These Happy Golden Years audiobook

I am very bitter about the $100 organ Pa insisted Laura needed to buy for Mary to play during her visits home (for a couple of weeks every other year or something). This was the money nobody could afford to waste.

These Happy Golden Years is book eight of the autobiographical series of novels, and we know from the first that Laura Ingalls will become Laura Ingalls Wilder so we are just waiting for that ring to appear, since we first met him a few books ago. This book spans the years from when Laura is not yet 16 and works in the Brewster School until the time she is married at 18.“He isn’t that Wilder boy any more, Mary. He is Almanzo. . . I guess it’s because we just seem to belong together.”This is, as with the others, a family car listen, over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we went. I have to say I was not up for a book that announces its theme and tone in the title, but hey, the tale of the fifteen-year old Laura's first teaching experience in a shanty, 12 miles from home, was interesting to this lifelong teacher, and moments of her courtship with Almanzo Wilder had us literally laughing aloud and cheering.Highlights:*When Almanzo picks her up in a snowstorm, it is BELOW 40 degrees below zero, and she almost collapses from hypothermia. When they make it home Papa says the ball at the base of the thermometer actually had frozen. Later she says she is happy being outside in the sunlight when it is only twenty degrees below zero!*Those sleigh and buggy rides with Almanzo. Can one ever hear sleigh bells the same way again?*Laura’s informing Almanzo that she won’t be able to swear an oath to always “obey” him. He immediately agrees, but asks her if she is a feminist like his sister. “Well, not that I want the vote, or anything, but I just don’t think I can swear in advance to something I may not be able to do.”*He takes her for rides (and then she also takes the reins eventually) for a full year, doing nothing else with her, even after she has discouraged him from approaching her for romance. (He knows she is the one, and persists). The first time he puts his arm around her, she pulls the reins and forces him to take them with two hands; he understands this move, and does not touch her again for many months later. Saint Almanzo!*When and only when she gets the ring does she allow him to kiss her—just once—before dropping her off at her door. Saint Almanzo! Another age, another time!*The Ingalls seeing their child of 18 leave home with Almanzo—bittersweet.A love story, and a sweet one, to (essentially) finish the series, yay!

These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years. Arguably the most recognizable quote from the eighth book in the series and rightly so. We transition from girlhood to adulthood by having Laura slowly, but surly, fall love. I distinctly remember that this was the first time that I mourned the loss of a character - I was in fifth grade and the book-Laura was still alive. Yet, I remember sadness and sorrow. The Laura we knew has grown into a woman. It's no longer Ma, Pa and Laura. Gone are the days spent roasting the pig's tail and singing along to Pa's fiddle. This was the first time I had realized that I would someday leave my parents. I sincerely wish we could've had more books for this series prior to Laura marrying Almanzo. Or even more written by Laura as her daughter grew up.Audiobook CommentsRead by Cherry Jones and accompanied by Paul Woodiel on the fiddle - together they really brought the audio alive. Loved it.YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

I think this is my favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book. I really like Almanzo and his horses and ... it's just an amazing book. :)

Ok so how could I not put my favorite LHOTP book on my bookshelf? I can't. There just ain't better readin' than a little LHOTP. Especially with a little fiddle music in the background while wearing a bonnet.

I think this is my favorite of all the Little House books. So many happy things happen for all of them and who doesn't love a good romance?!

I think this might be my favorite in the series. The romance between Almanzo and Laura was so sweet! And I loved following Laura as she trained to be a teacher. Also, my heart pounded a little faster in the scene where the wife in the couple who she boards with is standing over her husband in the middle of the night with a kitchen knife. EEEESH!

*Some possible spoilers... of course, if you looked at the cover of the book, you're probably already aware of where this is going.Eleanor: I know what my favorite part is already: WHEN LAURA GOT MARRIED!!!I want to give it FIVE STARS!!! You know why it's amazing? Because how can a piece of wedding cake taste like sawdust in your mouth?Dad: Why do you think Laura thought it tasted like sawdust?El: Because she's leaving home forever.Dad: But why would that make it taste like sawdust?El: Well, in the book... it said, usually mom's cake tastes good, but Laura said the cake tasted like sawdust in her mouth. So she couldn't enjoy the cake, because she had to leave. ...Talking about wedding cake makes me hungry for cake... I guess I'm going to have to wait until after dinner to get some banana bread.Dad: Do you think the banana bread mom made is going to taste like sawdust?El: NOOOOOooooo! I'm not going to leave home and not come back for keeps. You're silly daddy. ...Mom said not to make the review really silly. I guess I'll have to explain to her that dad made the review silly.Dad: I guess you will. Will it taste like sawdust when you're getting married and leaving home for keeps?El: I don't think so. I guess I'll have to find out when I get married. Dad: What'd you think about the Brewsters?El: They're MEEEaaaaaannnnn.Dad: No kidding. I'm glad I didn't have to live with them.El: I'm glad I didn't either. I'm glad I live with a mom who's a good cook! I can taste her cake already.Dad: What did you think about Laura's school?El: It was cool that she earned $27!Dad: What's one thing you learned from this book? About life, or about yourself, or about anything?El: I learned that sometimes in life you meet mean people.Dad: Anything else?El: You should love them anyway - like Laura loved Mrs. and Mr. Brewster.Dad: Ok. Was Laura ever mean?El: ...Uhhhh... I don't think so...Dad: I think she was a couple of times.El: When was she mean, daddy? She wasn't mean to Almanzo, that's for sure. Eh! And you know what my next favorite part was? When Nellie was afraid of horses.Dad: So, you remember a part about Laura being mean then, huh?El: Actually, I think it was Nellie that was being mean. Laura held her tongue, and Nellie's tongue was going flippity-flop. And Almanzo was Laura's friend, and Nellie was taking him away from her.Dad: You make some good points. I'm not saying Nellie wasn't mean. I just think it was a little bit mean (but still kind of funny) for Laura to spook the horses when she knew Nellie was afraid of them.El: It was kind of funny. ...Laura's a funny girl.

Who this book is for: People who love Laura Ingalls Wilder, prairie stories, historicals, faith-filled books. 0+

I always like to read THIS book after reading 'The Long Winter', even if it does not keep the correct order- this just seems like the proper continuation of where 'Winter' leaves off. I like this one because it tells the story of Laura and Almanzo's courtship, beginning when she is 15 and ending with their marriage when she is 18. As a kid, it always blew my mind that they had never ever even kissed until they were ENGAGED! Hell, I was reading this at 10 or 11, and *I* had kissed boys by then! This is a more 'grown up' book compared to some of the others, dealing with finances, laws of settler's claims and things such as that. I always loved that Laura became a teacher (I had always wanted to be a teacher, and so I am) but she taught at the age of 15!! Crazy. It is a great read, and a great continuation of the series. I like it 3rd best overall, I would say, of the original 9 books. --Jen from Quebec :0)

Such a lovely happy book. I felt quite emotional finishing it. Especially knowing sorrows that lay ahead.I loved that Laura appreciated her happy moments at this time in her life though, and knew that they really were happy golden years.