Thoughts on L.M. Montgomery.....

I'm coming clean.

It's not easy.

Kind of like confessions.

I don't care for Lucy Maud Montgomery.

There. I've said it. I'm being honest.

Well, to clarify, I didn't know her of course, but I've read a lot of her books, I just can't get into them. I've tried.

Just last summer, I updated my library card and took out three L.M. Montgomery books, determined to work my way through her whole catalogue, one boring book at a time. If it took me all year.

After the first chapter of "Anne of Windy Poplars" I almost fell asleep. So I gave it another chance, I thought, perhaps I was a little distracted. So I brewed a pot of tea, sat down and tried again. Even two cookies didn't help.........

Nope, still wasn't even remotely hooked.

So I thought, I'll start another book, it must be just me.

Next book up was "The Blue Castle."

I tried. I really did, but I can't even tell you what the book was about.

The third one up was "Kilmeny of the Orchard" which I do remember reading as a child, alongside "Anne of Green Gables."

I mean can you really call yourself an Islander if you haven't read "Anne?"

I remember vividly reading and enjoying "The Golden Road" and "The Story Girl." My Mooney cousins must had a few of these books kicking around because I can clearly see my younger self escaping the farm with a book or two tucked under my arm. Harold and I are the same age, and he was a more avid reader than I.

I've also seen the Anne of Green Gables play at least six times, and the Megan Follows version of "Road to Avonlea," which I loved.

I don't think I have overly high expectations of the books I choose to read, but number one, they must keep my attention. Perhaps it was the writing style of the times.

But that can't be right. "Anne" was her first book published in 1908. She was a beautiful writer, descriptive and full of surprises. But she just doesn't do it for me.

When I was barely 12 years old I found and read the hard cover copy of "Gone With The Wind" with a voracious appetite, only taking breaks to get a Peanut Butter Sammie and a glass of orange Kool-Aid for sustenance. It was at least 2" thick, and I'm pretty sure a lot of grown ups wouldn't have approved of its subject matter, but christ on a cracker, it was good!! It was published in 1936, so there goes that theory. Couldn't be the writing style of the day.

Momma was an avid reader and encouraged it in most of us. She was heard to say, "If you know how to read and don't, then you are no better off than someone who can't read at all."

Nuff said, Momma.

I was exposed to the classics at a young age.

Black Beauty.

Alice In Wonderland, a trip on bad acid if there ever was one.............

Robinson Crusoe

Tarzan, which for some reason I loved!

Treasure Island

Of course Comic books from The Snack bar.

As I grew up a little, I loved Trixie Beldon books, The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew.

In High School, in Theatre Arts class of course, we tore plays apart and learned all about rhyme and alliteration and plots.

In Grade Nine, Mrs. Townshend taught us to write a play. It was called "A Higher Hand" and was a true story of a local boy who had both feet almost cut off by a hay mower, and the local doctor who saved them. A lot of you lovely readers will remember that incident. After the play was polished and passed inspection by a school assembly, we took it on the road and performed it at The Confederation Center. To say it was exciting was an understatement. I was a narrator and one of the first people on the stage to set the scene. I'll never forget it, and such is the power of words.

I continued to read. And read. And read.

Lots of Shakespeare, and I always liked old Will. Taught me, among other things, exactly what "a pound of flesh" meant, and the pain of being "hoist by your own petard."

All Quiet on the Western Front, WW2 from the German's point of view.

The Diary of Anne Frank.

Lord of the Flies, which stays with me still.

Of Mice and Men. Oh those scenes..........

To Kill A Mockingbird.

A Raisin in the Sun.

The Odyssey.

Quite a variety of topics.

And others. It was a firm grounding in our education, but like a lot of things, sometimes wasted on the young.

But I sucked it up. How I loved Mrs. Adele Townshend. She encouraged my interest in writing stories and poems, and indeed, many years later, when my Christmas story about my grandmother won first place in a Guardian contest, she was the first phone call of the day.

"Cliff can't see to read anymore, so I read your story to him, and we were both captivated! You brought us right to the scene, we could see Mrs. Chaisson sitting at the table, smoking, in anguish. I am so proud of you."

You can't even imagine how humbled I was. That was pretty high praise and I never forgot it.

Since my grandmother was such a reader, I guess I developed her appetite. As I grew up I found my tastes were a little more mature and might I add...........perhaps a little trashier?

Flowers in the Attic, Petals in the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday. What a quad. Read them all. Probably twice, I am not averse to re-reading anything I like. And like a lot of other people, I often get caught up in two books at the same time, so I read both.

Momma loved True Detective magazines and others like it, so of course I read them too, and all the love magazines. (Soft porn magazines, more like it....)

I mean how else were we supposed to learn about S-E-X ??? Every chance I got, I would dig through her top dresser drawer, where among other things, she hid chocolates and racy books. How naughty was I? The chocolates were no match for a nosy kid and neither were the books......

These last few years I am loving anything by Bernice Morgan, Michael Crummey and Emma Donoghue.

Since I love history so much books like "Slammerkin" hooked me from the start, a true story grabs me from the first hello.

"Night" by Eli Weisel, another true story of survival in the Second World War.

Westerns were never my thing, but Momma loved books by Louis L'amour and there must be a million.

"Thornbirds" another beauty.

"Mutiny on The Bounty" surpassed only by the excellent movie, starring Mel Gibson.

"The Book of Negroes" is another beloved book, I own a hard copy which I've read twice.

Of course, I've read everything by a certain Jaime Lee Mann, and if you haven't read Stella Shepard's books, you should.

I also own a stack of books on Soap Making and Candle Making, and I refer to them often. Boring I know, but they are great for reference.

And one of my all time favorite books to read is Cook Books, a reflection of the times they are written, for sure. And they could be categorized as historical too. I always say that if a cookbook produces just one recipe that becomes a tried and true in your bag of tricks, then it was worth the price.

My kids read a lot and they put me straight on good reads from time to time.

So I hope Lucy Maud fans will forgive me, it's hard to keep my scatter brain on track sometimes.

I just finished a book titled "29 Seconds" a pretty good read, and only on the last couple of pages did I realize who outsmarted who.

Well, they outsmarted me, but who's keeping score..............

The End.