LM Montgomery had a great ability to write stories that made us laugh, cry, and tug at our heart strings. Both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea are books i bought, and will give to my children to read when they are old enough to appreciate them.
I never read them as a child. I wasn't even introduced to them until I was planning a vacation to Prince Edward Island three years ago, and I read the first book. I also watched the movies which were both such wonderful adaptations.
Anne of Avonlea picks up where the first one left off. Anne, who I think is the best female fictional character I've ever had the priviledge to read of, is now a teacher. She is growing up, but she still has her adventures with Diana, and her other friends.
There are a few new characters are introduced, and although you don't instantly fall in love with them like Ann, they grow you. All but Davey, this character was just so annoying. THis boy was just a bad apple.
I'm sure LM had good intentions, but I was utterly annoyed and it brought my feeling of the book down a bit.
IF you loved the first book, you will probably enjoy this as well. There is a long series of books by LM. I am currently on break from reading her.
She was a great writer, able to bring a great deal of sense of humor in her storytelling, and she is very descriptive. She really brings the characters so true to life, especially Anne.
I do recommend this despite my problem w/ davey.
Anne will always remain forever in my heart as a true heroine of classic literature. One of the best character to ever be put on paper..as she is kind, funny, good spirited, and what an imagination!

After the great success of "Anne of Green Gables," Lucy Maud Montgomery had to quickly write a sequel to continue the misadventures of the mischievous red-headed orphan on Prince Edward Island. Since the original classic was not intended to be the first in a series, Montgomery had to make some changes. The one that will drive you crazy is that Anne is back to being oblivious about Gilbert Blythe being the love of her life and her perfect match. The other thing that becomes obvious is that Montgomery is somewhat uncomfortable with Anne growing up, even though she is only "half-past sixteen," as evidenced by the infusion of new children into the story because Anne is now teaching at Avonlea school and Marilla has adopted the irrepressible Keith twins, Davy and Dora. You can also throw into the mix the mysterious new neighbor with his parrot and (my favorite part) the eccentric Miss Lavendar who has been waiting a quarter of a century for her beloved Stephen Irving to return to her. Along with "Anne of Windy Poplars," this book is a testament to Montgomery's respect for the teaching profession; the book is dedicated to her former teacher, Hattie Gordon Smith. While this is not one of my favorite Anne novels, it is still a worthy successor to the classic story. However, be warned: If you watch either of the "Anne of Avonlea" movies you will that virtually nothing from this novel ever made it to film.

Anne of Avonlea was almost as good as the first Anne book. It is about Anne's life as a school teacher in Avonlea. Marilla adopts two mischievous twins and Mrs. Rachel Lynde moves in. So life is never dull for Anne at the school house or at Green Gables. You could read it on its own, but I recommend you read Anne of Green Gables first.

This sentimental favorite children's book has the moral values of E. Nesbitt, who was a famous liberal activist in England. She creates a household utopian vision of a world where people are naturally good and where parents raise their children to be helpful and honest and brave.

This provides the background charm for a really lovely tale about a family in distress who sticks together bravely and provides a shining example to all around them, while being aided by equally high-minded and kind folks around them.

A knock on the door at the idyllic middle class town home of the children ends with a tragedy that they can scarcely understand. But Mother is brave and despite rumors of terrible things, they make their way to a more modest home in the country, next to a railway line. The children become friends with the trains and the regular commuters who wave at them. Their fascination with the train results in a heroic rescue. Meanwhile, their situation is sometimes difficult, and they develop some remarkable strategies for getting aid. There is a happy ending.

The morals taught to the children are particularly British (helpful, kind, brave) but certainly apply to us as well. The goodness that the children spread is really a lovely message and contributes to the charm and longevity of this great favorite. Good for reading aloud.

I like the Railway Children a lot,especially how the author told the story. I liked Bobbie because there is something different about her,she was helpful and sweet at the same time. I am wondering where the dog James went? Other than that, the story was great!

It is a story about three children who change a little town in England. The book is very adventurous in every chapter.It is a very well writen book.

