What a wonderful theme for 2024. I hope you will love de Beauvoirs memoirs as much as I do! As for Balzac, I think Eugenie Grandet is a great place to start, and also A Woman of Thirty.
Firstly, I didn't know Nancy Mitford had written non-fiction. I'll get on that right away, thank you. Concerning Dumas, I really enjoyed The Three Musketeers but found The Man in the Iron Mask horribly written. Apparently Dumas worked a lot with apprentices, who effectively wrote some of his novels for him. Whenever I find a title by Dumas(fils or pere) that I've never heard of before, I'm always extra cautious 😅
Yup Mitford did a series of books on European royalty. Vintage prints all of them and apparently they're great if you're not a stickler for ... historic accuracy.
I’m currently reading Les Miserables and have found that I love it and I don’t. Some of the tangents were above my knowledge of French history with a lot of names and places I ve never heard of. I love learning… but sometimes the “educational facts” felt like a slog. THEN, all of a sudden, a story would come through that was written so beautifully that all the “slogging” felt worth it. I keep a journal so I can summarize what I’ve read at each sitting and I’ve found that I remember so much more. It comes in handy when I needed to take time off from this behemoth and I could read the most recent summaries to catch myself up. Enjoy with French music and a glass of wine!
Great theme Julie, and I wish you good luck with your book choices. The only one I've read from your list is Les Miserables, which I read over 30 years ago but still regard as one of my favourite ever reads. Yes it's long, and very involved, but it was such a wonderful deep dive into the characters lives (loves, losses, trials and tribulations) that I found it to be a real page turner. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
love Vanity Fair, it's one of my favourite books. I wish it were a bit shorter so i could make myself read it yet again (would be the fourth time, I think I first read it in my teens, in my twenties a reread, another reread in my thirties and now I have 6 more years in which I can keep to the tradition of rereading over decade) French lit is a huge gap in my knowledge.
What a great theme! I'm really hoping to read the first of Simone de Beauvoir's memoir this year as well. Hope you enjoy your deep dive in French literature 😊
What a fantastic year of reading you've got in store. The tangents in LM are actually mostly interesting. I struggled with the drunken philosophical speeches myself. But it's so amazing. The Black Tulip is a great read, too.
I decided to do a French literature theme this year, too! I'll be reading a lot of Zola, Proust, and Hugo. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the books you mention here
Great theme! If you are looking for more contemporary books - a great non-fiction I recommend is Le Consentement by Venessa Springora. It's a tough (emotionally) read but very eye opening.
I've been meaning to do that theme too, but I think I need to divide it into eras, i.e. 19th century or 20th century American literature. Otherwise it's too big an undertaking.
What a wonderful theme for 2024. I hope you will love de Beauvoirs memoirs as much as I do! As for Balzac, I think Eugenie Grandet is a great place to start, and also A Woman of Thirty.
Firstly, I didn't know Nancy Mitford had written non-fiction. I'll get on that right away, thank you.
Concerning Dumas, I really enjoyed The Three Musketeers but found The Man in the Iron Mask horribly written. Apparently Dumas worked a lot with apprentices, who effectively wrote some of his novels for him. Whenever I find a title by Dumas(fils or pere) that I've never heard of before, I'm always extra cautious 😅
Yup Mitford did a series of books on European royalty. Vintage prints all of them and apparently they're great if you're not a stickler for ... historic accuracy.
What a great theme for 2024. The Black Tulip is a good read and a great way to learn about the history of tulips in The Netherlands.
I’m currently reading Les Miserables and have found that I love it and I don’t. Some of the tangents were above my knowledge of French history with a lot of names and places I ve never heard of. I love learning… but sometimes the “educational facts” felt like a slog. THEN, all of a sudden, a story would come through that was written so beautifully that all the “slogging” felt worth it.
I keep a journal so I can summarize what I’ve read at each sitting and I’ve found that I remember so much more. It comes in handy when I needed to take time off from this behemoth and I could read the most recent summaries to catch myself up. Enjoy with French music and a glass of wine!
There is a nice review of the essays of Montaigne on the RUclips channel called Cloud English. I just ordered a copy of it....
Great theme Julie, and I wish you good luck with your book choices. The only one I've read from your list is Les Miserables, which I read over 30 years ago but still regard as one of my favourite ever reads. Yes it's long, and very involved, but it was such a wonderful deep dive into the characters lives (loves, losses, trials and tribulations) that I found it to be a real page turner. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I love the idea of a theme its such a good approach. Also really like your theme for this year.
I have the Cherie books on my shelf (unread currently) and I’m finally picking up Les Miserables this year for a reading challenge I’m doing.
love Vanity Fair, it's one of my favourite books. I wish it were a bit shorter so i could make myself read it yet again (would be the fourth time, I think I first read it in my teens, in my twenties a reread, another reread in my thirties and now I have 6 more years in which I can keep to the tradition of rereading over decade)
French lit is a huge gap in my knowledge.
It was a genuine surprise how much I found myself enjoying it last year. I might have to do your re-reading every decade thing!
What a great theme! I'm really hoping to read the first of Simone de Beauvoir's memoir this year as well. Hope you enjoy your deep dive in French literature 😊
I definitely wish you luck! What an impressive reading list.
What a fantastic year of reading you've got in store. The tangents in LM are actually mostly interesting. I struggled with the drunken philosophical speeches myself. But it's so amazing. The Black Tulip is a great read, too.
Good to hear re Les Mis. It's the biggest book on my unread pile so I'm keen to tackle it as a priority for the year!
What a neat story about your copy of the Sun King!
I decided to do a French literature theme this year, too! I'll be reading a lot of Zola, Proust, and Hugo. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the books you mention here
Oh yes! Zola is the one major French writer I don't have on my shelf. Good luck with Proust, he's a whole world unto himself really.
Great theme! If you are looking for more contemporary books - a great non-fiction I recommend is Le Consentement by Venessa Springora. It's a tough (emotionally) read but very eye opening.
Ooh I'll look into that for Nonfic November.
Love your themes!
Most of the complete stories of Collette are short. Some are almost one scene rather than a story...
I suspected that might be the case, since my copy seemed to contain an absurd number of stories for a relatively small volume.
Do you get rid of your books after you read them?
Yes, the ones that I'm sure I never want to re-read go to the charity store. The 'keepers' stay on the shelf.
My 2024 theme is American Literature !
I've been meaning to do that theme too, but I think I need to divide it into eras, i.e. 19th century or 20th century American literature. Otherwise it's too big an undertaking.