Firstly, #Victober.
This is a month long reading challenge to read more Victorian literature. This includes anything - fiction, nonfiction, prose, poetry, or drama - written and/or published in the UK between 1837 and 1901. Thankfully this is perhaps my favourite era of literature, so you can imagine my glee at finding out about this. There are five challenges, and I hope to complete them all.
1. A Plot Afoot
I'll be joining the group read of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. He is an incredible author, and I've read a few of his works when I was in college. Unfortunately that was almost a decade ago, and I've slept since then; I remember very little about The Moonstone apart from the butler's love of another book. I cannot wait to go back to this.
2. Female Author
This is easy for me. I'll be reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. Another novel I've not read since college, I miss the characters, and definitely want to revisit that world. In case you are wondering, George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, who like the Bronte sisters used a different name when writing. I would love to read more of her work, and I'm hoping to use #Victober to do so.
3. Not a Novel
Poetry is one of my loves, so I'll be reading as much of Oscar Wilde's poetry as possible. I'll also be reading a few of his plays if I can - namely The Importance of Being Earnest - because it has been so long since I have. I'd also like to read some of his essays; I've never read them before, and I think this would be a great excuse.
4. Gothic Literature
For this I am spoilt for choice. Gothic fiction is my favourite genre, and it works so well with it being close to Halloween. Sadly Ann Radcliffe was writing almost half a century before the Victorian era started, but there are works by other authors I want to read for this challenge. Naturally Dracula by Bram Stoker comes to mind, along with other quintessential Victorian Gothic works like Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, Frankenstein, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and so on. If I have the time and motivation, I will read as many of these as possible.
5. Read Within a Week
I obviously need to read more than one book a week if I'm going to complete anything! There are too many books I'd love to read for this, so I'm definitely going to get through them as quickly as I can while still enjoying them.
Will you be joining in with #Victober?
From October, I'm also going to be doing Top 5 Wednesdays. This is a group on Goodreads and each week you post your top fives in a category. This is on top of my normal Tuesday posting, and Fangirl Friday which might have more than one post a week. I'm also doing something that I'm not telling you about yet - details will be released nearer the time - so keep checking back for that! Feel free to follow me on the various social networking sites (links at the side) to see when I post here, or for general updates.
I am going to be a busy bunny. I cannot wait.
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