This is the book I read the night before I got married ten years ago. The reason for this? I think that "These Happy Golden Years" is the first book that I ever read in which a courtship and marriage was described in any detail - I was probably 8 or 9 on first reading of it. It seemed eminently suitable to read before my own marriage.The book makes me happy inside, the gentle way that Laura and Almanzo become a couple and go out on rides together. Almanzo's persistence in courting Laura, and the...

I read this after visiting De Smet, and it was so lovely to be able to fix this unabashedly romantic YA novel firmly in its real-life location. On our last day in South Dakota we drove all around the lakes – Spirit Lake and Lakes Thompson and Henry – and out to the former tree claim where Laura and Almanzo’s first home was, and so in reading this book I was able to take a little nostalgia trip of my own, following the paths of their buggy rides.I love Laura and Almanzo’s courtship (which is real...

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

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

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

Imagine life before cars,phones,recorded music,electricity,ect. A simpler time, before all the hustle and bustle of the modern day. All the little house books are the stories of Laura Ingalls life. Its very interesting reading about how life was back in the 1800s. I promise you will feel greatful for all modern day luxuries, after reading this. She gives alot of amazing details of how things were done, so you even learn alot about history with these books. I love this series,and no matter if you...

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.

What a lovely courtship; so simple and innocent, just two young people comfortable in each other's company. Laura comes into her own making money as a teacher and surprisingly she enjoys it. I actually had a hard time reading those parts; they reminded me so much of my first years teaching-the struggle to be firm yet fun. Always at this time of the year I yearn for those days when I decorated my classroom to some fanciful theme and watched the children's faces for their reaction. Mary goes off t...

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 SERIES ENDS HERE, I CAN'T HEAR YOU.

Such a sweet ending to sweet book and a sweet series. (Yes, I know there’s technically another one. I’ll list the reasons I’m skipping it, momentarily. :p ) It had all the things I’ve loved about this series: The Ingalls family, the setting, seeing how things were in that area during that historical time period, Almanzo, and a very sweet, innocent romance. The familial love and support of the Ingalls family for each other was especially wonderful. I shed a tear of happiness at Laura and Almanzo’...

I finished up my reread of this series today. It's just comforting, to read those old childhood favorites with new eyes. My heart still skips a beat when Almanzo asks Laura if he can see her home that first time! I still get scared with Laura during her first teaching job (how awful was that Mrs Brewster?!) I chalk a lot of how good I did in certain classes in school to stories like these, and wish more kids today were still reading them.ETA 2017: I think that, in spite of this series not being

Strap in, folks. This might be a long one, since it's my favorite book in the series.We begin our story once again in the cold winter of the Dakota Territories. Laura has received her teaching certificate and begins teaching school to keep Mary in college. She dreads teaching, she doesn't want to leave home, but she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and puts on a brave face. The school is 12 long, cold miles from home. She's staying with the school board president's family, run by his awful wif...

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! T...

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.

I love the Little House series. Saying this book wasn't my favorite is like ranking the Harry Potter books. Even a four star here is more beloved than most other novels. That said, this book had a bit too much Mrs Brewster (sad and scary!) and too many buggy rides (redundant) for me to really relish it like I did the others. That said I think Laura does a masterful job conveying the joys and pangs of growing up and moving on from the nest. And I love what Almanzo had to say about not wanting a w...

This is so bittersweet. Laura's parents saying goodbye and watching their children leave them might be the defining emotional moments of this series for me. The last few pages have always hit me harder than I expected, and not even Almanzo's painstaking shelves and drawers quite take the sting out of that. And then there's that earlier moment with Mrs. Brewster and the knife, and really appreciating home just before leaving it. That's always quite something. I skimmed the next book, and it's jus...

This may be my favorite Little House book, because it's such a beautiful little romance. Laura goes off to teach school but must board with an awful family. As her first week passes, her heart sinks at the thought of spending the weekend in that cramped, cold cabin with the angry and abusive housewife. And then she hears sleigh bells. Almonzo Wilder has come to take her home for the weekend -- and he does, every week, for the entire term, even in the midst of record-breaking cold spells. It's a

Reread from childhood. A great, stress-free read which is exactly what I needed. This is the most romance heavy of the series. It's all about Laura and Almanzo's relationship.

I was so excited when I got to read about Almanzo and Laura being able to date and get engaged. I have never forgotten my first time reading this book as it was the first time I wanted to marry and hold out for the man of my dreams like Laura did. I'm lucky in the fact that I got my wish.

This book was the first of the Little House books that I read. The last shall be first. I liked it, and all the Little House books (my favorites are Little Town on the Prairie and The Long Winter). While I have to say that I enjoyed them as a child, that's nothing to what I thought of them when I reread them as an adult.As a child, I loved the innocence of Laura's existence and her rebellious nature. Now, what comes through much more strongly is the constant danger that the Ingalls Family lived

By far my favorite of the series! Laura embarks in her profession of teacher (at the ripe old age of 16). She experiences life away from home (and is fairly miserable but keeps a stiff upper lip) and learns how to deal with unruly students. She relishes in her weekends home and begins to appreciate Almanzo Wilder (who drives her home every weekend, even in terrible weather conditions). Throughout the book (and after Laura has moved back home for closer teaching positions), their romance blooms.

This is probably my favorite of the Little House books, simply because I'm a hopeless romantic. ;) It's both a coming of age and a historical romance. Favorite quotes:“She had not known before that it takes two to make a smile.”“Maybe everything comes out all right, if you keep on trying. Anyway, you have to keep on trying; nothing will come out right if you don't.”“She had heard that said, [sic] but had not realized what it meant. A bump on the log does not fight anyone, but it cannot be budged...

No matter how many times I re-read this book I never get tired of it, and I'm constantly finding new things in it! This has got to be the best book in the whole of the 'Little House' series! It's absolutely wonderful. Five stars just doesn't seem to be enough for it!

This book is just exactly what I needed. As the world has kind of spiraled into chaos, I’ve found myself unable to concentrate on anything, though I knew that sinking into a story would give my mind a much-needed reprieve from the news and the fear it brings with it. Fantasy world building was too different to feel at all believable for my current mood, and contemporary fiction didn’t provide enough of an escape. I finally decided that what I needed was something historical, something firmly lod...

The first love story I ever read and still my favorite. Listening to the audiobook with my kids, I used it as a teaching moment: “Girls, if you get married you need to look for someone willing to drive a sleigh for hours in negative forty degree weather for you, like Almanzo did for Laura.”My daughter replied “... but, Mom ... we live in Florida so ....?”Hopefully they still get the idea.

Boy a lot of things happen in this slim volume. If there's anything worth noting about reading this series as a whole as an adult, it's that pacing is a real detail here. We get a whole book about a single long winter and then books like this one where Laura goes from 15 and starting as a teacher to 18 and married with her own home...in fewer pages. Takeaways from book eight: Laura hates teaching, Laura wants to get married sooner so she can stop teaching, Pa really likes taking Laura's money fo...

"I liked the part where they got married because they got to dress up really nice. They had a really small wedding instead of the big on Almanzo's sister was planning because I think that would have been too much. Before they got married they saw a tornado while on a wagon ride, good thing they didn't get sucked up." -Cadee, age 8