Anne's writing style of events that took place in the history of Ireland, easy for any reader, at any level, to understand. The story comes to life and you soon find yourself, there, "going back in time" with the characters in the book. I recommend that the reader not just read one of her books, but the entire collection for that period, as Anne neatly weaves one character into the next book. The characters seem to have known each other or been related in some manner. It's a never-ending story of events that took place in the history of Ireland in the 1500s.

Library Journal's review of this guide: "Combining encyclopedic coverage of destinations with loads of practical information and atlas-type maps, the series illuminates the wonders of nature but emphasizes the peculiarity of a place's people and their folklore."

I liked this book because of the way that Ghost Dog helped his friend to find his card that the bad man took by telling Arttie that he was a reporter and Ghost Dog came to help it was great!

"I'll try and do anything and be anything you want if only you'll keep me." This is how "Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery begins.
Anne Shirley is a twelve-year-old girl who is brought to Green Gables only to find they were expecting a boy. The Cuthberts however, are one over by this queer, imaginative girl with bright, red hair and decide to allow her to stay.
Green Gables is a lovely, little farm just outside of a small town on Prince Edward Island called Avonlea. It is surrounded by fields and forests, which hold many surprises for adventurous Anne.
Throughout this book Anne's fierce temper and wild imagination often get the better of her, but she usually manages to squeeze out of these scrapes.
Anne's melodramatic nature and fiery temper keeps you interested as you read this marvelous book.
Montgomery's humorous writing style gives life to the characters so that you feel like you are meeting them in person.
I think that this was a wonderful book filled with humor, drama and tears. I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever had a dream and loves a good book.

first of all, let me begin with I LOVE THIS BOOK! I have read this book more times than I can remember...easily more than a dozen...thus, I am going to set my mind to write a glowing review of it.

This book portrays a stunning sketch of Canadian History and Culture in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The character personalities are so real and so amazingly "human" that one cannot help but fall in love with them. You really get a taste of PEI in its glory.

This story is set in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island (Canada), a fictional settlement which is really Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, the place where Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author grew up.

The main character is Anne Shirley...and eleven year old, enigmatic, imaginative, sparkling, highly intelligent orphan who is sent to Green Gables, a farmhouse in Avonlea, under the impression that she was to be adopted by a pair of elderly siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthburt. But, apon arrival to Green Gables, Anne discovers that there had been a horrible mistake...the Cuthburts never wanted a girl...they wanted a boy who could do the chores and help Matthew with the farm. Anne was was in the "depths of dispair". Matthew, on the drive home from the train station had taken a great shine to Anne and had his heart set on keeping her, regardless of any mistake. Marilla, however, was not so easily enchanted. She agreed to let Anne stay at Green Gables on trial, to see if she would behave herself and lend a helpful hand to Marilla. After the trial, Anne is welcomed to Green Gables and flourishes under the love of the Cuthburts and all Avonlea folk. Anne, however, has one big problem. Her Hair. It is a hopeless shade of carrotty red and Anne felt that it was the ugliest hair anyone could imagine. She was extremely sensitive about it and she was horribly embarrassed about it. On her first day of school, Anne's hair was made fun of by Gilbert Blythe, the smartest and handsomest boy in school. "Carrots! Carrots!" he said. Anne's temper got the better of her and she was so angry she broke a slate over his head. After that, for many years, she snubbed Gilbert every time he spoke to her and he developed a boyhood crush on her.

Ah, but to keep this review interesting and the book mysterious, I will stop telling you the story and begin reviewing. The characters in the book are so well-defined that it seems to you that you know every character personally, like an old friend or neighbour.

And by all means, don't let the age recommendation fool you either...this book can be read by all ages alike...and I have no doubt that this book will still be my avid favorite at the age of 85.

The book is not boring, contrary to many opinions of those who read the first chapter of small print and historical settings. The discriptions will place you right into the heart of the story and you find you will laugh and cry while reading this story. Every time I read it I cry at a certain part which I'm not sure if I should reveal to you for fear of spoiling the good parts in the story, but it is dreadfully sad. If you read the book, then you will know what part I am talking about. The one saddest part in the whole story.

Although this book has some old ideas and ways of expressing them, you will learn a great deal of Canadian history through them and there's no doubt in my mind that this book will still be popular decades and most likely even centuries to come.

Anne of Green Gables is one of my all-time favorite books. Anne is a person almost everyone can relate to in some way or another. Anne is launched into the "depths of despair" as soon as she finds out the horrible truth that the Mathew and Marilla really sent for a boy from the orphanage. Her fiery temper gets the better of her at some of the worst possible times. Such as when she vows that she will never forgive Gilbert Blythe for calling her carrots, as if smashing a slate over his head is not enough. This is a wonderful book that L. M. Montgomery has really shown her skill as a writer and novelist in. I have read the entire Anne of Green Gables Series and am also, like another reader, saving them all for my daughter some day. If you want a book that you can thoroughly enjoy, this is the one, although I have one warning that you may have a hard time putting it down.

I cannot get my hands off Anne Frank`s diary. It only took me two weeks and a half to finish reading this book when i was 14. This book showed the sorrow of a 14 year old girl as she and her family hides from the jews. Her thoughts and insights about her suroundings captured my mind because of how she expressed her reactions and feelings on each and everyday fears she lived during the Holocaust. You can personally feel her agony as you go through her book. What really stunned me is her possitive attitude towards her struggle. I read the book during my spare time and it would always keep me thinking after I read through her terrible circumstances. I was amazed on how a young girl at her early age can be so inspirational until today by her maturity in life. This book is devastating and depressing as she developes self awareness as she grows up. Her extraordinary condition will bring you tears and closer to her. I recommend this book to anyone who needs possitive thinking in life, just how Anne Frank expressed her possitive attitude towards her hardships in life.

