The Classics I Read in 2020!

[@ChiannaNycole]

I could listen to you talk all day long.

[@BrynjaLives]

So many more things on my tbr, now. You should tag your uploads with mother academia and Charlotte Mason.

[@christinelagueux8155]

In 202, my daughter had to read Great Gatsby and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for school and I had to read it with her because I love those books. It put me back into the mood to read Classics again. So in 2021 I made a goal to read more Classics.

[@Carolinalta]

Everytime I watch your videos and learn your point of view, I feel motivated to leave my comfort zone from my usual genres to get into the books you talk about or recommend, and so far, I have found treasures in all of your recommendations, so thank you! Hope more people can find this channel, honestly it's a jewel in the booktube world.

[@jenniferbrooks]

Thank you so much!!! So glad to hear you’ve enjoyed some of my recommendations 💕

[@keeley_reads]

Dumas quickly became one of my favorite authors last year. I'm so eager to get all of his stuff now lol Journal of the Plague Year has been on my list for years but I'm probably going to read it in a few years lol. I'm almost finished with Romantic Outlaws and now have a ton of Byron, Shelley, etc. on my wishlist! You read so many amazing classics in 2020!

[@jenniferbrooks]

Yes!! I'm excited to see how you feel when you finish the Count (you're in the middle of it, right?). And I would definitely put Journal of a Plague Year off for a while, lol.

[@TiffWaffles]

@@jenniferbrooks Because I am a scientist, I am more interested in the Journal of the Plague Year mostly to see from the scientist perspective, the interpretation of disease from the 18th century. Disease has always fascinated me.. at least in the historical sense. I wonder what Defoe would have thought about our modern science. Archeogenetics (ancient DNA) identified the cause of the medieval plague and confirmed that the disease that caused the great plague of London was in fact Plague and not anything else since there was a HUGE debate in the scientific and medical communities of what disease was going around London during that epidemic.

[@HollyByGollyBooks]

The Warden sounds sooooo interesting!!!! I haven't really dived that deep into classics before and this video was so helpful and finding some new recommendations I haven't heard of before!!!

[@jenniferbrooks]

Hope you enjoy it!! Thank you!

[@TooFondofBooksJH]

I just recently picked up some more Trollope. I plan to read more Trollope in 2021. I want to reread Barchester Towers and then continue with the series. I also plan on reading more Wilkie Collins this year. My parents gave me The Legacy of Cain.

[@jenniferbrooks]

So many people seem to be completely in love with Trollope. I want to continue on with the series too!

[@aubreyholt279]

I am only 50ish pages into Journal of a Plague Year and every single page I have marked something similar or the exact same from our current pandemic. I totally agree with thinking you are in the right head space, but once you get started you realize you just couldn't be prepared for it- as though it really hit too close to home. I also didn't realize that Alexandre Dumas wrote the Nutcracker?! I have to add that to my reading list along with John Polidori's Vampyre!

[@BookZealots]

First, you had a fantastic reading year! Second, WHAT?@! I didn't know Alexandre Dumas wrote The Nutcracker either. (I've added it to my tbr.) Thank you!

[@jenniferbrooks]

It took me by complete surprise too! Hope you enjoy it!

[@goodstrongwords]

I would love to increase my poetry reading this year. Ozymandias is one of my favorites as well. It’s actually quoted in the film adaptation of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, which, in the context of the story, wrecked me 😊. I would also love to read more Dumas this year. I just adored The Count of Monte Cristo.

[@jenniferbrooks]

I haven't watched any adaptation of Tess! I bet it was devastating, lol.

[@allonzy1079]

I struggled with reading Jane Austin. I tried Pride and Prejudice and stopped and I tried sense and sensibility and again I stopped reading it. I have it as my goal this year to try to get through Pride and Prejudice. I do agree, Dumas is amazing and I absolutely love Count Of Monte Cristo, I also recommend The Black Tulip. It’s a shorter novel, kind of humorous, but a very good story.

[@jenniferbrooks]

I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who struggles with Jane Austen! Hopefully you like Pride and Prejudice better this time around! I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Black Tulip so that’s certainly on my list.

[@JemimaRose]

I always love it when you talk about the romantics. you speak so well & convey your thoughts in such an inspiring, passionate way :')

[@jenniferbrooks]

Thank you so much!!

