23 « May « 2011 « Medieval Bookworm

Who Am I? – Armchair BEA

armchair bea To those of you who are new to my blog, welcome! I’m Meghan, a 25 year old American living in the UK, married to a wonderful British husband and navigating the intriguing world of marketing for my career. In my spare time, I am and always have been a bookworm and a history nut, hence the title of my blog. In 2009 I got my MA in Medieval Studies and am currently dreaming of a PhD in Medieval History, but not quite yet.

I’ve been blogging about books since 2007, but I’ve been reading since I was five. Blogging has been and continues to be a delightful outlet to share that love of literature with other people, since very few people in my day-to-day life actually enjoy reading.

A few other random facts about me:

My two favourite books are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.
I will happily read most genres but my very favourites are historical fiction and epic fantasy. I also love non-fiction, particularly history (obviously enough) and will usually be happy with an enormous tome that someone else would consider dry and boring.
I adore the Middle Ages and have specialised in the Wars of the Roses; I will now refuse to read this period in fiction because I know too much. I do like nearly every period in history, though, and have loved books set in Cleopatra’s Egypt alongside books set in Victorian England – both fiction and non-fiction.
I dream of having a cat and a full room devoted to my library one day.

I’d love to be at BEA meeting awesome book bloggers and publishing industry contacts this week, but it wasn’t in the financial cards. I’m hoping for next year and meanwhile looking forward to this week’s Armchair BEA festivities!

If you drop by, leave me a comment and let me know you were here – I’ll do my best to visit your blog over the next week and say hi in return!

Thoughts on a Re-read: Anne of the Island

anne of the island Anne is growing up further; this novel finds her attending Redmond College to get her BA after her short early teaching career. She has dreamed of getting her BA since Anne of Green Gables and so her education is top priority. While there, however, she experiences her first love affairs, including proposals from several men and an embarrassing first proposal, and meets new friends as well as retaining old ones like Gilbert Blythe. Though Anne retains her dreamy nature, it’s clear that she is grown and ready to face the real world after her education.

I first read these books as a young girl and I found my enjoyment of them diminishing as they went on. I enjoyed this one more than I remembered, but at the same time I could see why I started to lose interest in the series as a kid. They turn more to romance than adventurous escapades, and while Anne is just as endearing as ever, her refusal to admit her love for Gilbert among other things obviously frustrated me when I was younger.

Saying that, though, I felt Anne really matured in this book and started to set aside her youthful foibles to become a proper young lady, somehow without losing the spirit at the core of her. I loved the addition of Phil, a completely lively new friend of Anne’s, and it was a delight to remember just who she falls in love with for all of her beauty and vivacity. Similarly, reading about all of the Avonlea folk getting settled and moving along in life is simply a delight for someone like me who would quite happily live in this world for a long, long time. Billy Andrews’ proposal to Anne through his sister was hilarious, as was Anne’s mortification over her story’s publication.

Reading Anne of the Island was a lovely trip through familiar and new experiences alike in Anne’s world. As always I was eager to read the next once I’d finished and I’m enjoying my reread very much!

All book links to external sites are affiliate links. I downloaded this book for free through Project Gutenberg.