Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

This audiobook has very good narration. Anne is an orphan who lost her family. An old brother and sister in rural maritime Canada want an orphan boy to come help them on the farm. They get Anne instead. They want to send her back. However, the super chatty Anne ends up winning them over. She is always talking and daydreaming. She has various mishaps, such as messing up recipes, getting her friend drunk and dying her hair green. However, she also has also been very helpful at times (such as helping a sick kid.) She is always innocently chatting and dreaming. She is also a a smart, hard worker who is loyal to others. She ends up winning a scholarship to study away from home. However, she decides to stay so she could take care of her guardian (who is now alone after her brother died.) Anne just can't help but drive you crazy while making you want to love her.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This novel was extremely popular during World War II. It feels like more of a book of sketches than a full novel. We get insights into the lives of various people living in urban America. Most of the people are from immigrant families. (Though there is one story where somebody who responded that their parents were from Brooklyn when asked where they were from.) Most of the stories involved poverty. A man dying shortly after getting kicked out of his union. Little girls get gifted a doll from others. There are prostitutes trying to make a living, as well as somebody trying to adopt a child from a girl who disgraced her family. People are discovering sexuality and their bodies, but in a world where people don't really talk about it. There are plenty of struggles in adapting to the new world and their language. A girl learns to write and the key difference between imaginative writing and lying.

There are a variety of vignettes in the novel. For some, I would zone out and have no idea what just happened. Others were much more engaging.