All the classic books YOU should read with me in 2025!

[@michaelupsher4011]

I love the idea of an annual Middlemarch pilgrimage! It is probably my favourite book, but I certainly don't read it that often. I read it again in 2024, after more than a decade, and it was a magical experience. A few thoughts on your list: 1. Dickens. Given what you have said, I'm not totally sure that you will like Bleak House, as it is still very much Dickensian, especially in characterisation. The least Dickensian in that respect is perhaps Great Expectations. However, if you don't like it, I'd suggest coming back to him in a few years. It took me 10 years to go from heartily disliking him for precisely your reasons to falling in love with his books. By the way, the book that finally did that for me was David Copperfield. 2. Jane Austen. I'm surprised that her charms have eluded you thus far, but I would say that I consider her a genius for her lightness of touch - something that, for all her virtues, could not be said of George Eliot. I do think that reading her books in order (Northanger Abbey to Persuasion) is the best way. I like Emma best, followed by Mansfield Park (which I predict will be your favourite, as it is definitely the most nuanced of her books). 3. Madame Bovary. Another one that I grew to love with time. My professor, who translated the Penguin edition, gave me the fantastic tip to read it as a comedy. After that, it all seemed to slot into place! 4. Howards End. I think that you will love this one, without question. It has a lot that will appeal to a Middlemarch fan. 5. Homer. I also have never quite managed this for similar reasons, but now I have bought Emily Wilson's translations of both works, so I think that it's time. Thanks for inspiring me!

[@AnastasijaRoznova]

I must say that list is quite impressive :) I've got Sleepwalkers on my list as well for 2025. As for Russian authors - I haven't read anything other than obligatory school literature (and then, just excerpts), but I'm getting into Bulgakov (well, the shorter works, Master & Margarita is far too long for now) - perhaps one of his works will also suit your tastes? (I've read only Zoykina's Apartment and Morphine/A Country Doctor's Notebook but got White Guard lined up for this year)

[@RWoodland57]

Quite a good list! I’ve read some of these recently, and others have been looming for a while: perhaps I’ll join you for Dickens, Austen, Forster.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

Wonderful list, Joe. I share your admiration and appreciation for Middlemarch, and while I don't re-read it every year, it is a novel I have revisited many, many times since I first read it about 45 years ago. Bleak House is also the Dickens novel that I most often revisit. I reread it and Middlemarch last winter-early spring. I hope that you do get on with Bleak House. I'm a bit anxious for you because you say you really haven't liked Dickens so far, but perhaps the time is right for you now. It is, indeed, a masterpiece. I'm slowly working my way through all of Dickens, but I don't make the progress I want to because I find that I keep re-reading the ones that I really love, Bleak House being at the top of the list. I do love the Romantic poets. You would appreciate, I think, Dorothy Wordsworth's journals. I was quite fascinated by her when I was in graduate school. It seems her brother, William, borrowed liberally from her musings and turned them into poetry. I recently heard another booktuber I'm sure you know (if I write his name, I fear that KZbin will delete my comment!) talking about his plan to read the Wordsworth biography, Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the World, which was written for the 250th anniversary of WW's birth, and I thought that that sounded like something I would like to read as well. I've gone on too long here. Wonderful list, Joe. I'm wishing you all that is good in the coming year.

[@Dawnsbookreviews]

What an ambitious list! I loved Bleak House so hopefully you will like it too; Howard's End is on my 2025 tbr too! I have read Maurice and Where Angels fear to tread, and I am also planning to read A Passage to India at some point! Happy New Year and Happy reading!!🎉

[@elise_.y]

For Russians I’ve enjoyed Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich and Resurrection! Also liked Petersburg by Andrei Bely and Anna Akhmatova’s poetry. I’ve heard good things about Sholokov’s And Quiet Flows the Don, Gogol’s Tara’s Bulba and Chernyshevsky’s What is to Be Done?. Lots of yours are on my tbr too! Have an annotated NRSV bible I’ve been trying to read and my Dickens has been collecting dust.. You’ve convinced me to pick up Trollope and Eliot in 2025! I also want to read more of Christina Rossetti’s poetry, Steinbecks East of Eden and German/Austrian writers like Thomas Mann, Robert Musil, Günter Grass and Stefan Zweig 😊

[@karenpotter3015]

Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain may be my favorite book of all time!(Have read 3 times.) If you are going to dive in to Mann, I strongly recommend starting there.

[@JoeSpivey02]

@@karenpotter3015 I may have to do so Karen! Watch out for a tasty review of it on my Substack!

[@karenpotter3015]

As you like Trollope, I think Mann will be to your taste. It is a doorstopper (700+ pages) Both his character and plot development are superb and fun. I have read various translations, but cannot recommend one over another (Steve would be more helpful in that).

[@karenpotter3015]

Am from U.S. so I have on my 2025 TBR “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn. (I believe as recommended by Steve Donoghue) It may not be the history you are looking for but it is a good one. As described on back cover “…chronicles American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official narrative taught in schools-with its emphasis on great men in high places-to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace.” There is a good description on Amazon.

