Victober Reading Wrap Up

[@leas4699]

Thank you SO much for your wonderful video. I am a new subscriber but an old reader. I LOVE the Victorian age books and now so enjoy your commentary.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks very much :)

[@youllneverreadalone3982]

Thanks for hosting. Highlights for me were Bleak House, Silas Marner and Jill. I can't quite shake off the Victorians yet, so I have started Lady Audley's Secret and Felix Holt: The Radical.

[@katiejlumsden]

Ah yay I'm glad you liked Jill - it's underrated and great!

[@crazybooklady8682]

Your earrings are so cute!

[@annereach3145]

Hi, I really appreciate your enthusiastic discussion of Victorian books. I'm in a Victorian and classics reading mode now so finishing you recently was prefect. You've lead me to discover some lesser known (to me) books and helped me to prioritize certain books - the ones you love so much. . Unfortunately, some of the books you love are not available in the US, like The Half Sisters and The Book Shop (Reuben Sachs was a problem) as well as one other which I'm forgetting right now. I follow you on GR and am in Jean's book group, Dickensians which is wonderful. We are reading Little Dorrit, same timing as your read. I understand you will be moderating some reads. Looking forward to that. On to Lady Anna. :))

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks! Little Dorrit is just so great. I don't know about Jean's book group, Dickensians, so will have to look it up! It's a shame The Half Sisters is hard to get hold of in the US - you might be able to get an ecopy somehow? Those are sometimes easier to come by for classics.

[@katehowereads]

You have me so excited for Lady Anna now!

[@katiejlumsden]

I really enjoyed it!

[@paulinelafford4773]

Just finished Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is my first Gaskell read and I really enjoyed it. Great character development and interaction. The plot was very straightforward but Gaskell draws you into the lives of the people of Hollingford and surrounds so that you must read on to find out what happens to them. Also, my first Victober, a few days late finishing but finished. Thank you for the challenge, book recommendations and the opportunity to participate.

[@marlenen2590]

Oh my, you should definitely read North and South by her. One of my favourites! Such incredible character development 🤍

[@paulinelafford4773]

@@marlenen2590 On my tbr. Have not watched the series but hear good things about it. Book before watching dramatization, right.

[@katiejlumsden]

Wives and Daughters is just fantastic. And oh you must read North and South too - Gaskell is so amazing.

[@janetsmith8566]

Only really got Rachel Ray read and started Shirley and read a couple of Dickens short stories so not a great result for me but I enjoyed hearing what everyone else achieved! I think I have to get rid of my son and my husband if I want to read more! LOL!!

[@katiejlumsden]

Haha - but Rachel Ray is a good read :)

[@LuminousLibro]

I have Armadale on my TBR! I'll have to read it soon.

[@katiejlumsden]

I really enjoyed it!

[@books_and_ki]

Thank you for hosting! I liked seeing your reviews for the books you read because I haven't heard of most of them. I have a nice Victorian wishlist now. I read Jane Eyre and Dorian Gray.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :)

[@Tinahgirl83]

Would you consider, if you haven’t already done it, a ranking video of Trollope books that you’ve read? Least favorite to favorite (even if you love all of them)? I want to read them, but they always seem so daunting. And thank you for saying that Wuthering Heights is not a love story!!!!!! Obsession and revenge are its biggest themes, although I do love Heathcliff, even if he’s unhinged.😂

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks! So, I haven't done a ranking of all the Trollope I've read. I'd like to, but it feels wrong to rank them when I haven't read them all. But that's a bit silly when there are so many!

[@fredperrotta7359]

I read HG Wells Invisible Man. It was fantastic! If you are pursuing invisibility - read this book! It may change your mind!

[@katiejlumsden]

I've read it and it's a great one :)

[@statuscold]

Great video, Katie! So many books, and a new Trollope for me that sounds very good. I’m rereading North and South (Frederick has just arrived home) so I really enjoyed the discussion you had with Nick. I think Lady Anna and The Half Sisters are the two that I will start with. Thank you again, Katie!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks! Anthony Trollope is just so great, and I heartily recommend The Half Sisters.

[@novellenovels]

You did so well 😊 I also want to read the half sisters 👯‍♀️ My highlight was Agnes grey and re reading Jane eyre with Kate and a group of others 🤩

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed Agnes Grey and Jane Eyre again :)

[@bighardbooks770]

Still relishing _Shirley._ Loving it. Immediate reread. Review upcoming. 😉 Thank you, Katie 🤘🍀🇬🇧😎

[@katiejlumsden]

It's a good one :)

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

Glad you loved Amy Levy, I'll haul it now. Thanks you for running this, I haven't been reading as much Victoria literature this year as I normally do and it was fun to dedicate a month to it. 🙂

[@katiejlumsden]

I really enjoyed The Romance of a Shop :)

[@meghanthestorygirl4581]

Loved hearing your thoughts on all of these. Lady Anna sounds fascinating!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks Meghan :)

[@Faye_L]

My highlight of the month was Diana of the Crossways by George Meredith. This is going to sound weird, but the time and concentration that Meredith demanded from me broke me out of a reading slump! I really enjoyed it.

[@katiejlumsden]

Haha I like that. I must read more by him - I adored The Egoist.

[@MilenaReads]

You’ve made me so curious for The Half Sisters, but also Anthony Trollope! Really fascinating topics! I think my highlight was getting to know Anne Brontë better.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :) Anthony Trollope and The Half Sisters are so great.

[@rustiqjoy]

Enjoyed Victober. Thank you.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks!

