Litsy

Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1889-1900 | Mary Henley Rubio, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

Weekly check-in for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - our first with the #LMMJournals!

I have to apologize for breaking up the reading so oddly—it wasn't until I finished up my own reading that I saw I'd completely missed a natural break at the end of 1890 and kept us going into 1891 for a grand total of 2 pages. 😂

How is your reading going?
What are your thoughts on this week's reading?
Any observations, favorite sections, or quotes?

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean I loved the superstition of counting 9 stars over 9 nights, and the questions with Nate over which boy/girl they liked best—such drama! Then this quote from July 26, 1890: “The fact is, Nate is absurdly sentimental these days—or would be if I would allow it. I hate that sort of thing. He has just spoiled our lovely, old comradeship completely. He is so nice when he is sensible and so horrid when he isn't!“ SO much like Anne's words about Gilbert! 3d

BarbaraJean I was also struck by the fact that LMM calls Bulwer-Lytton her favorite author at one point (July 31, 1890), since there's a contest for BAD writing named after him! “Since 1982 the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest has challenged participants to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written.“ https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

Maybe we should add a Bulwer-Lytton book to our #LMMAdjacent list? 😂 3d

TheAromaofBooks I also saw similarities between Maud/Nate and Anne/Gilbert. It made me wonder if Maud ever looked back at that relationship and wished she had allowed it to grow into something more. I feel so bad for her being so homesick!! 2d

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TheAromaofBooks We talked a little on the other post about whether or not (or how much) editing LMM did of her own journals when she recopied them. Like you said, so much of this genuinely sounds like a girl in her teens, being silly and dramatic, convinced that everything that happens is SO IMPORTANT. it's amazing how perspective is something you literally just have to earn with age! As you get older, waiting a year for something doesn't feel as crazy. 2d

TheAromaofBooks However, some of what I wondered were small things, like when she was getting ready to leave for the west and saying that's she determined to absolutely love her step mother and get along wonderfully - more small sentences that cast herself as the mature, reasonable person in a situation. Not necessarily big scene edits, but small insight edits. Personally, I don't think I could bear to go through and copy out by hand my numerous teen/20s ⬇ 2d

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) journals! Oh the horrors! 😂

Overall, I'm finding this so readable and engaging. I'm very glad that we've already covered a couple of biographies to give me a background/overview of her life and some of the major characters, though. That framework is helping me just be able to read these as they come instead of being confused about the background. 2d

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean I think “9 stars over 9 nights” is mentioned in Emily of New Moon. Nate also reminds me a bit of Perry, in that Emily only wants him as a chum, but Perry feels quite different. (edited) 2d

rubyslippersreads @TheAromaofBooks Having read the biographies helps me too, as does having read the YA novel

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

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean He was her favorite author when she was 15; I wonder how long that lasted? 😏 2d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I wonder that about Nate as well! YES, having read those biographies has definitely been helpful, and also Maud, as @rubyslippersreads mentioned (which I think you skipped--there's lots of Nate and Will in that one!). It‘s fascinating to see what feels emphasized here vs. what has been emphasized elsewhere, both in the biogs and fictionally. I'm waiting for the VERY SIGNIFICANT absence of Edwin Simpson in later volumes. 😏😂 2d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I hadn‘t thought about little insertions like that, but that sounds VERY plausible!! Kind of a self-justification for some of her other comments about her stepmother—LMM could be emphasizing that it wasn't her fault; she really did intend to make that relationship work. I agree with you, I could NOT bear to copy out my teenage journals. I don‘t know if I could manage to even re-read mine! It is a credit to LMM‘s skill as a writer⬇ 2d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) that these are so engaging and entertaining, especially coming from a 15/16-year-old. LMM knows how to recount a good story, and I can't just chalk it all up to later revisions! 2d

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads I had forgotten the “9 stars” in Emily of New Moon! I remembered it from reading Maud, but now that you mention Emily, I vaguely remember it there as well. LMM weaves in SO many little pieces from her own life into her fiction. I like that comparison of Nate to Perry. I‘m really curious about how LMM writes about both Nate and Will, and like @TheAromaofBooks, if there may have been later editing with her descriptions ⬇ 2d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) of both of them and her assertion that she thought of them as just good comrades.