I found this book to be a good and handy guide to understanding the culture of the Philippines as an Canadian-American married to a lady from the Philippines and a part time resident of DAVAO CITY about half the year, the information has proven useful. It certainly was well worth the small price I paid if only for the tips on understanding my IN LAWS! Anyways, a well worth read.

Having been raised in one of the remote barangays in one of the remote provinces in Philippines, went to college in the city, and currently living in the U.S., I can relate to most of the things discussed in this book and how foreigners react to them. I still find our culture fascinating and I wouldn't hesitate to explain this to a foreigner who's interested to listen. But why the choice for the cover? Wouldn't it be nice if you put a picture of a 'bayanihan' or a child giving a 'mano po' to an elderly, instead of a man in white mask with a San Miguel Beer and a cigarette in hand? I know 'Sinulog' in Cebu, 'Dinagyang' in Iloilo, and 'Ati-ati' in Aklan, but these festivals do not reflect the 'culture shock' that's discussed in the book. It might give an impression that there's a lot of 'voo-doo' practitioners in the Phillipines. Ok..ok...let's not just the book by it's cover...Excellent reading for your 'Americanized' kid or your American in-law.

This book is a well written introduction to the culture of the Philippines. I was born and raised in the US but my ethnic background is Filipino and I am fluent in Tagalog. I didn't think I would need to prepare for the trip to the Philippines. I could not have been more incorrect. Unfortunately for me, I read this book after my trip. Roces and Roces clearly explain the idiosyncrasies of the Filipino culture without insulting Filipino people. I recommend this book to anyone who will embark on a trip to the Philippines. One piece of advice: read the book *before* the trip not after!

When I first started reading Savages, I didn't think I would even finish it, because the first part of the book was a little slow. Wow. I am so glad I kept reading. This has got to be my all-time favorite book. I read the book more than two years ago, and I still think about the characters and their situations to this day. I haven't read a book as intriguing since I read Savages, and I doubt I will be able to find anything remotely as intense. I wish there were more stories like this one and as well-written as Shirley Conran has done.

This book is so different from others I have read by this author. Once I began reading I couldn't put it down. It is the only book I have ever read again for a second and third time. Loved it.

It's been sometime since I've read this book but I remember it well. Both my mother who is 72 and myself have read it and I am now recommending it to my cousin in Germany to read. This story revolves around the wives of several businessmen who accompany them on a business trip to a remote location somewhere on an island. I don't remember where. The husbands end up being murdered by a group of terrorists attempting to take over the country and the wives end up trying to survive on this island by themselves. This was wonderful, a real page turner!

Anyone looking for the creative side of gift baskets will be as disappointed by this book , as I am. After viewing this lady and her wonderful baskets on a craft show, I did not expect such a dry book. Before one can get to make a basket, we are shown an entire business plan, in which we hire couriers, attorneys, extra employees; etc. The one creative chapter contains line drawings only. There are lists of resources ideas. I may be able to refer to this book later after perfecting my craft, but for now I need visuals!

The book is excellent! It gives the person just starting out all the details they need to know about the gift basket business. She gives you the nuts and bolts of the business, including a sample business plan, info on delivery services, insurance, and where to get your materials. I have read the entire book already and I plan to read it through again. It also gives you good solid advice on how to deal with your competition. The only thing lacking in the book was more pictures showing how the baskets are made. But I can get visual assistance elsewhere. If you're serious about getting into the gift basket business, this book is well worth your money.

I have a gift basket business in Jackson, MS and am 5 months into it. This book has been a life saver. Not only does it help you start a business, it tells you in detail how to secure items in the basket. I just made a basket for mailing, and would have not been able to have secured it for shipping had it not been for this book. It shows different forms you can use for bookkeeping to keep track of your money. It doesn't show actual photo pictures of baskets, but by reading it you can determine how to make the basket. I would highly recommend it to anyone starting a gift basket business.

