Room of Ben’s Own

Upon reading that version 2.5 of WordPress had finally been released, I went ahead and upgraded it, despite still being on my first cup of coffee. Predictably, calamity ensued because I did not read the instructions first and so subsequently did not make a backup of my old files—or, rather, I saw that my server had kept regular backups of my WordPress databases, but when I tried to retrieve these backups WordPress just reinstalled itself. So now I’m enjoying version 2.5 of WordPress but I have no website left. I have managed to salvage my few posts thus far, but it might take a while to get the rest back up. If nothing else, I am really glad that I started with the upgrade to this website, rather than the one to the L.M. Montgomery Research Group.

The International Research Society for Children’s Literature has a new website, which can be found at http://www.irscl.com/. At this website you will find detailed information about the organization, including links to its new journal, International Research in Children’s Literature, the first issue of which will be published in July 2008 by Edinburgh University Press. To become a member, visit the CRYTC website.

I’m pleased to announce that my review of three new books related to Anne of Green Gables—Elizabeth Rollins Epperly’s Imagining Anne: The Island Scrapbooks of L.M. Montgomery, Budge Wilson’s Before Green Gables, and Irene Gammel’s Looking for Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed Up a Literary Classic—appears in today’s The Globe and Mail on pages D1 and D9 of the Books section. It is also available online here.

UPDATE: As of 29 March 2008, the full text of this review is no longer freely available on the Globe and Mail website, but you can read it here.