Hi, friends! I had such a wonderful, relaxing weekend that included a small shopping trip for fall decor. My apartment was sorely lacking in fall decor and it was fun to pick up some pumpkins and signage from Target and Homegoods this weekend. It’s looking a lot more festive now!
I finished three books last week, one of which I loved very much and two of which I was rather “meh” about. Let’s discuss!
A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (★★★★★)
Oh man, A Place to Hang the Moon was just the sweetest, most uplifting story I have read in a long, long time. It’s a middle-grade historical fiction novel that takes place during WWII and centers on three adorable children: William, Edmund, and Anna. They are orphans who have just lost their grandma who was their sole caretaker, and so a plan is hatched: these children will join a group of other schoolchildren their age who are being evacuated to a safer village to live with families for the duration of the war. The hope is that William, Edmund, and Anna will find a family willing to adopt them. I don’t ever want to have children of my own, but I felt fiercely protective of these three children while reading this book. Every time I turned on the audiobook, I thought to myself, “Oh, I hope my babies will be okay today.” They had my whole heart. I also found this book to be so educational about a part of WWII I knew very little about (schoolchildren being evacuated to safer villages) and it was interesting the way that played out. All in all, the sweetest story that will definitely make my favorites list this year.
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (★★☆☆☆)
As a long-time Anne of Green Gables fan who recently reread the series and was happy to find it did hold up to my childhood memories, I am very sad about my experience reading Emily of New Moon. It had none of the magic of AoGG. While I did love Emily’s character, I did not love the adults in this novel who were just so awful and terrible to Emily. (Her aunt she lived with and her schoolteacher, especially). But the book fully jumped the shark for me when a 36-year-old man was introduced who had the most uncomfortable relationship with Emily (who was 11 or 12 at the time). He kept asking Emily if she thought he was attractive (ew), spent way too much time alone with her (blegh), and when Emily talked about how she had a hard time writing about “love things” in her novels, he told her he could teach her (GROSS). This plotline did NOT age well, and it grossed me out so much. Also, there was way too much talk of drowning kittens and I’m not here for that.
A Dangerous Kind of Lady by Mia Vincy (★★★☆☆)
In this historical romance novel, we’re introduced to Arabella and Guy. They were once promised to each other when they were children, but Guy broke Arabella’s heart when he announced an engagement to another woman. It’s a few years later and Arabella is still unmarried and if she doesn’t get married soon, her father will disinherit her. It’s not marriage that Arabella wants, though; it’s the freedom to be who she wants and do what she wants. With Guy back in town, the two of them can’t seem to stop running into each other, but it seems like Guy doesn’t want much to do with Arabella. However, she’s got a plan for how she’s going to save her inheritance and keep her freedom, and Guy’s just going to have to get on board. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I thought it was oddly paced, in that the book seemed to have a natural conclusion about 75 pages before it actually ended. From there, it just seemed to drag on and on and I wasn’t fan of the way the dark moment unspooled the plot. All in all, a pretty forgettable romance. (Open-door romance.)
What I’m Reading This Week
- The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare (print) – I am about halfway through this novel about a young girl living in Nigeria who wants an education more than anything else. It’s difficult, but I’m also really enjoying it.
- A Lie for a Lie by Helena Hunting (e-book) – I’m enjoying this contemporary hockey romance so far. I’m about 100 pages in and it’s been a solid read so far.
- You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union (audiobook) – I plan on start this audiobook sometime this week. I’m looking forward to it!
What are you reading?
Since you loved A Place to Hang the Moon, I recommend Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian – I first read this book when I was actually a middle-grade reader and have come back to it several times. I will definitely be checking out A Place to Hang the Moon for more of these nostalgic (well, for me lol) WWII British adopted family vibes! I always enjoy your reviews, thanks so much for posting them 🙂
Thank you so much for the sweet comment, Kaitlyn! I’m glad you enjoy my reviews. 🙂 I’m going to check out Goodnight Mister Tom!
I will have to check out that middle grade novel when I am in the mood for WWII fiction again. I have been so so burned out on that genre lately, although a middle grade book would read so differently from the adult stuff I typically read.
