All Time Favorites


Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery

I missed out on these as a child. My fifth grade best friend had an omnibus of three of the Anne books and I remember tilting my head left while she tilted her head right and we each tried to read it at the same time! Cute story aside, this writing was a little too much for me at that age and I didn't read Anne until I was finishing my sophomore in high school and saw the Kevin Sullivan movie on TV. I immediately dug out the copy of Anne of Green Gables I had held onto for years and read it. Loved it. I went on to read the next four Anne books before I finished junior year. I bog down in Windy Poplars because the tone reads so differently than the others - learning that L. M. wrote Windy Poplars and Ingleside years later to "fill in the gaps" about Anne explained why I had so much trouble with it. I think of these four Anne books as the original stories, and I re-read or listen to them more than probably any other book(s) I've read. There are a lot of audio versions available, those narrated by Barbara Caruso are my favorites.

Anne of Green Gables is very much my comfort book, there have been years I have read it more than once in the same year. I love Anne's character, her sincerity and earnestness and how she grows and affects those around her. These stories have such a strong sense of place, and are probably my first experience with setting as character in a story.

Christy by Catherine Marshall

 I bought a used paperback of Catherine Marshall's Christy at the thrift store when I was a junior in high school. I had heard of the television show but had not seen it. The book appealed because of the time and place and earnest picture of Kellie Martin on the cover. I inhaled the book very quickly - over the course of a week or weekend if I remember correctly. It's one I can remember stealing moments with whenever I could. I loved the setting - my grandfather lived in the mountains of North Carolina, and Christy's view from the Mission House in Tennessee was reminiscent of the view traveling to his home. I felt like I was Christy - I had her same desire to somehow make a difference, be part of something larger than myself, and painful realization of my own shortcomings and inadequacy in doing so. I understood her questions for God and her frustration in finding answers. The book was a totally immersive experience for me, as some of the best books are, I was in Cutter Cap with Christy and each new experience was a learning experience.


I recently re-read Christy for the first time in nearly ten years and was pleasantly surprised with how well the story held up. I enjoyed it as much now, years older than her character, as I did when I was seventeen. I have read Catherine Marshall's Julie multiple times also, and have always been sorry she didn't write more fiction.

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