"Magic for Marigold" by L. M. Montgomery

I read Magic for Marigold for our final Mother-Daughter Book Club meeting of the school year.  It was my first time reading this particular L. M. Montgomery book, and a first time for nearly everyone else in the book club, too, which was really fun.

Marigold is born into the type of large and eccentric family Montgomery excelled at writing.  Her father dies before she is born, and her mother names her daughter after the woman doctor who saves her newborn's life.  Marigold grows up in her family's large old home, with her grandmother and her great-grandmother and an aunt, as well as her mother.  And a bounty of aunts and uncles and the occasional cousin scattered across Prince Edward Island to give advice on how Marigold should be raised.

Marigold is not as dreamy and fanciful as, say, Anne Shirley or Emily Starr, probably because she grows up in a loving home with her own mother still alive.  She isn't as mousy as Jane Stuart, either, probably because her grandmothers are not tyrants and her mother is not an absolute milksop.  And maybe that's part of why I didn't love Marigold as much as Anne or Jane -- because she isn't as extreme.  She's sweet and kind and whimsical, and I did find that endearing, but she didn't lodge herself in my heart.

(from my Bookstagram account)

I also found the book as a whole whimsical and fun, but not a pure delight.  I blame that on how often things just go disappointingly wrong and unpleasant for poor Marigold.  Instead of mishaps coming out all right repeatedly, events that start out well go sour.  Over and over.  I got to feeling very sorry for Marigold over that, for sure.

Is this an unpleasant book?  Not in the slightest!  If you're an L. M. Montgomery fan, you're going to have fun with it.  Even if you aren't, you probably will find plenty to enjoy if you like gentle books about children growing up in bygone days.

Particularly Good Bits:

"If you don't believe things you'll never have any fun.  The more things you can believe the more interesting life is, as you say yourself.  Too much incredulity makes it a poor thing" (p. 86).

"I can't help liking things and I'm glad I do," said Marigold in a sudden accession of common sense.  "It makes life so much more int'resting" (p. 261).

"Keep your dream, little Marigold, as long as you can.  A dream is an immortal thing.  Time cannot kill it or age wither it.  You may tire of reality but never of dreams" (p. 319).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  It's good and wholesome and uplifting stuff, no doubt about it.

This has been my fourth book read and reviewed for my fifth Classics Club list!

Top Ten Tuesday: Go Away and Stay Here

This week, our Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Books for Armchair Travelers."  Here are my ten favorite books with vivid settings that really make you feel like you are visiting their locations!

I'm organizing these alphabetically by title this week because I don't feel like putting them in the order of how much I like them.  I've also included where they take place, and linked the titles to my reviews in case you are curious about them.

1. Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard-- Pennsylvania

2. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery -- Muskoka, Ontario, Canada

3. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim -- Italy

4. The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle -- Dartmoor, England

5. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes -- Boston, Massachusetts

6. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson -- Scottish Highlands

7. The Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett -- Rocky Mountains

8. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry -- Chincoteague Island, Virginia

9. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster -- Italy

10. Swamp Water by Vareen Bell -- Okeefenokee Swamp, Georgia

What books have you read that have really vivid locations?

A Party "Up Back" -- Inklings in January, 2026

It's been a long, long time since I participated in one of Heidi's Inklings link-ups on her blog Along the Brandywine, but I'm hoping to be part of the fun again.

This month, Heidi invites us to share a party scene from a book or movie.  I'm choosing to share a bit from a memorable party scene in The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery.  

(From my Bookstagram account)

As a bit of context, this party takes place in remote, rural Canada in the 1920s.  Valancy Stirling grew up in a repressive, snobby family in a small town and has only heard vague rumors about the dances "up back" in the wild regions far from town.  But her employer has been hired to play his fiddle for the dance and invites her to attend, and she decides it's time to attend a party again after years of being convinced she's too much of an old maid.  So, off she goes, and here's what happens (but shortened a bit here and there because it's kind of a long passage):

At first, the dance was quiet enough, and Valancy was amused and entertained.  She even danced twice herself, with a couple of nice 'up back' boys who danced beautifully and told her she did, too...

