Amy and Erin's Amazing Diarchical Club of Books You Should Read With Us discussion

Erin and I recently got the ebook version of the Anne series and have begun a re-read. Please join us.

Where to Find
The majority of the series is currently available for only 99¢ as a Kindle book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B....

LibreVox has the audio version of the series available free as well. It's fairly easy to go back and forth between reading and listening since it's ordered by chapters. Probably the easiest way to listen to them is by downloading the RSS feed via iTunes or with an podcast app like Podcast Addict. You can find LibreVox's free Anne audio recordings at: https://librivox.org/group/525?primar...

A Few Pre-Reading Questions
1. When was your first exposure to Anne of Green Gables or is this your first time through?
2. How much of the series have you already read?
3. Did you watch the mini-series version?
4. What are your fondest memories of the Anne series?

I believe I first read Anne of Green Gables when I was about Anne's age, 11. I was thrilled to find Anne of Avonlea at a book fair, but I never managed to find any of the other books in the series. I never talked as much as Anne out loud, but I certainly had a large imagination as a child and longed for a "kindred spirit", so I related to her very well. I adored Matthew and had a literary crush on Gilbert (a rarity for me).

Here's a bit to ponder. As I began to re-read the series, I was struck by the similarities between Anne of Green Gables and Little Orphan Annie: a couple ends up with a spirited red-headed orphan girl (instead of boy) named Anne-with-an-e/Annie. The poem "Little Orphant Annie" was published in 1885. Anne of Green Gables came out in 1908. The Little Orphant Annie film premiered in 1918 In the movie, Annie is played by the beautiful red-headed Colleen Moore (https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isc...). Then the Little Orphan Annie comic strip with a red-headed Annie began in 1924, citing the poem as its inspiration. But I have to wonder if Anne of Green Gables subconsciously or consciously affected the casting of the Little Orphant Annie movie with a redhead which in turn led to the creation of the Little Orphan Annie comic strip with a red-head. Thoughts? Insights?

Here's the original poem by James Whitcomb Riley:

Little Orphant Annie
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other children, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
(view spoiler)[Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out! (hide spoiler)]<--- the rest of the poem

I never read the books as a child, even though I think I was vaguely aware they were out there - I wonder if the Canadian setting put me off? I read the first two as an adult, back in 2007 and now I'm doing a re-read/read of the full series. I'm on number 3 now and I'm so happy to dive into Anne's world for a bit each day.

And, like Amy, I'm curious about the comic strip Annie and her red hair.

I've been obsessed (well, maybe that's too strong of a word, but maybe not) with Anne for decades.
To my knowledge, LMM wasn't officially accused of ripping off Riley, but she was accused of borrowing heavily from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. There might even have been a law suit. I'm currently procrastinating on a project with a deadline, so I probably shouldn't look that up right now.

Melissa wrote: "I've been obsessed (well, maybe that's too strong of a word, but maybe not) with Anne for decades.
To my knowledge, LMM wasn't officially accused of ripping off Riley, but she was accused of borrow..."

You probably shouldn't, but you probably will ...

The chapter I read yesterday about the haunted wood made me think maybe there was some influence from the poem after all.