, right—December already?! You're welcome! These stories are so what I need this month! 7h

BarbaraJean @CogsOfEncouragement Yes! I loved how she'd found her place and purpose in helping others—and how it was her giving one “last“ dinner for them all that led to her being able to stay. Such a great character. 7h

lauraisntwilder I read this last night and then promptly fell asleep! These dark evenings make it so hard to read. I echo the comments here and I particularly love the quote about prayer that you mentioned, @barbarajean. 9m

27 likes6 comments

JenlovesJT47

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1907 To 1908 | L. M. Montgomery

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I‘m excited about starting the #KindredSpiritsChristmas stories for the month. Up today is The Genesis of the Doughnut Club. This is a new one to me. I love how even in an 11-page book LMM brings that familiar coziness present in all of her stories. Looking forward to reading these this month. Thanks for organizing this @BarbaraJean !

This is technically a Thanksgiving story & not Christmas so I‘ll count it as a TBR read. 55 points.

JenlovesJT47 #WinterGames2024 #HolidayBookDragons #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #novella #classics #LMMontgomery @LiseWorks 20h

35 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

I didn‘t realize until @TheKidUpstairs mentioned it a few days ago: 2024 is the 150th anniversary of LMM‘s birth. At that point, I remembered LMM‘s birthday was in November, but I didn‘t remember the date and thought I‘d missed the day. And then I read this last night and realized it‘s TODAY! Happy 150th Birthday, L.M. Montgomery! 🎂🎉In celebration, share in the comments something you love about LMM‘s books!

AvidReader25, rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Daisey, LeahBergen, JenlovesJT47, CogsOfEncouragement, Prairiegirl_reading, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, Roary47, julieclair

BarbaraJean For me, I love the kinship that I feel with so many of her characters (Anne, Emily, Valancy…), and how deftly she can draw a character with just a few sentences of description or dialogue. And, how much comfort and laughter I find in her books! 1d

TheBookHippie I love Anne- but Emily, for me, is a kindred spirit. 1d

JenlovesJT47 Same age as I am now! 👵🏻 I am way behind on reading the journals but I hope to get to them soon. Looking forward to reading the Christmas stories! 💚 1d

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jewright I loved that Anne was smart but had a temper. She was so real to me when I read her as a child. I read every single one of her books and loved them all. Rilla of Ingleside is my favorite book of all time. 1d

CSeydel 🎂🎉 1d

LeahBergen Happy Birthday, Maud! I love her for showing ten-year-old Canadian me that Canada had a “classic” children‘s author, too! I‘d only read British or American classics up to that point. 1d

TheAromaofBooks I just so admire her knack for capturing human nature. So many of her stories feel timeless because she connects readers to universal experiences. I grew up on LMM and have read and reread her books so many times. I don't know what I would do without them!! 1d

lauraisntwilder Her humor is so perfect. I feel like she perfected the art of "laughing with" someone, rather than at them. She could make the ridiculousness of a situation so clear, but it feels good natured rather than cruel. 1d

BarbaraJean @TheBookHippie Yes!! I love the Anne books, but Emily is so much more relatable for me. @JenlovesJT47 Glad to have you along for the Christmas stories! They're a lot easier to keep up with or hop in and out as you're able! 7h

BarbaraJean @jewright Yes, I love how real Anne feels. And Rilla is one of LMM's best—I love the view it gives of the “home front“ of WWI, while showing Rilla's growth in maturity. @LeahBergen I love that!! I think LMM would be so pleased to know that her works have continued to be read so widely, and are considered classics. 7h

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks She is definitely a master at characterization! I've loved reading her observations in her journals—she had such a keen eye for what made people tick, and knew how to convey that. @lauraisntwilder Yes! And I think so much of that “laughing with“ feel comes from how she's also able to laugh at herself. That really comes across in her journals. 7h

40 likes11 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion: July 14, 1913 - Mar. 12, 1916

“How I love my old journal and what a part of my life it has become. It satisfies some need in my nature. It seems like a personal confidant in whom I can repose absolute trust.”

There was a LOT in this week‘s section: from the heartbreak of the loss of her child and the WWI years to Stuart‘s birth. What parts did you find particularly interesting or meaningful?

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

JenlovesJT47 This is how I feel about journaling. 💚 1d

TheAromaofBooks This was SUCH an interesting section! I found it interesting how invested LMM was in WWI when, at some level, it was somewhat distant from her - she doesn't seem to really have anyone close to her serving as a soldier, for instance. I LOVE Rilla of Ingleside, so it was also interesting to see real-life backdrop/feelings for that future story.

Losing the baby was just sooo heartbreaking! And her being so miserable when she's pregnant but still ⬇ 1d

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) having to do so much made ME feel tired!

One thing that struck me about this section - most of the biographies we've read have really acted like LMM didn't even like her husband, barely tolerated him, found him to be a bore, etc. But multiple times in this section, LMM mentions being glad that he's there, being sad that he's leaving, missing him while he's gone, etc. While I never get an impression of genuine kindred-spirit-ism-ness ⬇ 1d

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) between them, it also doesn't feel like their marriage is as unequal or as miserable as I feel like it was implied in other books we've read. I do think later in life both of their mental health issues caused a lot of breakdown in their relationship, but here in these middle years it feels like while they may not have a lot of passion that they do still share friendship, companionship, and an ability to work together. 1d

TheAromaofBooks I'm really looking forward to rereading Anne of the Island. It's another favorite of mine. And you know, ol' Publisher Page was a total jerk, plus a thief, but... I do think we have him to thank for more Anne books sooo 😂 1d