The big room was decorated with pine and fir boughs, and lighted by Chinese lanterns.  The floor was waxed, and Roaring Abel's fiddle, purring under his skilled touch, worked magic.  The 'up back' girls were pretty and prettily dressed.  Valancy thought it the nicest party she had ever attended.

By eleven o'clock she had changed her mind.  A new crowd had arrived -- a crowd unmistakably drunk.  Whiskey began to circulate freely.  Very soon almost all the men were partly drunk... The room grew noisy and reeking.  Quarrels started up here and there... The girls, swung rudely in the dances, became dishevelled and tawdry.  Valancy, alone in her corner, was feeling disgusted and repentant.  Why had she ever come to such a place?  Freedom and independence were all very well, but one should not be a little fool... Her head was aching -- she was sick of the whole thing.  But what could she do?  She must stay to the end.  Abel could not leave till then.  And that would probably be not till three or four in the morning.

The new influx of boys had left the girls far in the minority and partners were scarce.  Valancy was pestered with invitations to dance.  She refused them all shortly, and some of her refusals were not well taken.  There were muttered oaths and sullen looks.  Across the room she saw a group of the strangers talking together and glancing meaningly at her.  What were they plotting?

It was at this moment that she saw Barney Snaith looking in over the heads of the crowds at the doorway.  Valancy had two distinct convictions -- one was that she was quite safe no; the other was that this was why she had wanted to come to the dance.  It had been such an absurd hope that she had not recognised it before, but now she knew she had come because of the possibility that Barney might be there, too.  She thought that perhaps she ought to be ashamed for this, but she wasn't.  After her feeling of relief her next feeling was one of annoyance with Barney for coming there unshaved.  Surely he might have enough self-respect to groom himself up decently when he went to a party.  There he was, bareheaded, bristly-chinned, in his old trousers and his blue homespun shirt.  Not even a coat.  Valancy could have shaken him in her anger.  No wonder people believed everything bad of him.

It's a pretty big turning point in a book filled with turning points -- Valancy realizing she wanted to go to a party only because she might see Barney Snaith, the local "bad boy" that no one "decent" associates with because a) he drives a constantly-breaking-down car, b) he goes for drives in said car with no hat on, and c) no one knows where or how he gets enough money to live on.  Absolute scoundrel, obviously.  But very kind to people who don't stick their noses up at him, as Valancy has recently learned.  

(Also from my Bookstagram account)

I think the most telling thing, though Valancy doesn't recognize it at the time, is that she feels angry that Barney seems to have no self-respect.  It's almost like she feels the need to protect him from the spiteful thoughts of others, and she's upset because he's just giving them more reasons to judge him unfairly.  It's a first step toward Valancy understanding her own heart, even if she doesn't realize it quite yet.

There's a bit more to the party scene, but I won't share it here so that anyone who hasn't read The Blue Castle yet will have some fun surprises in this chapter yet :-)

(One more from my Bookstagram account)

Heidi is actually the person who convinced me to read The Blue Castle in the first place.  Friends kept talking about it, and she is the one who finally convinced me to check it out from the library.  And now it's one of my top favorite books of all time!

Have you read The Blue Castle?  If so, do you remember this scene?  If not, what are you waiting for?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite 2025 Reads

Welcome to my annual roundup of my favorite reads from the past year!  As usual, I am linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for her Top Ten Tuesday at the start of the new year.  Also, as usual, I'm doing two lists: my top ten favorite new-to-me reads and my top ten favorite rereads.

My Ten Favorite New Reads of 2025

1. Before the King by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, marriage of convenience, personal transformation (PG-16)

2. Woman in Shadow by Carrie Stuart Parks -- Christian fiction, suspense, PTSD, murder, forensic linguistics, limb loss (PG-16)

3. The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery -- classic, coming of age, slice of life, humorous, friendship (G)

4. The Adventures of Elizabeth in Ruegen by Elizabeth von Arnim -- classic, humorous, travel stories, epistolary (G)

5. The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens -- classic, Christmas, family, friendship (PG)

6. The Silent Night by Sarah Beran -- YA, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, Christmas, romance (G)

7. Shadows of the Valley by Britt Howard -- Christian fiction, suspense, fugitive, found family, romance, limb loss, PTSD (PG-13)

