I really enjoyed this sequel to An Unkindness of Magicians—it was a wonderful continuation of Sydney‘s journey. I finished it feeling very satisfied with its new developments, and hopeful of future books with a new character to explore further. The plot was more straightforward than the first book, & there were a couple new characters that really needed more development here. But it was a solid follow-up & I thoroughly enjoyed it. #SeriesLove2023

I had this on my library holds list for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead, then I pushed it back to October in our schedule and the book came in early. I read it anyway. 😁 This was a low pick for me. It‘s a fun Anne of Green Gables retelling with magic, remixing a lot of the elements of the original. It felt less like a retelling and more like an Anne-flavored fairy tale. I wanted a little more emotional depth to the story overall, but it was a fun read.

June #BookSpinBingo! I managed to complete a bingo last month, and with the help of that handy line through the middle on this month‘s board, I‘m confident I can keep that going for two months in a row. 😁

Here‘s where my #BookSpin picks landed for June! I‘ve had The Magician‘s Elephant floating around my coffee table for months, with the intent of reading it and then watching the recently-released movie. BookSpin will make it happen. 😊 #DoubleSpin landed on my Sci-Fi/Fantasy TBR category, which is where my BookSpin landed for May, so I‘m choosing the book I almost picked last month!

I‘m continuing to enjoy the annotations in this edition… the previous reader seems to have written a little comment/title at the beginning of each section. I‘ve seen “Warning,” “Symbolic setting,” “Irony in parting,” etc. Here, as Gawain‘s companion urges him to flee and Gawain insists he will face the Green Knight, said comment/title is “See ya! Whatever!” 😂😂

Here‘s my May #BookSpinBingo wrap-up—finally a month where I got a bingo, thanks to those three Free spots right in a row down the middle! I haven‘t finished my #BookSpin or #DoubleSpin yet, but I‘m halfway through Green Knight and Green Magic is up next. I finished 4 from my physical TBR, so: good month!

Favorites:
🐉When Women Were Dragons
🔥Sounding the Seasons
🌑A Sleight of Shadows

Biggest accomplishment: finishing Count of Monte Cristo 🎉

This was fascinating, even though I didn‘t particularly enjoy it. I don‘t think it adds a lot to White‘s Arthurian cycle. It was interesting to read as context for what I‘m assuming are White‘s own thoughts & philosophies, as well as context for the time in which it was written. But it felt like White was trying too hard to make sure readers got his point (and maybe I disagree with his point). Continued ⬇️

#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!

Super Chunkster complete!! 🎉

I can see why this classic is so well-loved: it‘s fascinating, engaging, and meticulously planned out. To be honest, I don‘t think I liked any of the characters, but it was so satisfying to see all the threads come together in the end. For so many characters, there was a much harsher fate than I expected (of course—book vs. movie!), and a stronger, more nuanced meditation on revenge. #ChunksterChallenge2023

This is the second book of poetry I‘ve read by Malcolm Guite—I discovered his poetry in 2020, through a series of sonnets he wrote on the Psalms, which spoke to me so deeply during that time. This collection is likewise full of well-crafted sonnets, these corresponding to the liturgical calendar. There is a series for the Stations of the Cross and one for Advent that were particularly meaningful to me. I‘ll be going back to these again and again.

June #BookSpin list! I always spend too much time thinking about how to order my list: do I group similar genres together? Should all the book club picks go together? When I‘m including TBR categories, do I put those all in a row? Do I put less-desired titles at the beginning and end, assuming those numbers are less likely to be picked? Well, this time I went for truly random and put them in order by length of title/label. 😆

#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?!

#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?

#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?

#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?

#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?

“Our main object in life,” she said with amusement, “is to be alive. I think your humans may have forgotten this one.”

“…her youth, her beauty, her artless innocence, and her manner, equally beyond comparison or description.”

And a couple of letters later, after being rejected:
“But I hate her, hate her heartily! She is old, ugly, and deformed.”

I didn‘t realize the whole “I hate her and she‘s ugly anyway” response to rejection went all the way back to the 18th century, but here we are.

#Clarissa

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. 😊

“…the low and illiterate are the most useful people in the common-wealth (since such constitute the labouring part of the public); and as a lettered education but too generally sets people above those servile offices by which the businesses of the world is carried on. Nor have I any doubt but there are, take the world through, twenty happy people among the unlettered, to one among those who have had a school-education.”

Wow. Just… wow, #Clarissa.

