kindredspiritsbuddyread

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

Hello, Kindred Spirits! Just a quick check-in on how your reading is going this week!

How are you enjoying Emily of New Moon so far?
What stands out to you from this week's chapters?

I‘m loving Emily and her world, as always. Emily is a delight and Cousin Jimmy is such a gift to her grieving spirit. I love seeing the parallels between Emily‘s writing and LMM‘s writing. And I want to shake Aunt Elizabeth. 😡

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, willaful

rubyslippersreads While you‘re shaking Aunt Elizabeth, give Ellen Greene a smack for me. 😠 2d

JenlovesJT47 Have you watched the show? They picked the perfect person to play Aunt Elizabeth. 💚💚💚 2d

kwmg40 This is a reread for me, and I‘m enjoying it very much so far. 2d

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BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads Yes! And I'll also throw in a slap for Miss Brownell. @JenlovesJT47 I haven't yet! I think I'll wait to finish this re-read. Glad to know they cast her well! @kwmg40 💜 💜 2d

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean Miss Brownell! 😡 2d

rubyslippersreads @BarbaraJean And let‘s not forget Aunt Ruth. 2d

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads So many people to slap. 2d

TheAromaofBooks Urgh, this book is so frustrating because it feels like basically every adult in Emily's life is ignorant, mean-spirited and/or too weak to stick up for her. Aunt Elizabeth shouldn't be allowed within 100 years of a child; was there ever someone with less understanding?! However, it's been SO interesting to pick up on parallels to LMM's childhood. I also recognized a few of the New Moon stories as belonging to her family (especially how their ⬇ 2d

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) family ended up on PEI). Unpopular opinion, I'm really not that fond of Aunt Laura, either. She's obviously better than the others, but the way she just passively lets things happen to Emily, and then encourages Emily to just disobey behind Aunt Elizabeth's back! It drives me a little crazy. 2d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Every time I read this I discover I've forgotten just how bad 90% of the adults are. The way Elizabeth gets all snippy and lecture-y when Emily is crying, the night of her father's funeral?!?! 😡😡😡

I get where you're coming from with Aunt Laura. I'm SO glad Emily has Laura and Jimmy who actually love her and make her feel loved, but just encouraging Emily to sneak around behind Elizabeth's back is NOT the way to handle things. 21h

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks And YES, I'm loving recognizing some of the New Moon stories from LMM's family lore! “Here I Stay“ is such a great tale, especially knowing it actually happened! 21h

21 likes11 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

Juxtapositions like these are one of the reasons I‘m so enjoying reading LMM‘s journals alongside a re-read of her books!

Top: quote from Aug. 4, 1923 — just weeks before Emily of New Moon was published
Bottom: quote from chapter 1 in Emily of New Moon

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread #LMMJournals

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

JenlovesJT47 💚💚💚 7d

TheAromaofBooks I am really interested to see what connections we find between Emily and LMM (and later - Pat and LMM) 6d

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I am SO interested to read the journals alongside Pat! I remember you really not liking the Pat books--do you think you'll re-read this time? 6d

TheAromaofBooks I still have never read Mistress Pat, but I probably will reread Pat of Silver Bush despite saying I wasn't going to read it again ever 😂 5d

33 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

I was really excited about re-reading Emily of New Moon by listening to this audiobook narrated by Megan Follows. Until I saw it‘s abridged. 😭 Maybe I‘ll read it in print and then go back afterwards to listen and see what they cut out. #LMMReread #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

TheBookHippie Oh dear. 7d

lauraisntwilder ☹️ I see no reason for this book to have been abridged. 7d

BarbaraJean @TheBookHippie I‘m SO disappointed! @lauraisntwilder Right?!? How could Megan Follows be part of this kind of travesty?! 7d

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TheBookHippie @BarbaraJean it makes no sense. 7d

willaful Good grief! It's hardly a super long book! 7d

BarbaraJean @willaful I was thinking it was longer than Anne by about 100 pages, but I just looked it up, and at least in the Bantam paperbacks, it's all of 30 pages longer than Anne. 🙄 6d

31 likes1 stack add6 comments

TheAromaofBooks

Beautiful Joe: An Autobiography | Marshall Saunders

so-so

This is one of those weird books that I like less every time I read it. When I first read it ~age 11, I loved it: Black Beauty except a dog! But subsequent rereads as an adult have made me look at this book a little more critically. My main complaint is that there isn't actually a story. In BB, we have a clear linear story, from birth to final home. But Joe is just a collection of random sermonettes against animal cruelty. I think that as a child⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) I had more to learn about the concept of cruelty through carelessness - you don't have to hit your dog with a stick to mistreat him. But as an adult, I found this book much preachier than I remembered, and I definitely wanted more story. The book was choppy and abrupt, with some chapters feeling very unnecessary or shoehorned in just to get another specific lesson checked off the list. I can see why it was popular when it was published, ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) and Joe is a likable narrator, but as a more critical reader than I was as a child, I find this book to be lacking, well, soul. There just isn't a real connection between the reader and any of the characters, including Joe, who ends up just feeling like a mouthpiece for Saunders's lessons. Despite being a well-loved book when I was growing up, I actually don't see myself rereading this one again. 1w

