I have The Wardens too, unread on my shelves… Other than Pride and Prejudice, I have read none of these books, but they look like great choices. Have a great reading year!
Your plans sound great, Jess! For your Dickens project, I would recommend either Pickwick because it is vignettes and so can easily be picked up and put down amongst other books or Our Mutual Friend. Great characters and excellent plot, you’ll find strong female characters here as well.
I vote for Little Dorritt. I haven’t read it but it sounds great! I’m tackling David Copperfield this year. Sula will be my first read of 2025. I’m buddy reading it so really looking forward to it. I was planning to read The Books of Jacob too. I scored it from a thrift store quite recently - couldn’t pass up a big book for $1. Happy New Year Jess!
Kate Chopins Awakening is a worthwhile read. I so think her short stories are very worthwhile and so often are never read. My goal this year is to complete all of Dickens. I have read about half of his novels. I finished Dombey and Son a couple weeks ago and it has become one of my favorites. I do not think you could possibly go wrong with Oliver Twist - also one of my favorites.
Of these I’ve read the Camus, the Morrison, and the Austen - so I look forward to hearing how you take to them. Of the Dickens, I’ve only read _Oliver Twist._ So I can’t help with the comparison. As a child I was a fan of the movie (based on the Lionel Bart play) _Oliver!_ To film the story, Carol Reed inevitably made plot cuts. So when I got to the novel, which nevertheless I liked a lot, I felt that everything Reed had cut Dickens _ought_ to have cut. That doesn’t help, I know. I’m sure all three are eminently worthwhile.
A great selection, Jess. I also got Where the angels fear to tread & Sula on my priority list next year, good luck to us both lol! And happy new year to you!
I enjoyed Oliver Twist. It was either the first or second Dickens that I read. Since then, I’ve been hooked on Dickens. As a side note, if ever you’re looking to read a Dickens novel with a strong female lead, I recommend Bleak House.
Such varied choices! Brideshead, Sula and Pride and Prejudice are on my list for next year too. For Christmas I received a gorgeous illustrated copy of Pride and Prejudice (which includes little goodies tucked inside, like a map, an invitation and letters from the characters!) I read it years ago, but I can’t wait to try again with the new edition.
I had to read The Plague in high school, and I found it really impactful as we at that same time had a gypsy moth caterpillar plague going on that completely de-leafed about 10 million acres of forest - you stepped on them when you walked outside, you could hear them eating and pooping like rain under the trees, they'd drop and land on you and explode black goo. And I was reading The Plague. Horrifying but also synergistic somehow. One of the only books I've ever managed to read in French is L'etranger; I've long thought about trying to tackle La Peste in the original and even bought a copy and started, but only got about 30 pages in and never finished (that was years ago now). Hm....
So many delightful classics! ❤ I’ve not read any of the Dickens selections, so I’m hard pressed to make a suggestion. Perhaps Dorrit as a later more mature representation of his craft?
I have read all of George Eliot's books, and of these, I like Mill on the Floss the least. Try Silas Marner. The 3 Dickens picks are great. Oliver Twist and Pickwick are very early; in fact at certain points Dickens wrote them at the same time. Dorrit is brilliant. Pride and Prejudice is splendidly written, but as usual it drives me crazy because of the social straightjacket she (or her society) places on women--or middle-class women, who must either marry for money or marry for love--but always marry, since heaven forbid they should WORK. But of course, Austen herself never married, and (gasp) she worked. Persuasion is better.
I found the Plague horribly depressing,and DNF’T it. However I really like THE STRANGER, and A HAPPY DEATH; Also J.P.SARTRE’S NAUSEA,is one of my all time favourites.
Little Dorrit is a good book - and it does have a nice focus on the female protagonist - however it was a really slow read for me. Not my favorite. Of Dicken's books with wonderful female characters - I prefer both Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend. Both of these books have amazing female characters. Our Mutual Friend also has a male Jewish character who is among the most kind of humans - a lovely contrast to the way a Jewish character is portrayed in Oliver Twist.
The Plague is not the place to start with Camus (more like the place to finish). The Stranger is short and great. Every other thing I've read by Camus I'd recommend higher than The Plague. It's long and humorless and one of those classics that you're glad to have finished, not one you enjoy reading.
The Plague is magnificent!
Happy New Year, Jess! I've got The Warden and Pride and Prejudice on my shelf for this year. It would be fun to plan a buddy read for one of those!
Would enjoy a Dickens readalong. I’ll vote for The Pickwick Papers, but I haven’t read any of the three you mentioned, so I’m onboard with any choice.
What a great list. I just got a used copy of the Books of Jacob so O just may join you in that.
I have The Wardens too, unread on my shelves… Other than Pride and Prejudice, I have read none of these books, but they look like great choices. Have a great reading year!
