Stewartry

I don't tend toward gifs in my posts or reviews or whathaveyou, but about halfway through Anne's House of Dreams (the Librivox audio edition) I realized the best way to describe my reaction to listening to this series is this way: Me, listening to Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island:

Me, listening to Anne's House of Dreams:

Except I only sometimes wish I was Zooey Deschanel. I usually say Windy Poplars is my favorite Anne book; not this time around. Not just because it took me forever to find an audio edition (or because when I did find one the reader insisted on pronouncing Avonlea "A-von-LEE-ah"; I was whimpering softly by the end), but because I realized that so many of my favorite incidents come from this book. Two words: Persis Leigh. I love the story of Persis Leigh. I love the name Persis Leigh.

And Captain Jim. I love Captain Jim so very much. This is a sweet book, in every best sense of the word, because here are Anne and Gilbert, both having reached a wonderful place: they have each other, and they have a future. They have hold of the very beginning of the rest of their lives, and it begins to spool out in this book. They're getting to know each other as spouses, and as adults, and – especially since the rest of the books in the series shift most of the focus to the children – it's good.

And, of course, the Librivox audio is read by Karen Savage, who is extraordinary.

Crossing the Bar
Sunset and evening star,
  And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
  When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
    Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
    Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
    When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
    The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
    When I have crost the bar.