TBR thread (2023)

[Rebecca of]

Here is my Victober TBR video:
https://youtu.be/zTSHjJtxrJ8

[PaulaJA]

Rebecca of wrote: "Here is my Victober TBR video:
https://youtu.be/zTSHjJtxrJ8"

I really enjoyed your video - you’ve set yourself quite a task.

[Jassmine]

Rebecca of wrote: "Here is my Victober TBR video:
https://youtu.be/zTSHjJtxrJ8"

What a beautiful video! I'm really interested how you end up feeling about Phantastes, I recently re-read The Princess and the Goblin which was a childhood favourite of mine and I kind of hated it on a re-read and I also read The Princess and Curdie for the first time and I wasn't a fan. So, now I am a bit unsure of whether I want to give George MacDonald another shot...

[Rachel]

Hello all,
Due to many life commitments right now, including planning for our wedding coming up in November, I will only be taking part in the group read this Victober. Very excited for it

[Theresa]

Rachel wrote: "Hello all,
Due to many life commitments right now, including planning for our wedding coming up in November, I will only be taking part in the group read this Victober. Very excited for it"

Congrats on the wedding! 😍

[Rachel]

Thank you Theresa ❤️ very exciting times for us!

[Jassmine]

I started early!
I kind of like to start early because it lets me sneak in a story that isn't on my "hard" tbr 🤭 I read The Canterville Ghost yesterday and absolutely loved it, I don't know why I didn't read it earlier since I have it on my shelves for quite some time...

I think it could work for the stranger prompt in case you want to read something shorter for it since we follow American family in England AND the ghost is basically a person from a different time, therefore kind of a stranger. I wouldn't say that it's the main theme of the story, but it's definitely present and I really enjoyed it.

My review if you are inclined to read more of my ramblings: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


P.S. Do you think the mods will do a thread for the books we currently read as usual, or should we do it ourselves? (I mean, it's really simple to make more threads if we want them, I just feel a bit uncertain...)

[Michelle Hyland]

Hi Jassmine,

Good plan. Me too. I started reading North and South already.
"Hard" tbr 😂
I would say go ahead and set up threads.

[Jassmine]

Michelle Hyland wrote: "I would say go ahead and set up threads."

Okay, I went ahead and created a thread for the books we are currently reading. Usually there were also threads for each of the prompts, but I think we can wait with those - if not so much people end up using the GR group then they might be redundant and we can always make them, if we want them, right?

Also, if someone wants a new thread and don't know how to make one, let me know, I can make it for you 😉

[Lindenblatt]

Jassmine wrote: "Michelle Hyland wrote: "I would say go ahead and set up threads."

Okay, I went ahead and created a thread for the books we are currently reading. Usually there were also threads for each of the pr..."

Thanks, Jassmine! I agree, let's try with one thread first. Rather one broad and active one than too many with only few contributions each.

Hopping over to the brand new thread...

[Jassmine]

Lindenblatt wrote: "I agree, let's try with one thread first. Rather one broad and active one than too many with only few contributions each."

Yeah, that was my thought too! 😊

[Rebecca]

I think my plan is to reread Guy Fawkes A Historical romance by Ainsworth.

[Alwynne]

Rebecca wrote: "I think my plan is to reread Guy Fawkes A Historical romance by Ainsworth."

I really enjoyed The Lancashire Witches but I haven't tried anything else of his, have you read Zadie Smith's latest novel The Fraud btw? It's loosely based on his life and his family.

[Rebecca]

No I haven't heard of that one. I may have to check it out!

[Theresa]

So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will list some other choices.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (Reread with Goodreads group)
Silas Marner by George Eliot
The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith (New to me author)
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Rob. Louis Stevenson
A Child's Garden of Verses on audio also by R. L. Stevenson

Now other choices on my wish list:
I own Anthony Trollope's, The Way We Live Now but I have too much I had already wanted to read to start that this year.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
East Lynne by Ellen Wood
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Poor Miss Finch or The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Any thing by Thomas Hardy

[Lindenblatt]

Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will list some other choices.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte..."

Very nice lists, Theresa! Many of my favorite authors, too. Is the wish list sorted by priorities or just random? I love Thomas Hardy even though many of his books are sad and depressing. I'd like to re-read Jude The Obscure at some point, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to bring myself to do it... Do you have any preferences?

Poor Miss Finch was on my Victober TBR last year, but I didn't get to it yet. I am still looking forward to it, though, probably 2024. Let us know what you think of it if you read it!

And as for Dickens, I always read one in December. So these are luckily not competing with my Victober TBR 😊 And Dickens just fits the holiday season so well.

