How did we all do? (The Wrap Up thread)

[Katie]

I just wanted to make a thread for us all to discuss what we've read and how we did. I read 11.25 books - and had a great time!

[MªJesús]

It’s been great!!!
I had planned to read more, but anyway it’s been a enjoyable Victober.
I’ve read The hand of Ethelberta, The moorland cottage, Deerbrook and Wuthering Heights.
Now, I’m reading Doctor Thorne and I also want to read Olive.
Thanks for all your videos!!

[Cendaquenta]

I uh, did not do very well. 😳 Had a whole great stack of books but only managed 2 tiny ones. Finished Hard Times and In a Glass Darkly.
Started reading North and South, but got distracted by other books at about halfway through and put it down to return to later. I did like the chunk I read.

[Emma]

I read The Return of the Native which was the only book I had really planned to read. I also read some of Bram Stoker's short stories, and some stories from the virago book of Victorian ghost stories. I'm still listening to Jane Eyre, which I've read a few times before. I loved the Hardy I read so much I'll be picking up another by him soon.

[Froggles]

Here's my list:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Stancliffe's Hotel by Charlotte Bronte
Poems by Emily Bronte
The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Still reading:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Diary of a Nobody by George & Weedon Grossmith
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

[Ophelia]

I read everything that I planned to, except one (reread a novel).

For Ange’s challenge "female author/ new to me" I read “Olive” by Dinah Craik. I liked it so much, that I'm planning to read more of her works.

For Katie’s challenge "a book under 250 pages" I read “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed reading it. I'm going to read his other stories in "In a glass darkly" as well.

I joined the group readalong for "A Woman of No Importance". After reading the first act I was quite disappointed. But when I read all of it, I liked it more than I thought I would (though not as much as TIOBE).

For Kate’s challenge "Reread a novel" I wanted to reread “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte. I only managed to read a third of it, because I was distracted with some additional reading :-D but I'm going to finish it in November.

What I read additionally:

"The Happy Prince and other tales" by Oscar Wilde
So surprisingly sad and moving!

"North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell. The first book I read of her (though I've seen film adaptations before). I really liked her writing and plan to read more of her works.

[Merry]

I read five books in October (four physical, one audio), but only one of them counted for Victober. That one was Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, though, a book I a) loved and b) have been meaning to read for ages, so overall I don't feel too bad about the month. I'm too much of a mood reader to read many books of the same type/genre after one another, anyway, and that even goes for my beloved Victorian fiction.

(Plus, Melville's short stories, another one of the books I finished, at least were also mid-19th century fiction. XD)

[April]

I looked at my reading spreadsheet and was surprised because I didn't realize how much I actually read during Victober.

Silas Marner--Eliot (book under 250)
Doctor Thorne--Trollope (reread)
The Sign of Four--Conan Doyle
Uncle Silas--LeFanu
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--Stevenson (reread)
Walnut-Tree House--Charlotte Riddell (new-to-me author) (short story)
The Magic Shop--Wells (short story)
The Canterville Ghost--Wilde (short story)
A bunch of Sherlock Holmes short stories--Conan Doyle

The only challenge I didn't complete was Lucy's. I couldn't find anything published the same years as A Christmas Carol that sounded interesting.

SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! Now I'm going to take part in Georgianary in January.

[Margie]

Thanks to all the co-hosts for a very fun month!

This was my first Victober and I read and loved:

North and South
Wives and Daughters - my fave!
Far From the Madding Crowd
The Importance of Being Earnest
A Woman of No Importance

I'm still reading The Diary of a Nobody. I enjoy this type of humor in smaller doses.

I look forward to joining again next year!

[Anna Christine]

Had an amazing Victober! Big thanks to all the hosts and all who participated.

🍁
The Importance of Being Earnest
A Woman of No Importance

Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
🍂

Loved them all! Read lots of other books in October as well so I had a great reading month.

