Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Struggled to Finish

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I've Most Recently Put Down', so I decided to talk about some of the books I struggled to get through. Some of them I ended up enjoying, some of them I really didn't, and the first five are all books I had to read for school/university.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare: I had to read this at school and at university and I can't stand it. I know Hamlet's a masterpiece, I know it's many people's favourite Shakespeare play, but I loathe it; Hamlet's so whiny and useless and I can't believe I kept having to study it over and over again.

Regeneration by Pat Barker: I didn't completely hate this novel, set during the First World War, but I was 17 when I read it and I definitely found it pretty dull. Having said that, I do remember quite a lot about it so maybe it had more of an impact on me than I realise.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I made myself read this over the summer before my third year of university, knowing I would be studying it for my module in Victorian Popular Fiction, and I'm really glad I forced myself through it; not only was I well prepared to talk about it for my classes, but it also ended up becoming one of my favourite classics.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I know this book is beloved by a lot of people, and I completely understand why, but I had to read it during sixth form and I hated it. All of the characters are pretty awful and I just didn't like it.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: This is one of the classics I had to read for school that I'd like to revisit, because it's thanks to this book that, at 18, I convinced myself I hated everything Austen. The older I get the more I understand Austen and I'd like to try reading this again because, as beloved as Pride and Prejudice is, a lot of people consider this novel to be her true masterpiece.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler: This is a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew in the Hogarth Shakespeare series and I was really excited for it. I ended up hating it, but I forced my way through it because it's fairly short. Check out my review here.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver: I really, really liked Delirium, the first book in this series, but both Pandemonium and Requiem were such disappointments for me and Requiem in particular I really had to force myself through, only to be given the most disappointing ending I've ever come across in a series. I could see what Oliver was trying to do, but I think she should have wrapped the story up just a little more.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Undoubtedly this is a beautiful book, but I didn't love this one as much as I thought I would because it took me so long to get through it. Morgenstern's writing and her descriptions were beautiful, but I found Celia and Marco's relationship a bit too dull to really be invested in and, looking back, I don't think I ever really cared how the book was going to end.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik: I had a similar problem with this novel, I loved the ideas behind it but something about Novik's writing meant I didn't completely get on with it and it ended up taking me a while to finish it. I enjoyed it, but when I put it down I didn't feel compelled to pick it back up. Check out my review here.

Diving Belles by Lucy Wood: Unfortunately this one is probably my most disappointing read of this year because I so wanted to love it, but I realised fairly early on it wasn't what I was hoping it would be and that meant that, like Uprooted, I just didn't feel compelled to pick it up and read it and I ended up having to force my way through the end just to cross it off my TBR. Check out my review here if you want to know more about why I wasn't a big fan!

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Back to School

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a freebie! I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about at first, and then I thought I'd talk about some of the books I really enjoyed that I had to read for school and university.

Books I Read for School

Skellig by David Almond: I don't know how well Skellig is known overseas, but it's become a bit of a children's classic here in Britain. Skellig was the very first book I had to read when I started secondary school and I loved it so much. It's enchanting and spooky and hopeful, and one that I recommend you read however old you are.

Holes by Louis Sachar: Pretty much everyone knows this book, right? It's another modern children's classic in my book, and another one I was given to read during my early years of secondary school. I don't actually own copies of Holes or Skellig, so I think I may have to treat myself soon...

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: I was introduced to Jane Eyre when I was 14, and I've loved it ever since; in fact it's probably Jane Eyre I have to thank for my love of Victorian Literature today. It's a brilliant story, and personally I think Jane is one of the most fantastic heroines ever.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Sadly British schools now only look at British Literature when it comes to the GCSEs, which is a real shame and just plain wrong. There's a lot of fantastic British Literature out there, but there's also a great wealth of international work that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't encountered them during my GCSEs. Anyway. Rant over. When I was in school we were always given a piece of American Lit to read, and we ended up with Of Mice and Men. I didn't have very high hopes for this when I was first given it, but despite its short length it's probably one of the few classics I find myself thinking about quite a lot, even now. It's not a particularly happy story, but it's a great place to start if you're a bit wary of classics!

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare: Okay, okay, so I know Shakespeare's plays are really meant to be seen and heard rather than read, but I had so much fun reading this one during my A Levels. It certainly helped that I had an amazing English teacher.