The proses in this book are extraordinary. Grau knows the land, the plants, the animals, the smells and the sensibility of the place she writes about so the reader can feel like s/he is walking down that rural road with her as she describes a place. There is something of a touch of Annie Dillard in Grau --the way she loves the natural world. And then there are the people who inhabit the places she describes...they are shaped by but different from the land that the Howland family inhabits, owns, nurtures and has grown a part of without fanfare or intention. The Howlands are a people who know and remember their history and where they live is part of who they are. As Grau builds this story, she gently introduces us to layer upon layer of the complex mix out of which racism grew and festered and which distorted the world, so that our narrator eventually ends up in the fetal position on the floor trying to fend off, alone the ugliness of a racist society full of people who use each other ruthlessly...a society that turns the narrator herself into a less than perfect character. This is a pulls-no-punches story. It is the kind of book people ought to talk about after they read. It is full of who we are as a nation-and it could help us find our way out of the mess we've made for ourselves.

I am black and grew up in poor, rural North Carolina in the 50s. I wish I had found this book in the late 60s when I wanted so much to read, hear, and talk with whites about this kind of true life story from the south. Shirley Ann Grau brings her characters to life so calmly and clearly. She writes of emotion, yet she hides much emotion, especially through the somewhat vague and underexposed storyteller-granddaugher, Abigail Howland Mason. The writing is so beautiful, and the story is so sorrowful. I left the ending wondering, not why the rage of the small town when racial secrets are discovered, but why the deep bitterness and anger shown by Abigail and her half-black, half-white kin. Yes, the south was - and in some respects remains - a cruel and contented place, and yes, people can be coarse and ugly, but in my heart I longed to see some sign of reconciliation.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fine language and is drawn to the exploration of love and hate, conformists and nonconformists, parents and children, greed and grace from a southern perspective. Ms. Grau deserved the Pulitzer in 1965 and I am glad I found her at last in 2001.

What a fascinating read!! The Keepers Of The House is a marvelous book that I spent an entire Sunday reading, from cover to cover. It tells the story of William Howland, a wealthy white landowner, and Margaret Carmichael, a black woman who becomes his maid, and the love that they shared, along with the choses and consequences their love would bring. The story is told by William's grandaughter Abigail Howland Mason, in a long line of Abigails. She narrates this tale, William's and Margaret's history, how they met, their children and how they lived. She also tells how years later the marriage of William and Margaret affects her life. Grau tells the story of forbidden love and revenge that is laced with racism extraordinarily well. Even though throughout the book the reader is aware that the narrator is Abigail, it doesn't hinder the essence of William and Margaret. The soul of the characters are exposed. A very well written book. I know of no better way of spending a Sunday!!

I did enjoy reading this book, and I did have a hard time putting it down, but there were a few things that bugged me.
I was surprised when I read the setting was in the 50's. It appears to be a very 90's book, and the 50's setting wasn't very important to the plot.
Also, there were plot twists in the making that were dropped, like Melissa's baby/kitten, and the dragon. Much more could have come from both, but turned out to be very minor.
Lastly, and I know I'm getting nitpicky here, but it bugs me just the same, there's mention of gold mines in Coloma. I've been there, and let me tell you, there are no mines there.
However, this is a good book to read anyways, especially if you're bored, like I was when I picked it up.

My name's Melissa too and I have a calico cat. As soon as I discovered this book I absolutely fell into it. I don't remember anything for four whole days but that book. I don't even remember going to school or eating! This book takes you on an adventure that twists from this world to the netherworld from the body of a calico cat to a young woman and so far beyond!

This is the best book I have ever read. Murphy's descriptions allow the reader to have vivid pictures of the characters and the places. I can picture Melissa's multi-colored hair and feel her pain when she is captured as a little cat. Even though Alice is never in the book, I fell Braden's and Melissa's sorrow about her death. Murphy develops Braden's love for Melissa as a person and as a cat. By the time I finish reading the book, I have grown very attached to Melissa, just as Braden grows attached to the little cat I would reccommend this book to people who like fantasy and romance.

