Oh, Anne.
What can I say about this story? Anne as a young girl was sweet, fun loving, silly, and just a tad too imaginative for her own good. Always getting into scrapes. But always, always finding the good and the beauty in life. Anne as a young woman? Even better. I absolutely loved seeing Anne in her role as teacher of the Avonlea school. Her spirit is just so sweet and pure - there's literally nothing not to like about her.
I also really enjoyed the introduction of new characters like Mr. Harrison, Miss Lavender, and the twins. I also have such a soft spot for sweet, old, pessimistic Marilla

After the first book about Anne, I was a bit late to read this one. That's mostly due to the fact that at first it completely failed to draw me in. I felt like it's just filler up to like a third of the book in! Where's all the fun? Where did Anne's spunkiness go?



But thankfully, the book picked up, and by the end I can say I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one. I'll certainly be reading on! n  I've decided to give you 5 reasons to read about Anne,n so here we go. If you want to read this with proper formatting, go ahead and read it here on my blog.

The Shenanigans



The funny scrapes Anne gets into is part of the fun in stories about her. So at first, as I was reading it, I was so baffled by the fact that Anne grew up – a school mistress now, what fun is there even going to be?? At first it does go like that, but it picks up, and n  you've got Anne traipsing around Green Gables making a fool of herself as always. Hilarity ensues. n(I won't be kidding when I say I literally laughed out loud about the roof scene. Good lord.)

The Kids



There are a lot of children in this book, and if you've read Montgomery before, you'll know that she is great at writing them. From the best to the worst - n  you'll find kids with a heart, kids with a brain, and kids that basically crawled their way up from helln (I'm looking at you, Davy Keith.) Good or bad, they are truly entertaining to read about and something chug out some quite deep thoughts. (Although I was a little sad Dora was so disregarded because she was 'too good and docile')

The Romance



Oh, the romance. If you're thinking anything n  finally nhappens between Anne and Gilbert – well, think again. But Montgomery has some other romance to offer, and it's truly adorable in the way it can be only from this particular time - the turn of the century. So innocent, so beautiful and lovely, so plainly obviously orchestrated - in a way that makes you like it even more. n  Swoon!n

The Feel



I will risk repeating myself, but I can't take away from the book. n  Anne of Avonlea will let you enjoy another "episode" oh the calm and quiet that you loved when you were reading the first book.n Most of us long for something like that... once we get old and overworked enough, I suppose. The promise of green, rolling fields, sunshine and flowers picked in the field.............



The Promise For More

As it's the second book, you're getting into a sort of pleasant sync with the story. And you don't want it to end. n  The ending of Anne of Avonlea promises our heroine a nice, bright future just round the bend, and you'll want to find out all about it.n It reminds me the time I was going off to university myself, off to a new start, to a life I knew nothing about. So let's hope that it will be as Anne would probably hope it would be:



So that's why I think you should continue with this series! It might be slow to start, but it gets good afterwards. I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you pick it up.

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“One can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once.”

I think this quote from Anne of Avonlea beautifully captures the essence of this book. Anne, between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, is a teacher and an adult - mostly.

Anne of Avonlea (1909, L. C. Page & Co.), second in the n   Anne of Green Gablesnseries by  L. M. Montgomery, is (according to Wikipedia - see my comments below), a children's novel set in Prince Edward Island, Canada. I'd say that the novel can stand alone decently well, but I don't recommend reading the series out of order. There are a couple of remember-when's that give away events from the previous book. I think most fans of Lucy Maud would adamantly suggest reading Anne of Green Gables first.

I recently enjoyed rereading Anne of Green Gables (click here to see my review) and Chronicles of Avonlea (click here to see my review) so much that I've decided to alternate between L.M. Montgomery and  Jane Austen for my audio book selections! These authors are familiar (and dear) to me, so their books make good audio choices for my deaf ears!

I think the classification of Anne of Avonlea as a children's novel on Wikipedia is flawed. Anne's age is sixteen at the beginning of the book and eighteen at the end. (Scroll down on the Wikipedia page to see a chart that shows Anne's age throughout the series.) The book definitely has an innocence that many YA (young adult) books don't have these days. But Anne is considered an adult at 16, and the book clearly delineates her transition from more to less-childlike. So I'd say it's a classic young adult book, and Goodreads members seem to agree! As of the writing of this review, 1300+ users have shelved it as young adult, while only 500+ readers have shelved it as a children's novel.

