So many of these are ones I want to read. Passage is on my list for this year. Fahrenheit was so good! Oh, I got 40% in on Moby and had to DNF. It’s a challenge for sure. I was liking it, but couldn’t persevere. I have a Chekhov in my Amazon list. Confessions is on my shelf to read as well. Paradise Lost scares me as well because of the poetry format. You have a great list! I know you’ll succeed! 😊
I think many people don't finish Moby Dick haha. I can see why! It's definitely not an easy book. Thanks for your vote of confidence! It helps that I'm excited about most of the books on the list.
Hard Times is excellent! I read it alongside the Lit Life podcast episodes and that made it a rich experience! I want to read more Eliot too. My husband and I came across a beautiful penguin vintage set of Eliot but I’ve only read Middlemarch and Silas Marner. This is such a great list! And you’re one of my favorite people to watch here because you have such great tastes in books! Thank you for doing the 12 days of Christmas!
Aw, that's so kind of you to say 🥹 I'll have to look for those podcast episodes! Literary Life is excellent! I've read the two Eliots you've read, plus Daniel Deronda. I'm looking forward to more of her!
I love seeing these videos! And you're right, Hunchback is very different from the movie. Like, pretty much throw out everything you know from the movie except the character names 😂
I think I have Endo’s Silence on my shelves. Not the cover you showed though. Larkrise 🎉 slow and sweet and endearing ❤ I doubt I have read all of Augustine’s Confessions either. And the same with all of Imitation. I know I’ve read chunks of it.
@@beautifulminutiae It was one I was assigned in high school and I was the only one in the class to like it LOL! For Domby and Son- DO NOT read the synopsis- it ruins a plot point!
Uncle Tom’s I would strongly advise an audio book for - at least to begin with. She wrote it in dialect and I had a hard time until I got the cadence and intonations in my head.
Yes, I first read both of these in college many years ago and loved them then (don't remember the translation.) I read the Odyssey Emily Wilson translation last year and really enjoyed it. I have the Illiad translated by her also but haven't read it yet. The Odyssey audiobook in this translation is also very good.
Just discovered your channel and very much enjoyed this video. I am now a woman of a certain age and wish when I was your age I would have put together a list like yours. It is good I think to have reading goal. Now my motto is "So many books so little time." Your list is an excellant and impressive one. One of my goals this year is to read all of Dickens. He is one of my favorites. Thus far I am about half way through all of his novels and have also just acquired a volume of his short stories. In November I read Dombey and Son and it has now become my favorite of his works. I think you will really enjoy it. And also we both share a love of Flannery O'Conner. Happy reading to you in 2025 and all the years to come!
Welcome! So glad to have another Dickens and Flannery fan here! I definitely already have the motto "so many books, so little time." 😂I feel like the list of books I want to read never stops growing!
Sering your snowman made out if book pages reminded me that I didn't put out my book page snowman! Also, I've only read the Hobbit but fornthr hardest reading challenge you'll ever do, one of the prompts is a bestseller feom the year you are born. And The Simirillian is the only one on that list that intrigues me. Loved Brave New World!
I knew that! But it's going to be a patreon vlog (on Charlene's recommendation), so I figured you didn't want to buddy read it. That would feel repetitive lol.
I’m due for a reread if Domby and hard times. Wives and Daughters 🎉 Silmarillion is a lot. I like it though. Ivanhoe😑 my son loved it (but read an abridged version) - it’s beautiful and hard. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts. I’ve DNFd Brave new world 2x … maybe I’ll take a page from your book and give it another try.
My sister is reading Dombey and Son with me, but if you want to buddy read it too, we can! Haha my Ivanhoe copy is one you sent me! I guess I know now why you got rid of it 😂😂😂 I’m curious to see which side I land on with Brave New World. Classic dystopian is so unsettling 🫣😂
Love your list! Several are on my classics TBR this year - Brave New World, Passing, Notes from Underground (because I didn’t get to it this year), Don Quixote, The Metamorphosis, and The Stranger. Hard Times is the only Dickens novel I’ve read other than A Christmas Carol. Love Fahrenheit 451! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it! I’m reading more of Wendell Berry in 2025, too. I think I’m starting with Hannah Coulter.