See you in the Agnes Grey BR thread 🙂

[Theresa]

Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will list some other choices.

Agnes Gre..."
No, my wish list is just one's that have been on my mind lately. I have only read two of Hardy and I am saving Jude till the last. Well, I have read The Wessex Tales also. I was thinking of saving Oliver Twist for December so I will not push to read that one this month.

[Lindenblatt]

Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will list some other..."

Then we could have a Oliver Twist Buddy Read next, because he's on my December TBR as well 😂

[Theresa]

Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will..."

Sounds great! Remind me. I just went to follow you, to help me remember, but it wasn't an option so I added you as friend.

[Susan]

Sooooooo… I have a ludicrously long TBR this year so I’m prioritizing the ones I didn’t get to last year, especially Gissing’s “The Odd Women” and LeFanu’s “Carmilla”. I‘m very much looking forward to “The Way We Live Now, (I let out a large whoop when it was announced as the group-read). I also just received a copy of the short story collection “Women Who Did” and will be dipping into that soon. I want to read some Shaw and Wilde plays, and listen to some Gilbert and Sullivan. Audio books include “Wuthering Heights “ (currently listening) The Warden, Bleak House, Oliver Twist. we’ll see how much I actually get to.

[Mela]

I am not sure how much I will be able to read (I forgot Victober is this month and I have borrowed/reserved other books). Yet, I will try:
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (although, probably it will be a November reading).

[Jassmine]

Susan wrote: "Sooooooo… I have a ludicrously long TBR this year so I’m prioritizing the ones I didn’t get to last year, especially Gissing’s “The Odd Women” and LeFanu’s “Carmilla”. I‘m very much looking forward..."

Sounds amazing! I had Carmilla last year on my mind too and I didn't get to it... I'm thinking I might squeeze it in this year... it's not that long, right?
I ordered Women Who Did too, but I don't think I'll get to it this year... we'll see. Hope you'll enjoy it, looking forward to your thoughts! 😁

[Juliana]

Happy Victober, folks! Here is my tbr:
The Odd Women, by George Gissing (1893. Challenges: Katie & Ros)
Can You Forgive Her?, by Anthony Trollope (1865. Kate's 1860's Club)
The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life by Clare Carlisle (2023)
The New Woman and Other Emancipated Woman Plays, ed. Jean Chothia (1998. Katie's challenge)
The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope (1875. Group read)
The Rebel of the Family, by Eliza Lynn Linton (1880. Katie's challenge)
The Diary of a Nobody, by George and Weedon Grossmith (1892. Challenges: Petra & Marissa)
The Virago Book of Victorian Ghost Stories, ed. Richard Dalby (1988. Kate's challenge)

[Michelle Hyland]

Jassmine wrote: "Susan wrote: "Sooooooo… I have a ludicrously long TBR this year so I’m prioritizing the ones I didn’t get to last year, especially Gissing’s “The Odd Women” and LeFanu’s “Carmilla”. I‘m very much l..."

Carmilla is great. I read it last year and I wondered how did Le Fanu get away with the lesbian nuance. It was the inspiration for Dracula I think.

[Michelle Hyland]

Susan wrote: "Sooooooo… I have a ludicrously long TBR this year so I’m prioritizing the ones I didn’t get to last year, especially Gissing’s “The Odd Women” and LeFanu’s “Carmilla”. I‘m very much looking forward..."

Silas Marner is a nice read, not too difficult. I hope that you enjoy it if you read it.

[Michelle Hyland]

Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will list some other..."

Oliver Twist oh boy. I have never read Dickens, I found his writing too dense.

[Theresa]

Michelle Hyland wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will..."

Your welcome to join us.

[Lindenblatt]

Michelle Hyland wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "So, like many of you I have a huge amount I would like to read, but know I won't get to even half. Here is what I will start with and then I will..."

I second Theresa! 😊

[Michelle Hyland]

Hello,

Aw thanks.
I might read my first Dickens in December.
I will always remember the film with Oliver Reed and the nasty dog.

[Jassmine]

Michelle Hyland wrote: "Carmilla is great. I read it last year and I wondered how did Le Fanu get away with the lesbian nuance."

I kind of stopped wondering about this lately, sometimes people just don't see what they don't want to see...

[Michelle Hyland]

Hi Jassmine,

Yes definitely. The term "lesbian" probably wasn't even used then.
It is subtly done in the book. People were less concerned about labelling.

[Jassmine]

Michelle Hyland wrote: "Hi Jassmine,

Yes definitely. The term "lesbian" probably wasn't even used then.
It is subtly done in the book. People were less concerned about labelling."