[Theresa]

I didn't do great but did do the group reads. TIOBE by Oscar Wilde was the only book I finished. I am still reading two others and Adam Bede as an audio book. I will finish them soon and I think the most important thing is I really enjoyed Victober and I have been reading stuff I never would have read otherwise. See you all next year, or over in the nonfiction November group for those of you joining in on that.

[Jackie]

For my first I didn't do too bad. I read the two Oscar Wilde plays, Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, but didn't finish Great Expectations or Middlemarch.

[Lana]

This was my first Victober and it was, surprisingly, very successful. I managed to finish all the challenges and read a few more books:

-The Importance of Being Earnest and other plays by Oscar Wilde
- A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
-Carmilla by J. Sheridan le Fanu
-Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
-The Cabinet Minister by Arthur Wing Pinero
-A Book of Nonsense and Nonsense Songs by Edward Lear
-A Hippo Banquet by Mary Kingsley
-The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
-The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell

I also read How To Be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman to learn more about life in Victorian age.

Thank you Katie, Kate, Lucy and Ange for hosting this wonderful reading event. It was a pleasure to participate.

[Kirsty]

This was my first Victober and I surprised myself with how much I actually managed to read! I got through:

Agnes Grey - Anne Brontë
Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell
Dr. Wortle’s School - Anthony Trollope
Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Only Dull People are Brilliant at Breakfast - Oscar Wilde
The War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
A Woman of No Importance - Oscar Wilde

I also started Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens a few days before the end of the month so I’m working my way through that now!

[Lu]

I had a fantastic Victober! Here's my (short-ish) list:

Wuthering Heights
The Warden
Great Expectations
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Woman in White

I also read (and enjoyed) The Importance of Being Earnest A Woman of No Importance.

These were all first-time reads for me - and yes, I'm basic. :-)

Thank you SO much to Katie, Kate, Lucy and Ange for hosting!

[Martha]

I reread Jane Eyre. It was my sole Victober book, but my grandson was born this month and my daughter required my help. It's been over 10 years since I tried to reread Jane Eyre and I was surprised I enjoyed it so much this time. Whatever turned me off 10 years ago did not turn me off this time. I think the slower season of October is the perfect time to read Victorian literature.

[Terri]

I did not read everything on my list, but I did read two: Far From the Madding Crowd (Hardy) & The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling). Those were the two I really wanted to get read, so I’m happy with that!

[[deleted user]]

I read two essays by Thomas de Quincey: Suspiria de Profundus and The English Mail Coach. Then I read Oscar Wilde's collected plays.

[Christine]

I didn’t do well on completing my chosen books, (only completed 2) BUT I loved what I read and the books I’m still reading.
I got so much out of the female author unknown to me Isabella Varley Banks. Her novel ‘The Manchester Man’ had some true historic events interwoven into the life of her fictional hero, and got me interested to know more, especially about The Peterloo Massacre that happened in Manchester at a peaceful demonstration of workers.
I never would have read this book without the challenge and although I wouldn’t say it was a ‘great ‘ book it was powerful in a lot of places and left a strong impression. I kept thinking what a terrific
film it would make. It must have been a serialisation as it had so many dramatic episodes.
So although I failed at my challenge, I consider my whole experience of Victober to be a wonderful success. I’ve become fascinated by the Victorian period and will be reading a great deal more. Also I’m incorporating books on Victorian history and biography into my reading for non fiction November. I’m already looking forward to Victober next year! Hopefully I will do better as I establish a good reading habit and maybe my reading will get a little
faster. There are so many Victorian books I want to read now. I’m definitely going to read Trollope, which I would NEVER have thought of doing until now. I’m loving Dickens Bleak House which is my over 500 pages book and will be reading more of his, I purchased the complete collection on Kindle along with the Brontes and Elizabeth Gaskell. I’m so glad to have taken part in Victober.

