I’m pretty sure that if you don’t like Anne of Green Gables, then we can’t be friends, or should I say “kindred spirits?” Okay, maybe we can be friends, but will we really understand each other? I’m not sure.
All joking aside, if you’ve never read Anne of Green Gables, put it on your TBR right now. (Go ahead, I’ll wait.)
Ok. Now that we have that over with, here’s the thing about this book . . .
BUT, there’s more to the Anne books than just Anne of Green Gables. If you’ve read the first book, you probably want to read more, but you may not be sure which book to read next. If this sounds like you, then you’ve come to the right place.
One of the things that can be confusing about the Anne of Green Gables book series is that the order in which the books should be read does not match up the order in which they were published.
You see this with other series, too, such The Chronicles of Narnia.
I will go over both options and explain the pros and cons of each.
The advantage of reading the books in this order is that this is the order the original audience would have read the books. That means that you will get the same experience they had when the books were first published.
If you want to read the books in publication order, this is the order you will read them:
The downside to reading them in this way is that the timeline skips around a bit. Book six is actually written from the point of view of Anne’s children, and the following two books return to Anne and her marriage.
Here are the books in chronological order. While this is not the order in which they were originally published, it is the order in which Montgomery recommended reading them.
While you may think it makes sense to read the books in the order they were published because that’s the way the original audience would have read them, when an author recommends reading them in a different order, there may be a good reason for that.
Typically, it means that the author decided to include information earlier in the story that he or she thinks is important for understanding the later books.
In this case, it will also create a more cohesive reading experience.
In both lists, the first three books are the same, the variations come in the last five books.
These are the books in chronological order:
There are also additional books Montgomery wrote about the characters of Avonlea:
If you have a Kindle, I found a volume that includes both the Chronicles of Avonlea, the Further Chronicles of Avonlea, and Uncollected Short Stories for $1.99 (at the time of this writing).
Below, you will find summaries of the Anne of Green Gables books in chronological order.
Anne of Green Gables begins with Matthew Cuthbert going to pick up an orphan that he and his sister have decided they want to adopt. Their understanding is that they are pickup up a boy who can help Matthew on the farm since he is getting older. When Matthew goes to pick up the orphan, he is surprised to find a 12-year-old girl,
who he brings back to their farm, Green Gables, which is near the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. I think it’s safe to say that by the time that Matthew gets home with her, he is smitten with her, but Marilla wants to send her back because they needed a boy. The book is the story about how Anne becomes the orphan they decide to keep.
You know how God sometimes gives us what we need, not what we want, but in the end we look back and are so grateful that it turned out the way it did. This is that story. I love found family stories, and I think that’s one of the reasons I love this book so much.
Anne is one of those characters that is flawed in so many ways but simultaneously so delightful. In this book, you will find a “kindred spirit.”
Anne of Avonlea details Anne’s life five years after Anne of Green Gables ends when Anne is getting ready to start the job of teacher at her beloved Avonlea school. With great anticipation coursing through her veins, it is a year of adventure. She finds herself confronted with the tough task of earning the trust and admiration of her students.
With her typical Anne-determination, she works to create a nurturing educational environment. At home, Marilla decides to take in two orphan twins, who bring both joy and challenges. Her relationship with her once rival Gilbert Blythe also starts to blossom into more. There are also several happenings going on in and around the town of Avonlea throughout this novel.
Anne of the Island is about Anne leaving Avonlea to Redmond College where she has copious adventures and surprises. She receives a marriage proposal from someone unmarriable, she sells her first story, and she faces a painful tragedy. Anne and her friends find joy in an ornery black cat that lives at a house where Anne and her friends move into.
In the meantime, Gilbert Blythe is making moves to court Anne, and she finds herself trying to figure out if this is something she’s ready for. Some readers describe this book as their favorite in the series. One reader wrote that: “The book captures the wistful sorrows which come with growing up, but also retains all of the wonder which makes the Anne books so special.”
Anne gets the job of principal of Summerside High School in Summerside where she soon finds out she was not the first choice of all of the residents there, especially the Pringles who are considered “the royal family of Summerside.”
However, she does have some wonderful allies where she lives at Windy Poplars who help her navigate the town and people there. She slowly starts to win over the hearts of some of her worst critics. Anne and Gilbert Blythe keep their long-distance relationship going through lots of letters while he finished medical school. While fans still like this book, they miss the familiar characters of Avonlea. It’s important to note that while this book is fourth chronologically, it was the last book Montgomery wrote in the series.
