These Victober announcement videos are my most anticipated videos of the year! Now is the time for me to balance two things: be inspired to read books I hadn’t thought to pick up, and fit books I already want to read into the prompts. So exciting!
I’m so happy that you all chose to remember Jennifer and Alice for Victober. ❤ As always, looking forward to all the videos and discussions and of course the reading!
Super way to celebrate the lives of Jenny and Alice and to honour their contribution to BokkTube! Until i watched your video I wasn’t really feeling thrilled for Victober, but that has totally changed now. Thank you!
Alice would be so delighted to be included in Victober, she adored this Readathon and indeed Sherlock Holmes. Thank you for always being so thoughtful Katie. Serendipitously I bought The Time Machine just last week, so I will be reading that for your prompt 😊
Thanks for reminding us how far back playing with literary form goes, and more so, just how remarkably constant the human creative mind has been throughout the ages 😁
I'm so glad you do this challenge every year and this year's prompts are great. :) October's always a hectic month for me and I so often say I'm going to take part in Victober and then go missing in action before I can get to whatever book I said I was going to read but this year, this year it's going to be different. I've got a pile of possibilities firmly stacked up by my bed and I am definitely going to get to at least one of them this year no matter what!
Yaaay, my favourite readathon is coming soon!🎉 I love the challenges this year. It's wonderful that you decided to honour Alice and Jennifer, I loved both their channels and it was truly a sad year for BookTube. I'll definitely pick up either A Study in Scarlet by Doyle and/or The Moonstone by Collins.
I will order the group book and obviously ones for the group challenge. Alice would love that you included her and I will definitely be reading the shurlock Holmes short story
I'm super excited and ready for the Victober readathon. My copy of The Doctor's Wife arrived today and I will also read A study In Scarlet by Doyle. Can't wait .
I love that Victober comes back year after year with great prompts every time and always so much enthusiasm and so much more to discover. Looking forward to participating however much I can.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and for sharing your massive knowledge of Victorian literature with us, Katie!🌷I’m definitely joining the Victober readathon again this year. I’m still in two minds about my selection, but I think I’ll be reading Cranford for your prompt. I read The Fate of Fenella last year and it is a wild ride!😂Happy Victober!😍📚
So happy to see this announcement! And so pleased that you are honouring Alice and Jennifer with the group challenge - I was actually planning to read Sherlock in Alice’s honour. Love the other challenges. The Beetle sounds great. Your video plans sound very exciting!
I always look forward to these Victober announcement videos, and seeing what prompts fit books on my shelves - although I think it's just a load of Trollope at the moment. I'll figure something out. That prompt is a great way to remember Alice and Jennifer.
I'm so excited (and quite overwhelmed lol) by all the choices! If you want to give Dracula a second chance, I highly recommend it as an audiobook! I think it's one of those books that's so much better when read aloud!
I am really looking forward to Victober 2024. I wanted to read another Mary Elizabeth Braddon, so the group read is perfect for me. And I am touched that you are honoring Jennifer and Alice.
Was so happy to see this announcement pop up. Will definetly be participating. Lots of fun challenges and I have already started jotting down a potential tbr. The group challenge idea is also very thoughtful. Your content plans all sound soo good and i look forward to victober already 😊 I will also probably try and read your newes book. I bought it when i was travelling in the Uk earlier this month and I am excited to read it. Even if it doesnt count for victober it feels like the perfect time to read it :-)
Yay for Victober! Fascinating theme, Katie! I was planning to read The Tenants of Wildfell Hall so fab that it fits the theme 😆 but might squeeze in some Gaskell as I always love to read some of her new-to-me stories each year!
I am so excited for this Victober 🎉 My choice is "Cranford" by Elizabeth Gaskell, it will tick your challenge and Kate and Marissa's 👍. It is not a very chunky book, so it will be less intimidating ;) For Ros' challenge, I will probably read a Oscar Wilde or Bernard Shaw play.
So wonderful that you are honoring Jenny and Alice. For some nonfiction by medical student Arthur Conan Doyle during the Victorian era, I loved his diary "Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure". In 1880 Conan Doyle joined an arctic whaling expedition as ship's medical officer, and he kept a diary (and sketches) of the expedition. This volume, published in 2012 by Univ of Chicago Press, includes facsimile pages with the printed transcription & sketches; a brief biography & background; and several stories he wrote using his sea-faring experience. It is fantastic.
Omg, I haven't even watched the whole video and I already feel like a might need a Vic-year or something to read all the book recommendations that sound interesting to me^^
Fantastic selection and looking forward to this very much. Already ordered the group read - so nice to be remembering Jennifer and Alice - two of my favourites - I really miss them.
