#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Alhambra discussion 3/3

LMM references Tales of the Alhambra in Emily Climbs, as well as in Vol. 2 of her journals.
What do you think it was about the book that captivated LMM?
Did you feel a similar enchantment, or were its charms not quite as potent for you?
Is there anything else you‘d like to discuss about Tales from the Alhambra?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Alhambra discussion 2/3

What did you think of Irving as a narrator?
What did you think of his commentary on Spanish and Moorish culture (both past and present)?
Which of the tales he includes were most interesting to you?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Alhambra discussion 1/3

As a travelogue, this book goes beyond personal experience or descriptions of the sights & culture of a place. Irving includes story after story from the Alhambra's past, from more straightforward history to tales of myths and legends.
Did you enjoy this way of approaching his subject? What do the myths and legends add to his account—or did they detract from the subject for you?

“…he‘s been a copper longer than anyone in the Watch," said Nobby.
One of the dwarfs said something in Dwarfish. There were a few smiles from the shorter watchmen.
"What was that?" said Nobby.
"Well, roughly translated,” said Stronginthearm, ‘My bum has been a bum for a very long time but I don't have to listen to anything it says.‘”

#OokBOokClub

I haven‘t done #5JoysFriday in a while, and I feel like I really need to look for the joy this week, so here are some joys:
1. Sunday jazz (even with what a friend calls the “aggressive” cross in the background)
2. Finishing All Creatures Great and Small—such a delight to read, and I‘m so sorry I kind of dropped the ball with @TheAromaofBooks for posting about it along the way!!
3. Celebrating the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead 5th anniversary!!
⤵️

#BookSpinBingo for September!

✔️Both #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin complete
1️⃣ Bingo
2️⃣ Almost-bingos
5️⃣ books read from my owned TBR (never mind that one of those was both purchased & read this month)

Favorites:
🍜Automatic Noodle
🐴All Creatures Great and Small
🖋️Emily Climbs
🪦Our Town
💜Tattoos on the Heart

FIVE years ago today I started the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead! We began with a chapter-a-day read of the Anne of Green Gables series, then decided we weren‘t done and continued on to read all of LMM‘s published novels + some short stories. There've been a few other iterations since; we‘re currently reading LMM‘s complete journals, interspersed with books LMM mentions in her journals, and re-reads of her books as they‘re mentioned being published. ⤵️

I‘ve gotten behind in my Alhambra reading this week… the Abencerrages chapter was a real slog (I had a really hard time keeping track of who was who!), and I never quite got caught back up. I‘ve been enjoying the stories and legends more than the history!

How‘s your reading going? What stories/sections stand out to you so far?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

“I've been keeping informal track of ‘homie-propisms‘ at all the detention facilities where I celebrate the Eucharist. These are the moments when the homies get up to read and they'll come to an unfamiliar word and will supplant it with one they know rather than what it should be. Sometimes, it's the usual slipup. ‘A reading from the letter of Paul to the Phillipinos.‘ They don't know what a Gentile is… ⤵️

Second #bookhaul of the trip was larger than intended 😆 Light from Uncommon Stars is from Mysterious Galaxy, and the rest are from Verbatim Books. I allowed myself one book purchase at each shop. But: my friend bought Legends and Bonedust at Verbatim in the morning, then found editions she liked better at Mysterious Galaxy in the afternoon. So she justified buying the hardcovers by gifting me the paperbacks she‘d purchased earlier in the day 😂

#BookSpin list for October, featuring lots of challenge reads I‘m (perhaps too-optimistically) hoping to finish in this last quarter of the year.

Second bookstore stop on this week‘s San Diego trip: Verbatim Books. Such a delight!