After a bit of research:
Before the mid-19th century, the word lesbian referred to any derivative or aspect of Lesbos, including a type of wine. (...) Use of the word lesbianism to describe erotic relationships between women had been documented in 1870. In 1890, the term lesbian was used in a medical dictionary as an adjective to describe tribadism (as "lesbian love"). The terms lesbian, invert and homosexual were interchangeable with sapphist and sapphism around the turn of the 20th century. The use of lesbian in medical literature became prominent; by 1925, the word was recorded as a noun to mean the female equivalent of a sodomite.
You can read more on this of Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian

I also came across this which I think is fascinating!
The first mention of lesbianism in history is in the Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian code of laws from around 1700 B.C. that allowed women to marry each other.

[Michelle Hyland]

Hi Jassmine,

Thank you. This is so interesting.

[Marylou]

So far I have completed the group read, The Way We Live Now and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (a stranger.) I am currently reading The Odd Women for the new woman challenge but it also fits (for me) the new author prompt. I am hoping to also read Lady Audley's Secret (new author) and Jane Eyre (a reread of my favorite book ever and a first person narrative.) I am counting The Way We Live Now for the class challenge.
If I have time, I want to read The Canterville Ghost, and a Wilkie Collins novel.

[Jassmine]

Marylou wrote: "So far I have completed the group read, The Way We Live Now and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (a stranger.) I am currently reading The Odd Women for the new woman challenge but it also fits (for me) ..."

Oh wow, you are on fire! 🔥
I read The Canterville Ghost for the first time this Victober and I thought it was hilarious. Not the best Wilde, but... it made me remember how much I like his comedies...

[PaulaJA]

Marylou wrote: "So far I have completed the group read, The Way We Live Now and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (a stranger.) I am currently reading The Odd Women for the new woman challenge but it also fits (for me) ..."

That’s amazing. I am just about keeping up with The Way We Kive Now and struggling a little with The Odd Women. Did you like the latter?

[Marylou]

PaulaJA wrote: "Marylou wrote: "So far I have completed the group read, The Way We Live Now and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (a stranger.) I am currently reading The Odd Women for the new woman challenge but it als..."
I am still trying to make up my mind about The Odd Women. I am about half way through, and still not sure. It is picking up though, so I am hopeful.

[Lorri]

Here is my scaled way back Victober TBR:

The Haunted House 1859 portmanteau with first-person stories by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, and new to me authors Hesba Stretton, George Augustus Sala, and poet Adelaide Anne Procter
• Meets 3 challenges: Marissa new to me, Petra first person, and Kate stranger/outsider since all hauntings deal with stranger/outsider elements

Mary Barton Elizabeth Gaskell 1848 centers on struggles between the factory/industrial working class and the masters/middle class. It also shows how closely characters are bound up with their class position, reputation, and environments thus they risk losing themselves (becoming strangers/outsiders) as circumstances shift.
• Meets 2 challenges: Ros class and Kate stranger/outsider

“Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" George Eliot 1856 nonfiction protofeministic essay?
• Meets 2 challenges: Katie New Woman/protofeminism and Petra first person narrative

Mrs Warren’s Profession George Bernard Shaw 1893 problem play featuring a New Woman, her estranged mother, and an exploration of women’s roles (reread)
• Meets 3 challenges: Katie New Woman/protofeminism, Kate stranger/outsider, and Ros class

The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance HG Wells 1897 Romantic sci-fi horror the protagonist is introduced as “The Stranger”
• Meets at least 1 challenge: Kate stranger/outsider

[Theresa]

Lorri wrote: "Here is my scaled way back Victober TBR:

The Haunted House 1859 portmanteau with first-person stories by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, and new to me authors Hesba Stretton, G..."

That doesn't sound very scaled back. 😄

[Michelle Hyland]

Hi Lorri,

Mary Barton is a good read if a little sad.
Fair dues on your TBR.
That is some list.

[Lorri]

Hi, Theresa and Michelle,

This is scaled back for me. Most of these choices run just over 100 pages each with the essay only 21 pages and Mary Barton about 456 pages. I usually read about 2100 pages a month and this TBR is only 830 pages, so less than half of my norm. Additionally, these choices are not very dense or demanding.

[Theresa]

Lorri wrote: "Hi, Theresa and Michelle,

This is scaled back for me. Most of these choices run just over 100 pages each with the essay only 21 pages and Mary Barton about 456 pages. I usually read about 2100 pag..."

Enjoy!

[Michelle Hyland]

So for Victober I read the following books:

"North and South"
"Agnes Grey"
"The Happy Prince and Other Stories."
"Uncle Silas"

All in all happy with my reads.