The video about every year of the Victorian period sounds very fun, as does the A-Z of Victorian authors if you get to it. Looking forward to the Dickens and Trollope videos too - I’m hoping to restart my Trollope reading this Victober.
A fascinating video, thanks for sharing. I have Cranford, Elizabeth and her German Garden and Diary of a Nobody on my TBR shelves. I'll try those thanks. Happy Reading
I squealed when I saw the videos pop up. I read Victorian books every month but Victober feels like a party 🥳! What a wonderful idea to honour Jennifer and Alice. I miss them. I love Sherlock Holmes and Wilkie Collins, but I found out about The Beetle on Jennifer’s channel so will re-read it. It’s pure sensationalistic trash and I loved it. Now for the whirlwind of thoughts on my TBR.
I love Sherlock Holmes!!! ❤ And I have a beautiful edition of the complete works with the illustrations from The Strand. I also have the audiobook by Stephen Fry, which is amazing, so, I guess a reread (or re-listening) is in order. Whilst I think in my Victober TBR 📚
It is so beautiful of you guys on honoring the booktubers who passed away this year. I was specially fond of Jennifer and I always remembered her whenever I was reading Wilkie Collins or Anne Rice! And I do believe I’ll still think of her everytime I read both these authors! She was such and inspiration and her channel is really missed. About Henry James, I share your opinion on The Turn of the Screw! It was not for me, although I tend to enjoy the movie/series adaptations of this story. Nevertheless I think I’ll give him another chance in the future (but not a near future 😂) with Washington Square and The Portrait of a Lady. But after those two, it will be over if I do not enjoy his writing again!
Hi, Katie! Looking forward to participating in my second Victober. My TBR this year includes Armadale and The Hound of the Baskervilles. I'm leaning towards reading the group read if I can get a copy of it at the library. After hearing your suggestions for your challenge, I might add The Turn of the Screw. I've seen three screen adaptations of it, but I have never read the story.
I’m very excited for the Victorber Reading Challenge! Your suggestions are quite interesting. I’m looking at the other videos by the hosts, and putting together a tbr now which I find fun to do. I will try to read as many as possible along with the group read (I’ll need to get it first) and some books to honor Jennifer and Alice. I look forward to your Victober videos too!
I LOVED this! I loved your enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge and insights on all this magnificent Victorian novels you've read. . . Bleak House is in my top five all time favorite novels,. . . I LOVE Dracula! (And I LOVE Madam Bovary) but your descriptions, the book covers shown, and observations have made my mouth water! This summer I read Thomas Hardy Tess of the d'Urbervilles. . . I love Hardy. . . off to find some of the books you recommended.
I'm planning on reading Jekyll & Hyde and some Sheridan Le Fanu. I'll add in some Sherlock Holmes plus I'm going to see if I can get The Beetle out of the library 😁 (I love books that play with form in some way so I'm sure I'll revisit these recommendations in future!) (Also, I would love a hypothetical PhD vid!)
I’m so happy it’s time to start planning for Victober. I also wanted to tell you I purchased your first book this morning and I am loving it. I was captivated from page one. So that’s today’s plan: to read your book. It’s all the Victorian good stuff I love but it also feels original. As someone who is deaf in one ear I also love that unexpected detail! 🤍
I am a big Wilkie Collins fan and I've read almost everything he ever wrote. While The Moonstone and The Woman in White are fantastic, may I suggest another novel by Wilkie that I found equally fantastic - The Law and The Lady. I would add a lesser book but very enjoyable is his short novel A Rogue's Life.
Yey!!! I'm sooo EXCITED about Victober!! 🥳 🩷 I'm going to continue reading David Copperfield. I am loving it & hope to finish it by December. I want to read The Grey Woman by Elizabeth Gaskill and Jazabel's Daughter by Wilkie Collins.
Thank you! I can't wait for Victober. This is my fourth year participating. I will be figuring out my TBR over the next week or so. On another note, you inspired me to read a Victorian novel for every year of Victoria's reign because I heard you mention this idea in a video a while back. I think I have twelve more to go. I try to choose this TBR to work within the remaining dates, but that's not always possible.
So excited to participate in Victober! If the leaves are falling and the nights are cooler, it must be time to curl up with a hot beverage and consider what to read!
I have pulled out my Victober eligible books. There’s too many to fit into one month alone so I am going to spread out my Victorian reading into September and October. I want to make sure to have at least one book for each of the host prompts in October. You gave me quite a few ideas from the books on my shelf. I could read HG Wells’ The Time Machine for Shorty September or for Victober.