Books I Read for University

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: And now we move onto the university books. I read this in my first year of university when we were studying postmodernism, and any fans of retellings really need to pick it up. It's such a fun story and there are so many references to old stories from 1001 Nights to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: I did a course on Romanticism during my second year of university where I ended up studying Frankenstein. I now consider it one of my favourite classics, and I think Mary Shelley was a genius.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla is a pre-Dracula vampiric Victorian novella. Try saying that five times fast. I had to read it for my Victorian Gothic module and it's probably my favourite book from that module, and is now another of my favourite classics. It's so good, and great for anyone who's intimidated by classics!

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I had to read The Moonstone for my Victorian Popular Fiction module and I fell in love with it. I'm fascinated by imperialism in Victorian Literature, the representation of India and its people, and I ended up writing an essay about imperialism for this module which I got a first for! This is thought to be the very first detective novel, and it's brilliant.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: This is the other classic I talked about in that essay. I loved the 1993 adaptation of this book growing up, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't actually read it until I studied it at university. I loved the book; it's become another favourite, and it's another book that's a great starting point for anyone intimidated by classics.

What did you talk about this week?

Going Once, Going Twice!

I was contacted by the lovely people at Invaluable, an online auction marketplace who have items like jewellery, fine art, and collectibles for sale. Invaluable wanted to know if I felt like blogging about some collectible and antique books I'd love to own. Naturally, I said yes; I'm a book blogger, so I'm never going to miss an opportunity to talk about books

Just as a disclaimer, I'm not getting paid to do this post - it's just a bit of blogging fun!

I've never been to an auction, book or otherwise, but one day I'd like to go to one - though there are some first editions I'm sure I'll never be able to afford.

After perusing the selection of Invaluable's first editions - because let's be honest, I'm not buying a book from an auction unless I can have a first edition - I managed to find three that I certainly wouldn't mind adding to my shelves given the opportunity. I decided to stay away from the obvious choices: I think it's fairly clear from the title of my blog that I'd trade my firstborn for a first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and I'd probably sell a kidney for a first edition of Frankenstein.

1. Lot #98 | No Name by Wilkie Collins

I hadn't even heard of No Name until I stumbled across this lot, a 3 volume first edition from 1862. I love The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - in fact if I could grab a first edition of that I'd jump at the chance! - and I've been meaning to read more of his work ever since I read and loved that, said to be the very first detective novel. No Name tells the story of Magdalen and Norah Vanstone who are disinherited by the law and evicted from their home after their parents die and it is revealed they weren't married at the time of their birth. While one sister struggles through the trials that come with being a governess, the other decides to exact her revenge on those who have wronged them. It sounds fantastic, and I love the colour of these first editions which just so happen to still be bound in the original cloth.


2. Lot #729 | Fables of Aesop

I've always loved Aesop's Fables, they were as much a part of my childhood as the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and Roald Dahl, and this first American edition from 1848 is gorgeous. I love how royal it looks with that deep blue and embossed gold all over the cover, and I think it would look very pretty on any bookshelf. (But especially on mine!)

3. Lot #260 | Het Achterhuis by Anne Frank


You might be thinking 'Jess, what the hell do you want with a book you literally can't read?', but I love the idea of owning books in their original language. Anne Frank didn't write her diary in English, she wrote it in Dutch, so I think this Dutch first edition from 1947 is very special indeed.

Many thanks to Invaluable for contacting me, and for letting me spend a few pleasant hours browsing their first editions!

Top Ten Tuesday | All Time Favourite Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books you would classify as ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOKS from the past 3 years'. I thought I'd find this list fairly tricky, but as much as I really love a lot of the books I read there are only a select few that end up on my list of favourites!

Feed by Mira Grant: Is it any surprise that this book is on my list? Feed was my favourite read of last year, and has an eternal place on my favourite books of all time list.

Cress by Marissa Meyer: I love The Lunar Chronicles, it's one of my favourite series, and so far the Cress has been the best book in the series in my opinion. It was so much fun to read, and I can't wait for Winter!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: This is another book that I didn't read until last year - I know, what took me so long? - and I just adored it. I'm a big fan of Gaiman's work, but I think this is my favourite of his novels, with American Gods coming in at a close second.

Rat Queens, Vol.1: Sass and Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch: I only read this in January, but I've absolutely fallen in love with this series.

