The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

Victorians Challenge 2012 January 12, 2012

Filed under: The Victorians,Charlotte Bronte,Wilkie Collins,Mary Elizabeth Braddon,Guy de Maupassant,Elizabeth Gaskell,Charles Dickens,Classics,Thomas Hardy,Knut Hamsun,Emile Zola,Oscar Wilde,William Makepeace Thackaray — The Book Whisperer @ 8:00 am
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Men judge us by the success of our efforts. God looks at the efforts themselves*

*by Charlotte Bronte

 

I didn’t do any challenges last year and I promised myself I wouldn’t this year either as when I have done them in the past I have found that they can sometimes feel like homework and that I “have” to read something. However, being a massive fan of Victorian literature, I have been eyeing up this one, hosted by Laura’s Reviews for some time and I have decided to give it a go.

 

Here are the rules:

1. The Victorian Challenge 2012 will run from January 1st to December 31st, 2012. You can post a review before this date if you wish.

2. You can read a book, watch a movie, or listen to an audiobook, anything Victorian related that you would like. Reading, watching, or listening to a favorite Victorian related item again for the second, third, or more time is also allowed. You can also share items with other challenges.

3. The goal will be to read, watch, listen, to 2 to 6 (or beyond) anything Victorian items.

So, knowing how rubbish I am at sticking to plans and lists, I have decided not to give myself a huge goal but to say that I will read six this year and then just keep going if I fancy more. Seeing as I have almost finished two so far this year, it’s looking pretty possible.

Here are some of the books / authors I would like to read this year. Obviously, I won’t get to them all but a girl gotta have options :) :

 

1) The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (already read)

2) The Complete Short Fiction by Oscar Wilde (almost finished)

3) Armadale by Wilkie Collins

4) Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

5) Something by Dickens (I’m thinking either David Copperfield, Oliver Twist or Little Dorritt at the moment)

6) Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

7) More books by Thomas Hardy (whom I have fallen in love with) like Jude the Obscure, Far From the Madding Crowd or The Woodlanders

8) Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

9) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackaray

 

I wasn’t sure if non-Brits would be included at first but Laura (in her post) has included authors such as Mark Twain and Louisa May Alcott so I’m hoping it’s OK to include some other nationalities like the French and Russian for example. If so then I really want to read:

1) Cousin Bette by Honor Belzac

2) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

3) Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant

4) Germinal by Emile Zola (already started)

5) Hunger by Knut Hamsun (Norwegian)

 

And if I have time after that little lot I would also like to read some non-fiction like finish Claire Tomalin’s biography of Charles Dickens and also London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew.

 

  Are there any out of this little lot that I should be reading before the others?

 

 

 

Blogging plans for 2012 December 30, 2011

Filed under: Agatha Christie,Authors,Charles Dickens,Charlotte Bronte,Classics,Cormac McCarthy,Daphne du Maurier,Edith Wharton,Elizabeth Gaskell,France,French,George Orwell,Guy de Maupassant,Jose Saramago,Margaret Atwood,Margaret Mitchell,Mary Elizabeth Braddon,Sarah Waters,The Victorians,Uncategorized,Wilkie Collins — The Book Whisperer @ 2:11 pm
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I have noticed something…

…I am rubbish at making plans. OK, not strictly true – I am great a making plans, just rubbish at sticking to them.

After a very murderous 2011, I have an urge for something a little gentler right now and I plan to raid my own shelves in 2012 and read some of what I actually own. This year I have had the absolute best fun reading about serial killers and detectives and crime fiction was all I craved for a long time: I will still be reading crime fic in 2012 as it is one of my favourite genres but at the moment I am craving books that have been sat on my shelves and whispering my name for years.

So, knowing full well that these best-laid plans will fall by the way-side by around mid January, let’s have a little fun pretending for now:

 

  Plan #1 – The Victorians

I am dying to get back to the Victorian classics and have read Little Women and Oscar Wilde’s Complete Short Fiction over Christmas. These are also some authors that I would like to read more of in the new year.

Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre and Villette are two of my favourite books of all time and so this year I’d like to read Shirley.

Thomas Hardy

I have only read Tess of the D’Urbervilles and think it’s about time I read some more. I am thinking The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure first.

Charles Dickens

This Master of the Tome has always been slightly daunting to me (despite me loving Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol) but this year I am determined to read at least one more of his and on my hit list are David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and The Old Curiosity Shop.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon

I absolutely loved Lady Audley’s Secret and have heard great things about Aurora Floyd so that will be next. I just love Victorian sensational novels.

Elizabeth Gaskell

I loved North and South and my cousin bought me a copy of Wives and Daughters for Christmas which I have heard great things about.

Wilkie Collins

I have only read The Woman in White so it is high time I picked up more of Collins’ work and next up are Moonstone and Armadale.