When I skimmed through the footnotes in Vol. 1, looking for what books and authors she referenced, I noticed that she mentioned Bulwer-Lytton several times! But yes, I do have a feeling her taste grew a bit as she got older… 2d

lauraisntwilder I'm a little bit, since I traveled out of state (and I drove) for my nephew's college graduation. I've been enjoying the entries so far and I agree, reading the other bios first was helpful. 2d

TheAromaofBooks I definitely think that even if she edited/added tiny bits to these later, it was just that - tiny bits. The bulk of this feels authentically her age, and it's obvious that she already has a real knack for writing, sketching characters, descriptions, storytelling, etc. I know that she honed her skills over time and worked very hard on every book, but it's also obvious that she has an inborn talent for writing. 1d

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder Thanks for checking in! Hope you had a great trip for your nephew's graduation. 22h

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I agree--the tone throughout is far too teenage girl for it to have been wholly rewritten (although that's exactly what my urge would be in copying out old journals with an eye towards posterity!). It definitely demonstrates her skill with descriptions and storytelling, from a young age. It was certainly her prerogative to curate, but I'm SO curious about what she might have left out, with all the talk of “razored out“ pages! 22h

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks For me, her descriptions of the natural world seem too perfect for a teenager, BUT she was reading Sir Walter Scott and Undine, etc. And she was also starting to get published at this point. I think you're right--she was just a natural. 21h

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BarbaraJean

Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1889-1900 | Mary Henley Rubio, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

“I love books. I hope when I grow up to be able to have lots of them.”

💜📚💜 Kindred spirit, indeed!! I started this tonight and it‘s delightful so far—and I LOVE all the pictures included! #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Yes!! All the photographs are a wonderful bonus! I love it when photos like that are interspersed with the text instead of in random bunches of several pages at a time like many nonfiction do. 5d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Me too--I think it was the Rubio biography that had them in bunches like that. I'd much rather have them like this. I really appreciate the way they're approximating how LMM would paste pictures and the like into her journals. 4d

TheAromaofBooks As I'm reading, I find myself wondering how much editing LMM did when she recopied these journals and how much of it is actually what she wrote at this age. I don't know why I'm surprised that this has been so readable, considering I enjoy her fiction writing so much haha 3d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Haha—me too! If it were me, I would find it really difficult to refrain from trimming embarrassing sections, bad writing, etc. I was struck by several sections that sound VERY much like a girl of 15/16, though. I marked down the New Year‘s entry on Dec. 31, 1899, and the concert description on July 1, 1890 as she waxes poetic about the future nostalgia they will all feel when looking back. 😂 @lauraisntwilder, @rubyslippersreads ⬇ (edited) 3d

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) Both of those passages read to me like things I wrote in my journal as a teen, thinking my words would sound so terribly prescient and wise in future years. I had to laugh at both of these—they sounded so affected, with such an over-self-consciousness of future readers. But I remember doing the same thing! (edited) 3d

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TheBookHippie

Anne Frank: The Collected Works | Anne Frank

My next chunkster to tackle…

LiseWorks 😲 1w

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BarbaraJean

Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1889-1900 | Mary Henley Rubio, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

Hello, Kindred Spirits! Here is an UPDATED schedule for May/June. Since the #CHILDRENSCLASSICREAD2024 with @TheBookHippie will be reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm in MAY, I shuffled our schedule around so we can join in the excitement and read it together.