The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown: I found this book in a local charity shop and read it in my first year of university. It's just a traditional high fantasy novel; there's witches, dragons, unicorns, knights and talking animals. It's a really lovely little book, and what makes me love it all the more is that the fate of the world doesn't depend on the heroes' success in their quest. The only thing that's going to be affected by the outcome is their happiness.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: The first of my three all time favourite classics. Screw Dracula, read Carmilla.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson: Such a beautiful book. If you haven't read this yet I can't recommend it more, it's just stunning.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: The second of my all time favourite classics. I thought I was going to hate this book when I had to read it for a Popular Victorian Fiction module at university but I ended up really enjoying it. If you're interested in some pre-Sherlock Victorian detective fiction then I recommend checking it out!

Corrag by Susan Fletcher: My list wouldn't be complete without some historical fiction, and Corrag is a gorgeous novel. If you're a fan of novels like Burial Rites or Alias Grace then this is another book worth your time!

Frankenstein Mary Shelley: The third of my all time favourite classics. This book is a masterpiece.

Which books made your list?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I'd Read if I Had a Book Club

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Books I'd Love To Read With My Book Club/If I Had A Book Club'. Sadly, I don't have a book club; my local library has one that meets each month, but it's at 2:00 on a Wednesday and I work 9-5 Monday-Friday. Oh well!

I was thinking of theming this post, but instead I decided to go for the ten books I'd most love to talk about with other people. I've decided to split my list into books I'd love to reread, and books I haven't read yet. So, without further ado, here are my top ten!

Books I'd Reread

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman: One of my all time favourite books. There are so many things in this book to discuss, and I'd love to hear what other people had to say about it.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Again, this is another favourite and another book in which there's a lot to talk about. This classic is just fascinating.

Feed by Mira Grant: Haha, I think we should just assume that this book is going to pop up on the majority of my TTT posts from now on. Honestly the main reason I'd want to read this for a book club is to make even more people read it because it's amazing and I love it.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: Probably my favourite classic. There. I said it. Again, there's a lot to talk about in this novel. It's quite dense, yes, but if you stick with it it's so worth it.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: I just think this book would be a lot of fun to read with other people, and, again, there's a lot to talk about here!

Books I'd Read for the First Time

Among Others by Jo Walton: I've heard a lot of wonderful things about this book, and something about it makes me think it'd be a great book club read.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: I need to read this book (I promise I'll get to it this year, Mallory!) and I might read it sooner if I had to read it for a book club. Plus I think there'd be a lot to discuss.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: I think a book about books would be a great choice for a reading group, and I've heard brilliant things about this book! Plus I like book clubs that include books that were not originally written in English.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: I feel like this is a classic I have to read before I die, but I'm not all that interested by it. The premise doesn't put me off (I know that probably sounds weird, but I'm more frightened by supernatural creatures than I am by creepy people) although I'm sure reading it would certainly make me uncomfortable, and I think it'd be a really interesting book to discuss with other people.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke: This book is such a beast. My copy's like a brick, I swear to God it should be one of the murder weapons in Cluedo. A book's size usually doesn't put me off, but this one is the exception. A book club might finally make me crack this baby open!

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I'd Like to Reread!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I Want To Reread/Would Reread In An Ideal World'.

I wasn't sure if I was going to take part in TTT this week because I don't tend to reread books that often; I have such a huge TBR list that I'm usually too busy reading something I haven't read before to reread an old favourite. What I tend to do is reread some of my favourite sections in books rather than reread the entire book. That being said I would like to try rereading books more in future, and these are the ten I'd most like to reread!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling: To be honest I'd like to reread the entire Harry Potter series because it's been far too long since I last read them and I miss this world and these characters!

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy: Again, this is another series I'd like to reread and then finish. I've read all of the books up to Kingdom of the Wicked, and there are that many characters with that many bizarre names that I think if I tried diving into Kingdom of the Wicked now I'd be pretty confused! These books are so much fun, though, so I really don't think they'll take me long to reread when I get around to them.

Sabriel by Garth Nix: This is another book I haven't read in years. I first discovered Sabriel when I was around 13/14 and I loved it, so I'd love to reread it, and the rest of The Old Kingdom series, very soon - especially with the recent release of Clariel!

Cress by Marissa Meyer: I read The Lunar Chronicles a lot more recently and it's quickly become one of my favourite series. I really enjoyed Cinder and Scarlet, but I adored Cress - it was so action-packed and cool and fun; I can't wait for the releases of Fairest and Winter next year!

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson: This is one of my favourite standalones. It's beautifully written and just gorgeous, so I'd love to reread it.