Rating: 5 stars
Narration: 5 stars

Shelly Frasier, the narrator of the version I listened to, did a most excellent job.

The plot: Anne Shirley is now the teacher of the Avonlea school. And of course she has adventures! "'Having adventures comes natural to some people,' said Anne serenely. 'You just have a gift for them or you haven't.'" I really don't think I need to say anything more. :-) I recommend against reading the blurb on Goodreads before reading this book.

Christian elements: Anne and her family are church-going people, but this isn't Christian fiction. There's a scene in her church that's quite humorous.

Is it clean/chaste? Of course!

***********

The bottom line: I loved L.M. Montgomery's stories as a teen, and I still do at 41. The books are perfectly lovely. I would recommend that EVERYONE read Anne of Green Gables (and/or watch the Megan Follows movie - I haven't tried the newer one yet). If you love that first book, you'll likely enjoy Montgomery's other works. I look forward to continuing my audio book journey with Anne Shirley!

یکی از لذت بخش ترین کتابایِ ۲۰۲۱ بود قطعا

This lacks a lot of the elements I so loved about the first book . . . and yet, it still holds a bit of that magic feeling you get when you hold an Anne book in your hands. <3

n   L I K E S:n

- the "golden day" chapter almost made me burst with happiness
- GILBERT AND ANNE FOREVERRRRRRR <3333 (can we talk about that last page, though?? *flails*)
- the friendship between Anne and Diana ALMOST made me cry. They shared some super sweet moments together that reminded me of myself and my bestie . . . and that was just so special.
- Marilla's sarcasm never fails to make me laugh; I don't even know why, haha
- The writing is just . . . *happy sigh*
- I want to live in Avonlea, please and thank you
- Paul Irving and Miss Lavender were lovely (though I wish less time had been spent on them)
- Anne's optimism and dreamy demeanor
- the parts where Anne was teaching were my fave
- so many good quotes, oh my
- honestly, the things this book had to say about change could not have come at a more poignant time in my life

n  D I S L I K E S:n

- not enough of Gilbert *grumpy face* (seriously, he only had a few scenes with Anne. I mean what now??)
- Although Davy grew on me, I was unsettled by the fact that Anne and Marilla clearly played favorites. They even admitted to liking him better than Dora, and that made me feel so bad for the poor girl.
- ehhhh, so I was kind of bored with it? Like, I loved a lot of things about it, but I got tired of seeing the same three characters (Paul Irving, Davy, and Miss Lavender) over and over again. Much as I liked most of them . . . it did get old after a while and I just wanted to get back to Gilbert and Anne.
and all the "original" characters. :P
- not enough time spent on Anne's teaching
- IT LACKED SOME OF THE MAGIC OF THE FIRST ONE *sniffles*
- okay, I promise I really liked it but . . . yeah. I'm a bit put out by a few things. ;)

Overall, I have a few qualms, but those two sections with Gilbert and Anne (LIKE THE LAST PAGE *squeals into eternity*) made the book. I'm definitely going to read the next one at some point because I need more of Anne and Gilbert pleaseeeeeee.

3.5 stars

Second Read:

I’m really enjoying rereading these books. I hope to finish the series this year for the first time, as last time I only got three books in. Anne is someone you wish you knew in real life and I like the older adult characters around her too.

First Read:

I love this series. Anne can make you see the good in everything. A simple, gentle read. Like watching a black-and-white movie from a simpler time.

Spoiler alert: I'm going to read all the rest of these and give them all five stars.

Fajna, fajna, ale jednak 1 tom>>>> Ulubiona postać to Davy oczywiście

„Ania z Avonlea” napełniła mnie szczerym, autentycznym pięknem z poetycką mgiełką. Podrasowała także umiejętność wiecznego romantyzowania rzeczywistości (nie żebym nie korzystała z niej wcześniej).

pierwsze czytanie: 5☆
drugie czytanie: 5☆

I prefer getting “past the preliminaries”, as my Grandma said. Anne establishing her home was over, with the bitchiness of discipline. Buddy-readers Kerri and Leeanne agree, “Anne Of Avonlea” felt safe. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s imagery still weaves elegant scenery and Anne is her optimistic, compassionate self.