8. Of Clockworks and Daggers by Sarah Everest -- Christian fiction, YA, steampunk, fantasy, redemption (PG)

9. A Run at Love by Toni Shiloh -- Christian fiction, contemporary romance, friends-to-more, horse racing (PG) 

10. Hear the Falling Snow by Storm Shultz -- Christian fiction, contemporary romance, Christmas, loss of parent, baking (G)

My Ten Favorite Rereads of 2025

1. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery -- classic, personal growth, the outdoors, romantic love (PG)

2. Persuasion by Jane Austen -- classic, second-chance romance, friendship (G)

3. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell -- classic, enemies-to-more, he falls first, friendship, class strife, loss of parent (PG)

4. The Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett -- classic, culture clash, found family (G)

5. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit -- classic, middle-grade, family, slice of life (G)

6. The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert -- YA, family, Germany post-WWII, animals, farming, growing up, ingenuity (PG)

7. Rowan Farm by Margot Benary-Isbert -- YA, family, Germany post-WWII, coming of age, animals, farming, first romance (PG-10)

8. Eldest by Christopher Paolini -- YA, fantasy, dragons, coming of age, war, friendship, found family (PG-13)

9. Eragon by Christopher Paolini -- YA, fantasy, dragons, friendship, found family (PG-13)

10. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare -- YA, Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, coming of age, found family (PG-13)

How about you?  What books stood out to you in 2025?

"The Golden Road" by L. M. Montgomery

My kids and I enjoyed The Story Girl so very much when I read it aloud to them last year that we decided to read the sequel together this year.  Happily, I still remembered all the voices I had given the characters, even though I had read a couple of other books aloud to them in between.

This was a lot of fun, and we laughed a great deal over the little magazine that the kids put together periodically, simply called Our Magazine.  We all looked forward to those chapters because they were sure to set us howling with laughter.  But there were poignant things here too, like the repeated foreshadowing that one character would not live long past childhood.  Happily, none of them died during the story, but you knew that one of them was going to in the next few years.

The ending is also bittersweet, as the gang of friends breaks up and goes their separate ways.

We need more children's books like this where it's just a lot of fun adventures had by a group of kids who are friends.  Nothing truly awful happens to them, or anything unbelievable.  They just get into and out of a bit of mischief here and there, have some adventures, have quarrels and make up, and so on.  I love slice-of-life books like this, and you never know, I might write one someday.

Particularly Good Bits: "Nothing is ever lost to us as long as we remember it" (p. 257).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Good, clean, wholesome fun.

This has been my 46th book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list.  Getting so close to finishing off another set of fifty classics!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2024

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Best Books I Read in 2024."  It's been a while since I joined up with this weekly event, but I'm hoping to get back to participating a lot more in 2025.

I read a lot fewer books this year than I did in the past couple of years, for a variety of reasons.  I have two kids in high school now.  My middle-schooler participated in two different ballet productions.  I published four books.  My dad died, and my mom now lives with us part of the time.  But I still managed to read 68 books!  

So, here are my two annual lists: my top ten new reads and my top ten re-reads, with a bit of info about each one, and what I personally rated them, movie-style.  I've linked all the titles to my reviews (for re-reads, those reviews may have been written after a previous reading, not this year).

New Reads

1. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

2. Break the Beast by Allison Tebo -- young adult, Beowulf retelling, historical-esque fantasy, adventure, platonic friendship, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

3. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling -- middle-grade fiction, diverse reads, disability rep -- limb difference, humorous (PG)

4. The Sackett Brand by Louis L'Amour -- western, historical fiction, heroism, strong family ties, heroic characters (PG-16)

5. The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery -- cozy vibes, family fiction, slice-of-life, childhood friendship (G)

6. Kill the Dawn by Emily Hayse -- young adult, Hamlet retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Old Norse vibes, heroic characters (PG-13)

7. Snowhawk by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

8. Summon the Light by Tor Thibeaux -- young adult, Shakespeare's The Tempest retelling, fantasy, heroic characters, found family (PG)

9. The Midnight Show by Sarah Pennington -- young adult, "Twelve Dancing Princesses" retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Jazz Age/1920s vibes, mystery, detectives, entertainers (PG-10)

10. The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim -- epistolary, humorous, classic (PG-10)

Re-reads

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -- classic, high fantasy, save-the-world quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

2. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- young adult, hoodlums, coming-of-age, heroic characters, found family (PG)

3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin -- middle-grade fiction, mystery, humorous (PG)

4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -- classic, parody of Gothic fiction, humorous, clean romance (PG)

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- classic, humorous, clean romance, coming-of-age (PG)

6. Balefire by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

7. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

8. King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry -- middle-grade fiction, historical fiction, horses, diverse reads, speech impediment rep, based on a true story, found family (PG)

9. A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White -- Christian fiction, historical fiction, eve of WWI, spies, intrigue, mystery, book lovers, diverse reads, speech impediment rep (PG)

10. Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell -- young adult, historical fiction, diverse reads, American Indian culture, based on a true story, adventure (PG-10)

If you're wondering why Up from Dust is on both lists, it's because I read it for the first time this year, and then read it again a few months later.  It's just that good!

(From my Instagram)

"The Story Girl" by L. M. Montgomery

I think my kids enjoyed this book even more than I did when I read it aloud to them this summer.  That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, because I definitely did!  But I think they loved it even more.  Sometimes, with read-alouds, I am the one to say, "Hey, want me to read a bit?" but with this one, it was more often one of the kids saying, "Do you have time to read to us?"  Which was really delightful.

This is all about a group of kids on Prince Edward Island.  It's narrated by a guy named Beverly as an adult, looking back to a delightful summer from his childhood when he and his brother spent several months with an aunt and uncle and had fun with their cousins and friends.  The kids have all sorts of adventures together, get into mischief, learn some lessons, solve some problems for one another and others, and spend a lot of time listening to the Story Girl tell stories.

The title character's real name is Sara Stanley, but everyone calls her the Story Girl because she is so wonderful at telling stories.  She's fourteen and is blessed with both a vivid imagination and gift for storytelling.  She's the center of the group of kids -- not the leader, but the one their adventures always end up revolving around.  

This is one of those "slice of life" books I love that has a string of adventures and escapades and incidents in the lives of its characters, rather than one all-encompassing plot.  L. M. Montgomery excelled at both kinds of books, which is pretty amazing! 

Particularly Good Bits:

It is always safe to dream of spring.  For it is sure to come, and if it be not just as we have pictured it, it will be infinitely sweeter (p. 320).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Good, clean, wholesome fun!

This is my 28th book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list, and my 21st read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2023

Our first Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl for 2024 is all about looking back over our reading from the past year and picking our top reads.  As usual, I am doing two lists, one of my top ten favorite new reads, and one of my top ten favorite re-reads.  I've linked each title to my review here on my blog, and provided a little info about each book as well, including its publication year.

My Ten Favorite New Reads:

1. Code Name Edelweiss (PG-16) by Stephanie Landsem, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction spy story set in Hollywood during the build-up to WWII

2. A Deed of Dreadful Note (PG) by Patricia Meredith, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction murder mystery based on the life of mystery novelist Anna Katherine Green

3. High Lonesome (PG-16) by Louis L'Amour, 1962 -- western adventure about strangers banding together against terrible foes

4. Murder on Black Swan Lane (PG-13) by Andrea Penrose, 2017 -- historical fiction murder mystery set in Regency England

5. A Right to Die (PG-13) by Rex Stout, 1964 -- a Nero Wolfe murder mystery involving the Civil Rights Movement

6. Beauty (G) by Robin McKinley, 1978 -- gentle and wholesome fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast

7. The Lilies of the Field (G) by William E. Barrett, 1962 -- sweet story of finding common ground despite outward differences

8. And Then There Were None (PG-16) by Agatha Christie, 1939 -- classic murder mystery about people trapped on an island

9. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (PG) by Bette Bao Lord, 1984 -- middle grade book about a Chinese immigrant family in the 1950s

10. The Vanderbeekers on the Road (G) by Karina Yan Glaser, 2022 -- middle grade book about a family road trip

My Ten Favorite Re-reads:

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (PG) by A. Conan Doyle, 1902 -- classic Sherlock Holmes mystery