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë: I'm actually hoping to reread Agnes Grey pretty soon, not only because it's one of my favourite classics but also because I'd love to challenge myself to adapt it into a screenplay. For years I've been complaining about how there's no drama adaptation of Agnes Grey, and then it occurred to me that if I want an adaptation maybe I should write it myself.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: Another of my favourite classics. I'd love to reread it but, as with most Victorian literature, it's very dense!

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris: I have yet to read Hannibal Rising, Red Dragon or Hannibal, so once I get my hands on some copies of them I'd love to read the entire series, including a reread of The Silence of the Lambs. Plus I need my fix until season 3 of Hannibal...

The Undressed by Jemma L. King: Unlike the other books on my list, this is a poetry collection. I read it earlier this year during my publishing internship, and I'd love to buy my own copy and reread it to my heart's content - it's a fabulous little book.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Another favourite classic of mine. This book has one of my favourite last lines of any book ever, and as much as I often go back and reread that final little section I'd like to read it from start to finish again.

Which books made your list?

Top Ten Tuesday | Character Driven Novels

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books For Readers Who Like Character Driven Novels', so let's dive in!

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson: A gorgeous book that not enough people have read. The story is narrated by a former pornographer who survives a car crash, brought on by drunk driving, that leaves him horrifically burned. It's stunning, please read it.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: One of my favourite classics, and believed to be the very first English detective novel. The Moonstone's dense, but it's worth getting through; it has a brilliant array of characters, some you'll love and some you'll hate, who really drive the story forward.

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë: Another of my favourite classics which, like the majority of the books on this list, has a spectacularly ordinary story. There's nothing groundbreaking about the plot, but Agnes brings this story to life. Highly recommended!

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood: For the most part this book tells us a story that we already know - or at least one that we think we know - but what makes it so fun to read is Penelope's narration. A great read for any lovers of Greek mythology.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: Honestly I'm not a big fan of Austen, but there's no denying that in terms of plot Persuasion is probably the weakest of her novels. The story is very basic, but many Austen fans still love this novel dearly because of its character development.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: If you ignore the odd twists and turns in the plot of Jane Eyre, it's actually a fairly ordinary story. What makes this novel so popular is Jane herself.

Corrag by Susan Fletcher: Another horrendously underrated novel. This book is beautifully written and stars one of the most endearing heroines I've ever come across in historical fiction. It's slow and unassuming, but it's so worth the read.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: I'm currently reading Rebecca for the first time, and even though I'm only around 20% of the way through it's already a quiet, claustrophobic read. It's up to the reader to decide which character is driving this novel: is it our narrator, or is it Rebecca?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: Just like Agnes Grey and Jane Eyre, when you strip Wuthering Heights down to the bare bones there isn't all that much to it plot-wise. It's a story that can be easily summed up in a few sentences, but what makes it fascinating to read is its unapologetic protagonists, Cathy and Heathcliff.

The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown: I have a lot of bookish friends, and through the blogosphere I know readers all over the world too, and yet I've never met a single person who's read this book. It's a traditional fantasy book; there are knights, witches, dragons and unicorns, and I love it. While it is a story about a quest, it's not a quest to save the world; the only thing at stake is the protagonists' happiness. If you're a fan of traditional fantasy then I highly recommend this book!

Which books made your top ten?

Top Ten Tuesday | Authors I Need to Read More Of!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Authors I've Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More', which sounded like way too much fun to miss! So, without further ado, here are my top ten:

Eva Ibbotson

One Book Read: A Company of Swans

Diana Wynne Jones

One Book Read: Howl's Moving Castle

J. Sheridan Le Fanu

One Book Read: Carmilla

Katherine Howe

One Book Read: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Margaret Atwood

One Book Read: The Penelopiad

Rainbow Rowell

One Book Read: Attachments

Wilkie Collins

One Book Read: The Moonstone

Susan Fletcher

One Book Read: Corrag

Shirley Jackson

One Book Read: The Haunting of Hill House

Geraldine Brooks

One Book Read: Year of Wonders

Who made your top ten?

TBR | Classics

I love a good classic - who doesn't? - and while there are quite a few I've already read there are so many more that I still haven't read yet, so I thought I'd share them with you!

I don't know if I'm going to read these classics in 2014, it'd be nice if I did but I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to read things I'm not in the mood to read. I think that's why I had so many slumps in 2013 - all I could think about was the challenge to read 50 books that I'd set myself. I'm very proud I completed that challenge but I won't be setting myself another one this year just because reading became a chore rather than something I enjoyed.