Believe me, I've read dozens of books trying to find out what to do with this awkward body shape of mine and, until I found this book, none were helpful. This book answered all my questions and made me feel good about myself. It's not for super-models, in fact, they probably won't like it or understand it. The book is written with great love and humor for the rest of us, the ones with bodies that no amount of airbrushing will help. Thank you to the authors.

I've read a lot of books and articles on this subject and this is the best yet. Clear, concise, informative, and also amusing to boot. Any woman of any age of any body shape will find this book a blessing to have for reference. And to have the ability to get specific help from their website is a definite bonus.

I almost missed this book. I was so jaded over self help books that never deliver. But this book delivers again and again. It applaudes all body types and makes me feel great about mine and how to dress it. I think it's invaluable to any woman, any ethnicity and any body shape. Now I know how to handle those parts of my body that I was previously not proud of. How do I type a BIG THANK YOU. Put it on your "must have" list.

Shirley Jackson's wicked humour (don't miss the story of "Charles," for example) kept me laughing, and it was especially refreshing to step into a (let's face it, far more realistic) world where children could have a score of imaginary playmates (the family of Mrs Ellenoy), a son could be a bit of a discipline problem, the baby could eat a spider ... and no one ran to the self-help aisle or shrink just because kids were kids.

I had assumed that this was a biographical work, with the adventures just a bit exagerrated, until I read Shirley's (excellent) biography "Private Demons." Somehow, the stories were not as funny when I came to know that some of them were fiction, merely based on the children's traits.

This tale will never bore, and will give anyone a good dose of laughter. Perhaps those who now have children of the age which Shirley's were then will relax a bit realising that raising children was never a joy ride - but there is no need, today, to make it more difficult than it has to be.

I have read many of Shirley Jackson's mystery novels and loved all of them!But, when my mom suggested that i read this book and said that it was funny, i thought she was being sarcastic, but i laughed from the time i opened the book until i read the last page.

This book entertained me as a kid and as an adult. I'll be sharing it with my kids. The book focuses on the life of a family growing up in the 40's. It is written by the great writer, Shirley Jackson. The comedy rivals Erma Bombeck's and the stories are funny, heartwarming and clever.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive", is what Catherine Carson should have remembered when she placed her 1-800 ad and Jarrod Greene should have considered before he became her willing partner in the ruse.

Jarrod's childhood pranks and Catherine's constant irritation with him for them masked underlying feelings from their youth. Catherine feeling pressure from her mother and sister to get married has the perfect plan, 1-800 "temporary marriage". Jarrod now back after working the last 5 years in England recognizes Catherine as the voice behind the 800 number.

After a party at Catherine's sister's, Jarrod reveals he knows about her scheme it is there she expands her deception to include him, it doesn't take either of them long to realize they have deceived themselves. Masquerading in their role as friends turned lovers they soon discover the depth of those dormat emotions as they began to rise to the surface. As they both struggle with the terms of their arrangement, Jarrod is no longer able to deny his love for Catherine but she is disillusioned and afraid after her failed engagement and has no desire for a "real marriage". Jarrod's attempts to win her forces them both into facing the truth about their marriage, their love and each other. I enjoyed this book, I hope to see Elizabeth and Robert as they finally accept the truth of their "friendship".

Catherine is tired of her mother and sister trying to set her up on dates, so she decides to set up a 1-800 number to find her a husband. Everything is going fine until she receives a call from someone who knows it is her.

Jarrod can't believe that Catherine is looking for a husband this way. When he approaches her for an explanation she asks him to be her husband for six months. Once they are married it is hard to hide their true feelings for one another.

Shirley breaks her tradition by not writing a suspense romance. But she comes strong with a true romance novel. This book will make all the romantics smile. I hope to see more on Catherine's friend Elizabeth. Thanks Shirley for another excellant book.

This is my first book by Ms. Hailstock and I can say that I was not disappointed. I loved the fact that Catherine and Jarrod had been in love with each other since they were teenagers. I felt that Catherines idea of a 1-800 number was a funny and exciting thing to do. Jarrod could be my 1-800 Husband any day. The notes he left her and they way the complemented each other made one of the best romance novels I have read to date. Gooo Job!