2. The Blue Castle (PG) by L. M. Montgomery, 1926 -- classic about a woman stepping out into life from the shadows

3. Shane (PG) by Jack Schaefer, 1949 -- western about a loner who adopts a family

4. The Black Stallion (PG) by Walter Farley, 1941 -- middle grade classic about a boy and wild horse who rescue each other

5. Playback (R) by Raymond Chandler, 1958 -- hardboiled detective mystery starring Philip Marlowe

6. The Enchanted April (G) by Elizabeth von Arnim, 1922 -- classic about four women who discover their true selves in Italy

7. Borden Chantry (PG) by Louis L'Amour, 1977 -- western murder mystery

8. Jane of Austin (PG-13) by Hillary Manton Lodge, 2017 -- Christian fiction retelling of Sense and Sensibility set in modern-day Texas

9. By the Great Horn Spoon! (PG) by Sid Fleischman, 1963 -- middle grade classic tall tale about the Gold Rush

10. Big Red (PG-10) by Jim Kjelgaard, 1945 -- middle grade classic about a boy and the dog he loves

You can see all my lists of favorite reads since 2014 on this page.

Check back later this week for a more fulsome look at my 2023 reading, including how I did with various challenges and so on!

"The L. M. Montgomery Christmas Collection"

I love L. M. Montgomery's writing, and I love Christmas, so I am naturally drawn to her festive stories and poetry.  The Christmas with Anne collection is one of my favorite Christmastime reads, so I am excited to add this new collection to my shelf.  It does have some overlap with that other volume -- both contain the "Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves" from Anne of Green Gables, as well as several of the same short stories.  This collection has a couple of different Anne chapters too, and six Christmas/winter poems that are paired with appropriate classic paintings.  There are paintings to go with the short stories and Anne chapters as well, and I love all the thought that obviously went into the pairings.

I bought the paperback edition of this book, but I wish I had gotten the hardcover instead.  I see there is now a pocket-sized hardcover edition available, as well as the full-sized one, and I might get that for myself and put this paperback copy into my kids' box of Christmas books that we haul out every year.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  It's everything sweet, wholesome, and lovely.

This is my 57th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

"Emily of New Moon" by L. M. Montgomery

One of the things I love about L. M. Montgomery's writing is how vividly she remembers what things feel and seem when you are a child.  I also have very clear recollections of my childhood, particularly of my inner self as a child, and so much of what she writes rings so true.  When Emily cries, "I am important to myself" (p. 25), I wanted to cheer because that is how I felt too when I was in single digits and being dismissed by adults.  And, when "Elizabeth Murray had learned an important lesson -- that there was not one law of fairness for children and another for grown-ups" (p. 375), I set down my book and clapped.  I was very sensitive to injustice, slights, and being treated condescendingly when I was a kid, and I try really hard not to treat kids that way now that I'm an adult.

Anyway, I read all three Emily books twenty years ago, when I was in my early twenties, and thought they were okay.  I don't know if I loved Emily of New Moon when I read it just now, but I definitely liked it a lot more than I did before.  I chuckled often, smiled oftener, and am eager to read the next book in the trilogy.

Emily Starr's father dies, and she is taken in by some of her mother's relatives.  Cousin Jimmy and Aunt Laura are kind and loving to her, but Aunt Elizabeth bosses both of them and is less welcoming to Emily.  Still, they give Emily a home at New Moon farm on Prince Edward Island, and if Aunt Elizabeth is not kind, she is at least honorable.

Emily makes friends with some kids and some adults.  She starts out a lonesome, grief-stricken, pale child with a good deal of grit and spirit hidden under her puny exterior.  She blossoms into a loveable, healthy, friendly girl over the course of the book.  Always imaginative, Emily is determined to become a published author, and she spends a lot of time writing poetry, stories, and letters to her dead parents.  

And, while terribly ill with a fever, Emily solves long-ago mystery.  Her subconscious pieces together clues about a woman who disappeared and figures out what really happened to her, and brings joy and comfort to her best friend as a result.  This is presented a little bit mystically, but I know how powerful a person's subconscious and imagination can be, and I find it wholly believable that a person could put together a few seemingly disparate facts and reach the logical and correct conclusion without consciously trying to do so.

I really loved Emily's concept of "the flash."  I also have moments of such clear and unadulterated joy that they seem like ecstatic glimpses of a different world.  Mine usually are brought about by bits of music, silhouettes, or something wonderful happening against all expectation -- they can all transport me with a jolt of ecstasy.  I don't have a name for it like Emily does, but I think the concept is the same.

Particularly Good Bits:

And always when the flash came to her, Emily felt that life was a wonderful, mysterious thing of persistent beauty (p. 8).

Aunt Elizabeth was one of those people who never understand anything unless it is told them in plain language and hammered into their heads.  And then they understand it only with their brains and not with their hearts (p. 54-55).

"Poets are so scarce in Blair Water folks don't understand them, and most people worry so much, they think you're not right if you don't worry" (p. 80).

Spring is such a happyfying time isn't it, father" (p. 215).

She was filled to her fingertips with a rapture of living (p. 269).

Outgrowing things we love is never a pleasant process (p. 361).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for grief, mild mistreatment of a child, gossip about a woman leaving her husband for another man, and oblique descriptions of a sad and lonely death.

This is my 13th book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list, and my second for the Classic Children's Literature Party.

Top Ten Tuesday: And Then a Heroine Comes Along

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Favorite Heroines."  I've decided to list mine in alphabetical order by first name because I am late getting this post finished and I don't want to take the time and mental energy to figure out whom I like best.  I'm also going to list a few attributes I associate with each of them, though, so you can get an idea of what they are like!

Anne Elliot in Persuasion by Jane Austen -- shy, quiet, sensible, loyal, kind, tenacious, bookish

Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables books by L. M. Montgomery -- quirky, imaginative, bookish, starry-eyed, stubborn

Constance Kopp from Girl Waits with Gun and the rest of the Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart -- sensible, down-to-earth, brave, stalwart, capable, determined

Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling -- intelligent, loyal, courageous, level-headed, resourceful, curious, bookish

Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- strong-willed, strong-minded, indomitable, resilient, affectionate

Jo March from Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott -- independent, smart, imaginative, bookish, understanding, stubborn, resourceful, dependable

Mary Russell from The Beekeeper's Apprentice and the rest of the series featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King -- willful, intelligent, gutsy, bookish, indomitable, skillful

Thursday Next from The Eyre Affair and the rest of the series by Jasper Fforde -- trustworthy, diligent, determined, curious, strong-willed

Trixie Belden from the Trixie Belden series by Kathryn Kenny -- smart, loyal, curious, pugnacious, determined

Valancy Stirling from The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery -- bright, vibrant, bookish, diligent, kind, forthright

Well, from my listing of random character traits and descriptions, I think we can see the sorts of traits I value in fictional characters!  There are a lot of similarities here, aren't there?

"A Tangled Web" by L. M. Montgomery

I'm going to enjoy this book a lot more the next time I read it.  This time, I was so terribly worried about how some of the storylines were going to turn out that I simply had to finish it as fast as possible, which was not exactly relaxing.  Next time, I will be secure in the knowledge of whose storylines turn out happily (and nearly all of them do), and I can just laugh at all the sarcasm and acidic wit, and at all the completely ridiculous human foibles they're aimed at.

Two huge old Canadian families, the Darks and the Penhallows, have intermarried so often over the past several generations that they're basically all one giant clan now.  Old Aunt Becky, the clan matriarch, is expected to announce who will inherit a specific heirloom, an ugly old jug painted with hideous nonsense that is one of the funniest MacGuffins I have ever encountered.  Everyone in the clan wants the antique jug, and thinks they have a right to it, even though it's really not a desirable object in and of itself.  It has a tragic family history, and because everyone knows everyone else wants it, everyone just keeps wanting it.

Well, Aunt Becky does NOT announce who she's leaving the jug to.  She sets up a year of suspense and intrigue for the whole clan by leaving instructions on who is to keep it for the next year, along with a sealed letter saying whom she will bequeath it to.  And then she dies like two weeks later, and all the Darks and Penhallows spend a year trying to be as circumspect and respectable and worthy of that jug as they possibly can.  Because they all think that the letter might say that the person who has been temporarily entrusted with the jug should decide himself who gets it.

(Mine from my Instagram account.)

