SLIDER

The Summer of Lucy Maud

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly featured hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic/Top Ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I'm so obsessed with lists!

I'm really excited about discovering all the wonderful summertime reads that people list today, but I thought I'd take my list in a slightly different direction. I can almost guarantee that no one else's list will have the books I'm featuring today, and I always like being different.

Anyway, I could easily have come up with ten new & unread books on my summer TBR list because, let's face it, I can always come up with books I'm looking forward to reading. But I'm also doing something different this summer in terms of re-reading, and I thought this would be a fun way to let everyone know what I'll be enjoying at the pool over the next few months.

Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List

"The Summer of Lucy Maud"
I love Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery, and a big part of the reason why is the fact that she created one of my very favorite heroines, Anne Shirley. I fell in love with Anne in the third grade, and I was hooked on her adventures and daydreams right from the start. However, I also fell in love with my first book boy because of Lucy Maud. His name is Gilbert Blythe. I've spoken of my love for him before, so I won't make you listen to my long list of reasons why he's so awesome again.

But I will tell you that I've had a hankering for my old favorites recently. Getting in to book blogging has been really fun. I've gotten to know some very cool book nerds and found some awesome books to add to my TBR. The only downside is the fact that blogging has made me put pressure on myself to read only new books. I keep buying books based on blogger recommendations (which I don't regret in the least) but that causes my "I hope to re-read this one day" books to get pushed back to the bottom of the book pile. I absolutely love to re-read, but I sometimes have a hard time justifying re-reading old favorites when I own so many new and unread books. 

After a string of lackluster books, I was feeling a little book weary. You know, when you don't even want to pick up a book because you're afraid that it will be disappointing or boring and just plain blah. My typical remedy for this situation is to pick up a book that has been recommended to me by someone I really trust. If they say I'll love it, chances are I will and that often gets me out of the doldrums.

However, this time that just wasn't cutting it. It was like my heart was yearning for something familiar, something I could revisit and that would be new to me in the way that time makes any re-read of a book a new experience.

So I started reading Anne of Green Gables for the thousandth time. And it definitely felt like coming home. After devouring it quickly, I still wanted more. So, I've decided to re-read the whole series this summer, along with some of my other favorites by Lucy Maud. I'm not reading them straight through - that would make me sick of Lucy Maud's writing! Instead, I'll be enjoying one book by Lucy Maud for every two or so TBR books. I'm giving myself little breaks in between so that I don't get sick of her style. And y'all, I am seriously so excited about my plan! It just feels like such a relief to be re-reading again.

Luckily, my list worked out to a perfect ten books because I've already finished re-reading the first two in the Anne series. The picture above shows you what my copies look like - a little dated but a lot loved. In order:

1. Anne of the Island - Anne at Redmond College
2. Anne of Windy Poplars - Anne teaching at Summerside High School & boarding at Windy Poplars
3. Anne's House of Dreams - Anne gets married
4. Anne of Ingleside - Anne as the mother of five
5. Rainbow Valley - Adventures of Anne's six children
6. Rilla of Ingleside - Story of Anne's youngest, Rilla
7. Emily of New Moon - Beginning of a series focusing on Emily Starr, an introverted orphan 
8. Emily Climbs - Emily's off to high school
9. Emily's Quest - Emily decides what she wants for her future
10. The Blue Castle - A standalone where a young woman rebels against her family to find her own happiness

{I'm not including much description or trying to "sell" you on reading the books because I'll be posting my thoughts on each books after I read it. That's when I plan on convening you that L.M. Montgomery writes delightful characters that you need to get to know!}

26 comments

  1. I think you're right, your list is unique! I'm sure I only read the first book in the series but it was a lovely story!

    I think it's great that you are making time for re-reads, I think we all understand that pressure to continually be reading the latest books!

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    1. As much as I love reading the latest books, sometimes it's really worth it to go back and just re-read. I needed to do it - I think I was getting a little burnt out!

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  2. I think this is a fantastic idea and really makes me smile! :) Between blogging, working in a book store part-time and reading other book blogs, my TBR list is quite overwhelming to say the least. So I think you're on to something here, my friend ;)

    To be honest, I've never actually read this entire series, but just reading this post makes me want to! I look forward to your thoughts on all of them. And I LOVE your very-loved set of Anne of Green Gables. You must dream of reading them to your own children one day - I feel the same with my collection of Trixie Belden books :)

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  3. You don't need to convince me...I'm already in love with Lucy Maud! Although reading your post I'm realizing that I haven't read all three Emily books...just the first one I think, so you've inspired me to read them this summer. Have you read Jane of Lantern Hill? I love that one, too!