Dang, I should've talked to you before making my classics TBR! I didn't put any of those on my official TBR haha. You'll have to let me know if you have months planned for any of those, because it would be fun to read them with you!
Great list! I loved Hard Times so much, and it was very impactful for me, but it spoke to me personally about issues I'm very passionate about - education and contrasting the importance of facts vs wonder or imagination in education. Those were all buzzwords for me, even as a young adult (which is when I read it). I need to revisit it, but first I need to read everything else by him! I've read probably half of his major novels. I forgot to put Passing in my list! At least I think I did. 🤣 It's been on my mental TBR for years but I'm not sure I put it on my 50x50. I did not like Mrs Dalloway at all. And I have zero desire to ever read Moby Dick. I don't think Hunchback has tangents at the same level as Les Mis but it's been a long time since I read it. I remember really liking it.
Ooo, you're making me very excited to read Hard Times! It sounds fascinating! I had no clue what topics he was exploring int hat one. Passing will be easy to include even if it didn't make it on to your list! It's so short! Haha I'm not anticipating enjoying Mrs. Dalloway, but I still want the exposure!
Of those books you have chosen to read before 40 I have read some of them. There are also some I have not read but will be in the coming years. Down below are at least 5 books I have read that I hope you do not mind I put down my opinion. 1. Silmarillion: I truly understand your feelings. How I was able to enjoy it was think of it as a collection of stories of the history of Middle Earth. I also read it right after I finished reading Hobbit and LotR trilogy. This kept it very fresh and I was able connect things I remembered reading in the books. 2. Ivanhoe: It is a good book, but not my favorite Sir Walter Scott. Still I do believe you will enjoy it. 3. Paradise Lost: I have read this epic poem a few times and enjoyed it. One thing I need to read is the sequel which I did not know about until recently. 4. Homer: I have read both but it has been a time I have. I read them in verse. I enjoyed the epic poems but again I need to reread them now that I am older. I know many who read them translated (I did as well) like reading them in a prose format. 5. Imitation of Christ: such a good book. I read it last year. I do hope you enjoy it.
I love hearing all of your opinions on the ones you've read! I think your mindset with the Simarillion will be helpful to me. I had no idea that Paradise Lost had a sequel either! I'd be curious to hear what your favorite Sir Walter Scott is.
Fahrenheit 451 is great! If you like George Eliot then I think you'll really enjoy Adam Bede. I have yet to read any Dickens other than his Christmas stories, which I love, but I need to tackle him at some point. I also have John Milton on my shelf waiting to be read but it intimidates me. 🫣 You have a great list and I'm sure you will conquer it by 40!
Fahrenheit 451 and Adam Bede are two of the books I’m most excited about on my list! That’s probably why they ended up on my 2025 classics tbr as well 😂
Well, it looks like we have some books in common. On my shelf: The Mill on the Floss, The Simarillion, Fahrenheit 451, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Iliad & The Odyssey (both of which will be re-reads from high school and I enjoyed them then). Not on my shelf, but would gladly pick up: Ivanhoe (I just remember the Wishbone episode, but I’m fairly certain I read it because of said episode. The 90s were so long ago 😜) & Eight Cousins.
Hello. You go girl. I'm not a classics reader. That being said, in middle school we read as a class Don Quixote. Other than that will not ever read any of these. I applaud and commend you for reading classics. Happy Crafting and God Bless
Wow, you've done great with Dickens while I'm just beginning with him. I bought No Thoroughfare recently, written by both Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, and I hope to read it soon. What did you think of that one? You have a great list of books here. 😊
I haven't read that one! When I was referring to Dickens' major works, I was talking about books that he was the solo author of. I'd love to read the book you mentioned though! You'll have to let me know what you thought!
I should make one of these lists. I read both the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' as a teenager. I much preferred the later, more of an adventure, fewer battles. I also would like to read 'Moby Dick'. I recommend Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own,' and 'Orlando' they're the ones I've read and are not stream of consciousness.
