A Victober Reading Vlog | Some Highlights and Some Lowlights

[@MartinDSmith]

That was a lovely gift you received and any trip to see wonderful paintings is always worthwhile!🥰

[@MarcelaChandía]

Thanks for the clips about Constable! The name sounded familiar, and the paintings you showed were so gorgeous that I looked him up and now I am hooked!

[@booksimnotreading]

The sound on your new mic sounds great. It’s a lovely vlog! I have been reading Uncle Silas for Victober. It’s a bit uneven, but I am looking forward to seeing what happens. 💛

[@jessicayork9035]

this has been the best victober i have ever had! I finished Nicholas Nickelby in early Oct, which was good but not my favorite. Then I read The Mill on the Floss and really liked it. I know its not your favorite and i understand why but I liked it! Then I went right into The Return of the Native and honestly thought I was going to to DNF it but I kept going and finally around 150 pages I started to really love it! Now, I'm about to start Mary Barton and I think im going to try to squeeze in the audiobook of North and South because I have never watched the tv series and its finally free!

[@lesliegb5543]

I enjoyed the beautiful paintings in the National Gallery. I just finished Far From the Madding Crowd and the paintings you showed reminded me of Thomas Hardy’s novels settings. Thanks for sharing. 💕

[@denisefreitas6727]

Thanks for the vlog, Katie, i really appeciated it. Love from Brazil! ❤

[@user-db5si8eq5m]

I love watching the time lapses of you reading and seeing the occasional smile/laugh.

[@katiejlumsden]

I do find it fun editing these - don't think I ever realised how much I smile/laugh when reading until I started doing reading vlogs.

[@reader4532]

Oh, I enjoyed the Constable clips!

[@betinaceciliafeld9854]

I love these vlogs! I've read the first chapter of Jezabel's Daughter some time ago for one of those "try a chapter" kind of project and got the feeling it's like Armadale in tone and themes but more condensed (I really struggled with Collins ramblings in Armadale 😅). I could be completely wrong, if course, but judging for that opening scene I think you may enjoy it!

[@katiejlumsden]

I did indeed like Jezabel's Daughter in the end - though not as much as Armadale! I do like a Victorian ramble 😅

[@KierTheScrivener]

Good for you for persevering through so you can give us the authorative opinion that his writing isn't very good. When you read about a novelist you almost always want to pick up their work but sometimes it's just bad 😂 I am reading Sherlock Holmes stories too

[@jf8559]

Really enjoyed your reading vlog! Having a great reading month. Have read a few Sherlock Holmes stories for Alice, finished The Importance of Being Earnest, read some J Sheridan Le Fanu stories, am 1/5 into Great Expectations and 1/4 into How To Be A Victorian, and read The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen. So not entirely as planned but really enjoying everything. Thanks for hosting such a great event and sharing your reading!

[@theresas709]

What beautiful art.

[@larrymilliken288]

I enjoy the reading vlogs a lot and the personal comments are helpful in considering what I should think about tackling next. The Gallery snippet was great to see; the few paintings you shared are magnificent, in a sense, photographic, if you know what I mean. Also, the illustrations someone sent you will certainly be a keepsake for years to come. At the moment I've finished The Doctor's Wife and reading Mary Barton and The Odd Women concurrently. Katie, thank you for the work it takes to do these videos, many others, including me, appreciate it!

[@stephenn3727]

Thank you Katie!

[@BookishTexan]

That’s why I wasn’t cool in high school! I didn’t have any Dickens prints! I like Constable’s paintings but not sure I would enjoy a whole exhibition.

[@katiejlumsden]

Clearly that was it! 😂

[@lileyslittlelibrary]

I’ve only started dipping my toes back into classics this year. I use to read them a lot in my youth but lost touch with them in my teens / early adulthood but I love the way you talk about them. You get me so hyped to read literally anyone. The doctor’s wife sounds like such an interesting read. Absolutely adored this vlog, so cozy and calming ❤

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks so much, Liley!

[@jenniferlovesbooks]

So far I have reread A Study in Scarlet and I'm currently reading The Beetle (it's wild, thank for the recommendation!) I'm planning on also reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and some Sheridan Le Fanu, but probably not all by the end of October!

[@elizabethaliteraryprincess]

I do agree with all your points about The Lancashire Witches. It has a special place in my heart since it was a dissertation book for me, but it's definitely not...well...good haha. It does have some interesting things going on with folklore and the Gothic, which is what I was looking at. And your idea for studying the tie between beauty and virtue (and all the problems surrounding that) would be really interesting. Another potential dissertation topic, perhaps?

[@katiejlumsden]

Yes, beauty and virtue and gender would be very interesting to look at in a PhD! I wrote about it quite a lot in my undergrad dissertation in light of Dickens and gender, actually, because that's something that really shifts in Dickens's work, from beauty being associated with goodness in his early books, especially with women, to a real shift later.

[@barbarahelgaker390]

Enjoyed this very much , also the trip to the National Gallery. I have read The Doctor's Wife, 4 Oscar Wilde plays, a biography of Wilde, Doctor Thorne and The Three Clerks ( really enjoyed this stand alone Trollope and must read more!) Hope to get a good way through Pickwick before the end of October.

[@kathleencraine7335]

I loved the Aunts in The Perpetual Curate. For me the difference between Flaubert and Braddon is that Flaubert has no sympathy for his heroine, while Braddon cares about her heroine. I'm speeding through Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins and hope to get to An Eye for an Eye.

[@katiejlumsden]

Yes, I agree! I really enjoyed The Doctor's Wife because of that. Sounds like you had some great books to read in Victober.

[@32mybelle]

Hi there! Im still working on The Doctor's Wife. I am also reading: The Woman in White, Diaty of A Nobody, and Lilith.

[@lindaklinedinst9236]

Hi Katie I really enjoyed this Reading Vlog. Sounds like you enjoyed most of the books that you have read and listen to. I am currently reading A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams. It is really good. It is a Cozy Mystery. Take Care & Happy Reading ❤️🤗📚🔰📖☕️☀️❤️

[@reader4532]

Finished An Eye for An Eye by Trollope. Loved it. I am stalled out in Mary Barton, but will press on for a bit...if memory serves there's a big plot development in the 2nd half. Hope I'm not confusing that with something else.😊

[@katiejlumsden]

There is indeed a big plot shift in the second half of Mary Barton! No doubt you've already found that out for yourself :)

[@novellenovels]

My reading month is just ok not many amazing books. I did really enjoy poor miss finch and great expectations