Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery

Read by: Laurel Schroeder

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 48 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Audiobook Jukebox – Thank-you!

Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite novels of all time, and the 1980’s mini-series is one of my favorite shows of all time.  L.M. Montgomery also ranks as one of my all-time favorite authors.  I trolled bookstores for years looking for any books of hers that I did not own.  Throughout the 90’s they slowly released short story collections.  I believe I have the entire L.M. Montgomery collection in paperback now waiting for Penelope to read and for me to re-read.  I wish they were in hard cover!

Although I’ve read the entire L.M. Montgomery collection, I have never listened to any L.M. Montgomery audiobooks.  I was happy to be able to review this audiobook of Anne of Green Gables.  It’s been quite a few years since I’ve read the novel so it was wonderful to immerse myself back into the world of Anne.

Anne Shirley is a 12-year old orphan.  Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are siblings looking to adopt a boy to help Matthew out with the farm work.   Anne is sent by mistake, but they find themselves unwilling to send her back, a decision they never regret.  Anne is full of imagination and soon becomes bosom friends with neighbor Diana Berry and rivals with Gilbert Blythe.  Anne often gets herself into scrapes and she is very dramatic which is highly amusing.  She’s also a hard worker and moves from being a 12 year old to going on to Queen’s Academy for high school.

Listening to this tale, I remembered again why I love this book so much.  Montgomery has vividly drawn the characters and the entire community of Avonlea very lovingly.  The characters are three dimensional and I could relate with them or think of people I know like them.  I love that there is a lot of humor in the tale to make me laugh. 

This was a good audiobook to get me occupied on my long drive to Milwaukee for work.  I must admit though that I had a hard time getting into this narrator’s version.  She had a strange lilt at the end of each sentence that drove me silently insane for a while.  Then I slowly grew used to it and to her acting of each character and I had a fine time listening to it. 

One part of the story I found kind of strange now as an adult is when Anne first starts school and her teacher, Mr. Phillips, is always flirting over the top with a student, Prissy. Marilla tells Anne not to question the teacher, but this seemed really inappropriate to me.  How times change!

Favorite Quotes:

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

“Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it.”

“True friends are always together in spirit.”

“Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”

Overall, Anne of Green Gables is as much of a delight to read as an adult as it was when I was a child. I loved it and it is an intriguing story to listen to on audio.

Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose by Stephanie Laurens

Title: Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose
Author: Stephanie Laurens

Read by: Helen Lloyd

Publisher: Blackstone Audio

Length: Approximately 7 hours
Source: Blackstone Audio Digital Review Copy as a part of the Audiobook Jukebox Review– Thank-you!  I read this along in a print copy of the book that was a Christmas gift from my best friend Jenn.

Lady Therese Osbaldestone is a widow who is trying to find her way in the world.  Settling in Little Moseley in Hampshire at an estate left to her by her Aunt, Lady Osbaldestone sets to work getting reacquainted with the community and also caring for her three young grandchildren who are visiting while their parents are ill.  As it nears Christmas, Lady Osbaldestone and the three children are soon embroiled in mystery as the flock of geese the village is looking forward to eating for Christmas dinner has gone missing. 

As they search the village, the family also finds themselves helping to bring a wounded veteran of the Napoleon wars, Lord Christian Longfellow, back out into village life and hopefully into romance with his neighbor, Miss Eugenia Fitzgibbon.  Will love be found as well as the “blasted” geese?

I really, really loved this novel.  I am a great fan of Christmas regency romance and I found this to be a delightful story.  The village of Little Mosely was charming and delightful and I love the characters that inhabited the village.  I also loved how the grandchildren were entranced with not only finding the geese, but also helping their grandmother to play matchmaker.  There was a nail biting incidence of suspense toward the end of the book, but I overall enjoyed that it had a little mystery, a little romance, but no violence and the romance was clean with only a kiss.

I listened to the audiobook while also reading along with the actual novel which was fun to do.  I thought Helen Lloyd was an excellent narrator and it was a very enjoyable book to listen to as an audio.  She did great with the characters and pacing of the story.