[@JoeSpivey02]

@@karenpotter3015well if the troglodyte Steve D has deigned to recommend it, I can hardly refuse….

[@qamarqammar7629]

The Iliad and the Odyssey are on my personal list for 2025 as well. Anyone have a translation they particularly liked? hated? I couldn't read Jane Austen with enjoyment until my late 20s, so maybe she will grow on you as well. For Russians maybe try Chekov? Or Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. Fantastic book.

[@JoeSpivey02]

I share a birthday with Chekhov so maybe there’ll be some absurd spiritual congruity betwixt us both!

[@elise_.y]

I read both in Emily Wilson’s translation and enjoyed it!

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

Ready your pitchforks & torches, Laddies and Lassies; somebody may be looking for a Jane-Austen-July surprise. 😈

[@dark8raskolbeth]

"The Torrents of Spring " by Turgenev is fun to read. It's not heavy and at the end the book you know something more about what they call " the Russian soul".

[@Szaam]

For a moment I thought you were addressing us from the entrance to a Matalan changing room.

[@JoeSpivey02]

That would be intrepid indeed!

[@Shelf_Improvement]

I just started 1914 The War That Ended Peace which is excellent and eminently readable. I'd like to read Bleak House this year too.

[@JoeSpivey02]

That sounds very pertinent to my WW1 theme!

[@vesch5083]

I recommend Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts to go along with any founding fathers book you choose. I've also heard good things about Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis but I haven't read it myself

[@tonybennett4159]

I think you will enjoy Fathers and Sons. It's more immediate than other Russian novels and quite short. Other suggestions for Russian books would be My Childhood by Maxim Gorky one of my all time favourites, also And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokov.

[@Sumonebody]

FYI there's quite a lot of historical evidence to support that Trojan War indeed did take place, and a couple of the characters being real.

[@JoeSpivey02]

I’ll grant that it may well have taken place, but I don’t think bearded giants had any bearing on the results! 😂

[@Mostirrelevant]

Favorite movie based on book? Some review? (In the background, crowd are going wild, sound of the drums echoes and shakes the earth....). Thoughts on Christmas movies/books?

[@Mostirrelevant]

16:11 you may try to read, but considering all cultural differences etc, I do not think you will be able to enjoy it, and I do think it is waste of time

[@Mostirrelevant]

Any thoughts on French realisme this Christmas?

[@Mostirrelevant]

The point of this abundance of comments, is well, hopefully obvious: we do want to hear and read something, if not new, than extraordinary, different... Surprise of some kind is the best word, and I am writing this to you is because I think you have what it takes to make different/unusual video, so, I do hope you will exceed my expectations on these holidays. Merry Christmas once more

[@JoeSpivey02]

Favourite movie based on a book would be the Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy

[@Mostirrelevant]

​​@@JoeSpivey02 Unexpected answer. I have to agree it is great adaptation of the novels. To bomb the comment section once more, I presume Greek mythology may not be interesting due to temperament, life story of Greek gods and big difference with English temperament... What is probably great about them is their flawed nature, just as couple of other things, from characterisation to their decisions

[@courtenaywrites]

A Russian you may enjoy is Ivan Goncharov’s ‘Oblomov’!

[@JoeSpivey02]

And whyyyy do you suppose I’d enjoy it?

[@courtenaywrites]

@ Well, it’s about a man who cannot get out of bed, but I reckon you might enjoy its more philosophical treasures…

[@JeffRebornNow]

I haven't read Wordsworth in years and years. I think that's because I prefer the 20th century voice when it comes to poetry. From W.H. Auden to Anne Sexton, I like it all. I will say, however, that the late literary critic, Harold Bloom, placed Wordsworth at the top of his list of the greatest English/American poets of the last 200 years. He said it pained him to place Wordsworth above Walt Whitman, but he did so grudgingly.

[@JoeSpivey02]

I too enjoy Auden’s work! There’s a kind and courtly simplicity to much of his work!

[@Mac-ci3py]

You deleted my comment? :(

[@JoeSpivey02]

@@Mac-ci3py if it was deleted then that was done by KZbin and NOT by me

[@Mac-ci3py]

@@JoeSpivey02 Must have been cause I sent a link. It was only for open letters ffs. Oh well. The comment was that I recommended against the KJV. While the English is beautiful, scholars know so much more about Biblical Hebrew and Greek today. The NRSVue is usually the gold standard when it comes to translations done by committee but if you want something truly good, I recommend Robert Alter’s one-man translation of the Hebrew Bible. He captures the lyrical beauty of KJV English and Biblical Hebrew while remaining accurate to the Hebrew text. It appeared number one on Steve’s best translation of 2018. Well deserved

[@joshuacreboreads]

I understand your point about Homer, but I suppose it’s no more ridiculous than the Christian mythology. Only, it is the dogma of an ancient and extinct society. And I find that Homer manages to evoke that lost world so vividly. Really great video, Joe. I hope your holidays have gone well. I’m hoping to read more Jane Austen as well, having thus far read Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Northhanger Abbey (by far the weakest, in my opinion). Happy new years! 🎉