BarbaraJean @JenLovesJT47 Yes! You can see this reflected in her journal as well—it's such a needed outlet for her. @TheAromaofBooks The way she writes about Ewan in this volume surprised me, too! You can see there was a compatibility there & her decision to marry him makes more sense. It makes me frustrated at the various biographies that seem to characterize her marriage based only on the later years—which were awful, but it's not like it was ALL terrible! 7h

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks On the other hand,there was a passage in this section where she talked about the only perfect happiness being in the arms of someone she loves with all her heart. She then universalizes it as “every woman's real idea of happiness“ but it broke my heart a little to see her express happiness in that way. She didn't say it right out, but it was pretty clear she didn't feel she had that in Ewan. ⬇ 7h

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I'm really looking forward to Anne of the Island, too!! It'll be next up for us in January! It's so strange to read that LMM didn't think much of it. It's always been one of my favorites—probably because I love getting to finally see the culmination of the Anne/Gilbert romance. 6h

TheAromaofBooks I get the feeling from the journals that Maud didn't, for lack of a better word, trust passion. That if you feel all the physical attraction and butterflies and yearning, then there must be something wrong. I think she chose Ewan almost because she DIDN'T feel those things for him, which meant that he was a safe, simple, practical choice. I think she feared the part of her that had such dramatic emotional swings from high to low and wanted ⬇ 1h

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) someone who could help her to find balance and stability. But I think she had no idea that Ewan actually also suffered from similar swings, so in the end she missed out on the joys of the highs while still ending up with someone who made the lows worse, and that genuinely is so sad and lonely. But through this section especially I do feel like they were at least friends who were able to work together comfortably, so it made me feel like ⬇ 1h

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) her marriage wasn't just 100% disaster 100% of the time, which is honestly the impression I got from the biographies. In this section, I feel like she's actually pretty content. Her journals obviously have her aggravations and frustrations with everyday annoyances, but she also talks about loving her home, being glad to return there, the joys of being in charge of her own household, etc. 1h

TheAromaofBooks Also, her losing the baby really made me think about House of Dreams and how incredibly emotional that section has always been and how she must have pulled from her own experiences and feelings. SO sad. 1h

37 likes12 comments

sblbooks

The Christmas Appeal: A Novella | Janice Hallett

#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #ChristmasChapterChasers @StayCurious
#earlybirdpoints
#DecemberTBR (as of now subject to change😁)
#ChristmasReads
#SeasonalCozies @JulieClair I think I'll go with the tagged book for December.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead @BarbaraJean

julieclair Ooh... thanks for putting that book back on my radar. I wanted to read it last year and didn't get to it, and then promptly forgot about it! 🙃 4d

36 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years 1911-1917 | Jen Rubio

“What a pity it is so hard to be both good and interesting. I am not good—but I *am* interesting!”

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheKidUpstairs Great quote! Leaskdale is just down the road from me, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario runs a lovely museum there, and they have speakers come throughout the summer for talks and afternoon tea events. Just last week Megan Follows was there for a celebration of LM Montgomery's 150th :) 6d

JenlovesJT47 💚💚💚 6d

BarbaraJean @TheKidUpstairs Oh, how lovely!! What a treat to have that so close! I discovered a few days ago that I‘d completely missed that it was just LMM‘s 150th! An egregious oversight in the midst of this deep dive buddy read into LMM‘s life and works 🤦🏻‍♀️ 4d

38 likes3 comments

LitsyEvents

Christmas with Anne: And Other Holiday Stories | L. M. Montgomery

Repost for @BarbaraJean
Let‘s have a #KindredSpiritsChristmas! Here‘s the schedule for first week of December‘s story-a-day #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead! We‘ll enjoy these cozy stories & chat about them as we go. Let @BarbaraJean know if you‘re not tagged & you‘d like to be! All these (except Matthew Insists) are on Hoopla as ebooks & several as audio books. Dec 3-6 stories are in the tagged collection. See original post for links to reading online

BarbaraJean Thank you for re-posting! 6d

32 likes1 comment

kwmg40

The Golden Road | L. M. Montgomery

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The sequel to The Story Girl, this novel has much of the charm and the light humour of the Anne books but it is also very melancholy, with the narrator Bev looking back at his childhood with his friends.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

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BarbaraJean

Christmas with Anne: And Other Holiday Stories | L. M. Montgomery

Let‘s have a #KindredSpiritsChristmas! Here‘s the schedule for the first week of December‘s story-a-day #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead. We‘ll enjoy these cozy stories and chat about them as we go. Let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

All of these (except “Matthew Insists”) are on Hoopla as ebooks (and several as audiobooks). The Dec. 3-6 stories are in the tagged collection. In the comments, I‘ll add links for reading online.

AvidReader25, rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Daisey, CogsOfEncouragement, Prairiegirl_reading, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents, julieclair

BarbaraJean Dec. 1: The Genesis of the Doughnut Club - https://www.online-literature.com/lucy_montgomery/1907-1908/17/ or in this collection: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20150145
Dec. 2: Aunt Susanna‘s Thanksgiving Dinner - https://www.online-literature.com/lucy_montgomery/1907-1908/5/ or in this collection: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20150145 1w

BarbaraJean Dec. 3: Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves - AoGG ch. 25, or in this collection: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20150145
Dec. 4: Christmas at Red Butte - in this collection: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24878
Dec. 5: The End of the Young Family Feud - in this collection: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20150145
Dec. 6: Aunt Cyrilla‘s Christmas Basket - https://www.online-literature.com/lucy_montgomery/1902-1903/5/ 1w

Prairiegirl_reading Wow! Thank you for the links!! I‘m looking forward to this! 7d

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BarbaraJean @Prairiegirl_reading You're welcome! Hoping to make it as easy as possible to locate the stories since they're not all in one collection! 7d

julieclair Thank you so much for tracking these down for us! 💚🎄💚 5d

AvidReader25 Looking forward to this! 4d

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