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean - a rather late #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead review 😂

#ISpyBingo #BookSpinBingo 1w

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TheAromaofBooks PS Beautiful Joe did not specifically address whether forcing your pet to pose with a book is animal cruelty, but I think Waylon may have thoughts 😂 1w

PuddleJumper 🐕🐕 1w

rubyslippersreads I ❤️ everything about this photo. 🐶 1w

TheBookHippie 🤣 1w

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1w

AnnCrystal 😍💕🐕🐾💝. 1w

BarbaraJean I agree with all of this and since I still haven't reviewed it yet, maybe I can just refer people to your review, minus the Black Beauty/re-read context since this was my first read and I haven't read BB yet 😆 And I LOVE your book styling choices here (even if your dog does not love said choices) 😂 😂 6d

73 likes10 comments

LitsyEvents

Emily of New Moon | L M Montgomery

Repost for @BarbaraJean

Tomorrow begins the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead of Emily of New Moon! @BarbaraJean will post weekly check-ins and will discuss the book in full on Saturday, July 1. Schedule is above. All are welcome - please comment and tag @BarbaraJean if you were not tagged in her original post and would like to be tagged in future.
#LMMReread

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BarbaraJean

Emily of New Moon | Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tomorrow begins the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead of Emily of New Moon! I‘ll post weekly check-ins, and we‘ll discuss the book in full on Saturday, July 12. Schedule is above. All are welcome—please comment if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

#LMMReread #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, kwmg40, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents

rubyslippersreads I‘m not sure if I‘ll reread (I bet I‘ve read it at least 50 times 😁), but I‘ll definitely chime in with comments. 1w

TheBookHippie I adore this read! Enjoy!!! 1w

JenlovesJT47 I read this a couple of years ago and loved it, sounds like a great time for a reread! P.S. Has anyone ever watched the show Emily of New Moon? It‘s pretty good. Got the whole series for $10 awhile back. 🩷 1w

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willaful Oh, I haven't read this in so long. I think I'd like to join in! 1w

BarbaraJean @willaful Yay! I‘ll tag you! 1w

BarbaraJean @JenlovesJT47 I have an Emily of New Moon series saved in my Hoopla favorites but haven‘t watched it yet—maybe I need to do that this summer! 1w

TheAromaofBooks When I read Emily the first time I found the series depressing and said I wasn't going to read them again - but I honestly can't resist rereading them within the context of everything we've been learning about LMM, so I guess I'm in again! 😂 1w

rubyslippersreads @willaful I‘m jealous of you getting to read it for the first time. 1w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Hahaha! The Emily books really are much darker than Anne… but I do love them. I‘m glad you‘re in for a re-read—I‘m enjoying this chronological buddy read so much!! 1w

TheAromaofBooks I am, too! I was not expecting rereading these within LMM's life-context to make such a difference but it really is! 1w

30 likes10 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1922-1925 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

“I don't know whether I shall *ever* become sensible enough *not* to go to see screen versions of my favorite books. I am afraid I won't because I have been disappointed often enough to cure me of the foolishness if I were curable… I would resolve never to go to see another book-film if I thought I could keep it but I know I cannot. I will always go to them when occasion offers and always be sorry I did.”

#LMMJournals #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead ⤵️

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean One of the things I enjoy most about reading LMM‘s journals is how thoroughly relatable she is as a reader—I love reading her thoughts on what she‘s reading, and this quote on film adaptations of favorite books is SO true! 1w

TheAromaofBooks This made me laugh, too! Apparently this has been true since the invention of movies! 😂 1w

lauraisntwilder Yes! This had to have been even worse then than it is now, since film has progressed by leaps and bounds since then. She had such an active imagination (I'm thinking, specifically, of her day alone at the lake envisioning a vacation with all her favorite people) that I think her perceptions of how a character looks and sounds must have felt completely real. 1w

Daisey This is a great and relatable quote! 1w

26 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1922-1925 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals
Volume 5: Preface—Aug. 29, 1923