That's really just the backdrop for the book, though.  The story mainly revolves around three couples: Gay Penhallow and Noel Gibson, Donna Dark and Peter Penhallow, and Joscelyn and Hugh Dark.  Gay and Noel are freshly engaged, but Gay discovers that her engagement may not lead to marriage after all.  Donna and Peter's families have hated each other for decades, but then Donna and Peter experience a jolt of love-at-first-sight and have to try to figure out a way to get together.  Joscelyn and Hugh have been married for ten years, but parted ways in bitterness a few hours after their wedding and have been living separate lives all this time.

The title makes me think of the old Sir Walter Scott quotation, "Oh what a tangled web we weave When first we practice to deceive."  Which I'm sure it's meant to.  What's interesting is that most of the deception practiced in this book is self-deception.  Gay had deceived herself into getting engaged to a shallow man just because he's handsome and charming.  Donna is a widow who deceived herself into thinking she should never love another man because her first husband died young during WWI.  Joscelyn deceived herself for ten years that she loves a man other than Hugh that she only saw once, but thinks she is bound to forever because of what she felt in that one meeting.  And all the other members of the clan deceive themselves over a whole lot of random things -- including whether or not they are worthy of inheriting the jug.

I laughed aloud quite a lot over this book.  Montgomery reveals a sharp and biting wit similar to Jane Austen's as she lays bare the ridiculous things people are capable of thinking and doing.  I suspect I will laugh more next time I read it, as I said, because I won't be so worried about what will happen to everyone!

Particularly Good Bits:

And, as Uncle Pippin said, while the truth was all right, in its place, there was no sense in pouring out great gobs of it around where it wasn't wanted (p. 2).

Margaret thought she would not mind growing old if she could be left to do it in peace.  It was hard to grow old gracefully when you were always being laughed at because you were not young (p. 86).

"I like any gate," said Roger whimsically.  "A gate is a luring thing--a promise.  There may be something wonderful beyond and you are not shut out" (p. 134).

One couldn't be altogether hopeless in spring (p. 234).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for a surprising number of mild curse words and one use of the N-word in regards to a statue someone has painted brown.  

I'm contributing this review to We Love L. M. Montgomery Week, which I'm hosting right now on my other blog!  Click here to see all the fun LMM posts people are contributing -- and you can join in yourself, too!  I've got a couple of games coming up, plus I'm hosting a giveaway.  One of the giveaway prizes is a copy of this book!

This has been my 9th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023, and my 9th book read for my fourth Classics Club list.

The In or Out Tag

Spotted this at both Deborah Koren's blog and Cindy's Book Corner and thought it looked like too much fun to pass up :-)

Unlike most tags, there are no rules about thanking people or tagging people.  If you want to fill it out, you can!  If you don't, then don't!  

Reading the Last Page First -- OUT.  I can only remember doing this once, and it was for And Now Tomorrow by Rachel Field.  I did it that time because the first section of the book made it sound like the book was going to end differently than the 1944 movie, and I adore the 1944 movie, so I had to find out if it ended the same way or not.  Because, if it didn't, I wasn't going to bother reading the whole book.  But it does, so I did read it.  And loved it.

Ordinarily, though, I don't want to ruin the flow of a story by reading the ending first.

(Bwahaha!  I snuck an Alan Ladd picture in here!)

Enemies to Lovers -- IN.  It's not my favorite trope, but I love books like Pride and Prejudice, North and South, and the Anne of Green Gables books a lot, and they all use this, so I'm fine with it.

Dream Sequences -- IN.  Sometimes, I don't even mind "it was all a dream."

Love Triangles -- IN.  They're a classic.  I've even used them myself, like in My Rock and My Refuge.  

(This and all the following book photos
are mine from my Instagram account.)

Cracked Spines -- OUT.  OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT.  My mother gave me a boxed set of four Jane Austen novels for my birthday when I was in my upper teens.  Then she borrowed them each in turn to read herself and absolutely destroyed their spines.  Not only did they no longer fit in the slipcover, you couldn't even read the titles on the spines.  They made me sad every time I looked at them, and I eventually gave them away.  I still have my original Anne of Green Gables paperbacks that my mom also ruined that way, but my grandma gave me those, so I keep them anyway.