It was really fun to make this list! I think I would enjoy Woolf's non-stream of consciousness books more, but I want the full experience. Even if I hate Mrs. Dalloway, I'll still try another one of her books! I feel like that's her most mentioned book, which is why it made the list.
I have a 50 by 50 list I made the other day but mine is just a tbr because I turn 50 in June. I wish I would have had this idea a couple of years ago lol.
Thank you for letting me know! My brain grouped her with William Faulkner (probably because of the stream of consciousness writing) and so automatically labeled her as American 🤦🏻♀️
20,000 Leagues is really the only Verne I like! I have read Around the World, Center of Earth, and Mysterious Island - they’re fine. But I really like 20k leagues😂
Okay what is wrong with me, I thought you had already read so many of these! I would fail a booktube friendship test 🤣🤣 Actually a booktube friendship test might be a fun livestream to do in 2025 if you want 😄
I hope to read Dombey and Son in 2025. I took a British novel class and we read Hard Times because it's his shortest novel. I remember really liking The Silmarillion. I don't think I will read Brave New World. I think it's more sexual than I want to read.
I love the Silmarillion! Honestly probably more than LotR. At least, I love the stories of the Silm more than LotR, though LotR is better told. If you're having trouble following it, the TH-cam channel Tolkien Lore has great summaries for each chapter.
Unwanted advice from an English major (lol!!) is that you don't have to read the whole thing, if it's too much of a drag / you're not enjoying it. You can read portions of classic works to get exposure to what makes it great and why it's important. (We did this all the time in my university classes.) Maybe that's more important for slow readers though 🤣 But you don't actually have to finish something to enjoy it and be enriched by it. Just a tip if you are feeling pressure by any of these 💗
That's a good point. Some exposure is better than no exposure! I still definitely want to finish Don Quixote and Moby Dick regardless, but that's because I didn't hate either of them ... unlike Gone with the Wind lol
Someone else mentioned that and now I'm embarrassed I didn't know that lol. I think I grouped her with Faulkner since they both have stream of consciousness writing ... so I automatically thought she was American too? That's my guess as to why my brain made that leap with zero research 😅
@beautifulminutiae understandable. But Joyce also is stream of conscious writing...(just giving you a hard time). I liked Orlando by her better than Mrs. Galloway when I had to read her in college. That being said- I hate stream of consciousness
@ that’s true! At least I knew Joyce wasn’t American 🤦🏻♀️😂 Stream of consciousness isn’t my favorite either, so I’m not expecting to love Mrs. Dalloway.
Larkrise To Candleford, EXCELLENT! Their Eyes Were Watching God, EXCELLENT! Eight Cousins, EXCELLENT ( and the other Alcott bks. for younger children) Passage To India, EXCELLENT!
This is such a fun idea! I think I'll make my own list! I'll be 36 in April and four more years seems doable!
Yes, four years seems like plenty of time! I hope you'll share on instagram so I can see your list!
A swim in the pond in the rain (a book that made my favorites the year I read it) talks about (praises)Chekhov’s ability with the short story.
I've heard such good things about that book, even before I heard you talking about it! As a Russian lit lover, I'll have to pick it up at some point.
So many of these are ones I want to read. Passage is on my list for this year. Fahrenheit was so good! Oh, I got 40% in on Moby and had to DNF. It’s a challenge for sure. I was liking it, but couldn’t persevere. I have a Chekhov in my Amazon list. Confessions is on my shelf to read as well. Paradise Lost scares me as well because of the poetry format. You have a great list! I know you’ll succeed! 😊
I think many people don't finish Moby Dick haha. I can see why! It's definitely not an easy book. Thanks for your vote of confidence! It helps that I'm excited about most of the books on the list.
Hard Times is excellent! I read it alongside the Lit Life podcast episodes and that made it a rich experience!
I want to read more Eliot too. My husband and I came across a beautiful penguin vintage set of Eliot but I’ve only read Middlemarch and Silas Marner.
This is such a great list! And you’re one of my favorite people to watch here because you have such great tastes in books! Thank you for doing the 12 days of Christmas!