[Froggles]

Christine, I recently visited Manchester and saw an exhibition where I too learned about the Peterloo Massacre for the first time. I don't know if it will be based on the book you just read, but apparently there is a film about it coming out. Apparently the people of Manchester only recently rediscovered this history themselves, in which recently returned veterans of the Battle of Waterloo were ordered to charge into a group of peaceful protestors calling for voting and workers rights.

[Gen]

This is my first time participating in Victober and although I did not get to read much Victorian texts (as I lowkey participated in a bajillion other readathons), I am still quite happy with my reads.

I read Wuthering Heights, The Importance of Being Earnest, and A Woman of No Importance. The two Oscar Wildes solidified them as one of my most favorite writers.

Thank you for this readathon and can't wait to join again next time.

[Electra]

My first time her and loved it ! But I had too much work to do aside and Middlemarch was a big read (and I read other novels and graphic novels as well). So I was really happy to read George Eliot's fantastic novel and I had the great pleasure to reread Persuasion by Jane Austen ! I started to read Vanity Fair but my brain couldn't deal with it .. but I ordered the Warden by Trollope and I'm looking forward to participating next year again !

[Cathie]

This was my first Victober but won't be my last. I managed to read Vanity Fair, The Water Babies, Cranford and The Woman in White, it was great taking part it's also given me lots of good recommendations, I've already got Deerbrook on my Kindle so I'll be continuing on with my Victorian reading a while longer yet.

[Lorna]

I loved Victober! My main takeaway was the many book suggestions I can continue to read through for at least the next year.

I began with The Eustace Diamonds by Trollope and then moved on to my reread of Bleak House which set the mood for the month I think. I also read Elizabeth Gaskell's The Moorland Cottage which set me reading Dickens' Christmas books and other shorter fiction. I think I will continue finishing the Palliser novels and perhaps try Barnaby Rudge or The Old Curiosity Shop when I'm ready for another big Dickens novel.
I'm sad this Victober is over and am excited for the next!

[Hannah]

April wrote: "I looked at my reading spreadsheet and was surprised because I didn't realize how much I actually read during Victober.

Silas Marner--Eliot (book under 250)
Doctor Thorne--Trollope (reread)
The S..."

Whats Georgianery?

[Hannah]

This Victober I read The Warden, Anthony Trollope. I switched Lady Audley's secret to the Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I loved the Importance of Being Ernest re-read the most. And I'm still reading East Lynne. I'm determine to finish it, but all the drama is slowing me down a little.
I'm surprised about how disappointed I was with A Woman of No Importance. I found it witty at times, but an anticlimax

[Ophelia]

Hannah wrote: "April wrote: "I looked at my reading spreadsheet and was surprised because I didn't realize how much I actually read during Victober.

Silas Marner--Eliot (book under 250)
Doctor Thorne--Trollope (..."

We're going to read "Georgian" literature, 1714-1837, in January 2020. There's a goodreads group for it. If you're interested, come on over ;)

[Hannah]

Sounds interesting! I'd love to join. but definitely limiting my reading options to 'achievable goals' :)

[Susan]

Well, my first Victober, and really enjoyed it. I tailored it a bit to myself, and threw in some non-fiction. Finished Wives & Daughters, Lady Audley' Secret, The Brontes at Haworth, by Ann Disdale, The Victorian Home, by Ellen Plante and The Victorian Regina Tarot. Have a good start on David Copperfield, Learning Not to Be First: The Life of Christina Rossetti, Grandmama of Europe, by Theo Aronson...(quite good, as is Queen Victoria's Matchmaking by Deborah Cadbury, both read like novels) and listened to The Importance of Being Earnest. Had to bail for now on Villette, but I need an edition that translates the French. I think what's been best about this is the kick in the hindquarters it's given me to actually read some of the many many 19th century classics I own instead of just (occasionally) dusting them!