[@johnsaxongitno4life588]

I really really love and appreciate your honesty on your amazing channel please stay safe and strong love 💖 John from Australia xxx

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :)

[@chiyapink7607]

My favourite Victober read was North and South, finally tried Elizabeth Gaskell and loved it:)

[@katiejlumsden]

Hoorah - Gaskell is so great!

[@MLLatUtube]

This was my first Victober and I managed to do four of the prompts: Rachel Ray, Kilvert's Diary, Haunted Hotel, and The Portrait of Dorian Gray. I need to pick up Lady Anna and Little Dorritt - you have sold me on them!

[@katiejlumsden]

Good choices :) I highly recommend Lady Anna and Little Dorrit.

[@MargaretPinard]

The Romance of a Shop--never heard of but sounds like a n overlooked treasure! :D

[@katiejlumsden]

It was great!

[@ReadABookGem]

You had a brilliant Victober! I want to read The Half Sisters now after you enjoyed it so much 😊

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks, Gemma! The Half Sisters is so great.

[@reader4532]

So enjoyed Victober! Highlight for me was David Copperfield. Reading it, coupled with a good experience with bleak house a few years ago, has now made me want to go on with Dickens, at least the late career titles. The miss for me was Dracula, DNF'd it. Could not take the female characters seriously.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :) David Copperfield is so great! I don't love Dracula either.

[@laracroft1829]

It’s great that you were able to read all those books this month. Lady Anna is one I’ll read soon. I read two Anthony Trollope books. An Old Man’s Love. It was a very disappointing read and I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m aware you want to read all his books so if you pick it up don’t let it be your last, because it would be a bad way to end with his long catalogue. Also I read The Vicar of Bullhamptom. I really like it and highly recommend it. I think you’d like it too.

[@katiejlumsden]

I highly recommend Lady Anna! The Vicar of Bullhampton is definitely one I'm excited to read.

[@rustiqjoy]

You won me over on Armadale and the Half-sisters. The highlights of my reading journey was Wuthering Heights, the Invisible man and my now favourite Bronte book the Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I read Shirley but was not a fan.

[@katiejlumsden]

Good choices - Wuthering Heights is one of my favourites :)

[@daisyflower4105]

You’ve inspired me to order Lady Anna. It sounds really good. At the moment I’m reading North and South ( just started). I’m afraid I gave up on Cranford. Not my cup of tea. I found all the characters confusing and I didn’t care much about any of them. Maybe I’ll try again one day. Keep your wonderful reviews coming. I love them, really, really love them. They’re great! ❤️

[@katiejlumsden]

I hope you like North and South! I love Cranford but I don't think it's the best place to start with Cranford because it's so episodical.

[@daisyflower4105]

@@katiejlumsden I loved Wives and Daughters ❤️

[@elenaalexa725]

I'm really glad you enjoyed so mny of your Victober reads! Also, I'd love to watch a ranking of all the Trollope books you've read - and a FeministVictorians on Romance of a shop! :) (And now I really really want to read Lady Anna 😂😊)

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :) Lady Anna was great. I do want to do a ranking of Trollope's novels but part of me wants to do that when I've read them all . . . A bit foolish perhaps when I still have twenty-odd novels to go :D

[@elenaalexa725]

@@katiejlumsden haha, there's no hurry! I get that, I'm quite a completionist too 😂

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

What a wealth of Victorian Literature, fascinating.

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks :)

[@MargaretPinard]

William Morris print tops?!? Where to find?? Oooh 🙌🏼

[@katiejlumsden]

So there was a whole line in H&M in the UK a few years ago!

[@michaelwright6702]

I liked The Moonstone and The Woman in White, but I thought Armadale really dragged. After four or five hundred pages, I just wanted it to be over.

[@katiejlumsden]

I rather enjoyed Armadale, but it was a bit too long. I must reread The Moonstone and The Woman in White.

[@mame-musing]

After seeing your enthusiastic "Week of Brontes" review, I read "Shirley" last year. Alas, my experience reading this novel never rose to your level of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I found it a bit tedious. What I did find more interesting about it is that it started me thinking that within the plot there seemed to be elements of Charlotte's pining for her real life unattainable love, the married Professor Heger. In each of her novels, for long sections, if not for the entirety, her male characters seem to be unattainable love interests in one way or another. For me, sadly, "Shirley" was about a 3 star read. I would only recommend it to someone who wanted to be a Bronte completist. I would not recommend it as an introductory Bronte novel.

[@katiejlumsden]

I do like Shirley, but it wasn't so powerful for me on a reread. The male characters I struggled with a bit, and it's just not so lovable as Jane Eyre and Villette for me!

[@marty9011]

I have just read Marion Fay by Anthony Trollope & enjoyed it but... why did Marion think she was going to die young ? And what did she die of ? And why wasn't Hampstead sympathetic to his sister about Roden when he himself was also planning to marry out of his class ? The book didn't in a way, make sense .

[@katiejlumsden]

I haven't read that one yet . . .

[@MargaretPinard]

Children of the New Forest sounds a bit like The Boxcar Children! Did you ever read those as a kid? ☺️

[@katiejlumsden]

I did not, no.

[@HannahsBooks]

I am so sorry to hear the Richard Jeffries was so blah. Because of someone's suggestion for the reader's choice challenge, I've been thinking about authors with the same last initial I have. I think I will skip Jefferies and go straight to Geraldine Jewsbury. (Other ideas?)

[@katiejlumsden]

Geraldine Jewsbury is definitely a better author than Richard Jeffries :) There's also Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome which I do recommend.

[@HannahsBooks]

@@katiejlumsden Thanks! I really enjoyed Three Men a couple of years ago-probably after seeing you recommend it!