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    1. Yay for convincing you to read the Emily books! They're so lovely :)

      And I haven't read Jane of Lantern Hill, but I'm adding it to my list at your recommendation! Thanks!

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  4. Love love love love love. That is how I feel about this post. If you are looking for some other good ones to read I really liked A Tangled Web and Kilmeny of the Orchard. :) I am excited to read all your reviews!

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    1. I knew that you'd love this :) One of the many reasons I fell in love with your blog was your love for L.M. Montgomery.

      I think I've read Kilmeny of the Orchard, but I'm not sure. Guess that means I'll be checking both books out! Always up for more Lucy Maud!

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  5. I've read the Emily books a couple of times now, and they're just great. This is such a good idea! :)

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    1. Thanks! I think I've only read the Emily books once so I'm excited to re-reading those since they're less familiar to me :)

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  6. I've actaully just started reading these books for the same reason for the first time ever! Really, really great list!

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    1. Thanks! And YAYYYYY for reading these books for the first time :)

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  7. This is an awesome list! I just watched Anne of Green Gables last night! I might be reading the series, soon. :-)

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    1. I LOVE THOSE MOVIES :) So wonderful! The first one is pretty close to the books but the other two deviate from them a lot. But I still love them!

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  8. How fantastic! Have a great time reconnecting with your longtime friend :)

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  9. Oh...I will ALWAYS have a special spot in my heart for Anne. I read Anne of Green Gables for the first time when I was just a kid and immediately fell in love! I was lucky enough to get to read it again this past year for my Young Adult Lit. class! It's always been a goal of mine to finish the series, and I know I read a few of the sequels years ago, but I honestly don't remember much. I would LOVE to just sit down and read them all!

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    1. You should! I'm on #4 now and really loving them! It's so fun to see Anne grow up. And I love her little family! It's hard sometimes to make time for older reads (or re-reads) but I'm always glad when I do!

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  10. I fully support this plan of yours! I could gush about LMM for ages. LOVE The Blue Castle and the Emily series. I think The Story Girl and The Golden Road are my special favorites though. But really, I just love LMM's writing and characters and stories. Anne Shirley is a FANtastic heroine who gets a really yummy guy. :)

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    1. YAY for another Anne lover! So excited when I meet people who love her as much as I do! And I don't think I've read The Story Girl and The Golden Road - guess I need to track those down soon!

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  11. It is excellent to have a series that you love this much. A good series is soothing and fun to return to. I can't even remember if I read all of the Ann of Green Gables books, WHAT!?! I know. I need to double check this and do some potential serious reading.

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    1. I know most people haven't read beyond the first (and sometimes second) book, but they really are all so lovely. It's so fun seeing Anne grow up!

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  12. I knew that you loved Anne, as I do, but I'm even MORE thrilled that you love Emily too! Perhaps it's the fact that I read the Emily books for the first time at 17, but I think I may even love those ones more than the Anne books. I laughed, I cried, and I didn't want the series to end. Plus, when I was visiting PEI, there's an Anne play. I was so excited to see it, but it wasn't playing the night that we went. Instead, they'd just started an Emily play, and it was alternating nights with Anne. Let me tell you, at the end of that play, I was doing the messy gaspy sobs -- I loved it SO, so much. As an Anne fan, you MUST go to PEI one day!

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  13. I totally know how you feel about the pressure of only reading new books. It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement that we tend to forget about the "old" books we want to read. Kudos to you and good luck with reading the series this summer!

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  14. I love your list the most. I definitely feel the pressure very intensely, which sucks because I like reading older books a lot and my backlist TBR is HUGEEEEE.

    Anyways, LM Montgomery is fan-freaking-tastic. Love the summer of Lucy Maud, I may partake and read The Blue Castle as well this summer.

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  15. Yes. SO much this. I love L.M. Montgomery! I actually toured PEI and all things Anne and LMM a couple summers ago. It. Was. AMAZING! FOr sure something you need to try and do! And Gil.... ***sigh*** Oh Gil!

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