This secondhand copy of Gawain & the Green Knight seems to have been used for a high school English class (it has a name and “Period 6” written on the first page). It‘s thoroughly annotated in not-very-legible, lightly-penciled-in writing. I‘ve been overlooking most of the notes, but this caught my eye: next to “…so loved he the less/ either long to be lying or long to be seated,” the reader marked “ADHD.” 😂

From the introduction:
“In the analysis of Guenever, where he had nothing personal to go on, he speculates, and does his best to overcome his aversion to women.”

Well, that explains a LOT. #OAFKingalong

“…maybe this is the same with all of us—our best selves and our worst selves and our myriad iterations of mediocre selves are all extant simultaneously within a soul containing multitudes.”

“This you may depend upon: I will never marry any other man. I have seen enough of your sex; at least of you.—A single life shall ever be my choice: while I will leave you at liberty to pursue your own.”

“I have seen enough of your sex; at least of you” may be my favorite line yet from #Clarissa. Also, I really, really want a #ClarissaSingleLife fanfic, in which she and Anna run away to her estate and get into hilarious domestic hijinks.

“Embarrassment, as it turns out, is more powerful than information. And shame is the enemy of truth.”

“O great city! In your heaving breast I found what I was looking for; like a patient miner, I churned your entrails to expel the evil from them.”

Well. Those are some mixed metaphors. (Also, that‘s certainly not any kind of miner I‘d like to be.)

Tagging the #OAFKingAlong list, because I remember a couple of people were wanting to or planning on reading The Book of Merlyn, but I don‘t remember who. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Does anyone want to do a low key buddy read of this? Maybe one discussion at the end of May?

“Cunning women and witches we read of without number. But I fancy wisdom never entered into the character of a woman. It is not a requisite of the sex.”
—Lovelace to Belford, Letter XXI

Lovelace gets more charming by the day, doesn‘t he? It‘s ironic: he can‘t think of a female parallel for Solomon, he makes this comment about female wisdom—and he remains oblivious that Solomon himself personified wisdom as female throughout Proverbs. 🤨 #Clarissa

I picked this up at the library today—ready to dive in for this month‘s #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead! Has anyone started reading yet?

We‘ll be discussing on Saturday, May 27th. All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

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 spread over July/Aug. Then I switched Magic Island & Grace of Wild Things—Magic Island is designed to be read alongside the Rubio biography, so I put those one after the other. And, Grace of Wild things is a “witchy“ AoGG retelling, so it seemed fitting for October. Join in when you can!

Apparently I never wrote a review for this #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead pick from March. 😂

I really enjoyed this—it was a delight discovering how many family stories and parallels to LMM‘s life were woven into her fiction. At the same time, so much of it was heartbreaking. Maud did not have a happy life, and I was amazed that she was able to write books that have been a comfort to so many, when she herself had such a difficult life. Cont‘d ⤵️

Belated review: I read this for #AuldLangSpine a little over a month ago, then promptly recommended it to my book group, and we discussed it in April. I loved this MG fairytale-like story about a town that grows suspicious & selfish under a selfish, greedy leader—and then re-learns what it means to be a neighbor. The turns of the story may have been easily-anticipated, but the journey was delightful. Thank you to @Karisimo for another great pick!

A friend recently bought me three of these cardboard book stands, and I put them together today. Here‘s a portion of my Sci-Fi/Fantasy TBR shelf, now more easily viewable! It frustrates me that they‘re not wider—I have to be a little flexible with my alphabetical order to make it work—but even so, I think I‘m gonna pick up some more and use them for several of my taller shelves.

I was low-key disappointed with this sequel. I 💜 the original so much & did love spending more time with the characters. But so much of the story felt unrealistic. Maybe I‘ve grown cynical, but the universally positive friendships, ideal parent/child relationships, & wise-and-articulate-beyond-their-years teenagers didn‘t ring true for me. The story also meandered a LOT before dropping some big plot points (& an ending) that felt underdeveloped.

Here are the selections the #BookSpin Fates have chosen for my May reading! I‘m pretty sure the tagged is a #blameitonlitsy—although I have no idea who I stacked it from! I loved McKay‘s Casson family series, so I‘m really looking forward to this one. And my #DoubleSpin landed on a category (Sci-Fi/Fantasy), so above are two of the books I‘m pondering. I‘m leaning toward Gawain & the Green Knight, to follow my reading of Once & Future King.