This is a first book in a planned series and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Overall, Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose is a delightful Christmas mystery and romance novel.  I highly recommend it!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte
Read by: Anna Bentinck
Publisher: Dreamscape Audio

Length: 23 hours and 7 minutes (19 discs)
Source: Review Copy from Audiobook Jukebox – Thanks!

Jane Eyre is a timeless tale that I find something new to intrigue me each time I reread it.  I’ve read the physical book several times through my life and have also listened to a couple different audiobook versions.  If you’ve never read it before, what are you waiting for?

Jane Eyre had a sad upbringing. Orphaned as an infant, she was brought home to be raised by her Uncle Reed and his family.  At his untimely death, Uncle Reed beseeched her Aunt to continue to care for Jane.  She did, but the care seemed to be only that she is feed and clothed, with no love entering into the mix.  She is continually reminded that she is a burden on the family and unloved.  She is punished when her young cousin, Jack, abuses her and she fights back.  She realizes she would be loved more if she had beauty, money, or a loving nature herself.   I found myself wondering, where do you learn to have a loving nature when you are treated with such unkindness?  I wondered where Bronte got the inspiration for the horrid children that were Jane’s young cousins.  Was she ever the governess to such children?

Her Aunt soon sends her to Lowood School.  Lowood School is a horrible place where children are treated unkindly and barely feed. I also love the realism of Jane’s time at Lowood School.  It’s disturbing to think that Charlotte Bronte had her own real life Lowood, a school in which her elder sisters were taken ill and died.  It gives the Helen Burns scene an entirely new dimension.  Jane graduates and becomes a teacher.  She sends out an advertisement for a governess position and soon receives one at Thornfield Hall

At Thornfield Hall, Jane is enchanted by her young charge Adele and friends with the housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax.  After a time working there, she finally meets the mysterious owner, Mr. Rochester.  The two strike up an unlikely friendship that soon leads to deeper feelings.

I have to wonder about Mr. Rochester.  Why is he all about mind games?  In particular, the scene where he dresses up as the old gypsy women and tells everyone their horoscopes.  He has Blanche at the house party and has been basically giving her hopes that she is being courted, but he tests her by tell her as the gypsy that he has no money.   He also continually keeps telling Jane that he is going to marry Blanche to see how she will react.  He basically is always testing Jane to see if she will do his bidding no matter what he asks.  When I read this as a teenager, I thought Mr. Rochester was so romantic, but now as a 38-year old I have my doubts.  I know Mr. Rochester does not want to marry someone that only wants him for his money, but he is a smart man and has already figured this out.  Why does he feel the need to play mind games and lead people on?

Jane and Mr. Rochester become engaged and are soon to be married, but a secret that Mr. Rochester has hidden literally in the attic comes out and destroys their chance at happiness.

SPOILER ALERT

The mad woman in the attic has become a cliché in society and novels, but it all started with Jane Eyre.  I’ve read The Wide Sargasso Sea and it gave me an entirely new perspective.  I still wonder about Bertha Rochester.  What was really wrong with her?  Could she have been helped at all in her mental woes?  Was the fact that she was locked in the attic part of why she was insane?  I always felt bad that Mr. Rochester couldn’t find companionship and love as he was saddled with a “mad” wife, but what about Bertha?  She was basically married off to Mr. Rochester because HE was the one marrying someone for their wealth.  When Bertha went insane, he locked her in the attic with a caretaker and then went off to France to have a dalliance with a French dancer and spend all of the money on fripperies for her.  Does anyone else wonder about Mr. Rochester?

SPOILER END

Jane Eyre flees from Thornfield Hall and finds herself without money, friends, or home.  She collapse outside the home of a vicar and is taken in by him and his two sisters.  She gets her health back and becomes a school mistress.  After a surprising revelation, Jane Eyre finds herself an independent woman.  She also receives a proposal from the vicar, but can’t help but still think about Mr. Rochester.  Will these two star crossed lovers find a way to be together?

The novel goes to some lengths to describe both Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester as plain people that are not attractive.  It’s interesting that in most TV or feature films made of Jane Eyre, there are always very attractive people playing these parts.  Is there an “honest” Jane Eyre out there made with plain folks?