“I heard you pinch the other waiter's ass," said the bandit, bored. "It's not even that good an ass. Shouldn't you be more discriminating when you harass people?"
"That's so rude," said the waitress indignantly. "Ah Kheng, you don't listen to him! You have a very nice ass!" Ah Kheng had vanished, but his voice drifted out from the kitchen: "Please stop talking about my ass."
"Ah, sorry," said the bandit. He looked mildly embarrassed. ⤵️

Today‘s small #bookhaul from Warwick‘s in La Jolla 💜 Sipsworth is actually from a library sale I passed on the way to Warwick‘s 😆 And I couldn‘t resist the tote bag!!

Hello, Kindred Spirits! We're currently reading Tales of the Alhambra, and in a couple more weeks, we'll start Vol. 6 of the #LMMJournals. Take a look at this schedule & let me know any tag lists you'd like to join! Our #LMMRereads will be The Blue Castle & Emily's Quest, and The Ladies of Missalonghi will be our #LMMAdjacent book (it's widely been called a rip-off of Blue Castle!). Then we'll take December to read LMM's cozy Christmas stories. 🌲

“That book always makes me feel as if I had opened a little door and stepped straight into fairyland.
How I would love to see the Alhambra!”
—from “Salad Days” in Emily Climbs

How are you enjoying your reading of Tales from the Alhambra this week? Is it taking you to fairyland, as it does Emily? #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

I think this may be useful for #WeDoNotCareWednesday 😂😂
#WDNCW

Hello, Kindred Spirits! We‘ll begin reading Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving this week. I‘m looking forward to experiencing this book that LMM loved and that she references both in her journals and in the Emily books. Here‘s the schedule—all are welcome! Let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be. #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacents

“Of course Emily II isn‘t half as good as New Moon. The second volume of a series, especially if it deals with a very young girl, is the hardest for me to write—because the public and the publisher won‘t allow me to write of a young girl as she really is. One can write of children as they are; so my books of children are always good; but when you come to write of the ‘miss‘ you have to depict a sweet, insipid young thing— ⤵️

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

How do you see Emily‘s writing ambitions manifest & grow throughout Emily Climbs?

Where do you see similarities between Emily & LMM?

What do you think of the choice Emily makes at the end? Do you agree with her decision or were you disappointed? What does the decision say about her sense of self? About her writing ambitions?

Are there any other scenes, themes, quotes, or characters you‘d like to discuss?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread
Emily‘s relationships with her family naturally change here, and the New Moon family members fade a bit into the background. Still, her family continues to (or tries to!) influence her choices.

Where do you see that family influence most strongly in this book?

How are Emily‘s choices shaped by her family—and where do you see her pushing back on that influence as she matures?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread My least-favorite characters here are Dean and Aunt Ruth—for very different reasons.

What do you make of Emily‘s relationship with Dean here? Do you see any redeeming qualities in Dean‘s friendship and influence in Emily‘s life—or is it all just creepy groomer vibes for you?

What (if any) redeeming qualities do you see in Aunt Ruth? For you, does this mitigate the way she treats Emily for most of the novel?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMRereads - Discussion Qs for Emily Climbs coming in very late in the day!

How do Emily‘s friendships with Ilse, Teddy, and Perry change during their years in Shrewsbury? Thinking about LMM‘s other work, do you see parallels or contrasts between Emily & Anne in their changing friendships from childhood?

What do you see as the significance of Emily‘s “second sight”? Do you see connections with her imagination? ⤵️

I started reading All Creatures Great and Small on Friday—I‘m just 8 (short) chapters in and I‘m absolutely loving it. I was a bit fuzzy on the timeframe in which this is set, so I went to GR to check the book description. And… um… what? 😆😂🤣
@TheAromaofBooks

“Emily did not sleep—did not want to sleep. It was too dear a night to go to sleep, she felt. She wanted to lie awake for the pleasure of it and think over a thousand things.
Emily always looked back to that night spent under the stars as a sort of milestone. Everything in it and of it ministered to her. It filled her with its beauty, which she must later give to the world…”

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread ⤵️

This picture popped up in my FB memories today… my #bookhaul from a Labor Day Fire Sale at this bookstore before they moved to a new location—8 years ago. In those 8 years, I‘ve managed to finish… um… well… three of these books. 😶🙃

I‘ve read Homegoing (excellent), Penderwicks (a delight), and the Scarlett Thomas (eh). Which do you think I should (ostensibly) read sooner rather than later?