[Sobriquet]

I’m going to have to conclude my Victober even though haven’t finished my current book as it’s already a week into November. I had the very ambitious plan of reading a book for every decade of the Victorian Era. Did I achieve this in 31 days? Eh no not at all. Looking back it seems obvious that I would need something like three months rather than one to have read all of my TBR comfortably.
This does not mean that I didn’t have a wonderful Victober, just that I’m going to extend my reading and have a Victorian Autumn instead.
I listened to two audio books-
1. The Indifferent Stars Above; The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown
This is not strictly a Victorian non-fiction as it’s about events that took place in America in 1846/7. At this time in England Charles Dickens’ Dombey And Son was being serialised and Charlotte Bronte was writing and publishing Jane Eyre quite unaware of the tragedy of the Donner party. The books itself has a rather confused structure, but it is fascinating and sad. The title is part of a poem ‘ A Dream Of Death by Yeats

I dreamed that one had died in a strange place

Near no accustomed hand,

And they had nailed the boards above her face,

The peasants of that land,

Wondering to lay her in that solitude,

And raised above her mound

A cross they had made out of two bits of wood,

And planted cypress round;

And left her to the indifferent stars above

Until I carved these words:

{She was more beautiful than thy first love,}

2. Adam Bede by George Eliot Published in 1859, I listened to this as an Audiobook. I loved this book, I’m so pleased because I had DNF’d the Mill on the Floss and set aside Daniel Deronda (I had tried to read this when starting a new job and it was not a good combination) I was worried that I’d gone off Eliot. The book has a meandering slowness to it that builds up to a more dramatic final section. I don’t want to say too much about it as I think it’s best to go in not knowing the plot. I recommend the Penguin black spine edition as it has interesting appendices at the end.

3. The Manchester Marriage by Elizabeth Gaskell (short story published in 1858). I’m not really a fan of short stories but Gaskell packed in a lot of story in 30 pages (my edition). I finished it wishing it had been 500 pages.

4. Murder By The Book by Claire Harman This is a non-fiction about the murder of Lord William Russell in 1840, and how the murder was connected to the Newgate Novel Jack Sheppard by William Harrison Ainsworth published in 1839. This was so interesting that I’ve ordered a copy of Jack Sheppard.

Unfinished -

I stared the month by reading half of Ernest Maltravers by Lord Lytton , I’ve set it aside for now. I think that it was a combination of small print and not really engaging with the story that made me not carry on. It’s only a short novel by Victorian standards (350 pages) and not terrible. I could just tell that it was not going to be a favourite.

Currently Reading
I’m on page 777 of He Knew He Was Right by I’m really enjoying it so far and when I’ve finished I’m planning on watching the BBC mini series that has been sitting on my DVD shelf for years waiting for me to read the book so I can watch it.

I’ve loved taking part in Victober and I’m looking forward to reading Georgian books in January!

[Lorna]

Sobriquet - I love your ambitious plan! You found some fascinating choices that I'm excited to add to my to-be-read list. Thank you!

[Suzanne]

While I only read three books, I did manage to fulfill all the prompts. It helped that I am not well versed in Victorian Literature. Even so, I am glad to have read my selections, and am looking forward to next years challenge. Thanks for hosting! Your enthusiasm for Victorian Literature, along with the other hosts, is infectious....Next to each title is the number I ranked them in order of favorite to least favorite.
Read:
Lady Audley's Secret (2)
Agnes Grey(1)
Reread:
The Moonstone(3)

[Shane]

This Victober was for me a tale of veering away from plans due to being seduced by other books - but I don't mind: I love being seduced by books.

For my "long Victober" (I started early, in September), I read:

Adam Bede by George Eliot
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (Ange's challenge - my first Anne
Brontë!)
The Warden by Anthony Trollope (Katie's challenge - short book)

Then I was going to read Lost for Love by Mary Elizabeth Braddon for Lucy's challenge (published the same year as Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd), but I just could NOT keep from going straight from The Warden into...

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
(they're practically two parts of one novel!)

And I did the readalongs of Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance, which led me to read:

The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde
A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde

and by that time Braddon was unfortunately just not going to get in there and I felt like continuing to read shorter works and then getting out of Victorian literature for a little while, so...

