Yes, We Ranked the Anne of Green Gables Books

8. Anne of Windy Poplars
We find Anne after college graduation as principal of Summerside school. She is staying at Windy Poplars with two widows, known to everyone as Aunt Chatty and Aunt Kate, as well as their housekeeper, Rebecca Dew. Gilbert is in medical school, so many of Anne’s letters to him are included in the book (I love when she writes: “Old age! Can we ever be old, Gilbert? It seems impossible.”). Anne is busy with her school and with the sometimes erratic characters of the town. A good book, but I missed all of the other Green Gables characters too much in this, the fourth book of the series.

7. Anne’s House of Dreams
The fifth book finally has Anne and Gilbert getting married—which Anne fans have been waiting for! Gilbert has completed medical school, and after their wedding, he and Anne go to Glen St. Mary, where he will practice medicine. I enjoyed this book because we get to see Anne and Gilbert as newlyweds, setting up house, plus who doesn’t love the new characters of Captain Jim of the lighthouse, Susan Baker, who moves in with the young couple, and Miss Cornelia Bryant, the town busybody? And it’s interesting to see Anne as an adult now, with grown-up joys and sorrows.

6. Rainbow Valley
Anne’s children are a delight in the seventh book of the series, and meeting them is almost like meeting Anne all over again as a young girl. Anne and Gilbert have six children, all of whom have distinct personalities and lend a whole new reason to love Anne. L.M. Montgomery paints a fun and funny picture of their childhood and their entertaining friends, the Meredith children and Mary Vance, with whom they get into many a misadventure.

5. Rilla of Ingleside
This is the last book in the series, and I fell in love with the story of Anne’s youngest daughter, Rilla. The world is facing World War I, and through this story, we watch Rilla grow up into a woman as her friends and brothers enlist. We live the heartbreak of the war as well (also, we fall in love with Dog Monday!). Anne is always the star of the show to me, regardless of how much she appears in these last books, but as her children are growing, they have their own stories that are compelling in their own right. Though, none of them are ever quite like Anne and her “scope for the imagination.”

4. Anne of Ingleside
Anne and Gilbert have five young children and one on the way. L.M. Montgomery writes about all the everyday adventures that come with being a mom and wife and community member, and we get to see Anne’s children go through lots of little ups and downs of their own. Anne is definitely grown up here, with occasional jealousy raising its ugly head in her marriage, and her priorities and dreams have matured and changed, but I think she is still Anne-with-an-e, through and through.

3. Anne of the Island
The third book in the series features Anne at Redmond College. Anne and three friends, Priscilla Grant, Philippa Gordon, and Stella Maynard, (as well as their chaperone-of-sorts, Aunt Jimsie) rent a darling house that I immediately became obsessed with called “Patty’s Place.” I loved seeing Anne blossom and grow at college, making new friends and keeping old ones, and making mistakes (both in love—hello, Roy Gardner—and life) while finding out who she is and what/who she really wants (hello, Gilbert!).

2. Anne of Avonlea
Anne is a teenager now, in the second book of the series, and although she is teaching at the Avonlea school, she is still talented at finding herself in hot water. A few new characters lend interest, including a cranky neighbor, Mr. Harrison, and adorable but sometimes troublesome twins, Dora and Davy. Anne continues to grow in her friendships with Diana and Gilbert, and we see the young people of the town set up what they call the Avonlea Village Improvement Society (A.V.I.S) where they try to improve such things as the town hall (where the paint color proves to be a problem!).

1. Anne of Green Gables
The most outstanding book in the series is no doubt the first one, Anne of Green Gables. What a wonderful story about an orphaned, red-haired girl who turns the community of Avonlea, and especially the household of Green Gables, upside down as they fall in love with this unique and loving child, Anne Shirley. From her kindred spirit relationship with Diana Barry, to her love for Matthew and Marilla, to her animosity with Gilbert Blythe, Anne is all her own. She is vulnerable yet stubborn, smart yet naive. She is truly one of the best characters in literature, in my opinion, and entirely unforgettable. L. M. Montgomery’s beautiful imagination created a wonderful girl who made all of Green Gables, Avonlea, and the world outside of the books, adore her.