A much-belated review of this #AuldLangSpine pick from @Karisimo ! This was a delight. The Harry Potter vibes were strong here, if Hogwarts were a summer program in the US, with better diversity. I loved getting to know Amari as she navigated a newly-discovered magical world, discovered new friends and enemies, and worked to uncover the truth behind her brother‘s disappearance. I‘m looking forward to the next installment! #SeriesLove2023

Such a fascinating & rewarding book! The first section was delightfully playful & lighthearted, and the subsequent sections were darker and more thought-provoking (also slower going). I wanted a bit more development of Arthur in the later sections, and more development of Guinevere outside of her relationship with Lancelot, but I loved the depth of Lancelot‘s character and the reflectiveness of the ending. #ChunksterChallenge2023 #OAFKingalong

April wrap-up, in the form of another bingo-less #BookSpinBingo board 😆

Favorites:
🏰 Lonely Castle in the Mirror (#BookSpin)
👑 The Once & Future King (#OAFKingalong, #ChunksterChallenge2023)
🔮 Amari & the Night Brothers (#AuldLangSpine)

I read 4 from my physical TBR shelves, and Once & Future King had been hanging around on those shelves since maybe grad school days, so thank you to the #OAFKingalong for inspiring me to finally pick it up!

“You will find,” he explained, “that when the kings are bullies who believe in force, the people are bullies too. If I don‘t stand for law, I won‘t have law among my people.”

#OAFKingalong

“…even if she could get over being afraid, she could not like strange people. She knew how animals would act, she understood what animals thought, but you could never be sure about people.”

#LittleHouse

Here are the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead picks for May and June! For May: a contemporary YA retelling of Anne of Green Gables. For June: historical fiction based on LMM‘s life. Comment if you‘d like to be tagged for either or both!

While we‘re looking ahead, July‘s pick is “Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings” by Mary Henley Rubio, which I chose without realizing it was 600+ pages. Would people prefer to have 2 months to read Gift of Wings?⤵️

Here‘s my May #BookSpin list! I filled out the second half of the list with TBR categories to choose from, to give myself flexibility. I‘ve made too many reading commitments (thus the inclusion of the last 1/4 of Count of Monte Cristo), and giving myself options should help alleviate the “reading assignment” vibe!

*Edited to swap in The Book of Merlyn—I‘d forgotten I was planning to read it after finishing Once & Future King for #OAFKingalong!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Alpine Path Discussion

I‘m spoiler-tagging this one on the off chance that someone hasn‘t read Anne of Green Gables yet! I think there was someone in the group who hadn‘t? Just in case: there are Green Gables spoilers in the discussion question below. 😊

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
I was surprised to see LMM list Story Girl as her favorite & wondered if that changed with later books. It‘s fascinating how context can affect our fondness for certain books—places or people or events we associate with those stories.
Do you have books that are favorites partly because of the context in which you read them?
Are there books where it‘s it hard for you to separate the personal context from the book itself?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Alpine Path Discussion

I found some interesting background on the poem that‘s the source for L.M. Montgomery‘s “Alpine Path” in this post: https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2018/05/31/alpine-path/

It seems the poem that inspired Montgomery is a different one from “To the Fringed Gentian” by William Cullen Bryant (I‘d assumed the poem was by Bryant and had never looked it up!)

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Alpine Path Discussion

The material in “The Alpine Path” was originally published in 6 magazine installments in 1917, and later published as a book in 1974.
Did your version of the book split it up into sections? (Mine didn‘t, so I‘m curious!)
Do you think the material works together as one unit, in book form?
What did you think of the content overall—did it give you any new insights or information about LMM?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - Alpine Path discussion

Montgomery begins Alpine Path with a few self-deprecating comments on her career and what might be said about it. Do you think this book accomplishes her modest goal: to encourage other writers on their own “Alpine Path”?

This was lovely & so unusual—I don‘t read books in translation often enough. The cultural differences & overall flavor of the novel were super interesting. It‘s less about the mysterious castle in the mirror than it is about the impact these characters have on one another—from depression, isolation, and loneliness, to connection & friendship. And the ending…🥹 This was a very huggable book, and a comfort read in spite of some of the heavy content.

Catching up on reviews from March…🤪

I‘m torn about this one. I kind of liked it. As with all of Okorafor‘s books that I‘ve read, the world-building was amazing and I wanted to explore the world more. The two main characters were fascinating, but I didn‘t feel like I got to know them well enough. And the ending was frustratingly abrupt. It‘s such a short book; it had room for more development that would have addressed the issues I had with it.

This wasn‘t what I expected from the description/subtitle. The first half is a brief sketch of LMM‘s early years, then the second half throws in lots of excerpts from her journals, with very little commentary to tie them together (or to connect them to the story of her career). I understand this was compiled from a series of autobiographical essays, but it didn‘t feel like a series of essays, either—it was too scattered! #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead