Wednesday Round Up – 1.8.20

Happy Wednesday! Today I’m joining two linkups:

The holidays, while lovely, resulted in less time for reading. I’m so pleased to find my reading rhythm again!

Reading

Finished this week:

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go for Olive Kitteridge because it was so good!! Many of the stories were heartbreaking but I love how Olive snaked in and out of each of them. And Olive? I loved her! She’s a grumpy and cantankerous old thing, but she seemed so real. Everything about this collection seemed so real! I’m looking forward to tacking Olive, Again a bit later this year.

It seems like I read Anne of Green Gables every 10 years or so and it gets better each and every time. I think I identified with Anne more as a 35 year old than as a 10 year old! Reading it this time I was captivated by the landscape that Montgomery painted – so beautiful. And I was also struck by Marilla and Matthew’s happiness and heartache at Anne’s growing up. Anne’s dramatic nature made me chuckle so many times – she’s just the best. I aim to get Anne of Avonlea from the library in February. I thought that I’d read the entire series about 10 years ago but as I looked at my notebooks I realized that I’d only gotten about halfway through, so that means that I have some lovely new reading to look forward to in 2020.

Funny thing – Anne of Green Gables was originally published in 1908 and Olive Kitteridge was published in 2008. My first two reads of 2020 were published exactly 100 years apart and I adored BOTH!

Abandoned this week:

As predicted, I abandoned Little Women this week. I’m happy that my 5th grade self enjoyed this so much, but my 35 year old self didn’t. Is there a book totally from Marmee’s perspective? Maybe that’s what I’m looking for!

Currently Reading:

I’m really enjoying Light Changes Everything so far. Mary Pearl is a young woman living in the Arizona Territory in 1907. Despite never stepping foot in a classroom, her family sends a drawing to Wheaton College in Illinois and she’s accepted as an art student. At about the same time, she quickly becomes engaged to a young man. Mary Pearl decides college is the place for her to be and asks her beau to wait. I’m looking forward to reading more of this!

Reading Next:

I’m still looking forward to This Tender Land by Krueger. My holds on Red at the Bone and The Family Upstairs came in on the same day! They are electronic holds, so if I don’t get to them then poof! they’ll go away. Cross your fingers that my little plan for the next couple of weeks works out!

Knitting

Nothing! I had everything ready to start on the Birkin sweater that I’ve been swooning over for years and then my 6 year old asked me to knit a sweater for him. He even went to my yarn cabinet and told me which yarn he wanted me to use! So the Birkin is hold now as I recalibrate my poor little brain.

I can’t wait to see what everyone else has been working on this week. Any thoughts about my reading selection? Are you in the same predicament with library holds?

38 thoughts on “Wednesday Round Up – 1.8.20”

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  1. I only read Anne of Green Gables for the first time a couple of years ago as a 28-year-old. I can definitely see how you can get something else out of it as you get older. Have you read the rest of the books in the series? I have them but haven’t got around to them yet.

    Here’s my WWW.

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  3. Oh! I had forgotten about Anne of Green Gables. Maybe that should be the next read aloud I do with my daughter. 🙂 I am in the middle of the “Here, There Be Dragons” series and accidently picked up the wrong book in the series at the library yesterday so I will need to make a trip to swap them out sometime this week.

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    1. I’m always up for another trip to the library! It’s so much fun to be deep in the middle of a series – enjoy!

      And yes – Anne would be a great read with your daughter!

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  4. Don’t let Red at the Bone poof away! I read it on the way from Pittsburgh to Traverse City to visit my kids – devoured it, rather! It is a book that has long stayed with me and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

    And, I LOVE when loved ones ask for something handmade – it melts my heart! I can’t wait to see what your little one asked for!

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    1. Don’t worry – I read Red at the Bone last night! It was a fast one and so fascinating. Thanks for the encouragement!

      And I was so surprised when he asked me to knit him something – he’s never done that before! So I’m planning to choose a simple pattern this week and then get started on it this weekend. 🙂

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    1. Linda – YES. I think Anne of Green Gables would be a great choice for you right now.

      Thanks for the kind words about my blog. I’m partial to it 🙂

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  7. I’ve been meaning to reread Anne of Green Gables. I did read Little Women again after I started blogging…and after reading it several times as a child. I was surprised at how much I didn’t really enjoy the moralistic tone…from my adult perspective.