I'm so excited for Victober this year! I've never read Wilkie Collins but I am planning to put something (not sure yet which one) on my list. I'm currently reading Nicholas Nickleby... I may put that on hold and finish it in October, but I am really enjoying that so far, even though I'm not as interested in Kate's sections.
A friend and I were planning on reading one or both of Dickens portmanteau stories m so great to see your prompt Katie. The Fate of Fenella sounds so good I might have to make room for that too! Lovely also to see a prompt in memory of Jennifer and Alice. Now to make an entirely unattainable TBR 😉
This time of year is always so much fun! Because of this video, I’m getting excited to read some Collins, so thank you! I will definitely be up for your hypothetical degree program and curriculum! ! Long ramble: RE. Henry James American or English: Here in the US, while we do have lots of cross and sub-designations for the time period between 1837 and 1901, (for example, The Gilded Age is one such sub-designation) in general I feel like when we Americans say "Victorian" we mean "characteristic of the reign of Queen Victoria of England or the art, letters, or tastes of her time or typical of the moral standards, attitudes, or conduct of the age of Victoria." Yes, even though Victoria was not our queen, here in the States, the term Victorian has come to be accepted in common usage as referring to architecture, literature, clothing, manners, painting, etc. from that era. So I always need to remind myself in October that specifically Victober only includes England and Ireland and that my guess is that in England children grow up being taught that this is felt to be a very important distinction! Additionally, there are so many places in the world touched by her reign and influence, our neighbor to the North, Canada included. So weirdly, I think of Henry James as "an American-Victorian author." It's also interesting to note that Michael Sims who edits several Penguin Classics collections, has American authors from the 1800's in his Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime: Forgotten Cops and Private Eyes from the Time of Sherlock Holmes (which I'll happily be reading this fall). Which shows that even Penguin black spines has, in some instances, relaxed the term. So I'm excited to read some of your suggestions for #Victober proper, and additionally in future vlogs, explore some "American Victorian" writers alongside as well, just for fun.
I find it so strange that in the US the term Victorian is used even to refer to American things. The social context of the countries in the 19th century was just so very different. In the UK, in academia and more widely, Victorian and Victorian literature would always mean British and Irish, maybe sometimes the wider British Empire at the time depending, but never the US. Always interesting to see how different definitions are used! I do know a lot of people use Victober as a jumping off point to read 19th century literature more widely.
@@katiejlumsden I’m very interested in hearing about what you consider the major differences! Do you mean politics? Religion? Fashion? I think sometimes we presume that our countries operated in bubbles, when in fact there was a lot of traveling back and forth and socializing and cultural cross pollination.. For example, 1800’s social life in Cleveland, Ohio was extremely influenced by the many English people who had immigrated there. Another example: Kate Warne, an early female detective, was an American, born in my home state of New York. She went to work for Pinkerton (who himself had immigrated from Scotland) and her story was so interesting that English newspapers reported her experiences verbatim from American newspapers. Her exploits excited the English public imagination to the point that a number of English women followed in her footsteps as English female detectives. I know you’re busy; no need to respond if you can’t, and I know I’m citing hyper-specific examples, but I’m just curious to learn more about why England and Ireland were considered so rigidly different than the US and Canada during the reign of Victoria. At least in terms of social culture it seems like there are similarities. Maybe there are some good books out there that discuss this. I will research further! Because here in the US, we definitely do refer to aspects of 1800’s social history as “Victorian “! 😊
I'm glad to see The Ring and the Book getting a mention; I wrote about it for my M.A. work. I think I'll reread the Tenant of Wildfell Hall for the form challenge, though.
Thank you for so many great suggestions for your challenge. I’ve picked out a few books I’d like to read. Would Irish Fairytales and Folklore by Yeats qualify?
Yes, feel free to count it - not one I've read, but it looks like he collected and preserved lots of stories from different sources, so that feels like an unusual form to me.
Looking forward to participate in Victober for the first time after watching from the sideline on Jennifer’s channel. I already planned to reread Wuthering Heights, but I would love to read The Moonstone as well, it’s waiting for me on the shelf, so to read it during Victober to honour Jenny is a great idea.
Hi, Do you all know that Jess from the channel Stalking Kafka is currently hosting a group read of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone? We haven't finished the First Period yet, so it's not too late to join! 😃
I just didn't really get on with it - found it a little dry and not for me, didn't connect with the characters. It was very much a personal thing - I didn't think it was bad, just that it wasn't my sort of book.
@@katiejlumsden the characters are unappealing by design. It’s so the only point of reader identification is authorial technique and style. It’s to demonstrate that the artist can elevate the banal and provincial.