Aw, that's so kind of you to say 🥹
I'll have to look for those podcast episodes! Literary Life is excellent! I've read the two Eliots you've read, plus Daniel Deronda. I'm looking forward to more of her!
I love seeing these videos! And you're right, Hunchback is very different from the movie. Like, pretty much throw out everything you know from the movie except the character names 😂
That's what I figured haha. I'm planning to vlog it for Patreon whenever I read it since you so highly recommended it.
@@beautifulminutiae Yay! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts (and I really hope you end up enjoying it and that I haven't overhyped it 😅)
Good luck with these books! You can do it. 🎉
Thanks, Crystal!
I think I have Endo’s Silence on my shelves. Not the cover you showed though.
Larkrise 🎉 slow and sweet and endearing ❤
I doubt I have read all of Augustine’s Confessions either.
And the same with all of Imitation. I know I’ve read chunks of it.
Oh, that's interesting! Those would make fun Christian nonfiction readalongs ... though they might be a bit challenging since they're so old.
Yay! Silmarillion!!! It’s intimidating, but you’re used to classics, so I think it will be great for you!
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Also about due for a reread of Moby. I liked it so much. But that was a read aloud with my kids in school! Probably should do that.
You're one of the trusted opinions I know who enjoyed it!
Dombey and Son! Love that one too! Brave New World is one of my favorites. I need to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea as well lol
Ooo I’m even more excited about the books you love! I haven’t heard that many people talk about Brave New World.
@@beautifulminutiae It was one I was assigned in high school and I was the only one in the class to like it LOL! For Domby and Son- DO NOT read the synopsis- it ruins a plot point!
Good to know! I hate it when they do that with classics!
@@beautifulminutiae That was actually Charles Dickens choice LOL! It's not a huge point, but enough of one that I didn't want to know before hand!
Ooof Dalloway. Not my favorite Woolf.😬
I need to choose a Flannery for January, haven’t done that yet!
Haha I'm not anticipated loving Mrs. Dalloway, but I still want to give it a try. I'll be curious to hear which Flannery you choose!
Uncle Tom’s I would strongly advise an audio book for - at least to begin with. She wrote it in dialect and I had a hard time until I got the cadence and intonations in my head.
Oh, that's helpful to know! I had to do that for Huckleberry Finn until I got acclimated as well.
I’ve heard lots of praise for Emily Wilson’s translations of Iliad and Odyssey!
Yes, I first read both of these in college many years ago and loved them then (don't remember the translation.) I read the Odyssey Emily Wilson translation last year and really enjoyed it. I have the Illiad translated by her also but haven't read it yet. The Odyssey audiobook in this translation is also very good.
Oh, thanks so much! I needed some guidance in this area 😅
I started Silence a few years ago but would really love to finish it!
I'm so curious about it!
Just discovered your channel and very much enjoyed this video. I am now a woman of a certain age and wish when I was your age I would have put together a list like yours. It is good I think to have reading goal. Now my motto is "So many books so little time." Your list is an excellant and impressive one. One of my goals this year is to read all of Dickens. He is one of my favorites. Thus far I am about half way through all of his novels and have also just acquired a volume of his short stories. In November I read Dombey and Son and it has now become my favorite of his works. I think you will really enjoy it. And also we both share a love of Flannery O'Conner. Happy reading to you in 2025 and all the years to come!
Welcome! So glad to have another Dickens and Flannery fan here! I definitely already have the motto "so many books, so little time." 😂I feel like the list of books I want to read never stops growing!
Sering your snowman made out if book pages reminded me that I didn't put out my book page snowman! Also, I've only read the Hobbit but fornthr hardest reading challenge you'll ever do, one of the prompts is a bestseller feom the year you are born. And The Simirillian is the only one on that list that intrigues me. Loved Brave New World!
How fun that you have a book snowman too! My sister gave it to me a couple of years ago.
Hunchback is on my classic list this year ❤
I knew that! But it's going to be a patreon vlog (on Charlene's recommendation), so I figured you didn't want to buddy read it. That would feel repetitive lol.
