Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

There are few books I love as much as the Anne of Green Gables books. I can't tell you how many times I must have read these books in my tween and teen years--dozens of times. The books were falling apart. But I cannot believe I haven't read them once in the seven years I've been keeping track of my reading. This is why I set the goal for 2018 to read books that make me happy--so that I would make a conscious effort to read the books that I want to, not that I think I should. I think I got a little sidetracked with doing that towards the end of this year, as is evidenced by the fact that I read far fewer books in the last quarter of the year than in any of the first three quarters. I felt too busy and stressed to read, which means I didn't actually want to read any of the books I had on my bedside stand. But the week we were packing up to go to Utah and I was so busy with Christmas stuff, I made myself sit down and start reading Anne of Green Gables, and within half an hour I felt happier and better and I was laughing out loud at Anne and her predicaments and her long speeches and her hilarious personality. I could not get over what a difference it made in my mood and in my reading life. I love, love, love these books and I have nothing I would change about them, except maybe more of Gilbert and Anne together... and maybe changing Gilbert's name to something that's actually good so that I could name a son after him. My favorite part of the book is Anne breaking her slate over his head, and her unrelenting scorn of him for years after, and then finally making up with him. There's so much else that's good though. I will never stop loving these books.