The votes are in, and for another LM Montgomery read weāll be doing the Emily Climbs Book Club in October-November!
I thought about how to set up the reading days, and even though the chapters arenāt as short as in The Blue Castle, I think itās simplest to still have Mondays through Fridays be reading days ā I found it much easier to keep track of!
However, Iām going to mix it up a little by splitting some of the chapters consisting mainly of Emilyās diary entries in half. This serves two purposes: it spreads out the reading a bit and gives more space to discuss things, and ā with the book taking place over three and a half years, and the diary entries covering some longer periods within that ā it gives a better sense of the passage of time in Emilyās life.
To avoid the book club overlapping with Canadian Thanksgiving, Iām going to start it the week after, so the reading schedule is:
Monday October 19: Writing Herself Out
Tuesday October 20: Salad Days (Part 1: February to April in Emilyās diary entries)
Wednesday October 21: Salad Days (Part 2: May in Emilyās diary entries)
Thursday October 22: In the Watches of the Night
Friday October 23: āAs Ithers See Usā
Monday October 26: Half a Loaf
Tuesday October 27: Shrewsbury Beginnings
Wednesday October 28: Pot-pourri (Part 1: September in Emilyās diary entries)
Thursday October 29: Pot-pourri (Part 2: October-November in Emilyās diary entries)
Friday October 30: Not Proven
Monday November 2: A Supreme Moment
Tuesday November 3: The Madness of an Hour
Wednesday November 4: Heights and Hollows
Thursday November 5: At the Sign of the Haystack
Monday November 9: The Woman Who Spanked the King
Tuesday November 10: āThe Thing That Couldnātā
Wednesday November 11: Driftwood (Part 1: September-October in Emilyās diary entries)
Thursday November 12: Driftwood (Part 2: November to February in Emilyās diary entries)
Friday November 13: āIf a Body Kiss a Bodyā
Monday November 16: Circumstantial Evidence
Tuesday November 17: āAiry Voicesā (Part 1: April to August in Emilyās diary entries)
Wednesday November 18: āAiry Voicesā (Part 2: September to January in Emilyās diary entries)
Thursday November 19: In the Old John House
Friday November 20: Thicker Than Water
Monday November 23: āLove Me, Love My Dogā
Tuesday, November 24: An Open Door
Wednesday November 25: A Valley of Vision
Thursday November 26: April Love
Friday November 27: End-of-book wrap-up!
I love this book ā itās such a delightful mix of the Gothic and the real, Emily is my favourite LM Montgomery heroine, and itās more about the journey of becoming a writer than any other other books. The Emily series was written around the same time as The Blue Castle ā in the 1920s ā and has a lot of both similar and different themes.
I look forward to travelling through this book with you and hearing all of your thoughts on it!