It seems I've been waiting a year for this announcement. 😂 Your prompt is awesome. Another one that would work for this is the Victorian horror novel The Three Imposters. It's a cool frame narrative with interconnected stories.
This is so exciting! How lovely of you to have thought on Jennifer and Alice, I'll definitely include some Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in my TBR. I'm already getting over-ambitious, but I'm thinking on rereading Cranford for your challenge (and perhaps for Marissa's too? I need to check that out), on reading Linda Tressel for Kate's challenge and a play by Oscar Wilde for Ros's challenge, along with A Rogue's life by Wilkie Collins and a Sherlock Holmes short story for the group challenge. I have also planned a buddy read of Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli and I'd love to join the group read too! Who knows, perhaps I can manage all that, they seem to be rather short and/or light readings 🤔😂
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen has multiple narrators, if I remember rightly. And The Three Imposters is a novel composed of short stories, also by Machen.
Oh, The Beetle is SO GOOD. I wrote a paper on it in college. Yes, the anti-foreigner elements don't age well: it's such a common trait among Victorian viction.
Henry James spent a lot of his life in the UK, though, and set a lot of his books here, so I believe some Victorian scholars do count him as Victorian. And A Study in Scarlet definitely plays with form, too.
Never read Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (serialized) nor D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow (religion) that are sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to read them. Thanks for heads up!
I don't know Madame Bovary translates that well into English, as Flaubert had hoped to craft something straddling poetry and prose. In its other sense - as one of my teachers argues - it was intended to demonstrate how middle and working class people can be the subjects of high tragedy. However, if you don't connect with Charles and Emma then clearly that experiment failed. I'm hoping to participate in Victober, possibly with an Oscar Wilde play, or if it qualifies one from GB Shaw. Thx!
Heya, I just noticed that there might be a typo in the description cause it says "3 chapters a day every day, except for 18 October, where we read 3 chapters" Just wanted to let you know! x
For a religious theme Victorian read, Trollope's Barchester Chronicles comes to mind. By the way, Alan Rickman (the Reverend Obadiah Slope) was mostly unknown before the BBC serialized it. Rickman later became Colonel Brandon in the Sense and Sensibility movie of 1995, and also starred in the Harry Potter movies. th-cam.com/video/TjbRR1CWQP0/w-d-xo.html
These Victober announcement videos are my most anticipated videos of the year! Now is the time for me to balance two things: be inspired to read books I hadn’t thought to pick up, and fit books I already want to read into the prompts. So exciting!
I’m so happy that you all chose to remember Jennifer and Alice for Victober. ❤ As always, looking forward to all the videos and discussions and of course the reading!
Super way to celebrate the lives of Jenny and Alice and to honour their contribution to BokkTube! Until i watched your video I wasn’t really feeling thrilled for Victober, but that has totally changed now. Thank you!
Alice would be so delighted to be included in Victober, she adored this Readathon and indeed Sherlock Holmes. Thank you for always being so thoughtful Katie.
Serendipitously I bought The Time Machine just last week, so I will be reading that for your prompt 😊
Thanks for reminding us how far back playing with literary form goes, and more so, just how remarkably constant the human creative mind has been throughout the ages 😁
So excited for another Victober!! I love your challenge and have so many ideas for my TBR! Thank you so much for all you do! ❤️
The prompts to remember Alice and Jennifer are so appropriate and touching. Thank you to all the hosts! Looking forward to Victober this year!
I’m going to be reading some George Macdonald this Victober! Looking forward to hearing about everyone’s reading!
I'm so glad you do this challenge every year and this year's prompts are great. :)
October's always a hectic month for me and I so often say I'm going to take part in Victober and then go missing in action before I can get to whatever book I said I was going to read but this year, this year it's going to be different. I've got a pile of possibilities firmly stacked up by my bed and I am definitely going to get to at least one of them this year no matter what!
I am so happy to be overwhelmed for choices!
Yaaay, my favourite readathon is coming soon!🎉
I love the challenges this year. It's wonderful that you decided to honour Alice and Jennifer, I loved both their channels and it was truly a sad year for BookTube. I'll definitely pick up either A Study in Scarlet by Doyle and/or The Moonstone by Collins.
I will order the group book and obviously ones for the group challenge. Alice would love that you included her and I will definitely be reading the shurlock Holmes short story
I'm super excited and ready for the Victober readathon. My copy of The Doctor's Wife arrived today and I will also read A study In Scarlet by Doyle. Can't wait .