We'll start the Complete Journals on May 1 - which is next week!! 😱 I'll post a weekly check-in/discussion post on Saturdays.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals #LMMAdjacent #LMMReread

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean Preview of coming attractions: We'll start Volume 2 of the Complete Journals in July/August, and will also re-read Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. 2w

julieclair Yay! Very excited for all the LMM-adjacent reads! 😃 2w

TheAromaofBooks Thank you for the update!! This looks great. I can't believe May is next week...!!!!! 2w

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LitsyEvents

Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1889-1900 | Mary Henley Rubio, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

Repost for @BarbaraJean

May 1 begins the next #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead iteration! We‘ll read the Complete Journals interspersed with LMM-adjacent books & LMM rereads. The pace is ~100 pages per week, with Saturday check-ins to chat about the week's reading.

#LMMJournals #LMMAdjacent #LMMRereads

See original post at https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2725037

BarbaraJean Thank you for sharing!! 3w

27 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1889-1900 | Mary Henley Rubio, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

Just a reminder: May 1 begins the next #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead iteration! We‘ll read the Complete Journals interspersed with LMM-adjacent books & LMM rereads. The pace is ~100 pages per week, with Saturday check-ins to chat about the week's reading.

I‘ve tagged those who were interested, but all are welcome! Comment if you'd like to join—for some or all! Re-reads will pop up in Vol. 2 of the journals. #LMMJournals #LMMAdjacent #LMMRereads

rubyslippersreads, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents

BarbaraJean @sblbooks I have you down for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm once we get to it in June! 3w

TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! I'm really stoked about this!!! 3w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Meeeee toooo!!! 3w

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julieclair Yay! I would like to be tagged for the Adjacents and Rereads, please. If it‘s easier, feel free to tag me for the journals as well. 3w

BarbaraJean @julieclair I can definitely tag you just for the adjacents and rereads! Looking forward to having you join in! 3w

julieclair Thanks! Looking forward to it! 3w

lauraisntwilder I just got my copy of the Complete Journals Vol. 1 and it's beautiful! Whatever editorializing Rubio did in her bio is partially forgiven (by me, at least!) because of the obvious amount of care that went into this. 3w

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I know, right?! The photos and all the notes look fantastic. I looked at Vol. 1 of the complete journals on Internet Archive and that glimpse convinced me that I wanted to read the complete journals instead of the selected, and it made up my mind that I wanted to buy each copy as we go! 3w

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean Exactly! I haven't even started it yet and I'm already so impressed. 3w

23 likes9 comments

hannah-leeloo

Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: Because the Undead Have Feelings Too | Tim Collins, Andrew Pinder

Been recommended these by my 11 year old cousin. Should be interesting haha

lazydaizee They all look like fun. 3w

Roary47 Cute! 3w

LibrarianRyan Those look fun! 3w

Gissy If an 11 year old boy said they were interesting, we should try them. I‘m always looking what children are reading and what keep them in reading a series, the topic? The characters? The adventure? ☺️ 3w

hannah-leeloo My cousin love to read @Gissy she's especially into cat adventures hehe 3w

59 likes5 comments

hollylynnbee

Go Ask Alice (Turtleback School & Library) | Anonymous

pick

This book is unforgettable. Such a heart wrenching story. 💉

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BarbaraJean

Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years, 1889-1900 | Mary Henley Rubio, Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

Here's a weekly schedule for the next #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead iteration! This includes the Complete Journals with LMM-adjacent books & LMM rereads slotted in roughly chronologically. The pace is ~100 pages per week, and I'll post Saturday check-ins to chat about the week's reading. Those who were interested are tagged, but anyone is welcome! Comment if you'd like to join—for some or all! (Cont'd) ⬇
#LMMJournals #LMMAdjacent #LMMReread

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, LeahBergen, Prairiegirl_reading, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, sblbooks, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair, willaful

