Books and Theatre December '23

[@comette4u]

A good selection of books here! I read Austen's History of England last year, but I didn't get much out of it. Perhaps being American makes me ignorant to the humor and stabs she makes at Royalty. I read Shel Silverstein to my kids when they were young. Is that considered abuse?-Ha-ha! I finished Anna K last year and went straight into War and Peace afterwards because I love Tolstoy's writing. I'm about half-way through W&P and enjoying it immensely! Phantom and Dubliners are both on my tbr. I skipped ahead and read Joyce's The Dead, which inspired my desire to read the rest of the series. I couldn't get into "Portrait" years ago and yet feel compelled to try again. Phantom gets interesting feedback, I heard it was "comical", but your review makes me think otherwise. What about his other work The Mystery of the Yellow Room? It's also on my tbr. Happy New Year!😁

[@GrubStLodger]

Happy New Year, thanks for the message. Phantom is fun, over-the-top in the most enjoyable ways but never really overtly comic, I found. I wasn't really aware of any of LeRoux's other stuff, I'll pick it up if I bump into it. I have war and peace knocking about but I'm mainly going to challenge myself to tackle Proust this year. I have the standard, Moncreif translation but split into twelve pocket sized volumes, I hope that helps a lot. As for Shel Silvertein, the children at work found him very funny. All the best with war and peace.