I loved listening to the audiobook.  It’s a great way to visit a novel that you love in a new format.  Anna Bentinck was a good narrator, although I will admit to being a little sad that she didn’t have a British accent.  She was easy to understand.

My favorite Jane Eyre quote,

“I am no bird; no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”

Overall, Jane Eyre is a classic novel not to be missed that is enhanced by listening to it via audiobook.  Have you read it?  Do you think it is a classic novel not to be missed?  What classic novel to do you think everyone should read?

Pies & Prejudice (The Mother-Daughter Book Club #4) by Heather Vogel Frederick

Title: Pies & Prejudice (The Mother-Daughter Book Club #4)

Author: Heather Vogel Frederick
Read by: Cris Dukehart, Amy Rubinate, Kate Rudd, and Emily Woo Zellner
Publisher: Dreamscape Audio

Length: 9 hours and 32 minutes (8 discs)
Source: Review Copy from Audiobook Jukebox – Thanks!

What if there was a book club where mothers and daughters could read the classics of literature together and spend time bonding?  This series of books is about just such a book club where the club picks one book a year to read and learn about.  The Mother-Daughter book club has chosen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as their book to read during the girls’ freshman year in high school. 

Budding writer Emma and her family are immersing themselves even more in the experience by going to England for the year.  Emma was not keen on the idea at first, but is more at one with the experience when the group promises to skype with her and her Mom to keep them in the book club experience.  Emma’s family swaps a house with another family that lives in their house in Concord, Massachusetts.  Emma loves England, but finds herself homesick after being harassed by bully Annabelle.

Cassidy is a star hockey player that learns to appreciate something different when she begrudgingly becomes an ice dance practice partner with Tristian.  Tristian and his brother Simon are from England and part of the house swap with Emma.  Tristian is standoffish and Cassidy finds herself often at odds with him.  Are first impressions always what they seem?

Jess finds her singing dreams disappointed, but finds a new passion in life when she helps to rehabilitate an injured fox.  Megan starts a “Fashionista Jane” blog that snarkily dishes on the fashions found in her school.  But being sometimes cruel about others’ clothing does not help her find romance with nice guy Simon.

There are a lot of plot lines going on in this book, but I highly enjoyed it.  The point of view switches between Emma, Cassidy, Jess, and Megan.  I admit I was confused at first at who was who, but the audiobook helpfully has four different narrators, one for each girl.  As I got more into the novel, I could tell instantly who was narrating.  I have not read the other books in this series and that would have helped too.  I enjoyed this book so much, I need to go back and read the other books.

I loved how the story was not a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but was instead a new story of these four girls and how they and their mothers learned to love the story of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen. It had a lot of great facts about Jane and Pride and Prejudice intertwined throughout the story as well.

Overall, Pies and Prejudice was a fun and very entertaining audiobook.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Author: Lewis Carroll
Read by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Publisher: Dreamscape Audio

Length: 3 hours and 5 minutes (3 discs)
Source: Review Copy from Audiobook Jukebox – Thanks!

What began as an imaginative tale told to entertain three small girls on a row boat trip in 1862, three years later became a class novel written by Charles Dodgson (known mostly by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll).  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a very imaginative unique tale about a young girl, Alice that falls down a rabbit hole and has many adventures in the underground world of Wonderland.

Honestly all I knew about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland before I listened to this great audiobook was from the Disney cartoon Alice in Wonderland.  I wondered how much the two would relate and I was surprised that the Disney cartoon followed the novel very faithfully with all of the main characters involved, the white rabbit, Mad Hatter, Cheshire cat, the Queen who wants to chop everyone’s head off, etc.  I noticed the book though has more detail as one would expect and the story goes on longer in the book as well before Alice makes it back to the everyday world.

Tim Reynolds did a fantastic job as a narrator, especially as he was a narrator with a British accent.   My almost eight –year old son Daniel listened to this audiobook with me when I first started it on the way home from an event.  He really enjoyed it and the wit of the book made him laugh out loud several times.  I enjoyed the wit and just supreme silliness of it all as well.

Overall, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a highly imaginative and unique story that works wonderfully well in the audiobook format, like reading the story aloud in front of a fire.  It is enjoyable for both adults and children alike.