So, here's the list of classics that I own which I still haven't read. I'd like to try and read them this year!

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

Imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Edmond Dantès spends 14 bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learned during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge that will bring punishment to those he holds responsible for his fate. No longer the naïve sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the charming, mysterious, and powerful Count of Monte Cristo.

The Count of Monte Cristo is the one book on this list that I have actually started, though I think I've only read the first two chapters so far, which is barely any of the book at all.

I certainly should have read this book already, given that I'm fairly sure I've owned my copy for about six years. Oops! I think the main reason I haven't started it until now is just because I've always found its size intimidating. The story sounds amazing - I love a revenge story - and I think there's a very good chance it could become one of my favourite books once I'm done with it, I just need to get through it all first.

More than any other books on this list, I'm determined to read this one this year!

Villette

by Charlotte Brontë

With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette.

There she struggles to retain her self- possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings, first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emmanuel. Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë's last and most autobiographical novel is a powerfully moving study of isolation and the pain of unrequited love, narrated by a heroine determined to preserve an independent spirit in the face of adverse circumstances.

As much as I love the Brontës the only novel written by Charlotte that I've read so far is Jane Eyre, it being the most well known of her works. I've heard great things about all of her novels, though, and I bought myself this copy of Villette last year purely because I thought the cover was really pretty.

Villette was Charlotte's final novel and the story sounds pretty interesting, so I'm hoping I'll get around to reading it this year!

Dracula

by Bram Stoker

A young lawyer on an assignment finds himself imprisoned in a Transylvanian castle by his mysterious host. Back at home his fiancée and friends are menaced by a malevolent force which seems intent on imposing suffering and destruction. Can the devil really have arrived on England’s shores? And what is it that he hungers for so desperately?

Considering I had to study this novel for the final two weeks of my Victorian Gothic module I really should have read it by now. Though I feel I should receive some credit for managing to discuss a novel I hadn't read in class...

I've tried to read this book several times, but each time I've tried I just haven't been able to get into it and I'm not entirely sure why. It was written in Whitby, though, a town very close to where I grew up, and I'd love to finally be able to say that I've read it.

I can't see myself reading it any time soon - unless the Dracula show I've recorded puts me in the mood - but I may save it for Halloween 2014 and read it then!

Emma

by Jane Austen

'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.'

Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.

I'm going to tell you a secret: I don't like Jane Austen's novels.

The stories themselves are entertaining enough to watch adaptations of, but I just can't get away with Austen's writing style. People are always trying to tell me how funny and witty she is, and while sometimes I can see it there are other times where I want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.

I think one of the biggest reasons I dislike her novels is that the first Austen novel I read was Persuasion, which I had to read for school when I was seventeen. I absolutely hated it. Mainly because of the heroine; I finished that novel feeling as though she had learned nothing, and I hate it when a book makes me feel like that.

Since then I've had to read Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Northanger Abbey all for university and I just didn't enjoy her writing style. 

So why do I want to try and read Emma? Well I can't judge it until I've at least tried it, and it seems a shame that it's sitting unread on my shelf. I should also point out that I bought my copy of Emma before I read Persuasion, so I had no idea I was going to dislike Austen's writing then.

If I'm in the mood perhaps I'll give Emma a try this year!

Middlemarch

by George Eliot

Dorothea Brooke can find no acceptable outlet for her talents or energy and few who share her ideals. As an upper middle-class woman in Victorian England she can't learn Greek or Latin simply for herself; she certainly can't become an architect or have a career; and thus, Dorothea finds herself "Saint Theresa of nothing." Believing she will be happy and fulfilled as "the lampholder" for his great scholarly work, she marries the self-centered intellectual Casaubon, twenty-seven years her senior. Dorothea is not the only character caught by the expectations of British society in this huge, sprawling book. Middlemarch stands above its large and varied fictional community, picking up and examining characters like a jeweler observing stones. There is Lydgate, a struggling young doctor in love with the beautiful but unsuitable Rosamond Vincy; Rosamond's gambling brother Fred and his love, the plain-speaking Mary Garth; Will Ladislaw, Casaubon's attractive cousin, and the ever-curious Mrs. Cadwallader. The characters mingle and interact, bowing and turning in an intricate dance of social expectations and desires. Through them George Eliot creates a full, textured picture of life in provincial nineteenth-century England.

George Eliot was another author I was introduced to in school, and, unlike Jane Austen, my introduction to her was much sweeter.