A lot has been said about "The Diary of Anne Frank." Some people have even claimed that it is a fake, which is an outrageous claim that denigrates those who died in the Holocaust and those that survived. This book is testament to a child's spirit and humanity as she hides in ever deteriorating circumstances with her family in an attic over an office in Amsterdam. We are witnesses to her first kiss with Peter a boy also in hiding, and her stormy relationship with her mother which she tries to resolve often unsuccessfully. We see flares of brilliance as she tries to understand human nature as well as the innocence of youth when she says, "basically I believe most people are good." The Diary of Anne Frank would probably be just an ordinary young girl's memoirs if the Holocaust had not happened. However the Holocaust did happen and Anne Frank's diary stands for all the young girls whose lives were ended before they had a chance to blossom. If any book was to be made compulsory reading in schools then this book should be it. Through Anne Frank we will never forget her humanity or for that matter our own.

When a Supreme Court justice was asked why humanity would be worth saving, he replied "I have read Anne Frank's Diary."

What makes the Diary, next to the Bible, the best selling non-fiction book of all time has something to do with Anne's perceptive, wise, candid, lovable presence tangibly radiating from the pages. And the mysterious fact that it survived at all written by a young teen under life threatening conditions.

Mrs. Van Maarsen, mother of "Jopie" (Jacqueline Van Maarsen, author of My Friend Anne Frank)--Anne's friend whom she wrote to and about in the Diary, was quoted "Anne is not lost to us. Jopie admits I'm right." (Anne Frank: A Portrait In Courage, 1958). This quote described an otherworldly encounter Mrs. Van Maarsen stated that she'd had with Anne's spirit after her death. Regardless of whether Anne Frank is affecting people from some other dimension of reality, the intimate impact of the Diary remains. Touched by the "still small voice" of Anne Frank, receptive souls are forever altered and the heart of humanity uniquely softened.

written on June 12, A.F.'s birthday

I'm an avid, dogged reader, and I plowed through Tolstoy's War and Peace at a quicker clip than I managed Porter's Ship of Fools. I love Porter's short stories--I cannot recommend more highly purchasing her collected fiction in paperback--but her talent doesn't translate as well into the long work. Unfortunately, I found the characters in this novel uninteresting, the lack of plot without much underlying substance somewhat tiresome, and the entire book as slowly moving as the ship these characters are traveling on from Mexico to Germany in the 1930s. The writing is good, the observations sharp, but I had trouble engaging with this book and, therefore, found myself reading other things before picking it back up. Ultimately, this is a good book by a good author, but it probably is not worth the effort required to trudge through it.

I just finished Ship of Fools for the second time, and my opinion hasn't changed much: its brilliant. Porter's amazing use of perspective and the diversity of her cast of characters gives the story a richness that far exceeds the potentially sparse plot (a ship goes from Mexico to Germany).

Though some might not like the static nature of both the characters and the story, I felt that Porter struck a perfect balance between telling an entertaining story with interesting, if somewhat extreme players, and illustrating the prevailing ideas, trends, etc. of European (and especially German) society in the interwar period. It worked on every level: as simply a good read, as an illuminating look at the period, and as a number of intertwining character studies.

My only regret, having read this and Ms. Porter's short stories, is that this is the only novel she wrote.

Less a plot-driven novel than a closely observed portrait, Porter's famous novel deftly exploits the author's ability to focus on the telling details of personality--and the result is a sometimes funny, often touching, and ultimately stinging examination of the insularity, hypocrisies, and pretensions of shipboard passengers en route from Mexico to Germany on the eve of World War II.

Porter's cast of characters are primarily German, but a handful of Spanish, Mexican, Swiss, and American characters give the novel an international perspective. Whatever their individual backgrounds, the characters tend to adopt reactionary postures toward and make assumptions about their fellow travelers based on both class and nationality; consequently, they tend to regard each other in a stereotypical light--but even as they fail to understand the truths behind the stereotypes, Porter highlights their lack of comprehension in a frequently comic but extremely disconcerting manner, thus demonstrating that her characters are at sea in more ways than one.

There is obviously a certain symbolism to the novel, but Porter does not belabor it, and we are free to decide if we wish to read for pure pleasure or for deeper meanings. Fortunately, there is an abundance of both. Still, this not a novel to read quickly or casually. It requires time to develop clearly in the mind, so readers are advised to approach it with ample time in which to enjoy this superior work.

As one who cherishes the difference between right and wrong, and bases right and wrong on reason as well as revelation, I do not see how America's God-loving Christians that I know can be labelled "far right". None of the ones I know are. It makes me sad that this author, especially being a man of the cloth, is injecting political correctness into religion. What ever happened to moral sense?

Church is funny! As a Christian I have to ask why do I want to recover the bible, the flag or the family. Each of these are nothing more than another form of idolatry when placed within the conflicts of Church and his straw enemies. This is a bad book that needs to be read to see how far Unitarians will go to pretend to be religious in the name of democracy. Hey Church, join a church and abandon the social club of Unitarianism and you might be able to experience something more than a civil religion of the state.

Thank God for Forrest Church!! He has so eloquently written what we Liberals have always known. This work will expose the Religious Right for what they are. Overblown zealots, who have wrongly hi-jacked the symbols of Family and Flag.