 

 

  Plan #2 – The French

I love reading books set in France or by French authors. At the end of February I am going to Paris for 4 days so I plan to read some Paris-based books before I go to get me in the mood:

Emile Zola

I have only read Thérèse Raquin and I am about ¼ of the way through Germinal but I would also like to read The Belly of Paris or The Ladies Paradise this year.

Victor Hugo

I am thinking about joining in the year-long read-a-long of this book, hosted by Kate at Kate’s Library as I have wanted to read it for years and it does seem like a good way to do this, but like I said, I am crap at sticking to plans so let’s see…

Two other authors I would like to read are Ernest Hemingways’ A Moveable Feast and George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London and some shorter stories by Guy de Maupassant.

 

 

  Plan #3 – Authors I want to read more of

I have a habit that goes like this: I read a book by an author, I love it, I buy a tonne of other books by that same author, they sit on my shelves waiting to be picked up.

So, with that in mind, plan #3 entails taking said books down from said shelves, dusting them off and actually reading them. Authors include:

Edith Wharton

Daphne du Maurier

Margaret Atwood

Sarah Waters

John Steinbeck

Cormack McCarthy

Agatha Christie

Jose Saramago

 

 

  Plan #4 – Authors I want to read for the very first time

I also have a habit of buying books by authors I think I should be reading but never get round to. Yes, I’m looking at you

Doris Lessing

Ernest Hemingway

China Melville

Amoz Oz

 

 

  Plan #5 – Books I have waited to read for far too long

There are certain books that have been on my wishlist for reading for so long that I almost cringe out of guilt when I hear them mentioned. Fortunately, two of them are being read this year in my on-line book club: Gone with the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath. Others that look at me longingly from my shelves are: Shantaram, Shogun and My Antonia.

 

 

  Plan #6 – Review Copies

I successfully managed to avoid the great publisher/blogger debate that was doing the rounds last month, and I still intend to. What I will say is that when an unexpected (or expected) package lands on my doormat I still get that feeling like it’s my birthday and Christmas rolled into one. There is not much more exciting than ripping the packaging off something book-shaped. Having said that, I do regularly get overwhelmed with the number of books that drop through my letterbox and my guilt at not reading them all still hounds me, but this year I have decided that I want to concentrate more on the books I already have rather than spending the majority of my reading time on proof copies. It’s a tough one really as despite the fact that  a) I don’t get the time to read them all and b) abandom some pretty quickly, two of the unsolicited copies that arrived at my house this year (and to be honest, I may not have picked up myself in a shop) ended up on my top 10 of 2011 list.

So, there are my current plans for 2012. This may change. In fact, this probably will change. Afterall, when something new and shiny lands on the doormat, what’s a girl to do? ;)

 

 

  Do you have blogging plans for 2012?

 

 

 

Day 30 – A favourite sensational novel September 29, 2011

Filed under: Authors,Mary Elizabeth Braddon,The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 7:16 am
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Pass the smelling salts…

This is one of my favourite genres: victorian sensational books. All that drama, mystery, plotting and intrigue. It’s like reading a gossipy soap-opera with guilded carriages and dastardly villains. The first book I ever read that was classed as “sensational” was Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. From the first page I was hooked:  A 19th century who-dunnit complete with beautiful but cunning villainess, rambling old houses and an upper-class layabout-turned-detective. Fabulous!

Lady Audley’s Secret was one of the first “sensation” novels ever written, and while it doesn’t have the sophisticated and multi-layered plots of todays thrillers, that keep us guessing until the very end and on the edge of our seets, it is nonetheless a great page turner and so much fun. This book was originally serialised in a paper back in 1862, and I can imagine eagerly awaiting the next installment as they would have done back then.


 

 

  Have you read any sensational novels? Any other recommendations?

 

 

Book Review: Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon January 12, 2010

Filed under: Comfort Reading,Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Mary Elizabeth Braddon,The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 11:01 am

Info from Goodreads: “This Victorian bestseller, along with Braddon’s other famous novel, Aurora Floyd, established her as the main rival of the master of the sensational novel, Wilkie Collins. A protest against the passive, insipid 19th-century heroine, Lady Audley was described by one critic of the time as
“high-strung, full of passion, purpose, and movement.” Her crime (the secret of the title) is shown to threaten the apparently respectable middle-class world of Victorian England.”

What I thought: This book was really good fun. A 19th century who-dunnit complete with beautiful but cunning villainess, rambling old houses and an upper-class layabout-turned-detective. Fabulous!

This was one of the first “sensation” novels ever written, and while it doesn’t have the sophisticated and multi-layered plots of today that keep us guessing until the very end and on the edge of our seets, it is nonetheless a great page turner and so much fun. This book was originally serialised in a paper back in 1862, and I can imagine eagerly awaiting the next installment as they would have done back then. The language is not complex either, which makes for an easy and much quicker read than some novels of this era.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Audley’s Secret although I am ashamed to say that I had never even heard of the author until I picked this up. I will hopefully read one of her other books this year; probably Aurora Floyd.

 

 
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