Do you know how the group read will work? I'm so happy I found the book at my library 😅I don't see any links for a Discord server
The link is: discord.gg/xCdQ5DA55q
I love that Victober comes back year after year with great prompts every time and always so much enthusiasm and so much more to discover. Looking forward to participating however much I can.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and for sharing your massive knowledge of Victorian literature with us, Katie!🌷I’m definitely joining the Victober readathon again this year. I’m still in two minds about my selection, but I think I’ll be reading Cranford for your prompt. I read The Fate of Fenella last year and it is a wild ride!😂Happy Victober!😍📚
I’m excited for The Fate of Fenella!
@@katiejlumsden Looking forward to hearing what you think of it!
So happy to see this announcement! And so pleased that you are honouring Alice and Jennifer with the group challenge - I was actually planning to read Sherlock in Alice’s honour. Love the other challenges. The Beetle sounds great. Your video plans sound very exciting!
So happy we're underway 😊
Yes, nine years of Victober! It’s part of my yearly traditions and I appreciate the work of the group that hosts this event📚❤️
Hi from Australia Katie! I would like to attempt Victober this year, it will be my first time. Thank you for all the reccomedations. ❤
I always look forward to these Victober announcement videos, and seeing what prompts fit books on my shelves - although I think it's just a load of Trollope at the moment. I'll figure something out.
That prompt is a great way to remember Alice and Jennifer.
I'm so excited (and quite overwhelmed lol) by all the choices! If you want to give Dracula a second chance, I highly recommend it as an audiobook! I think it's one of those books that's so much better when read aloud!
Forever grateful to you for creating this splendid readathon!
Thank you so much for your prompt suggestions. I have Cranford, Wuthering Heights & The Time Machine...looks like a great reading month.
Jenny has been on my mind a lot lately, and I’m so glad to see you honoring her this Victober ❤
I am really looking forward to Victober 2024. I wanted to read another Mary Elizabeth Braddon, so the group read is perfect for me. And I am touched that you are honoring Jennifer and Alice.
Oh, Victober joy has arrived once again!! 🥳 🎉 🎊
I’m so excited! Not sure what I’ll pick for this prompt, although the spooky recommendations seems very interesting.
Was so happy to see this announcement pop up. Will definetly be participating. Lots of fun challenges and I have already started jotting down a potential tbr. The group challenge idea is also very thoughtful. Your content plans all sound soo good and i look forward to victober already 😊 I will also probably try and read your newes book. I bought it when i was travelling in the Uk earlier this month and I am excited to read it. Even if it doesnt count for victober it feels like the perfect time to read it :-)
Thanks so much 😊
Yay for Victober! Fascinating theme, Katie! I was planning to read The Tenants of Wildfell Hall so fab that it fits the theme 😆 but might squeeze in some Gaskell as I always love to read some of her new-to-me stories each year!
I am so excited for this Victober 🎉
My choice is "Cranford" by Elizabeth Gaskell, it will tick your challenge and Kate and Marissa's 👍.
It is not a very chunky book, so it will be less intimidating ;)
For Ros' challenge, I will probably read a Oscar Wilde or Bernard Shaw play.
Thanks, Katie! This was fun and I'm so excited for Victober!!
Super excited for Victober again this year! Working on putting together my TBR is so much fun too. ❤
Love Victober! Look forward to it every year. Thank you for your videos! 😁
I wish I had known about this sooner 😭 definitely next time!
It happens every year :)
This is so exciting. There are some great prompts here and your bonus challenge is a very special way to honour these two booktubers.
best time of the bookish calendar whoooop!
So wonderful that you are honoring Jenny and Alice. For some nonfiction by medical student Arthur Conan Doyle during the Victorian era, I loved his diary "Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure". In 1880 Conan Doyle joined an arctic whaling expedition as ship's medical officer, and he kept a diary (and sketches) of the expedition. This volume, published in 2012 by Univ of Chicago Press, includes facsimile pages with the printed transcription & sketches; a brief biography & background; and several stories he wrote using his sea-faring experience. It is fantastic.
That sounds so interesting!
Omg, I haven't even watched the whole video and I already feel like a might need a Vic-year or something to read all the book recommendations that sound interesting to me^^
Fantastic selection and looking forward to this very much. Already ordered the group read - so nice to be remembering Jennifer and Alice - two of my favourites - I really miss them.
The video about every year of the Victorian period sounds very fun, as does the A-Z of Victorian authors if you get to it. Looking forward to the Dickens and Trollope videos too - I’m hoping to restart my Trollope reading this Victober.