I’m due for a reread if Domby and hard times.
Wives and Daughters 🎉
Silmarillion is a lot. I like it though.
Ivanhoe😑 my son loved it (but read an abridged version) - it’s beautiful and hard. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
I’ve DNFd Brave new world 2x … maybe I’ll take a page from your book and give it another try.
My sister is reading Dombey and Son with me, but if you want to buddy read it too, we can!
Haha my Ivanhoe copy is one you sent me! I guess I know now why you got rid of it 😂😂😂
I’m curious to see which side I land on with Brave New World. Classic dystopian is so unsettling 🫣😂
@ when are you and Sandy reading Domby?
Love your list! Several are on my classics TBR this year - Brave New World, Passing, Notes from Underground (because I didn’t get to it this year), Don Quixote, The Metamorphosis, and The Stranger.
Hard Times is the only Dickens novel I’ve read other than A Christmas Carol.
Love Fahrenheit 451! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it!
I’m reading more of Wendell Berry in 2025, too. I think I’m starting with Hannah Coulter.
Dang, I should've talked to you before making my classics TBR! I didn't put any of those on my official TBR haha. You'll have to let me know if you have months planned for any of those, because it would be fun to read them with you!
Great list! I loved Hard Times so much, and it was very impactful for me, but it spoke to me personally about issues I'm very passionate about - education and contrasting the importance of facts vs wonder or imagination in education. Those were all buzzwords for me, even as a young adult (which is when I read it). I need to revisit it, but first I need to read everything else by him! I've read probably half of his major novels.
I forgot to put Passing in my list! At least I think I did. 🤣 It's been on my mental TBR for years but I'm not sure I put it on my 50x50.
I did not like Mrs Dalloway at all. And I have zero desire to ever read Moby Dick.
I don't think Hunchback has tangents at the same level as Les Mis but it's been a long time since I read it. I remember really liking it.
Ooo, you're making me very excited to read Hard Times! It sounds fascinating! I had no clue what topics he was exploring int hat one.
Passing will be easy to include even if it didn't make it on to your list! It's so short!
Haha I'm not anticipating enjoying Mrs. Dalloway, but I still want the exposure!
This is a very interesting list! It will be quite the accomplishment if you complete it! You always have great goals! Good luck!👍
Thank you! It’s ten books a year to complete it, so I feel like I have a fighting chance!
I still haven’t read One of ours.
Eight Cousins ❤ Favorite Of her younger works. Nothing quite tops Little Women as overall fave. It’s so fun.
I don't know why I thought you liked Eight Cousins more than Little Women!
Of those books you have chosen to read before 40 I have read some of them. There are also some I have not read but will be in the coming years. Down below are at least 5 books I have read that I hope you do not mind I put down my opinion.
1. Silmarillion: I truly understand your feelings. How I was able to enjoy it was think of it as a collection of stories of the history of Middle Earth. I also read it right after I finished reading Hobbit and LotR trilogy. This kept it very fresh and I was able connect things I remembered reading in the books.
2. Ivanhoe: It is a good book, but not my favorite Sir Walter Scott. Still I do believe you will enjoy it.
3. Paradise Lost: I have read this epic poem a few times and enjoyed it. One thing I need to read is the sequel which I did not know about until recently.
4. Homer: I have read both but it has been a time I have. I read them in verse. I enjoyed the epic poems but again I need to reread them now that I am older. I know many who read them translated (I did as well) like reading them in a prose format.
5. Imitation of Christ: such a good book. I read it last year. I do hope you enjoy it.
I love hearing all of your opinions on the ones you've read! I think your mindset with the Simarillion will be helpful to me. I had no idea that Paradise Lost had a sequel either! I'd be curious to hear what your favorite Sir Walter Scott is.
I think you’ll enjoy Paradise Lost. It’s beautiful and easy to understand!
Oh, that's a relief to hear! Easy to understand wasn't at all what I was expecting.
I’m planning on reading Mrs. Dalloway in January
I’ll be so curious to hear what you think!
