Well bummer. I've always loved this one because it's so true to life. But this time around it wasn't really as fun. I'm not sure if it was because I was tired of Betsy (who was her same flighty self) or if I thought that there should have been more maturity exhibited during the course of the party. There was a light foreshadowing of WWI that I had missed before and perhaps that tainted it. In any case, if I were to rate it now, it would be a three.

This got put on hold so I changed the start date after I got home from the hospital. Pretty much picked at it for several days. Okay read, but didn't do a lot for me. I bought it primarily to see if I wanted to get into the Deep Valley and related series, but as of now, I don't.

This book was absolutely amazing.

The book I should have read before Betsy's and the Great World (grumble grumble, numbering system, grumble grumble) it primarily concerns Carney, a secondary character in the high school books, and her "house party" which apparently once upon a time had a definition meaning people coming to visit you for an extended time. All sorts of things happen during the house party, which are quite enjoyable to read about. There's the usual singing, going on drives, chattering, hosting parties of every stripe. Betsy shows up midway through and also we get to nicely tie up the Carney/Larry plot that simmered in the back of the high school books all those years.

A re-read. I’m a major Lovelace fan; the only book I haven’t read from the Deep Valley series is Winona’s Pony Cart. I liked seeing a different perspective on love and marriage, and Betsy and Joe’s relationship. [Jan. 2010]

I have never read any of the Betsy-Tacy books -- I didn't encounter them during my childhood, and as an adult I have a hard time reading books from a young child's point of view, although obviously I do fine with teenagers. So I had no expectations going into this, and I absolutely loved it -- it is a gentle, romantic tale of a college student going back home for the summer and figuring out how to navigate her childhood home and friendships as a newly adult woman. The only downside of having started with this book is that now that I am going back and reading about Betsy Ray in high school, I keep wishing Carney was the protagonist of those books too. I think I will hunt down more old-fashioned college girl books, they are mostly very soothing despite the inevitable sexism.

This was a sweet stand alone book about Carney and other characters we met through the Betsy Tacy series. I enjoyed every minute of the house party. It was especially nice to watch Carney grow and discover what she wanted for herself.

i don't think this book found me at the right time.
the author's writing is deceptively simple, it almost makes it seem like she accidentally wrote the book and accidentally got it published. I read her when I was younger and didn't notice it, but now I see the talent and craft underneath. Perhaps writing so simply is the hardest to get right. I wish authors nowadays would challenge themselves to write simpler.

A rollicking house party over the summer in Deep Valley MN, comes to a surprising end. Love all of the Betsy-Tacy books, but this one has a special spot in my heart.

I definitely preferred Emily of Deep Valley to this novel, but parts of this were really fun. I really liked Carney as a main character - she’s so smart and practical, and her fluctuating confidence felt so real - as did her conflicting feelings on some of the other characters.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the elements of religious tolerance, and I appreciated that among the female characters we see a wide range of goals AND that just because Carney’s dream is of getting married and having children, that doesn’t mean college isn’t important to her.

But the “of its time” elements seemed way stronger here than in Emily of Deep Valley - there were multiple YIKES moments regarding the existence (or nonexistence) of Native people, lots of fatphobic comments, and I didn’t love how pushy some of the male characters could be.

Speaking of which - the romance left me feeling a little underwhelmed? At first I didn’t care for it, then I started liking it a lot more, then I was annoyed again by the guy’s behavior at the end. So far my pattern with Maud Hart Lovelace is that I enjoy a lot of things about her books but the romance isn’t one of them

I don’t know why it took me so long to read this bonus book that nestles perfectly within the time gap of the greatest series of all time. If I had one fanciful wish it would be to live in Mankato at the turn of the century. This book took my girls and me right back as if we were there, howling with laughter, reading “just one more chapter,” and planning our own parties.

Not as endearing to me as the Betsy/Tacy books, but fun to see some more from some other Deep Valley friends and to hear the back story on why Carney is married to who she is married to in the later books.