A fascinating video, thanks for sharing. I have Cranford, Elizabeth and her German Garden and Diary of a Nobody on my TBR shelves. I'll try those thanks. Happy Reading
I squealed when I saw the videos pop up. I read Victorian books every month but Victober feels like a party 🥳! What a wonderful idea to honour Jennifer and Alice. I miss them. I love Sherlock Holmes and Wilkie Collins, but I found out about The Beetle on Jennifer’s channel so will re-read it. It’s pure sensationalistic trash and I loved it. Now for the whirlwind of thoughts on my TBR.
Hooray for another Victober!! I am overwhelmed with Victober excitement. 💕
I love Sherlock Holmes!!! ❤ And I have a beautiful edition of the complete works with the illustrations from The Strand. I also have the audiobook by Stephen Fry, which is amazing, so, I guess a reread (or re-listening) is in order. Whilst I think in my Victober TBR 📚
A video on recommended books for each year in the period would be awesome!
It is so beautiful of you guys on honoring the booktubers who passed away this year. I was specially fond of Jennifer and I always remembered her whenever I was reading Wilkie Collins or Anne Rice! And I do believe I’ll still think of her everytime I read both these authors! She was such and inspiration and her channel is really missed.
About Henry James, I share your opinion on The Turn of the Screw! It was not for me, although I tend to enjoy the movie/series adaptations of this story. Nevertheless I think I’ll give him another chance in the future (but not a near future 😂) with Washington Square and The Portrait of a Lady. But after those two, it will be over if I do not enjoy his writing again!
Hi, Katie! Looking forward to participating in my second Victober. My TBR this year includes Armadale and The Hound of the Baskervilles. I'm leaning towards reading the group read if I can get a copy of it at the library. After hearing your suggestions for your challenge, I might add The Turn of the Screw. I've seen three screen adaptations of it, but I have never read the story.
The best time of year 😍
I’m very excited for the Victorber Reading Challenge! Your suggestions are quite interesting. I’m looking at the other videos by the hosts, and putting together a tbr now which I find fun to do. I will try to read as many as possible along with the group read (I’ll need to get it first) and some books to honor Jennifer and Alice. I look forward to your Victober videos too!
Who are Jennifer and Alice? Are their videos still available?
They were two wonderful Booktubers who passed away earlier this year. I’ve linked some of their videos in this video description.
I LOVED this! I loved your enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge and insights on all this magnificent Victorian novels you've read. . . Bleak House is in my top five all time favorite novels,. . . I LOVE Dracula! (And I LOVE Madam Bovary) but your descriptions, the book covers shown, and observations have made my mouth water! This summer I read Thomas Hardy Tess of the d'Urbervilles. . . I love Hardy. . . off to find some of the books you recommended.
I'm planning on reading Jekyll & Hyde and some Sheridan Le Fanu. I'll add in some Sherlock Holmes plus I'm going to see if I can get The Beetle out of the library 😁 (I love books that play with form in some way so I'm sure I'll revisit these recommendations in future!) (Also, I would love a hypothetical PhD vid!)
I'm looking forward to Victober!
I will take part this October. I found out about this last year but I was plowing through Proust. Thank you for all these lovely recommendations.
Have you read The Law and the Lady by Collins? It's one of my favs!
I have, and I really liked it 😊
Looking forward to October! I think this year is going to be a quiet victober for me and will only be reading 1 or 2.
I’m so happy it’s time to start planning for Victober. I also wanted to tell you I purchased your first book this morning and I am loving it. I was captivated from page one. So that’s today’s plan: to read your book. It’s all the Victorian good stuff I love but it also feels original. As someone who is deaf in one ear I also love that unexpected detail! 🤍
Thanks so much ☺️
I am a big Wilkie Collins fan and I've read almost everything he ever wrote. While The Moonstone and The Woman in White are fantastic, may I suggest another novel by Wilkie that I found equally fantastic - The Law and The Lady. I would add a lesser book but very enjoyable is his short novel A Rogue's Life.
I'm excited for this year's victober because I haven't read enough classics this year.
Yey!!! I'm sooo EXCITED about Victober!! 🥳 🩷
I'm going to continue reading David Copperfield. I am loving it & hope to finish it by December.
I want to read The Grey Woman by Elizabeth Gaskill and Jazabel's Daughter by Wilkie Collins.
So excited!
Thank you! I can't wait for Victober. This is my fourth year participating. I will be figuring out my TBR over the next week or so.
On another note, you inspired me to read a Victorian novel for every year of Victoria's reign because I heard you mention this idea in a video a while back. I think I have twelve more to go. I try to choose this TBR to work within the remaining dates, but that's not always possible.
Such a fun project!
@@katiejlumsden It sure is. I am coming into the home stretch. Thank you!
