In preparation for our upcoming trip to Prince Edward Island, I re-read L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series (through Anne of Ingleside). I first read these treasured books when I was about eleven, and this was my first time revisiting Anne and friends as an adult (other than the occasional viewing of the classic CBC movie from the 80s). While I remember loving reading about imaginative, romantic Anne’s humorous scrapes and coming of age, re-reading the books now makes me wonder if Anne was more of a role model for me than I realized. I’ve mentioned before that these books were a non-negligible factor in my decision to move to Nova Scotia. But upon reflection, my focus on education, engagement ring preferences, wedding location, and house of dreams by the ocean all may have been influenced by subconscious impressions left by an enthusiastic childhood reading of these books.

The buzz about the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter movie reminded me that I had been meaning to get around to reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for several years. I finally read it, and thought it was a lot of fun. It was basically all of the joy one expects from re-reading Pride and Prejudice, with occasional zombie silliness sprinkled in. There are amusing illustrations, too!

Next up was Daisy Miller, a novella by Henry James. This book was referred to many times in Reading Lolita in Tehran, and I tried several times to borrow it from the library, but it was always out. This situation led me to the unfortunate attempt at reading The Wings of the Dove (just watch the movie on Netflix). In contrast, Daisy Miller (which I finally got a free version of for my Kindle) was eminently readable – it was one of James’ earlier works. I found this story to be a captivating analysis of a traveling young American woman’s personality and the response of genteel European and expat society to her.

Now I’m reading The Cat’s Table, by Michael Ondaatje. I decided to read this book because a couple of people had mentioned that he is a great writer, and John Irving recently posted on Facebook that he thinks this book is a “really outstanding novel.” I’ve enjoyed enough of John Irving’s novels for his opinion on that topic to carry some weight.