Now, a caveat to all that, though -- if I'm buying a used copy of a vintage paperback, like a Louis L'Amour or a Rex Stout or something like that, I am super fine with the book looking like it lived in someone's back pocket for weeks on end fifty years ago.  In fact, I prefer those to shiny, new copies for specific genres and authors.  But I WILL NOT contribute MORE crackage to their spines.  And I prefer them not to be so cracked that I can't read the title anymore.

Back to My Small Town -- IN.  Although "someone new comes to town, and everything changes" is my favorite trope, I also love "someone comes back home, and everything changes."  Probably my favorite versions of that are the book The Count of Monte Cristo and movie The Lone Ranger (2013).

 

No Paragraph Breaks -- OUT.  Also, ew.  Also, I don't think I've ever read a book like that, but I'm against it on principle.

Multi-generational Sagas -- IN.  I mean, I'm embarking on a quest to read all of the Sackett novels by Louis L'Amour this year, so I'm obviously a fan, right?  Also, I love historical fiction, and that sort of thing generally involves lots of history.

Monsters Are Regular People -- OUT if you mean horrific villains are portrayed as normal and acceptable.  IN if you mean stories where vampires just wanna make friends and hold down a job.  Angel (1999-2004) is my second-favorite TV show of all time, after all.

Re-Reading -- IN.  I reread a LOT.  I've estimated that 1 out of 4 books I read is a reread, usually.  This past year, it was closer to 1 in 3 -- I read 103 books, and 29 were rereads.

Artificial Intelligence -- OUT.  I don't read much sci-fi, and I just am not a fan of sentient robots in general.

Drop Caps -- IN.  They usually look amazing.

Happy Endings -- IN.  I LOVE happy endings!!!

Plot Points That Only Converge at the End -- IN, as long as the book isn't too long.  I must admit, I've never read a book by Tom Clancy because I've heard so many people talk about how he'll start like eight little plots going and you never find out how they're related until the very end, and that does sound kind of daunting to keep straight.  But J. K. Rowling did the same thing over the course of the Harry Potter series, really, and I loved that.  So... I'm not against it, anyway.

Detailed Magic Systems -- IN if I don't have to read all the details.  Out if the book is basically a travelogue about a fictional world.  This is part of why I don't read a ton of fantasy and sci-fi.  Descriptions of places and how things work bore me, and if that's the bulk of your first few chapters, I'm outta here.

Classic Fantasy Races -- IN.  The fantasy I do dig, such as The Lord of the Rings and Eragon and Harry Potter, all use classic things like unicorns and elves and dwarves and centaurs and dragons. 

Unreliable Narrators -- OUT.  I am not a fan.  I want to trust the narrator to tell me what's going on.  If I can't, I'm probably going to dislike the book.

Evil Protagonists -- OUT.  One of the things I demand from fiction is that it restore moral balance by the end of the book.  Also, if the protag is evil, I'm really not going to want to like them.  And if I don't like the protag, and they either have to face dire consequences or will get away with being evil... why would I want to read that?  Why???

The Chosen One -- IN.  Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Eragon, the Pevensie kids... I'm totally a fan.

When the Protagonist Dies -- IN and OUT.  Ordinarily, I hate it.  I want my happy ending.  Buuuuuuut... Hamlet dies.  And I adore Hamlet.  I can be okay with protag death if that still results in a good ending.

Really Long Chapters -- IN, I guess?  I don't care, when I read.  I tend to write short chapters, though.

French Flaps -- OUT just because I don't really have any books with them and they seem annoying.  I had to look up what they are, though.

Deckled Edges -- IN.  I am a very sensory, tactile-oriented person, and how a book feels can matter a lot to me.  Like, I really can't stand cloth-bound books and avoid buying them.  I love the feel of deckled edges :-)

Signed Copies by the Author -- IN!  Why would anybody not want that?

Dog-Earing Pages -- IN!  Books are not sacred objects.  It's okay to bend the pages.  When I was just starting to read chapter books, I had a toddler brother who delighted in pulling bookmarks out of every book he found, so for several years, dog-earing was a necessity.  I usually use a bookmark, but if I don't have one, I don't feel guilty about dog-earing. 

Chapter Titles Instead of Numbers -- IN!  But be aware I will probably ignore them completely.

I was not tagged with this, so I'm not tagging anyone else, but if you think this looks fun, by all means fill it out yourself!