Your plans sound great, Jess! For your Dickens project, I would recommend either Pickwick because it is vignettes and so can easily be picked up and put down amongst other books or Our Mutual Friend. Great characters and excellent plot, you’ll find strong female characters here as well.
I vote for Little Dorritt. I haven’t read it but it sounds great! I’m tackling David Copperfield this year.
Sula will be my first read of 2025. I’m buddy reading it so really looking forward to it.
I was planning to read The Books of Jacob too. I scored it from a thrift store quite recently - couldn’t pass up a big book for $1.
Happy New Year Jess!
I was planning on Sula too; it’s off my TBR shelf and on my nightstand. Jess is the 4th person I’ve heard mention it in the last week!
Kate Chopins Awakening is a worthwhile read. I so think her short stories are very worthwhile and so often are never read. My goal this year is to complete all of Dickens. I have read about half of his novels. I finished Dombey and Son a couple weeks ago and it has become one of my favorites. I do not think you could possibly go wrong with Oliver Twist - also one of my favorites.
Of these I’ve read the Camus, the Morrison, and the Austen - so I look forward to hearing how you take to them.
Of the Dickens, I’ve only read _Oliver Twist._ So I can’t help with the comparison. As a child I was a fan of the movie (based on the Lionel Bart play) _Oliver!_ To film the story, Carol Reed inevitably made plot cuts. So when I got to the novel, which nevertheless I liked a lot, I felt that everything Reed had cut Dickens _ought_ to have cut. That doesn’t help, I know. I’m sure all three are eminently worthwhile.
A great selection, Jess. I also got Where the angels fear to tread & Sula on my priority list next year, good luck to us both lol! And happy new year to you!
I would love to join in with a Dickens readalong, whichever novel you choose, but my preference would be for Little Dorrit.
I enjoyed Oliver Twist. It was either the first or second Dickens that I read. Since then, I’ve been hooked on Dickens.
As a side note, if ever you’re looking to read a Dickens novel with a strong female lead, I recommend Bleak House.
Such varied choices! Brideshead, Sula and Pride and Prejudice are on my list for next year too. For Christmas I received a gorgeous illustrated copy of Pride and Prejudice (which includes little goodies tucked inside, like a map, an invitation and letters from the characters!) I read it years ago, but I can’t wait to try again with the new edition.
Out of the three you mentioned, I think Little Dorrit is the best
I had to read The Plague in high school, and I found it really impactful as we at that same time had a gypsy moth caterpillar plague going on that completely de-leafed about 10 million acres of forest - you stepped on them when you walked outside, you could hear them eating and pooping like rain under the trees, they'd drop and land on you and explode black goo. And I was reading The Plague. Horrifying but also synergistic somehow. One of the only books I've ever managed to read in French is L'etranger; I've long thought about trying to tackle La Peste in the original and even bought a copy and started, but only got about 30 pages in and never finished (that was years ago now). Hm....
I love "A tale of two cities"
So many delightful classics! ❤ I’ve not read any of the Dickens selections, so I’m hard pressed to make a suggestion. Perhaps Dorrit as a later more mature representation of his craft?
Enjoy every second of pride and prejudice!❤
Wonderful list!! For some reason Little Dorritt is calling to me, but I haven't read any of them so my vote probably shouldn't count!
I’m just going to sit back with my popcorn and see which book gets selected for you.🍿
I have read all of George Eliot's books, and of these, I like Mill on the Floss the least. Try Silas Marner. The 3 Dickens picks are great. Oliver Twist and Pickwick are very early; in fact at certain points Dickens wrote them at the same time. Dorrit is brilliant. Pride and Prejudice is splendidly written, but as usual it drives me crazy because of the social straightjacket she (or her society) places on women--or middle-class women, who must either marry for money or marry for love--but always marry, since heaven forbid they should WORK. But of course, Austen herself never married, and (gasp) she worked. Persuasion is better.
I found the Plague horribly depressing,and DNF’T it. However I really like THE STRANGER, and A HAPPY DEATH; Also J.P.SARTRE’S NAUSEA,is one of my all time favourites.
Little Dorrit is a good book - and it does have a nice focus on the female protagonist - however it was a really slow read for me. Not my favorite. Of Dicken's books with wonderful female characters - I prefer both Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend. Both of these books have amazing female characters. Our Mutual Friend also has a male Jewish character who is among the most kind of humans - a lovely contrast to the way a Jewish character is portrayed in Oliver Twist.
Little Dorrit is wonderful! I don’t love Oliver Twist.
The Plague is not the place to start with Camus (more like the place to finish). The Stranger is short and great. Every other thing I've read by Camus I'd recommend higher than The Plague. It's long and humorless and one of those classics that you're glad to have finished, not one you enjoy reading.
Didn't know that. Thank you
😊