“He ought to stay here, and do the best he could.

But . . . history was full of the bones of good men who'd followed bad orders in the hope that they could soften the blow. Oh, yes, there were worse things they could do, but most of them began right where they started following bad orders.”

🎯🎯🎯

#OokBOokClub

“Colon looked awkward, as if the bunched underwear of the past was tangling itself in the crotch of recollection.”

😂🤣

#OokBOokClub

#BookSpin list for September!

August #BookSpinBingo is a win, with TWO bingos! I finished my August #DoubleSpin as well as my April DoubleSpin and both unfinished spins from July. I‘m down to three unfinished spins from previous months—progress!

Best of:
🌷The Unfolding
🌊Wild Dark Shore
🏇The Dark Horse
👰🏼Kristin Lavransdatter

The drama does not let up in this final volume: there‘s jealousy and recrimination, familial estrangement, marital discord and abandonment, violent confrontations over vicious gossip, and as if that wasn‘t enough, Undset throws The Black Plague into the mix at the end.

Which dramatic developments would you like to discuss further?

Is there anything else you‘d like to discuss from The Cross, or from the trilogy as a whole?

#DoorstopKristin #KLBR

Kristin has several spiritual guides/mentors in her life: Brother Edvin; Erlend‘s brother, Gunnulf; the local priests (Sira Eirik in her youth, Sira Eiliv at Husaby), and even her father.

Who or what do you see as influencing Kristin‘s faith most strongly in this final volume of the trilogy?

How has her faith changed over the course of the three books?

Do you see the conclusion to Kristin‘s story as hopeful or tragic?

#DoorstopKristin #KLBR

We see Kristin‘s sons growing up, now presented in this third book as characters in their own right.

How do her sons‘ choices impact Kristin—as a woman and as a mother?

How do her sons affect the choices Kristin makes for herself and her own future?

How does Kristin exemplify or challenge the accepted roles for women in her time?

#DoorstopKristin #KLBR

#KLBR-ers, here we are at the end of Book 3! Congratulate yourself on tackling #DoorstopKristin and THANK YOU for joining me on this epic read!

Kristin Lavransdatter—set in the medieval era, written in the 1920s—is filled with themes that are still relevant today: female desire, marital discord, motherhood, aging.
Which themes resonated for you?
In which ways did the characters‘ struggles feel distant? In which ways did they feel contemporary?

“…over a hundred years ago great-great-grandfather Murray built this house and built it well. I wonder if, a hundred years from now, anybody will win a victory over anything because of something I left or did. It is an inspiring thought.”

This quote gave me chills—we‘re reading this 100 years after its publication. I think Emily would find that an inspiring thought!

How is your Emily-reading going this week?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread

I love seeing Obama's summer reading list each year... and I feel oddly validated when I've read books he's read 😂 This year's list made me think he needs a #CampLitsy invite next year! I'm fascinated that he included Audition on his list: “A quiet novel about the ways we hide our true selves from others — and ourselves.“ Hmmm. I want to hear more...

https://www.obama.org/stories/president-obamas-favorite-books-summer-2025/

The Kindred Spirits Buddy Read of Emily Climbs starts this week! This is book 2 in the Emily series. I‘ll post weekly check-ins, and we‘ll discuss the book on Saturday, Sept. 13. Let me know if you‘d like to join in—if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
#LMMReread

Well, discussion questions didn‘t happen yesterday after my marathon weekend, so here we are on Monday!