✍🏻What stood out to you from our past two weeks of reading Volume 5 in LMM‘s journals?
✍🏻What themes in LMM‘s thought do you see that recall previous journals? Do you see any themes newly emerging in this volume?
✍🏻What are you most enjoying about LMM‘s journals?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraJean The Pickering lawsuit naturally recalls earlier (and ongoing!) lawsuits with the Pages. It‘s so interesting to me that this prolonged legal wrangling was such a part of LMM‘s life! Pickering was a scoundrel and I really enjoyed reading how although he unfairly won his suit, he very much lost in the court of public opinion and never got his hands on LMM‘s cash. There‘s also so much foreshadowing that stood out to me here. ⤵️ (edited) 1w

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) @TheAromaofBooks mentioned LMM‘s comments about Chester last week, and I noticed so many more similar comments this week as well. The number of times she wonders about how her boys will be when they grow up, whether one of them will break her heart 🥺 Also foreshadowing: I was perhaps disproportionately interested in the couple of places she comments on suicide (May 10, 1922–p. 32 and Jan. 2, 1923–p. 107) 1w

TheAromaofBooks Yes on the suicide - I had marked those passages as well! I know we can never know for sure, but I do genuinely believe that she did commit suicide in the end, so her saying things like, “I just have to be here for as long as my children need me“ etc felt ominous and very sad. There were several mentions of things like, “I may also have a child who breaks my heart someday“ that really make me wonder how much trouble she was already having with ⬇ 1w

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) Chester. The Pickering lawsuit was fascinating and frustrating! He didn't get the money, but the amount of emotional and mental stress LMM went through - !!! Although I do think that ties back in part to her being SO sensitive about public opinion. There were several times through these passages where her innate snobbery came through as well, things like “he was marrying someone far below him“ despite not having anything specifically ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) wrong with the bride - just the “wrong“ family. Her bittersweet visit to the Island was both happy and yet also hard to read. The main takeaway from these two weeks for me was just how lonely, lonely, lonely she was. She didn't have anyone she felt like she could truly trust or even truly laugh with, and it's SO sad. 1w

lauraisntwilder @TheAromaofBooks The Pickering lawsuit stands out, of course, and I also noted those passages about suicide, but to your point about her snobbery -- I couldn't believe it when she maligned one of Pickering's witnesses for being a "home child." 1w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Oh, definitely--her stress over the Pickering case was closely tied to her fears of “what people will say.“ Which ties to the snobbery, I think! I'm fascinated by how often I'll be thinking what a kindred spirit Maud is, then she'll make some snobby comment and I'll think, “Oh, right, Maud is judgy like that,“ like I know her personally 😂 @lauraisntwilder Ugh, yes. Stuff like that crops up and really catches me off guard. 6d

17 likes7 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1922-1925 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

Quick #LMMJournals check-in! How‘s your journal-reading going this week? What are your thoughts on this section?

I‘m a bit behind (2 simultaneous Chunkster buddy reads, plus other reads😆), but I‘m enjoying being back into LMM‘s life. I was looking forward to the Muskoka section since it inspired the setting of Blue Castle, but I was a little disappointed! And like LMM, I‘m on edge about the Pickering lawsuit. #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks The Pickering lawsuit is STRESSING ME OUT! What a sleaze! One really random thing that struck me was on pg 10 where she is talking about being worried about Chester possibly leaving home for school. “He will need home surroundings and restraints for several years more.“ This makes me wonder if she is already having issues with his behavior, even at this still relatively young age. 2w

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Oof, yes—I noticed that, and a few other passing references to Chester that seem to indicate her growing awareness of his behavioral issues. When she talks about how little Ewan does to “train” the boys, and how Lily just nags them both all the time—no wonder she felt things with Chester so strongly when she felt unsupported in raising her boys. It makes me so sad, knowing where things go with Chester! 2w

lauraisntwilder I'm behind, big surprise! ? Loving being back "with" Maud though. Ewan certainly doesn't come across well so far and I agree about Chester. Every time she mentions him, I cringe. @TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean 2w

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder That section where she talked about the times Ewan got so annoyed about her being recognized as an author?! 🤬 2w

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean - that was SO heartbreaking! 2w

28 likes5 comments

BarbaraJean

L.M. Montgomery's Complete Journals: The Ontario Years, 1922-1925 | Lucy Maud Montgomery

“Perhaps a hundred years from now my descendants may read over this diary and regard it as an interesting heir-loom. …I would like it to be published in full without omission, save for this very paragraph I have just written. Cut it out, descendants!”

Speaking of complete journals vs. selected journals… 😂 I wonder if this paragraph was omitted in the selected journals?
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I honestly was confused about why she would want that specific paragraph cut out anyway 😂 3w

28 likes1 comment

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