    I am planning to see the newest movie, though.

    Enjoy your reading, and here’s MY WWW POST

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    1. I think that’s what bothered me about Little Women too – it was VERY heavy handed. Anne of Green Gables is also heavy on the morals, but it’s written in such a lighthearted and heartwarming way. I’m excited to get to The Family Upstairs – everyone seems to love it!

      Thanks for your WWW link!

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  10. I was *just* thinking the other day that I’m really due for an Anne re-read. Several years ago I had a little box set of the first three books, but my then-toddler decided they were her favorite plaything and I think destroyed the first book, so I’ll have to get a replacement. I think she’d enjoy it, so it may be a book we read together (she’s 10 now, which I think is a great age to be introduced to Anne).

    I’m waiting on my hold for Olive Kitteridge!

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    1. 10 is such a great age to meet Anne! I hope you get to read Anne again soon – I think your perspective will have shifted since you last read it.

      And I hope you love Olive as much as I did!

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    1. Thanks Sammie – I hope I love The Family Upstairs too. And you’re right – it is sweet of my son! Let’s see if he actually wants to wear it :p

      Thanks for the link to your post!

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  12. If you liked Olive Kitteridge, I think you’re going to LOVE Olive, Again! Olive has aged and matured but is still brutally honest. Anne of Green Gables is one of my all-time favorites and has stood up to multiple re-reads at multiple ages. I’m with Kat; Red at the Bone is wonderful! I hope you get a chance to finish it.

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    1. Oh yay! I’m so excited to read more about Olive!

      I think it’s amazing that SO many people read and reread Anne of Green Gables and continue to love it. Just amazing!

      I finished Red at the Bone last night – it was a quick and interesting read. 4 stars!

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  13. You might want to read March by Geraldine Brooks. Little Women from the father’s perspective. It was excellent. I’d also suggest ditching Tasha Tudor’s version (she’s too precious for the story) and reading Little Women in a more grown up version. I suppose I must give Olive another try–I tried the audio and didn’t like it. Often I like one version but not the other. Good post!

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    1. Thanks for the recommendation for March. I started it years ago and never finished it – I suppose I should try again.

      This was my second attempt at Olive. I tried when it was first published and found no interest in it. This go-round was much more rewarding. Let me know if you end up trying it again!

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      4. I used to listen to 2-3 a month when I commuted to work (my commute was very short though), so I am a total advocate of audiobooks in the car. But I spend almost no time in my car these days! But I keep trying different audiobook strategies at home and hope that I figure something out. But for now, it’s mostly just podcasts and spotify when I’m at home because I have way too many distractions!

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  15. Oh man, I totally need to an Anne of Green Gables reread myself! Though now I’m scared to do a Little Women reread — I haven’t read it in so long, maybe I would hate it now.

    Awww no to switching projects! I crochet, and it drives me barmy trying to switch gears. Right now I’m working on a really simple scarf, but I sort of don’t want to switch to anything else even for something more interesting. I’m worried if I put it down, I’ll never finish it!

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    1. Yes to the Anne of Green Gables reread! And I say go for Little Women too. It’s a great time of year to read it AND you can always put it down if it’s no longer your cup of tea. Or you could love it and be glad that you read it!

      Switching gears is SO hard and I know exactly what you mean when you say that you’re worried you’ll never finish it. I think we have similar strategies – power through!!

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  16. I just finished listening to the audio version of Red at the Bone and really enjoyed it. The story in multiple voices is a reminder to treat all with kindness as we never know what scars and burdens another carries. I’m still thinking about it. Do you know the CraftLit podcast. Heather, the hostess does annotated series on books in the public domain – mostly English Literature classics. Awhile back she did Anne of Green Gables and it was so interesting to have her commentary on the chapters. She is former English teacher and her podcast is very polished and professional. When the little ones ask for knitting, what’s a Mom or Grammy to do? I say knit away for them.

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    1. What great insight on Red at the Bone – and you’re right. It was a powerful story! I haven’t heard of that podcast – thank you for the recommendation!!

      And you’re right about knitting for the little ones – knit on!

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  17. Pingback: Wednesday Round Up 1.15.20 – The Cozy Burrow

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