Fahrenheit 451 is great! If you like George Eliot then I think you'll really enjoy Adam Bede. I have yet to read any Dickens other than his Christmas stories, which I love, but I need to tackle him at some point. I also have John Milton on my shelf waiting to be read but it intimidates me. 🫣
You have a great list and I'm sure you will conquer it by 40!
Fahrenheit 451 and Adam Bede are two of the books I’m most excited about on my list! That’s probably why they ended up on my 2025 classics tbr as well 😂
Well, it looks like we have some books in common.
On my shelf: The Mill on the Floss, The Simarillion, Fahrenheit 451, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Iliad & The Odyssey (both of which will be re-reads from high school and I enjoyed them then).
Not on my shelf, but would gladly pick up: Ivanhoe (I just remember the Wishbone episode, but I’m fairly certain I read it because of said episode. The 90s were so long ago 😜) & Eight Cousins.
Out of the ones on your shelves, four of them are ones I'll be reading next year! Shall I put you down for buddy reads?
@ Obviously 😉💜
Hello. You go girl. I'm not a classics reader. That being said, in middle school we read as a class Don Quixote. Other than that will not ever read any of these. I applaud and commend you for reading classics.
Happy Crafting and God Bless
Don Quixote sounds like quite a challenge for middle school! I’m impressed!
@beautifulminutiae Might have been a condensed version. I don't remember it being that big. We watched the movie after reading it.
Passing will be so fast.
ZORA❣️
I’ve never read Resurrection! Is it another Tolstoy tome?
It's his shortest novel. I've read it 1.5 times, very close together. I think it's more the 400 page range from what I remember.
@ hmmm 🤔 I need to find a copy.
My copy is also around 400 pages.
Wow, you've done great with Dickens while I'm just beginning with him. I bought No Thoroughfare recently, written by both Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, and I hope to read it soon. What did you think of that one? You have a great list of books here. 😊
I haven't read that one! When I was referring to Dickens' major works, I was talking about books that he was the solo author of. I'd love to read the book you mentioned though! You'll have to let me know what you thought!
I should make one of these lists. I read both the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' as a teenager. I much preferred the later, more of an adventure, fewer battles. I also would like to read 'Moby Dick'. I recommend Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own,' and 'Orlando' they're the ones I've read and are not stream of consciousness.
It was really fun to make this list! I think I would enjoy Woolf's non-stream of consciousness books more, but I want the full experience. Even if I hate Mrs. Dalloway, I'll still try another one of her books! I feel like that's her most mentioned book, which is why it made the list.
I'm reading the five Dostoevsky volumes. I've read the first one and will hopefully start the second soon.
I didn't realize you'd made it all the way through the first volume! That's awesome! I'm coming to you with all my Dostoevsky questions!
Sounds like I'm gonna be jumping into several books with you and creating a buddy read or butting into buddy reads. 😅😂❤
You're welcome anytime for any of them!
I loved Eight Cousins!
I can't believe I haven't read it yet!
I have a 50 by 50 list I made the other day but mine is just a tbr because I turn 50 in June. I wish I would have had this idea a couple of years ago lol.
Atlas Shrugged is good! Audio was my friend.
I had to read Moby Dick and Paradise Lost in college….they were beasts…audio is your friend!
I love audiobooks for challenging authors! I hope you'll share which books you end up getting to before your birthday!
Virginia Woolf is actually from England, you may want to move that over to the British classics list.
Thank you for letting me know! My brain grouped her with William Faulkner (probably because of the stream of consciousness writing) and so automatically labeled her as American 🤦🏻♀️
I really liked The Metamorphosis. It has a lot of depth and interesting commentary. It can be read so many different ways.
I'm really looking forward to that one!
20,000 Leagues is really the only Verne I like! I have read Around the World, Center of Earth, and Mysterious Island - they’re fine. But I really like 20k leagues😂
I guess I chose the right one!
I can’t remember if I’ve read Passage to India. I feel like I have, but maybe I need a reread … cause it’s gone!😂
Bradbury 🎉 Fahrenheit🎉
I bet you’ve already guessed one of the books I have slated for 2025 😜
@@beautifulminutiae 😁🤗
Love Ivanhoe!