So excited to participate in Victober! If the leaves are falling and the nights are cooler, it must be time to curl up with a hot beverage and consider what to read!
I have pulled out my Victober eligible books. There’s too many to fit into one month alone so I am going to spread out my Victorian reading into September and October. I want to make sure to have at least one book for each of the host prompts in October. You gave me quite a few ideas from the books on my shelf. I could read HG Wells’ The Time Machine for Shorty September or for Victober.
I'm so excited for Victober this year! I've never read Wilkie Collins but I am planning to put something (not sure yet which one) on my list. I'm currently reading Nicholas Nickleby... I may put that on hold and finish it in October, but I am really enjoying that so far, even though I'm not as interested in Kate's sections.
A friend and I were planning on reading one or both of Dickens portmanteau stories m so great to see your prompt Katie. The Fate of Fenella sounds so good I might have to make room for that too! Lovely also to see a prompt in memory of Jennifer and Alice. Now to make an entirely unattainable TBR 😉
This time of year is always so much fun! Because of this video, I’m getting excited to read some Collins, so thank you! I will definitely be up for your hypothetical degree program and curriculum! ! Long ramble: RE. Henry James American or English: Here in the US, while we do have lots of cross and sub-designations for the time period between 1837 and 1901, (for example, The Gilded Age is one such sub-designation) in general I feel like when we Americans say "Victorian" we mean "characteristic of the reign of Queen Victoria of England or the art, letters, or tastes of her time or typical of the moral standards, attitudes, or conduct of the age of Victoria." Yes, even though Victoria was not our queen, here in the States, the term Victorian has come to be accepted in common usage as referring to architecture, literature, clothing, manners, painting, etc. from that era. So I always need to remind myself in October that specifically Victober only includes England and Ireland and that my guess is that in England children grow up being taught that this is felt to be a very important distinction! Additionally, there are so many places in the world touched by her reign and influence, our neighbor to the North, Canada included. So weirdly, I think of Henry James as "an American-Victorian author." It's also interesting to note that Michael Sims who edits several Penguin Classics collections, has American authors from the 1800's in his Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime: Forgotten Cops and Private Eyes from the Time of Sherlock Holmes (which I'll happily be reading this fall). Which shows that even Penguin black spines has, in some instances, relaxed the term. So I'm excited to read some of your suggestions for #Victober proper, and additionally in future vlogs, explore some "American Victorian" writers alongside as well, just for fun.
I find it so strange that in the US the term Victorian is used even to refer to American things. The social context of the countries in the 19th century was just so very different. In the UK, in academia and more widely, Victorian and Victorian literature would always mean British and Irish, maybe sometimes the wider British Empire at the time depending, but never the US. Always interesting to see how different definitions are used! I do know a lot of people use Victober as a jumping off point to read 19th century literature more widely.
@@katiejlumsden I’m very interested in hearing about what you consider the major differences! Do you mean politics? Religion? Fashion? I think sometimes we presume that our countries operated in bubbles, when in fact there was a lot of traveling back and forth and socializing and cultural cross pollination.. For example, 1800’s social life in Cleveland, Ohio was extremely influenced by the many English people who had immigrated there. Another example: Kate Warne, an early female detective, was an American, born in my home state of New York. She went to work for Pinkerton (who himself had immigrated from Scotland) and her story was so interesting that English newspapers reported her experiences verbatim from American newspapers. Her exploits excited the English public imagination to the point that a number of English women followed in her footsteps as English female detectives. I know you’re busy; no need to respond if you can’t, and I know I’m citing hyper-specific examples, but I’m just curious to learn more about why England and Ireland were considered so rigidly different than the US and Canada during the reign of Victoria. At least in terms of social culture it seems like there are similarities. Maybe there are some good books out there that discuss this. I will research further! Because here in the US, we definitely do refer to aspects of 1800’s social history as “Victorian “! 😊
You have inspired me to read more Dickens. I'm reading Barnaby Rudge and really enjoying it. 😊
I can’t wait. Loved this event last year and coincidentally I bought The Doctor’s Wife a couple of weeks ago 😊
Great timing 😊
I'm glad to see The Ring and the Book getting a mention; I wrote about it for my M.A. work. I think I'll reread the Tenant of Wildfell Hall for the form challenge, though.
I thought it a really interesting read!
My second Victober! I will be reading The Woman in White with my book club (my first Wilkie Collins). 🙂
📖You always give us a plethora of choices! Thanks, Katie, for every video.
the fate of fennella sounds amazing wow !!!! i might try get to that :)
Thank you for so many great suggestions for your challenge. I’ve picked out a few books I’d like to read. Would Irish Fairytales and Folklore by Yeats qualify?