Over the weekend, I finished “The Unsinkable Greta James” which I really enjoyed. There are so many great books that have come out in the past year that deal with grief. I could make a grief flight of excellent books I’ve read this year! Now I am reading “These Silent Woods” which is my selection for book club this month! And then I’m reading “Heating and Cooling” which is a super short book of very short essays that was raved about by Nicole and NGS so I downloaded that today. And then I will be reading the first Stephen Cavanaugh book called Defense. I heard about that series on Currently Reading but want to read them in order so am starting with book #1!
A Place to Hang the Moon is WWII fiction but the war is not a very prominent feature – there is mention of it here or there, but since it’s middle grade, the war doesn’t affect the kids’ lives too much. I think you would enjoy it a lot!
The Girl with the Louding Voice was done really well. It was absolutely heartbreaking, though, so be aware!
I’m currently in the middle of “The Book of Form and Emptiness” by Ruth Ozeki and I really like Ozeki’s writing, but it’s a book about childhood mental illness and it’s slow going and giving me the sads. I have the twentieth book of a romance series about vampires on my Kindle, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, and I have to say that I think I might be done with this series. The first dozen or so books were so good, but I think the world is a bit bloated at this point.
I’m glad you had a great weekend and I hope you post some of your new fall decor!
The Girl with the Louding Voice was so heartbreaking, and I’m glad you gave me this warning as I was starting to read it. It helped me temper my expectations a bit! <3
I think I started A Place To Hang the Moon…but definitely didn’t finish it and now I can’t remember why?
Emily of New Moon is soooo much darker than Anne of Green Gables. I remember watching a miniseries on the CBC (the main Canadian broadcasting channel here in Canada) and it was SO depressing. I was just a kid but I remember hating it and think I might have tried to read one of those books once and quit. I do think it shows more of the true backstory to L.M. Montgomery’s life which was very sad and tragic. But still, it’s hard to read when Anne is just SO AMAZING (I read the whole Anne series this year and the first 3 books especially just have my heart!!). Sometimes it makes sense to read hard books because they challenge us to think…but life is WAY to short to read hard books that are just icky and depressing!
Your comment reminds me that I know so very little of L.M. Montgomery’s life! The sweetness of AoGG makes you think she lived a charmed, happy one but man, the darkness of Emily of New Moon gives you an entirely new perspective. If it does mirror her life more than AoGG, I feel so sad for her!
A Place to Hang the Moon…. that sounds adorable! I’m logging into my library now to see it – I love characters I just connect with.
I would agree about Emily of New Moon. I absolutely loved the two that came after it, but the first one is a real drag. It is much darker than Anne, but I really related to Emily when I was younger. On the reread of the latter two I picked up some very interesting things that I missed when I was a kid, that were a little autobiographical in nature. I’m not recommending them to you because there are some troublesome plot lines, but there is one of my favourite lines EVER in a book. One of the characters says to Emily if she’s worried her fiance will get tired of her and she says “Do you really think a man will get tired of me? I’m not beautiful but I am very interesting.” I remembered that line from when I was young and it still makes me smile now.
Awww. I love that line! I’m glad to hear the Emily books get better as the series goes on. It just makes me wonder if I missed any problematic plot lines in AoGG!
Ooo, do we get to see the decorations?
Emily of New Moon sounds so horrible. Yuck. And I would never get over the kitten thing. I saw a video in college that showed people doing that and was so so so upset.
I am reading Carrie Soto Is Back.
What did you think of Carrie Soto Is Back? I *loved* it but I’m interested in how other people felt!
I thought the writing was great but was a bit bored with all the tennis stuff! LOL!
I want to see the decorations, too, please! 🙂
Also, Emily of New Moon was a) never my favorite of the 3 (but don’t read the other 2, I would recommend… I think reading them as an adult is much more difficult than reading them as a child), and b) never on par with AOGG. I hope you moved on to other books you enjoyed more!
I’m glad I gave Emily of New Moon a try, but I think I’ll stick with Anne from here on out. She’s much more my speed!