[@Faye_L]

I struggle with Jane Austen, too, so thank you for saying that! I feel like there's a lot of peer pressure in bookish circles to adore Austen, so it's easy to think there's something wrong with you if you don't. I want to read all of her books, but she just isn't for me.

[@jenniferbrooks]

I agree! I always feel like I'm walking on eggshells talking about her. She seems to be so unanimously loved.

[@Sherlika_Gregori]

Me too! I’m glad I’m not alone.

[@spiderprint]

I'm less adoring of Brontë. Austen has some nice and snappy dialogue which appeals to me.

[@nursemain3174]

All her books have exactly the same plot

[@TiffWaffles]

I am so happy that you loved the Knight of Maison-Rouge. Dumas has always been my favourite go to author and his books have always been such comfort reads for me. Have you read the d'Artagnan romances (Three Musketeers series) in their entirety? Sometimes, Dumas' work is very difficult to find in countries outside of Europe unless you search for them online. He wrote a book that I am interested in finding called 'The Women's War' which seems to be set during the Fronde, but it is impossible to find. I am trying to read more English classics this year, but don't know where to start. I was thinking of Jane Austen, but have no idea of which book to pick up.

[@jenniferbrooks]

I haven’t even really started the d’Artagnan series! I feel like I should read it all from the same translator, though I’m not sure that really matters. I’ve noticed they sometimes split a couple of those books in half and publish them separately, so I want to make sure I’m getting the whole thing 😂 I hope you enjoy Jane Austen. I think most people start with Pride and Prejudice but I started with Northanger Abbey and that’s still one of my favorites.

[@TiffWaffles]

@@jenniferbrooks David Coward's translations are great for the Three Musketeers series. He does a lot of the French translations at Oxford University Press. However, if those are difficult to find, then I suggest Wordsworth Classics for the d'Artaganan romances. You get the full books that aren't divided into separate parts. There are new translations by a man named Lawrence (can't think of his name at the top of my head, lol). I haven't checked out the translations he did for the d'Artaganan romances themselves, but I noticed that he's titled the sequels differently, and that he mislabeled The Red Sphinx which has no correlation to the Musketeer saga. However, his translation of Dumas' Red Sphinx is really good from what I have seen of it. Unless you buy those translations used, the Lawrence translations can be incredibly expensive and they are big books. I think that he's the translator of that Napoleon work you have by Dumas, but maybe it is just the publishing company and the way they present their classics. As for Austen, I am thinking of trying out Emma first. This is one that I have had trouble reading for years. But I heard that this is one of Austen's best works.

[@mibelloaleman]

Hi Jennifer, I just discovered your channel and I love your passion for books, especially those about Italy, the medieval and renaissance periods, particularly in Florence and Siena. However, in this video I could not make out what you said regarding Mary Shelley's book on her travels to Italy. I looked and looked at book sites under the title "Perga" and none were found. As it turned out, this was because you spoke so fast that I could not make out the word"Val," hence, I did not have the full title of Mary's book, and therefore, was unable to find it. Please speak a little less fast so I can make out what you're saying. I later discovered that you had the names of the books under details. God bless you for that! After rewinding the video to hear you clearly and seeing the info under details, I now have the title correctly. Love the fact that you list the books! AWESOME! Have you read James Joyce book on his travels to Italy? Have you read April Blood (re: Pazzi conspiracy)? Please keep making videos regarding Florence (my beloved city), Siena and other medieval and renaissance cities. Thank you so much for your videos - LOVE THEM!

[@amberfranklin5512]

Please could you make a video on where to start with classics?

[@spiderprint]

I just wanted to say that you have a very pleasant voice and an interesting channel!

[@jenniferbrooks]

Thank you! 💕💕

[@phosphorescentsea8091]

i've had the same experience with persuasion, it's the one austen novel that i cannot remember anything at all; i can barely remember reading it.

[@jenniferbrooks]

I wonder why that is! Still, glad to know I’m not the only one who had that experience.

[@josmith5992]

I’d never heard of The Beetle but it sounds fascinating- I wonder if it inspired Kafka? 🤔

[@jenniferbrooks]

I've wondered about that too!

[@VALENTINOJC]

you are so pretty aw

[@jenniferbrooks]

Thank you 💕💕