4 Amazing Classics & Decorating For Christmas // Reading Vlog (feat. Willow)

[@madisonlyman10]

I am currently going through a very tragic loss and I can’t tell you how comforting this video was for me. The cozy reading and puppy content has helped bring some much needed light into a dark day. Thank you 💜

[@marvinbeltre2754]

My condolences 💐

[@CarolynMarieReads]

I'm so sorry for your loss, and I'm honored to bring some comfort your way! Willow and I are sending you all of our love

[@maryamalatawi]

I don’t know if that’s only me but since I’ve been reading Russian literature I feel every thing that wrote ! Like the snowstorm, the roads , the city itself and ofc the character !! I feel them so much like I was there on the setting 😭! I read all of Dostoyevsky books and 5 of Tolstoy and also Nikolai Gogol and I felt everything in their writing🥺

[@neverbored]

This is amazing! I feel the same!

[@CarolynMarieReads]

YES exactly!!!

[@diegowilson4258]

I have been BINGING your videos and it’s spawned a new love for Russian lit for me. Thank you for the most entertaining videos! :)

[@MilenaReads]

This was such a lovely vlog. I agree with you on Dickens. I haven’t read a lot of his books, but I think he’s at his best in A Christmas Carol! 🎄

[@RRB99]

This is Willow's world, we're all just living in it.

[@CarolynMarieReads]

hahaha a truer statement has never been spoken!

[@CedricsMom]

Bulgakov is a trip! Read Master and Margarita, which has an upright walking talking black cat...a trip! Some of the writing is beautiful, though, especially later in the book when it focuses on the witch.

[@MartinDSmith]

Lovely video!Looking forward to the debate on Resurrection and to reading A Christmas Carol😃.

[@nikkivenable3700]

Carolyn, when you showed us the inside of Dr. Zhivago, I was like, "oh, my girl is finally reading it." I knew you were looking so forward to it! I loved every minute of this...thank you! My history with DZ wasn't so great and I"m not sure why(I think it has to do with the Russian names---if I can get past that, I'm always enthralled with the stories because Russian lit is my jam and jelly). It was most likely me and NOT the book..I need to try it again...now the movie is one of my all-time favorites. I love the music so much and the frozen landscape of Russia. A Christmas Carol is absolute ONE OF MY FAVORITES! It is the coziest, most heartwarming stories ever! When you described reading it every year as "like coming home." YES, exactly! Beautifully said!

[@faa923]

Nice to see Willow in action, she is so fun and energetic! From the other videos I assumed she always naps or is always drowsy :)

[@milom5030]

The santa hat you put on Tolstoy is so cute! After finishing my current read, in few days I'm gonna pick up the christmas carol, I'm excited! I listened to it on audio a couple of years ago, but i wasn't in my best state mentaly (+it was a translation). I'm sure this time I'll enjoy it more😊

[@neverbored]

I was putting off reading A Heart of a Dog, because I thought it will be a heartbreaking story about a dog lol. Didn't expect it to be so comical 😄 I also loved the philosophical questions in it about what makes human a human 😁

[@d.ivy.a]

My god willow is sooo cute🥺🥺🥺🥺😍😍😍. The way her ears flop when she runs🥺🥺🥺🥺💕

[@Liba_Elena]

I'm so glad my comment made you laugh😊😁 But I mean- was I wrong?🤔 I don't think so.😅😁 Willow is the booktube queen and blesses us all with her presence in these videos.👑🐕

[@CarolynMarieReads]

It really made my day! No, you weren't wrong at all hahaha I must agree on all accounts :)

[@sherylbrankley5847]

Love Willow! 🐾🥰

[@josephcossey1811]

"Dead as a doornail" was used by Shakespeare in Henry V1 pt. 2 but the phrase goes back to as early as the 1350's.

[@Floridiansince94]

You must read The Master and Margarita! You must! ;)

[@morine5236]

Such a classy edition of A Christmas Carol 🎉 Christmassy 💯

[@DianeC1975]

Lovely vlog. Adorable Willow!! 🎄📚💕

[@kayjones2533]

Hello Carolyn, this was wonderful, thank you for sharing. I am so glad you are loving Doctor Zhivago. I don't know if you have seen the new Folio Society edition. It is so, so beautiful. The translation, the artwork which is by Boris's father, it is just incredible. Wishing you a very happy Christmas x

[@CarolynMarieReads]

Hi! Thank you so much! YES I have seen the folio edition and it's STUNNING! Going to have to get my hands on a copy at some point! Wishing you a very happy Christmas in return! :)

[@savannahsparrow267]

Doctor Zhivago 😭🕯🕯 It was the first Russian classic I ever read and is my favourite to date. I’m so glad you’re loving it. I had actually just put War and Peace on my winter tbr but I might have to reread Pasternak now instead! Hope you and little Willow have a lovely holiday season ❄️🎄

[@CarolynMarieReads]

Ooooww you can't go wrong with reading either!!! Thank you so much! Willow and I are sending our love and best wishes to you!

[@doowopshopgal]

So so happy to see you back. Every year I read John Grisham Skipping Christmas a novel it is such a funny Christmas story that is has become one of my yearly reads.

[@rowenaroberta5244]

I saw the TV series of Doctor Zhivago many years ago and bought the book, started to reading it, but never finished it. But, yes, Pasha broke my heart. I'm starting to re-read this now!!P.s. Willow is adorable!!