Yes, feel free to count it - not one I've read, but it looks like he collected and preserved lots of stories from different sources, so that feels like an unusual form to me.
Love it!!! Are there any Victober theme shirts?
An Etsy creator, PixieHallows, has made some 😊 www.etsy.com/shop/PixieHallows
This is a great incentive to read Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton that has been on my shelves for so long!!
Looking forward to participate in Victober for the first time after watching from the sideline on Jennifer’s channel. I already planned to reread Wuthering Heights, but I would love to read The Moonstone as well, it’s waiting for me on the shelf, so to read it during Victober to honour Jenny is a great idea.
Hi, Do you all know that Jess from the channel Stalking Kafka is currently hosting a group read of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone? We haven't finished the First Period yet, so it's not too late to join! 😃
I would love to hear if your ranking of Dickens changed any by reading them in order.
It definitely has!
Madame Bovary is an all time favorite. What was your issue with it? It’s so beautiful
I just didn't really get on with it - found it a little dry and not for me, didn't connect with the characters. It was very much a personal thing - I didn't think it was bad, just that it wasn't my sort of book.
@@katiejlumsden the characters are unappealing by design. It’s so the only point of reader identification is authorial technique and style. It’s to demonstrate that the artist can elevate the banal and provincial.
It seems I've been waiting a year for this announcement. 😂 Your prompt is awesome. Another one that would work for this is the Victorian horror novel The Three Imposters. It's a cool frame narrative with interconnected stories.
Sounds great!
Don't know if I'll get to it, but I won't pass up (again) the opportunity to buy Fate of Fenella. And I do want to get to Wilkie Collins sometime.
This is so exciting! How lovely of you to have thought on Jennifer and Alice, I'll definitely include some Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in my TBR. I'm already getting over-ambitious, but I'm thinking on rereading Cranford for your challenge (and perhaps for Marissa's too? I need to check that out), on reading Linda Tressel for Kate's challenge and a play by Oscar Wilde for Ros's challenge, along with A Rogue's life by Wilkie Collins and a Sherlock Holmes short story for the group challenge. I have also planned a buddy read of Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli and I'd love to join the group read too! Who knows, perhaps I can manage all that, they seem to be rather short and/or light readings 🤔😂
Cranford was indeed serialised!
can you explicate the difference between confidence and aplomb??
Thanks
I want to reread Jane Eyre this victober, the book that got me into reading ❤
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen has multiple narrators, if I remember rightly. And The Three Imposters is a novel composed of short stories, also by Machen.
What fun!
What is your Patreon Historical Fiction group going to be reading? I might be interested in joining that group.
We’re going to be reading Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell for Victober 🙂
My favorite diary-style novel is Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White!
Oh, The Beetle is SO GOOD. I wrote a paper on it in college. Yes, the anti-foreigner elements don't age well: it's such a common trait among Victorian viction.
Henry James is _American!_
The Sherlock Holmes story that plays with form is _The Sign of Four._
Henry James spent a lot of his life in the UK, though, and set a lot of his books here, so I believe some Victorian scholars do count him as Victorian. And A Study in Scarlet definitely plays with form, too.
are going to read Oliver
Never read Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (serialized) nor D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow (religion) that are sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to read them. Thanks for heads up!
I don't know Madame Bovary translates that well into English, as Flaubert had hoped to craft something straddling poetry and prose. In its other sense - as one of my teachers argues - it was intended to demonstrate how middle and working class people can be the subjects of high tragedy. However, if you don't connect with Charles and Emma then clearly that experiment failed. I'm hoping to participate in Victober, possibly with an Oscar Wilde play, or if it qualifies one from GB Shaw. Thx!
Yes, I just found that I didn’t connect much to it!
Heya, I just noticed that there might be a typo in the description cause it says "3 chapters a day every day, except for 18 October, where we read 3 chapters" Just wanted to let you know! x
Whoops, thank you!
The Victober police, I'll have to check the dates. I don't want them chasing me, especially if Holmes is helping them. 😄
😂
I hope to read the heir of redcylffe Oscar Wilde the woman in white atm could change but been listening to audible collection of wikie Collins .❤
Another possibility with form would be Black Beauty by Anna Sewell told in first person by a non human character.
For a religious theme Victorian read, Trollope's Barchester Chronicles comes to mind. By the way, Alan Rickman (the Reverend Obadiah Slope) was mostly unknown before the BBC serialized it. Rickman later became Colonel Brandon in the Sense and Sensibility movie of 1995, and also starred in the Harry Potter movies.
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Haha the Victober Police! 😂 🚨 📚
'Victober Police'... 😂