BarbaraJean This May/June schedule goes to the end of the Complete Journals Vol. 1, and includes adjacent books that LMM mentions or that may have been influential for her during this time (no rereads yet—AoGG pops up in Vol. 2). LMM mentions a TON of books she was reading, from poetry to novels and more, so if something stands out to you that‘s not on the schedule, please bring it up! It would be fun to add in more adjacent reads if people are interested. ⬇ (edited) 1mo

BarbaraJean Also, I came across this and thought it was interesting—the L.M. Montgomery Bookshelf: https://kindredspaces.ca/bookshelf. It collects “some of Montgomery's most-loved or most interesting reads.“ It includes scans of relevant pages or the full text of various books that were important to LMM, along with notes on each. There are only 20 titles there, but it's fascinating to look through! 1mo

TheAromaofBooks Wow!!! This is fantastic!!!! Thank you so much for pulling it together. I am definitely in for this!! 1mo

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rubyslippersreads I‘m excited about this! 1mo

sblbooks I'm in for Rebecca of Sunnybrook. 1mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @rubyslippersreads 🎉 🎉 I'm so looking forward to reading along with you both! @sblbooks Yaaaay! I'll be sure to tag you for those weeks. 1mo

TheAromaofBooks My library has Volume 1, so I am going to check it out and that will let me see if I want to make the financial investment of slowly purchasing all these journals as we read them 😂 1mo

rubyslippersreads @sblbooks I have the Shirley Temple edition. 😄 (Although the movie has very little to do with the book, since book Rebecca doesn‘t go on the radio.) 1mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Totally understand!! There are no copies of any of the journals in either of the library systems I have cards for! 😩 I could get a card at yet another library that‘s not terribly far, but that would mean driving 30-40 minutes there to get the card and the book and then driving back to return it… so I broke down and bought the first two volumes online. But, for what it‘s worth, I also discovered that Vol. 1 is on Internet Archive! (edited) 1mo

sblbooks @rubyslippersreads I didn't even know there was a Shirley Temple movie for this book. I'll have to see if I can find it 1mo

lauraisntwilder I haven't been online much lately, so I missed this. I'm definitely in though! Thank you! 1mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder No worries--knowing that this schedule is more complicated and the journals aren't as readily available, I wanted to give plenty of advance notice! Glad to have you along for the ride again!! 1mo

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TheBookHippie

Anne Frank - The Diary Of A Young Girl: Original | Anne Frank

1. The Diary of Anne Frank
2. Jane Eyre
3. Judy Blume‘s - Blubber, Forever, Wifey, Smart Women, Summer Sisters, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself, Are You There God? It‘s me Margaret, Tiger Eyes, Deenie … whew

And many more - 🤣♥️😅🤷🏻‍♀️ anxiety and CPTSD makes one a re-reader ♥️

dabbe

Mimi28 🩷🩷🩷 1mo

KristiAhlers Les Miserables, Jane Eyre, Emma. I'm a total classics fan. 1mo

dabbe 1: I wish I could, but the 1st time was heart-wrenching enough for me. 😭 2: YES! 3: #doh ... ALL her books, right? I'd also add IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
Your way of dealing with anxiety and CPTSD is much healthier than my way of dealing with anxiety: eating a whole box of Kraft mac & cheese. 🤩 Thanks for sharing. 💚💙💚 1mo

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dabbe @KristiAhlers Kudos to you for LES MIS; I've tried 3 times and couldn't get through. Is there a translation you'd recommend? And YES to JE and EMMA! Thanks for sharing. 💚💙💚 1mo

TheBookHippie @dabbe LES MIS!! Yup me too it‘s so beautiful ♥️♥️♥️ I recommend Les Miserables: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) https://a.co/d/cTLgfv2 1mo

TheBookHippie @KristiAhlers me too I‘ve reread most classics. All of Bronte, Shakespeare, Austen, Walt Whitman I reread every fall. ♥️📙♥️ on and on.. (edited) 1mo

dabbe @TheBookHippie I have your recommendation now on my Kindle! 🤩 1mo

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