I rounded out the month with:

The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton by George Eliot
and
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (a reread, Kate's challenge),

which will take me into a non-Victorian book, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, which I am now beginning. Seems like an appropriate transition from a Victorian guy writing about 1890s Congo to a Nigerian guy writing about 1890s Nigeria. I've also just finished Achebe's essay "An Image of Africa: Racism in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness." An excellent essay.

Braddon's Lost for Love will just have to wait for the right moment - I do still want to get to it...

[Nada]

This has been an eventful Victober for me :D I limited my TBR selections to short and medium length books so as to be able to read more than I did last year. I don't think I'l stick to the same strategy next year but I must admit that it felt good to be able to finish all the books on my original TBR and add extra ones without feeling any great pressure. (Shout-out to audiobooks for being my heroes and helping me cross out 80% of my TBR list)

Here's what I managed to read this Victober:

1) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I was so scared that I won't love it as much as I did the first time I read it but my fears were completely groundless! I ended up adoring it even more!

2) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Another reread. One of my top favourite Victorian lit. pieces along with Wuthering Heights

3) A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. My first Sherlock Holmes. I still infinitely prefer Agatha Christie but I quite liked this.

4) Mr Harrison's Confessions by Elizabeth Gaskell. A delightful and witty novella

5) Dracula by Bram Stoker. Wasn't originally on my TBR. Didn't like it that much but still glad that I finally read it, now I can understand all those vampire pop culture references :P

6) Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu. Shorter and much better than Dracula

7) The Warden by Anthony Trollope. I finally read Trollope YAY! Can't wait to read more by him!

8) The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

9) A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde. I enjoyed The Importance of Being Earnest more but this is also splendid!

10) Gloriana or the Revolution of 1900 by Florence Dixie. Slightly cheesy at parts but still very enjoyable and has great commentary on women and women's suffrage. The first part takes a bit of getting into but once you hit part two the action kicks in

11) Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome. Kate recommended this to me (The audiobook narrated by Martin Jarvis) and I'm so glad she did!


All in all I had a great Victober and am counting the days til the next one starts! Hope everyone enjoyed their Victober too :D

[Mike]

I’m pretty satisfied. I read 3 of the 4 planned books. I’m still going to read the 4th soon enough. I never did read by candlelight though. Sadly.

[Alwynne]

Not sure where to post this. There's a new - new to me anyway - spam scam going around on GR. Accounts set up with no friends, reviews, books leaving comments on reviews - mainly on the ones showing on people's profile pages. The comments look as if they're only partially showing so have the green 'more' at the end that usually reveals the rest of the comment, but the green 'more' is fake in this instance and actually a hyperlink to a different site altogether. So if you click on it you get taken elsewhere. The green 'more' in the scam seems to be underlined which the standard GR version isn't so should be possible to tell them apart. Currently seems to link to sales-type sites but could be used to link to malware in future.

[Electra]

Nada wrote: "This has been an eventful Victober for me :D I limited my TBR selections to short and medium length books so as to be able to read more than I did last year. I don't think I'l stick to the same str..."

I just found at a secondhand bookstore Three Men in a boat and I see that you enjoyed it ! It goes to my TBR for the next Victober

[Electra]

Alwynne wrote: "Not sure where to post this. There's a new - new to me anyway - spam scam going around on GR. Accounts set up with no friends, reviews, books leaving comments on reviews - mainly on the ones showin..."

have you notified GR ? I haven't seen it yet but it's no surprising alas

[Alwynne]

A few people I know on GR have come across the issue, but it's lots of dummy accts, so hard to track, and they've flagged it but haven't heard anything yet.

[Theresa]

Alwynne wrote: "A few people I know on GR have come across the issue, but it's lots of dummy accts, so hard to track, and they've flagged it but haven't heard anything yet."

This happened to me on GR. I clicked on more after someone's comment and it took me to a different site but I knew rite a way that something wasn't right so got off there and nothing seemed to happen. This was all probably two months ago. That is a guess.