I groaned when a naughty boy was introduced and a quiet girl, whose personality was underestimated. It was outrageous not to pine for their Mom at 6. At 47, I discuss mine nonstop, who went to Heaven this year. Jarring notes piled-up. If Maud had cut the chapter about an ill-fated lunch, I would have given this novel 5 stars too. It stretched patience thin. Davy fell onto pies and broke a borrowed plate, which Anne’s friends would never have left on a staircase. I am aware isolated generations call lunch by a “D-word”. It drives me bonkers but one can skip occasional cringe words. That chapter must have rehashed it 40 times!

Just like we don’t depict killing in animal picture books, Anne is known to love every tree and bird. She would not volunteer pets to be killed for that damned lunch! Bird deaths occurred thrice more. Without that awful chapter, I would have skimmed a few sour notes.

The rest of the book was beautiful, dreamy, joyous, and I love that Anne is equal partners with Marilla by 16. New friendships, including with two more cantankerous folks, are as triumphant as always. I laughed a lot, at honest to goodness humour. My favourite is:

“Mr. Judson Parker is going to rent the road fence to a medicine company to paint advertisements on”! For once in her life Gertie Pye made all the sensation she desired. If she had thrown a bomb among the complacent Improvers she could hardly have made more.

I didn't like this one as much as the first book (there's just not enough Gilbert, am I right?) but I definitely enjoyed continuing this adventure with Anne. There are so many new characters in this one but, unfortunately, I didn't seem to love all of them. The writing stays just as beautiful as it was in the first book. Also, that last paragraph. Be still my beating heart.



Can't wait to start Anne of the Island!

کتاب درست در زمان درست بیشتر از هرچیزی به آدم احساس درک‌ شدن میده و این جلد برام دقیقاً همون حرف‌ها، دغدغه‌ها و فکر‌هایی بود که این‌روزا احاطه‌ام کردن.
حتی میتونم بگم خوندنش قشنگ‌ترین اتفاقِ این تابستون بود، چون بعدش مثل آنی‌شرلی واردِ مرحله‌ی جدیدی از زندگی میشم و مثه اون باید خیلی از دوست‌داشتنی‌های زندگیم رو رها کنم و برم دنبالِ چیزایی که آینده رو میسازن، اینکه حس کنی تنها نیستی و فارغ از دنیای واقعی توی داستان‌ها بخشی از خودت رو پیدا کنی، زیباترین حسیه که انسان میتونه در زندگی تجربه کنه و در کنارش بدونی و باور داشته باشی که زندگی همیشه در گذره، برای ما واینمیسته و پیش میره.
یا باید تصمیم بگیریم که زندگی کنیم گاهی با درک ‌نشدن‌ها، ناامیدی‌ها و تاریکی‌ها ولی با تلاش و امید به روز‌های روشن‌تر.
یا هم بشینیم، گذر عمرمون رو تماشا کنیم، از کاه کوه بسازیم، همه‌چیز رو سخت بگیریم و همیشه سفت و زیاد از حد منطقی باشیم و فرصتِ پرواز خیال و آسودگی به خودمون ندیم و آخرش به تهِ جاده‌ی زندگی برسیم و تازه بفهمیم که عه الان که دیگه دیره.

علاوه بر این‌ها، حس‌و‌حال متفاوتی که آخر این این جلد گفته میشه وَرای چیزیه که جلد اول و حتی خودِ جلد دوم در بر داره، حسی زیبا اما متفاوت با هر آن چیزی که آنی‌شرلی قبلاً تجربه کرده، دوست‌داشتن و دوست‌داشته شدن از سمت یک نفر، جوری که هر دو برای همدیگه مهم‌ و به بودنِ یکدیگر دلخوش‌‌ان.

چقدر این پاراگراف دوست‌داشتنی و قشنگ بود:
"شاید قرار نبود محبت با بوق و کرنا وارد قلب کسی شود و شاهزاده‌ای سوار بر اسب را به رخ بکشد، شاید محبت احساسی خزنده بود که از جانب دوستی قدیمی آرام‌آرام در قلب نفوذ می‌کرد، شاید احساس دوستانه‌ای بود که به نثر نوشته می‌شد، اما ناگهان برقی معجزه‌آسا روی کلماتش فرو‌د می‌آمد و به آنها وزن و قافیه می‌داد، شاید محبت روزی از میان یک رابطه‌ی زیبای دوستانه سر برمی‌آورد، چون گل سرخی که غلاف سبزرنگش را کنار می‌زند."