Audiobook Review: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Completed: January 22, 2014
Length: 10 Hours, 2 Minutes
Narrated by: Shelly Frasier

Synopsis from Audible:

When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables send for a boy orphan to help them out at their farm, they mistakenly get Anne Shirley, a feisty, independent but warm-hearted 11-year-old girl. Fortunately her sunny nature and quirky imagination win the hearts of her reluctant foster parents and everyone in the community. But not a day goes by without some memorable adventure or prank in the tragicomedy of her life. Early on she accidentally dyes her "cursed" red hair green. Later, in an effort to impress a neighbor, she bakes a cake, but with liniment instead of vanilla.

Lucy wrote that Anne is an extension of herself and represents the independent, "new" woman of the emerging 20th century. Individualistic, resourceful, and of a great humanitarian heart, she remains a great role model for girls and women today.

In 2014 I made it my goal to read all of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books. In some cases these are rereads, like with this book, but in other cases I am going to be reading them for the very first time. It's a great project for my TBR in that sense because I have had many of them sit on my shelves for years unread. A few years ago I purged all my classics because you can get them for free as e-books. I kept my Montgomery's, though. I remember when I was about 10 I collected the entire Anne series and read them all. It was university before I read Emily and I STILL haven't read that trilogy entirely.

Fiction or Non-Fiction? Genre?: Classic Canadian Fiction.

What Lead You to Pick up This Book: Well, the project all started because I saw a few bloggers rereading Montgomery last year and it made me want to revisit her. I am sort of reading in order of publication. The deviation from this is that she only wrote short stories between 1896 and 1908 when this book was published. I read short story collections slowly, so I will work them in as the year progresses. I chose to listen to Anne, instead of read it, because Shelly Frasier narrates, and I really liked her narration of Stiff by Mary Roach.

Summarize the Plot: It's pretty simple, really. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert make plans to adopt a little boy to help Matthew out with the farm. Wires get crossed, though, and a little girl is sent instead. Matthew was too shy to tell her they didn't want a girl and takes her back to Green Gables. At first Marilla had planned to send her back, but Anne wins them both over. The rest of the book is Anne growing up and having unique adventures.

What Did you Like Most About this Book? I love Anne. I know that some people like Emily better, and if I actually finish her books this year my opinion could sway, but ultimately Anne represents my childhood. I read the books, remember buying each book with my own money, and watched the shows. Anne is such a strong, vibrant character that even now I felt like I was just revisiting old friends. (It helps that I have actually been to Prince Edward Island and saw a lot of what is mentioned in the book.) I am pretty sure this series of books, with Marilla, Matthew, Diana, Gilbert, etc, has stayed with me more than anything else I have ever read.

What Did you Like Least? I have read this book so many times over the years that I can't really say anything bad about it.

What Did You Think of the Writing Style? What I always do with Montgomery... She is big on simplistic settings, morals, and the idea of right and wrong. It is definitely a view of her up-bringing and place in the world. To be honest, Montgomery is not a writer I would generally like at all. I just discovered her when I was young, I guess, and can overlook the syrupy writing that I would be less likely to ignore with other authors.

What Did you Think of the Main Character? I love Anne! She is vibrant, imaginative, and captivating. She definitely comes to life in these books. She is one of my favourite literary characters.

What Did you Think of the Ending? There are no cliffhangers in Montgomery's book. At the end everything is tied up nicely and if there was never another book you wouldn't really feel you were missing anything.

Thoughts on the Audio: Well, this was a hard one to get into in the beginning. First, Stiff and Anne of Green Gables are so completely unrelated that it was a bit weird at first. And then there was the fact that I have seen the mini-series too many times and had different voices in my head for the characters. At first I even thought the audio was a bad idea, but once I got going I was fine. I plan to listen to Anne of Avonlea, too, because Shelly Frasier narrates that one as well.

Overall, I am glad I tried out audio for something different. I still love this book and am glad it is not one of those books that loses something when you are older.

Audiobook Review: Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

~~Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach~~

Completion Date: December 5, 2013
Reason for Reading: Fun!

Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

Description taken from Goodreads.com

Well, finally. After not finishing a single book in November I have finished two so far in December. I am not entirely sure what is up with my reading year. If I hadn't started listening to audiobooks this year I would have hardly read anything at all. I had been listening to Stiff on audio since the end of October. It took me so long to listen not because I didn't like it, but because I primarily listen to audiobooks on the treadmill and it took a while to get organized enough to get back to using it. Hopefully now I can work on some of the audiobooks I have been wanting to listen to!

On to Stiff. I have heard nothing but good things about Mary Roach. At one point I even started reading this book on my tablet, but for some reason never finished. I can't even remember when that was, but I do remember that I was enjoying her writing style. After I finished the first Amelia Peabody book on audio in October I went to Twitter looking for recommendations and this was one I received. I had all ready picked it up somewhere along the line, so I bumped it up my TBR. And, I am so glad that I did! Mary Roach writes like she is telling you a story even if it is non-fiction about dead people. This meant that it worked really well as an audio. And, it was fascinating which I didn't expect to ever say about a book about cadavers.

Roach explores different aspects of the dead community and breaks it into chapters. She also travelled around the world as part of her research and touches on both the historical practices and more modern examples. This means you get a bit of a background about where we have started from and where we find ourselves now. I actually know a bit about ancient burial practices because of my love of history, but I learned a lot about new practices. I had no idea there were so many options when I filled out my health card saying that I wanted to be a donor. If Canada is anything like the U.S. in its practices, you can be crash test dummies, science experiments, practice aids, etc. There was even a look at a class of plastic surgeons practising on heads from cadavers. When I think of being a donor I always thought it was basically if there was anything useful, your organs and such would go to help other people. Apparently this is a much broader idea.

I was impressed by how interesting Roach makes what could be a boring and dry subject. She interjects humour and personal experiences. The only scene I didn't enjoy on audio was when she was talking about maggots. Strangely enough that was the only time I felt a bit ill and this whole book was about cutting people up, decomposing, and other not so pleasant thoughts. It could have been a bit too much, but not with Roach's approach. And, it's a bit different from the general non-fiction you find out there. All of her books look to be.

Overall I really enjoyed my first experience with Mary Roach. I look forward to more!

Strongly Recommended! 

Thoughts on the Audio: This audio is narrated by Shelly Frasier. I really liked her! As I said above the book is written like Roach is telling a story. You could easily picture Frasier as Roach telling you all about dead bodies. It worked really well and she has a very easy voice to listen to. It was definitely a good coupling and I look forward to listening to Frasier again in the future.

Source: Audiobook via Audible.com