Fun!
Oh, I love Around the World in 80 Days!!
I bet I would now as an adult!
I haven’t yet read either of Dostoevsky’s “Notes” books. So… if you want a buddy…
Put me in the game coach!
Really??? I'm shocked! Neither of them made my official list for this year, but we should definitely read one together!
We’ve talked about Ayn, haven’t we?
Yup, mostly while reading Scythe 😜 I'll admit those books made me want to read her more!
Fahrenheit 451 is soooo good!
I've fallen in love with Bradbury over the past year, so I can't wait to read more of him!
Okay what is wrong with me, I thought you had already read so many of these! I would fail a booktube friendship test 🤣🤣 Actually a booktube friendship test might be a fun livestream to do in 2025 if you want 😄
Haha that would be super fun! I didn't even know that was a thing!
I hope to read Dombey and Son in 2025. I took a British novel class and we read Hard Times because it's his shortest novel.
I remember really liking The Silmarillion.
I don't think I will read Brave New World. I think it's more sexual than I want to read.
I'll be curious to see how I feel about Hard Times and The Simarillion! I'm glad you liked them both.
I love the Silmarillion! Honestly probably more than LotR. At least, I love the stories of the Silm more than LotR, though LotR is better told.
If you're having trouble following it, the TH-cam channel Tolkien Lore has great summaries for each chapter.
Wow, loving it more than LOTR is high praise indeed! Thanks for the tip about Tolkien Lore! I will definitely be utilizing that.
Wives and Daughters!
It's one of the ones I'm most excited about on this list!
Unwanted advice from an English major (lol!!) is that you don't have to read the whole thing, if it's too much of a drag / you're not enjoying it. You can read portions of classic works to get exposure to what makes it great and why it's important. (We did this all the time in my university classes.) Maybe that's more important for slow readers though 🤣 But you don't actually have to finish something to enjoy it and be enriched by it. Just a tip if you are feeling pressure by any of these 💗
Oh, like you did with Gone With the Wind!!
But also I love your ambition and I completely believe in your ability to finish things ❤🤗
That's a good point. Some exposure is better than no exposure! I still definitely want to finish Don Quixote and Moby Dick regardless, but that's because I didn't hate either of them ... unlike Gone with the Wind lol
I've really enjoyed Chekhov stories I've read.
I like Resurrection more than Anna Karenina but less than War and Peace.
I'm wondering if it'll end up in the middle for me too! I have Anna Karenina and War and Peace swapped in my ranking.
I read The.Stranger in 2023. I didn't care for it, but it is a good example of nihilistic literature.
Most people I talk to haven't really enjoyed it haha
Virginia Woolf is British btw
Someone else mentioned that and now I'm embarrassed I didn't know that lol. I think I grouped her with Faulkner since they both have stream of consciousness writing ... so I automatically thought she was American too? That's my guess as to why my brain made that leap with zero research 😅
@beautifulminutiae understandable. But Joyce also is stream of conscious writing...(just giving you a hard time). I liked Orlando by her better than Mrs. Galloway when I had to read her in college. That being said- I hate stream of consciousness
@ that’s true! At least I knew Joyce wasn’t American 🤦🏻♀️😂 Stream of consciousness isn’t my favorite either, so I’m not expecting to love Mrs. Dalloway.
Atlas Shrugged was a DNF for me this year.
It might be for me too, but I really want to give Ayn Rand a try.
@@beautifulminutiae that makes sense! I was really looking forward to it.
Larkrise To Candleford, EXCELLENT! Their Eyes Were Watching God, EXCELLENT! Eight Cousins, EXCELLENT ( and the other Alcott bks. for younger children) Passage To India, EXCELLENT!
I’m so happy to hear you love several of these! That makes me more excited to read them!
I want to do this video in 2025!
Oooo, I can't wait to see what's on your list!
A very impressive list! You should be granted an English degree after this. 😂
Haha thank you for making me feel smart ... although maybe that's a bit premature as I've not actually read any of them yet 😂