So far all I've read of Eliot's is the novella Silas Marner, a classic which I love. Unlike Persuasion, the characters in Silas Marner all get their just deserts and I love to see that happen in a story because it rarely happens in real life!

During the second year of my A Levels I studied the theme of 'love through the ages'. We looked at extracts of prose, plays and poetry from Renaissance to Contemporary literature, and this included a few extracts from Middlemarch. The extract I remember reading most vividly involved poor Dorothea thinking of how disappointing her marriage had turned out to be.

Since then it's been on my to-read list, and I might just get around to it in 2014.

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... These well-known and loved lines begin Dickens's most exciting novel, set during the bloodiest moments of the French Revolution. When former aristocrat Charles Darnay learns that an old family servant needs his help, he abandons his safe haven in England and returns to Paris. But once there, the Revolutionary authorities arrest him not for anything he has done, but for his rich family's crimes. Also in danger: his wife, Lucie, their young daughter, and her aged father, who have followed him across the Channel. 

I have to admit I haven't actually read much Dickens at all. I read Oliver Twist when I was a child after my parents bought me a beautiful, illustrated version. Since then I haven't gone back to it, however, because Nancy's death terrified me when I was little.

I've also read A Christmas Carol - the Christmas story - and I love it! I think it's also one of Dickens' more enjoyable stories purely because it's more of a novella than a novel, and therefore isn't as intimidating.

Other than that, though, I've only watched adaptations. I'd never been particularly interested in reading A Tale of Two Cities before last year - I always found the 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' quote rather irritating - but recently I've been developing more of an interest in French literature and French history. I had no real idea what A Tale of Two Cities was about, so when I discovered it was set during the time of the French Revolution I bought a copy!

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

by Victor Hugo

In the vaulted Gothic towers of Notre-Dame lives Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bellringer. Mocked and shunned for his appearance, he is pitied only by Esmerelda, a beautiful gypsy dancer to whom he becomes completely devoted. Esmerelda, however, has also attracted the attention of the sinister archdeacon Claude Frollo, and when she rejects his lecherous approaches, Frollo hatches a plot to destroy her that only Quasimodo can prevent. 

Speaking of the French, here's another French classic!

Like a lot of people out there I'm a huge fan of Disney's version of Hugo's classic tale, but I'm aware that the original source material is much darker. Even though I'm fairly sure the novel doesn't include talking gargoyles or sing-alongs I'd still love to read it, especially considering I've yet to read anything written by Victor Hugo.

I'd love to work my way through Les Misérables at some point, but The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a lot shorter, so I think I'll start with that one first!

North and South

by Elizabeth Gaskell

When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction. 

Gaskell is yet another author whose works I've barely read. So far the only story of hers I have read is The Old Nurse's Story, a short ghost story which I liked a lot, but I'd love to sink my teeth into one of her novels.

I already know the story behind North and South as I watched the BBC adaptation a couple of years ago, and it only made me want to read the book more. Richard Armitage will forever be my John Thornton; he looked brilliant in a top hat!

Not only that, but I think Margaret Hale will be a literary heroine I can relate to. I know from personal experience what it's like to have to move from one end of the country to another because of my dad's work - in fact I've done it several times.

So with any luck, North and South will be another classic I get through this year!

The Woman in White

by Wilkie Collins

"There in the middle of the broad, bright high-road-there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven-stood the figure of a solitary woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments."

Thus young Walter Hartright first meets the mysterious woman in white in what soon became one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century. Secrets, mistaken identities, surprise revelations, amnesia, locked rooms and locked asylums, and an unorthodox villain made this mystery thriller an instant success when it first appeared in 1860, and it has continued to enthrall readers ever since. From the hero's foreboding before his arrival at Limmeridge House to the nefarious plot concerning the beautiful Laura, the breathtaking tension of Collin's narrative created a new literary genre of suspense fiction, which profoundly shaped the course of English popular writing. 

I read The Moonstone for a module in Victorian Popular Fiction back in 2012 and it quickly became not only one of my favourite classics, but one of my favourite books of all time. Ever since then I've been dying to read something else by Wilkie Collins, and I believe The Woman in White is his most famous work.

Like The Count of Monte Cristo, however, I've always found its size kind of intimidating - it's a pretty big book! Even so I'd like to try and read The Woman in White this year if I can!

If you read all of that I applaud you! This turned out to be a longer post than I'd expected...

Are there any classics you'd like to cross off your list in 2014?