Vol. 5 includes the Pickering lawsuit and lots of legal wrangling with Page, dissention and division over Church Union, and Ewan‘s reoccurring mental health episodes. It takes us through the end of LMM‘s time in Leaskdale, ending with Ewan accepting a call to Norval & Union—meaning an uprooting for LMM from a place & home she grew to love.⤵️

#5JoysFriday!
Some of this week‘s joys:
👩‍🏫 Reconnecting with classmates during/after our first class session of the year
🐈 Meeting a sweet kitty on a neighborhood walk
🥵 Enjoying A/C at the library and new smoothie recipes at home during this heat wave
📚 Finishing two slow reads that had been in progress for months
🏆 Winning the library summer reading program grand prize!!

For the second year in a row, I won a prize in my library‘s summer reading program!! This year it was the “grand prize”—a swag bag filled with four ARCs; a library-branded pencil case, water bottle, and hand sanitizer; bookmarks to color; three pins; a sign/fan (??)… and vouchers for tickets to a show at the city performing arts theatre. 🎉📚🏆📚🎉

“Tonight was my first evening home since July 6th. Verily, 'tis a treat. I look forward nowadays to an evening home as I used to look forward in the leisurely old Cavendish days to an evening out.”
—L.M. Montgomery, July 15, 1925
———
Maud is always so relatable. 💜
#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

“Pardon, my friend, but it is possible that you read ‘The Future of the Argentine,‘ ‘Mirror of Society,‘ ‘Cattle Breeding,‘ ‘The Clue of Crimson,‘ and ‘Sport in the Rockies‘ at one and the same time?"

I laughed, and admitted that ‘The Clue of Crimson‘ was at present engaging my sole attention. Poirot shook his head sadly.

"But replace then the others on the bookshelf!"

——

Poirot would be aghast at the stacks of books on my nightstand. ?

“So long thy power hath blessed me sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent till
The night is gone

Something entered into & possessed our souls and the night became holy and the dark woodland a temple of the Almighty. Moments like that were the highlights of our trip and catch our eyes as we look back.”

In this week‘s #LMMJournals section, LMM‘s descriptions really shone for me—her love of place & love of nature.⤵️

😂😂 I love this so much!

It also inspired me to check my library‘s checkout limits: I can only check out up to 50 (physical) items on either of my library cards (two separate county library systems). It‘d take a lot more people to completely clear out a branch… 😆

I‘ve finished Part 1 of Book 3, and this continues to be so absorbing. My views of each character keep changing—in this section, Simon and Erlend especially—their growth and complexity just deepens as I get further in. Kristin has felt very much in the background during this first part of Book 3, though… I‘m so curious where her path will lead as this trilogy wraps up. How‘s everyone else‘s reading coming along?

#KLBR #DoorstopKristin

Well, of course! 🐶📚

So many past selves. Soooooo many gifts. 😁 💜

📷: Tara Wine-Queen Writes

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead I‘ve enjoyed being back in the #LMMJournals this week. Legal woes, Ewan‘s mental health, and grief over Aunt Annie—but this section was also full of cats, gardening, and reading. (I still don‘t think I‘m interested in reading Bulwer-Lytton‘s Zanoni, but every time LMM mentions it I kind of want to! She‘s wearing me down!)

What stood out to you in your journal-reading this week? (Other than the above author deaths 😂)

I think I agree with the sentiment I‘ve heard that Christie‘s espionage novels are generally her weaker books. The international/political intrigue here was both weak and too convoluted; never mind the problematic stereotypes. Between that and the English country house party dynamics, there was just a little too much going on for me. I did enjoy Superintendent Battle‘s investigative methods, as he worked quietly in the background, almost ⤵️

Fiona returns to live with her grandparents on the beloved Western Isles of her birth. When she visits her family‘s former home on the island of Ron Mor, she‘s sure she sees a glimpse of her baby brother, who disappeared when her family left the island four years before. Such a sweet, lovely story of family and return, with hints of myth and magic—enhanced by Fry‘s drawings throughout. So glad I picked this as my 1957 book for #192025.