[@eduardocabredonora3510]

I love your video !!! Now i want to get those books you recommended !!!

[@algorithmimplementer415]

Awww ... I loved Pasha too! Idk why I had a dream last night of someone who is like this character.

[@jamesduggan7200]

okay, have a good show tomorrow, and Merry X-Mas (hi Willow).

[@ewelinahernon6556]

I instantly added Heart of A Dog to my Wishlist 😝 I read both Master and Margarita & Frankenstein this year and truly adored them. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Frankenstein, personally I found it to be the best reading experience ever, really amazing to study. Can't wait to read 🐶 now 😁

[@josephcossey1811]

I haven't read "The Heart Of A Dog" (yet!) but your description of it was giving me "The Island Of Doctor Moreau" by H.G. Wells vibes!

[@dsalet1]

Are you really as sweet and innocent in real life as you seem to be on camera? You’re such a lovely person!

[@gabrielagardeano2456]

carolyn you must read life and fate, i think that you gonna love it, russian lit is literally your cup of tea

[@CarolynMarieReads]

It's on my Russian lit. TBR, so hopefully I'll get to it soon! Very happy to hear you recommend it!

[@Noa-cc9ur]

do you have a link to where to get this copy of the christmas carol? i'm just dying to get it

[@DrHurd-bg4kr]

I got a copy at Books-a-Million. 😊

[@CarolynMarieReads]

It was a gift, so unfortunately I'm not sure where you can get a copy! Though you can probably find them online :)

[@Noa-cc9ur]

@@CarolynMarieReads i tried to order a copy hopefully it's the right one. it would take a while because it's international shipping but fingers crossed. thanks Carolyn

[@ohlamaria697]

The glasses look beautiful on you but when you show your eyes without them ... You have the most beautiful eyes ❤️

[@BOTG_Adventures]

Merry Xmas Caz x

[@Bob-tu9jq]

A real fireplace? My mom would say it's too expensive to have, use one on TV instead.😌

[@Floridiansince94]

Is willow a cavalier King Charles spaniel?

[@nikkivenable3700]

Yes, she is! She's precious, isn't she?

[@Floridiansince94]

@@nikkivenable3700 so adorable!

[@CarolynMarieReads]

Yes! she's a cavalier and cocker spaniel mix! :)

[@josephcossey1811]

Outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read! If Willow had a favourite book would it be Kenneth Grahame's "Wind In The Willows"?

[@CarolynMarieReads]

Very true! I've never actually read The Wind In The Willows although I feel like I would love it! I named her Willow because Weeping Willow's are my favorite :) I think if Willow had to pick her favorite book it would be the original "Lady And The Tramp" by Ward Greene!

[@josephcossey1811]

Bing Crosby doesn't make too many appearances on Booktube...it must be Christmas!

[@ShivangiBhasin]

Also, this isn’t related to this video, but I was listening to some of your older DvsT debates, and I was thinking about the idea of “spoilers” and “plot” when speaking about classics. To a modern reader, these concepts are obvious and necessary but I find them quite irrelevant for classics? I mean this is definitely a contentious point to make since what is the definition of a classic and since they span centuries, using any umbrella term automatically flattens out their differences but, despite these categorical problems, I still find the conversation about spoilers seriously funny because I don’t think the twist, or the conflict was ever supposed to be the selling point? It was the writing itself, wasn’t it? I mean Shakespeare starts Romeo and Juliet with the chorus “spoiling ” the ending and no one ever tells you to read War and Peace because man those twists are mind-blowing. Mini-ramble but wanted to share it anyway in case anyone had anything to add🌻

[@radiantchristina]

Willow 🧡

[@sarahsperusals]

watching this instead of starting our buddy read of dr. zhivago... sorry

[@CarolynMarieReads]

HAHAHA

[@humanfirst11]

I have a suggestion, have you already read "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn yet?

[@CarolynMarieReads]

I haven't, but it is on my very long Russian lit. list!

[@Bookslovejenna]

Have you discovered Lara by Anna Pasternak yet? It’s the true story behind the writing of Dr Zhivago. I think you’ll love it.

[@CarolynMarieReads]

Yes, though I don't own a copy yet! I definitely want to read it at some point! :)

[@ShivangiBhasin]

I recently heard about this book from this channel called Books and Things: kzbin.info (who I think both you and Emma would enjoy because she too is a lover of Classics and Historical Fiction) called The Artful Dickens by John Mullan. I think once you’re both done reading all of Dickens’ works, it would be a great compendium for all things you both love about him❤️

[@CarolynMarieReads]

The Artful Dickens is actually at the very very end of our Dickens vs. Tolstoy schedule! Emma and I both can't wait to read it! :)

[@ShivangiBhasin]

@@CarolynMarieReads aaah that’s amazing! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! I also found another book called Charles Dickens and his Circle by Lucinda Hawksley which is supposed to be an illustrated book about the lives of Dickens and his closest friends including other writers like Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, William Makepeace Thackeray and Alfred, Lord Tennyson!! It sounds fantastic and I hope to check it out myself (and would encourage everyone to too!)

[@kendragarner1987]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only person that didn't like Frankenstein. I found it unbearably boring and spent the entire time I was reading it praying for it to just be over.

[@CarolynMarieReads]

...yes!!!