In the fifth book in the series, Gilbert finishes medical school, and it finally happens — Anne and Gilbert get married, and they start their life together. They move into a house near Glen St. Mary on Four Winds Harbor where they have new friends and new neighbors and all the problems and surprises that come with those changes.
One fan describes this book as “the most personal of the Anne books” and “the most romantic book.” Another fan described it as “a beautiful tale of the beginnings of marriage and family life for Anne and Gilbert.”
Anne is a devoted mother, managing a lively home with her five children. Despite the bustling household, her excitement is multiplied as she anticipates the arrival of a new baby. However, her joy is slightly dampened by the presence of her less-than-welcome Aunt Mary Maria, who seems to have overstayed her welcome.
While Anne loves her life in Ingleside, there is a hint of concern that creeps into her mind as she wonders if her husband, Gilbert, still holds the same affection for her. After all, she may have aged a bit, but she’s still the same Anne of Green Gables. Determined to rekindle their love, Anne embarks on a journey to make Gilbert fall in love with her all over again, igniting the same passion and devotion they once shared.
This seventh book focuses more on Anne and Gilbert’s six children, who stumble upon a special and secluded place, a haven of their own. Little do they know that their lives are about to be enriched by the arrival of a peculiar family in the nearby old mansion — the Meredith clan, comprising two boys, two girls, and a runaway named Mary Vance.
Their father is the new Presbyterian minister John Meredith. The Merediths become fast friends with Anne’s children, and they unite in their secret hideout with the goal of rescuing Mary from the orphanage, to bring happiness to a lonely minister, and to safeguard a pet rooster from the threat of becoming soup. One fan said that “the whimsical world of the children’s minds were enthralling.”
In this final book in the series, Anne’s children are approaching adulthood, except Rilla. With her bright hazel eyes and infectious smile, she effortlessly wins hearts. At nearly fifteen years old, Rilla’s thoughts revolve around simple joys like attending her very first dance at the Four Winds lighthouse and anticipating her first kiss from the dashing Kenneth Ford.
However, she is also faced with unexpected challenges. Rilla is soon faced with trials she could never have imagined when the peaceful world of Ingleside becomes endangered by a distant war. As her brothers are called to fight in the first World War, Rilla finds herself taking on new responsibilities.
There are two ways to read the Anne of Green Gables books: in publication order or in chronological order. Montgomery recommended that the books be read in chronological order as they follow a more linear timeline that will be easier to follow and don’t jump around as much as they did when they were first published.
There are eight books in the Anne of Green Gables series, plus additional collections of short stories and poems.
Anne of Green Gables is set in the 1880s on Prince Edward Island, which is located east of New Brunswick and north of Nova Scotia.
Canadian author L.M. Montgomery, Lucy Maud Montgomery, lived from 1874 to 1942. She was raised in Cavendish on Prince Edward Island, Canada, by her maternal grandparents after her mother died and her father left her in their care.
Prince Edward Island is located north of Nova Scotia and East of New Brunswick. It’s also where the fictional town of Avonlea is located. Avonlea is reportedly based on the town of Cavendish, and Montgomery’s work draws on her own experiences in many ways.
There are several parallels between Montgomery’s own life and Anne Shirley’s: she was raised by an older couple, and she learned to use her imagination to keep herself entertained through nature, writing, and reading books.
She published her first poem in a Prince Edward Island newspaper in 1890 titled “On Cape LeForce.”
Montgomery went into teaching school and taught for a brief time before deciding to do additional coursework in English literature at Dalhousie University from 1895 to 1896. It was very rare at that time for women to pursue higher education. It was also during this time that L. M. Montgomery started getting paid for writing.
In 1898, Montgomery moved back to Cavendish to take care of her grandmother after her grandfather died, where she lived for 13 years. It was also during this time that her writing career began to flourish, as she began to publish poems and stories in magazines in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.
She wrote her first novel, Anne of Green Gables, in 1905, but it was rejected by all of the publishers she sent it to. She decided to try submitting it again in 1907, and Page Company of Boston, Massachusetts, decided to publish it. It was published in 1908 and was a bestseller right away.
Montgomery married Rev. Ewan Macdonald in 1911 and had three boys, one of whom was stillborn. They lived in Ontario, where her husband was a pastor, and Montgomery continued to write.
She died in 1942 in Toronto but was buried on Prince Edward Island.
While you can certainly purchase each volume individually using the links above, several beautiful boxed sets are also worth purchasing if you’re planning to read the entire series or you’re looking for a nice gift for an Anne of Green Gables fan.
Note: Something to pay attention to is whether or not the set includes all eight volumes because not all sets do.
Here are some of your options:
