Haha, I KNEW you were going to say East of Eden. I swear, on your epitaph it'll say "Here lies Carolyn. Still planning on reading East of Eden".

Hi Carolyn. Whenever someone says they are reading East of Eden, I recommend a book called Journal of a Novel by Steinbeck. While he was writing East of Eden, Steinbeck kept this journal on the verso pages of his notebook. They’re notes to his close friend and editor and detail his writing experience and daily life. Very cool. I found it on Kindle.

I'm sure you'll love Kristin Lavransdatter, medieval norwegian novel, but save It for winter ❤❤

I’m finishing up The Return of the King and, so far, The Fellowship of the Ring has been my favorite of the trilogy. It’s just so charming. Tom Bombadil is now my favorite character of all time ☺️

Thanks for showing the illustrations from Return of the King. They are gorgeous! Finished LOTR a few weeks ago and just loved it!

Flowers for Algernon is amazing !!! I cried atleast 3 times, one of my all time favorites.

I'm so excited for East of Eden!!!! I barely read classics but this book was my favorite book of the year so far so I really think you're going to love it 💖💖

Congratulations & warm hugs on your recent marriage! I too have had "East of Eden" resting quietly and patiently on my bookshelf. I'm sure once we read it, we'll wonder what took us so long! 😅 I just finished "A Pale View of Hills" and though in no way a happy read, it was a good story and the writing is phenomenal - couldn't believe this was his debut novel. It leaves you with a lot to think about once you finish it.

East of eden is absolutely amazing!

Just finished 1Q84. You are in for a treat! I just loved it!❤

I read both the Lord of the Rings trilogy and East of Eden before I was twelve years old, and that was a very long time ago now. They were important books to me as a kid, so it's always interesting to hear from people who first come to them as adults.

I was going to read East of Eden this year. I promised myself I would, and that next year I would read The Grapes of Wrath. But I wound up suddenly deciding to read The Grapes of Wrath first, which is my current read. I'm loving it so much, I just keep hugging it to my chest every third page. I think Steinbeck is going to be one of my favorite authors. I have read a couple of his short stories last year, and in junior high we had Of Mice and Men read to us, which I don't remember much. So this is really my first time actually properly reading a John Steinbeck novel, and I can't tell you what it is to me. I got the beautiful hardcover 75th anniversary edition that came out in 2014 with the original cover art by Elmer Hader that was on the first edition in 1939. So gorgeous.

I read East of Eden (loved it!) and am 2/3 thru 1Q84. They are very different but both are fast paced and don’t feel as long as they are. Enjoy!

Alan Lee was amazing, he also illustrated t.h white series about King Arthur ❤

East of Eden is sooooo good!!!!!

You should get to North and South, and Madame Bovary. They are wonderful. Mishima is a very interesting writer.

I didn't expect to the sailor who fell from grace with the sea here. Perhaps this is my sign to buy it . Thanks for the recs as always ❤️💙

There was a movie based on Flowers for Algernon called Charlie. We had to read it in high school.

i finished the lord of the rings in may and i still think about it all the timeeeee! it’s one of my all time favorites for sureee!! i’m planning on reading an ishiguro too this summer, i decided on the burried giant. i also wanna read a hundred years of solitude, the murakami for the bookclub ofc and maybe crime and punishment too

Oh how I missed your videos♥️ they always bring peace to my heart

I used to read LotR every year for about a decade. I stopped about 10 years ago and now I want to pick it up. I bought the illustrated trilogy and hope to read it again this summer! Those illustration are beautiful and I look forward to them! Flowers for Algernon is my mom's favorite and so I'll be reading it while visiting her this summer. :D Have a great summer!

Oh! This promises to be good.

Can't wait to see your review about East of Eden and A pale view of hills

Stellar collection of books to read for summer, wishing you the best of luck! Hoping in particular you enjoy more of Murakami's writing, he's by far my favourite author. My seasonal reading list is mostly composed of books that I've had on my shelf the longest, some of them nearly 10 years... Hopefully my momentum continues!

I am so glad that you read many Japanese literature as a Japanese❤

Very excited for East of Eden and Flowers for Algernon!

Ahhhh i love A Pale View!!🎉🎉🎉🎉

That Flowers for Algernon blurb - I love it when they tell you almost the whole story on the back of the book (not). I suppose they think that it's such a well-known book - it's often given as an assigned text in British schools - that everyone already knows. btw. Don't let Tolkein catch you referring to LotR as a trilogy - he gets very salty about it in the preface! lol

This is such a fantastic list! I have most of them on my TBR as well! 🙂✌🏻

East of Eden is really powerful! I loved reading it with my spouse a few years ago-a great experience. I hope you enjoy it.

I have not been able to join in any of the club picks this year so far but I think I will pick up 1Q84.

Hi Carolyn, May I ask if you will be restocking the bookmarks in your Etsy store? I looked for them but there was no listing for them on your shop page.

I read East of Eden recently and it is my all time favorite classic now!!

I cant wait to read 1q84 as a murakami fan with you girls🎉 east of eden and flowers to algernon ❤both are amazing books 🥰 currently reading the collector and quite enjoying it😉

You will love East of Eden! It is fantastic. I reread it earlier this year and it is still such a wonderful book, Great story and deeply written characters. I also love the little bits of family history that are included given that Steinbeck was writing it to his sons to read when they were old enough. 1Q84 is a quick read despite its intimidating size. I am planning to reread it with y’all but when I read it the first time, I found it strange but easy to read. I was hooked within the first few pages.

Omg! Flower for algernon was so good😩😩😩😩😩 i nva heard booktubers talking about this book, can't wait for your review Carolyn ☺️☺️

Oh my God, I read the first book of 1Q84 from my local library. Since it was split into 3 I wanted to buy them all because I LOVED it. There is just something special about Murakami's books. I also read After Dark and ever since I reminisce about certain scenes from the book. I cannot wait to get the books next week. Rarely ever do I think about books the way I thought about Murakami's, no clue why lmao

James Agee, A Death in the Family. Special read. Thank you.

I'm dying to read East of Eden!

I've read 1Q84 and East of Eden and they are nothingg alike, so if you want to read both of them at the same time it should be ok!

I'm finishing up The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath my Tbr for this summer is my book club book The Book of Two Ways. My TBR is Icefields, Daisy Jones and the Six, The Day of the Jackal and Night Shift. Also have Flowers for Algernon in my audible app ready to listen too. ☺️📚🐛💚

Massive Murakami fan. I'm sure you'll enjoy the rest of his books. Men Without Women was my introduction to his work, and subsequently fell in love with Norwegian Wood, Kafka On the Shore, After Dark, Sputnik Sweetheart, Colorless Tsukuru and Novelist as a Vocation. Probably my favourite author. Also I'd recommend A Song of Ice and Fire. Currently near the end of A Game of Thrones which I'm thoroughly enjoying

I hope you have a great reading summer.

Well, Carolyn, why did you read the first lines from East of Eden? Now I am gonna start the book in July, no matter what. It’s beautiful. I cannot wait for us to start together😅

I want to read "Pride and prejudice" or "Emma" by Jane Austen but, when I heard you reading Steinbeck, I would have started one of his books right away if I had had one on my shelves. Great suggestions, as always. ❤📚

I read most of Murakami’s work and 1Q84 is of his best imo. Enjoy!

Of course I'd like to join the club but since the surgery in February I've fallen so far behind on my tbr that I'm only just beginning to catch up. I got a Kindle Lee Child (Jack Reacher series) which should be a day and there's Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half. Neither of those are Rory Gilmore books, so I think next up will be a Faulkner novel, probably As I Lay Dying (which I've dnf'd twice so far). Thanks so much for the update, and I'm sure you'll enjoy very much the ones you've identified : )

I want to read East of Eden by Steinbeck too, I already read Of Mice and Men by the same author and I really like it. Your edition of Lord of the ring is beautiful !( sorry if I made some mistake I'm French).

yes read East of Eden. I ironically, I was at my local used book store today. I saw IQ84 but choice "A Wild Sheep Chase" (IQ84 deserves to be a new edition, plus I'm still trying to finish Don Quixote). Since I already read East of Eden (really a must read!) I picked up The Grapes of Wrath. I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid. Flowers for Algernon was also made into a movie with Ernest Borgnine....Too many books not enough years left in my life! Oh yeah, I also just got A pale View of Hills and When We Were Orphans.....The Sailor....is also in my pile. Like minds...my TBRs are endless...

I hope you enjoy A Pale View of Hills! I just started rereading The Remains of the Day ☀️ It also takes place in the summer!

"East Of Eden" deserves to be read on it's own,not sharing time with any other book.

I forgot another question! Do you think Jane Austen's book should be read in a special order?

Prepare some tissues for Flowers for Algernon 🤧

I can never hear the landscapers that you are often concerned about? Please don’t worry about them. Claire B 😊

The Tolkien was absolutely gorgeous!!! I hope you love the close of the trilogy! East of Eden was one of my favorites, I hope you do finish this! And 1Q84 is something that has been on my TBR for over a decade, lol Mishima is a very difficult author. His novels are one thing, but his politics are not interesting to me. I did not like his Sailor and I did finish it, but it was not good. Lord of the Flies, but it felt like Mishima was trying too hard. And his alt-right view just turned me off when I realized he tied them into his work without me really seeing them. I just decided I'd rather not read his work any longer

I was going to say “if you don’t read East of Eden” I loose all hope that you ever will… but then you selected it! It’s amazing, enjoy!

U read any murakami? I'm halfway with wind up bird and it's great

Carolyn, is there going to be a video on Middlemarch? or did it get postponed?

Stephen Colbert started reading these book at ten after the death of his father and two brothers. He is now 60 and has read them many many time enough to quote passages at will. You never have to stop reading Lord of the Rings. Monterey Bay- -Mon- ter- ray Bay hope this helps.

Most Awesome Video and Recommendations😊📚 I am About to Leave Lórien and Go to The Great River(Rauros Soon😊) I Really Love Lingering In Each Place 😊📚 I Want to Read a Kate DiCamillo Book On The Side( Maybe Because of WinnDixie or Tiger Rising) And The Secret Life of Bees BY Sue Monk Kidd😊📚

Don't forget to read the books your parents picked 😁

Flowers for Algernon sounds like the Rise of the Planet of The Apes. Only now as action-y

Hi there , where can I join you in reading murakami books !! Like any club or group you have

Where did you get the Vintage Japan series? Could you please let me know the publisher so I can search better for it? I can’t find it. Thanks!

It seems completely impossible to bridge the gap between mine and carolyn's reading of the classics. But it feels so soothing that there is one book in the world that I've read and Carolyn hasn't. East of Eden. At least for a little while longer. Yes, after all, it's about to read or not to read, that's the timshel.

Absolutely love Lord of the rings; please don’t refer to it as a trilogy 😂 its not, Tolkien would not have wanted this he intended it to be one tome 😅. Love your content and congratulations !!! Wish you both lots of happiness ❤

1Q84 is a mixed bag, I don't think it's to your taste...

Can you link Emmy KZbin channel also?

I have also only read 1 Murakami, Norwegian Wood, as well. I went in knowing nothing about the author himself and I really did not like it, I simply couldn't getting over the blatant misogyny.. The way he wrote and used the female characters in the novel I thought was so gross! when I finished it I found out he had a reputation for it through all of his books. I have bought 1Q84 to join in with the book club and am willing to give it a go but man I just couldn't get it out of my mind on every page. I wonder if I will be able to make it through 1000 plus pages of it!