The Classics Club

Hello!

So for quite a while now I thought about joining The Classics Club and this year I have decided to join up. I have chosen 50 books all published before 1900 and plan to complete the list in five years, so my deadline is 11th January 2027. I used to read a lot of classics so it will be good to get reading them again and tick off quite a few books on my TBR pile.

The list has mostly new reads for me but there are a few favourites on the list and ones that I can’t quite remember all the storyline of and would like to read again.

All books that I read and review will be linked back to this list.

In no particular order, here is the list…

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen – Goodreads Monday
~~The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas~~ – Goodreads Monday
~~Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens~~ – Goodreads Monday
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky – Goodreads Monday
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot – Goodreads Monday
~~Silas Marner by George Eliot~~ – Goodreads Monday
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell – Goodreads Monday
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding – Goodreads Monday
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson – Goodreads Monday
~~Villette by Charlotte Brontë~~ – Goodreads Monday
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas – Goodreads Monday
Shirley by Charlotte Brontë – Goodreads Monday
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy – Goodreads Monday
The Red Sphinx by Alexandre Dumas – Goodreads Monday
The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas
Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas
Louise de La Valliere by Alexandre Dumas
~~Lady Susan and other works by Jane Austen~~ – Goodreads Monday
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray – Goodreads Monday
~~Evelina by Frances Burney~~ – Goodreads Monday
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins – Goodreads Monday
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott – Goodreads Monday
~~Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen~~
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe – Goodreads Monday
Love in Excess by Eliza Haywood – Goodreads Monday
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift – Goodreads Monday
Candide by Voltaire – Goodreads Monday
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
~~Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot~~ – Goodreads Monday
~~The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne~~ – Goodreads Monday
Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore – Goodreads Monday
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope – Goodreads Monday
~~The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins~~ – Goodreads Monday
The Runaway by Elizabeth Anna Hart – Goodreads Monday
Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Middlemarch by George Eliot – Goodreads Monday
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – Goodreads Monday
Moby Dick by Herman Melville – Goodreads Monday
~~Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy~~
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Bleak House by Charles Dickens – Goodreads Monday
Cecilia by Frances Burney – Goodreads Monday
~~Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan~~ – Goodreads Monday
~~Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe~~ – Goodreads Monday
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome – Goodreads Monday
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith – Goodreads Monday
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne – Goodreads Monday
~~Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte~~
Persuasion by Jane Austen

Wish me luck!

Happy Reading

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Reading My Height in Books #12

Hello!

It is time for my final update of my 2021 challenge. I had to change location of the book stack because I could no longer keep it upright without it leaning on against a wall.

Sadly, I failed the challenge. The final stack came to 64 inches and it needed to be 67 inches. I was so close but I just came short.

Here is the year in full.

Maybe, I will try the challenge again another year.

Happy Reading

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The Weekly Brief

Hello!

It is time for the first Weekly Brief of the year.

Not much has happened on the blog so far this year because I have taken a bit of a rest from blogging.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

I ordered Village Christmas by Laurie Lee in November and it turned up a couple of days ago but being as it isn’t all about Christmas I decided to read it and so far I am loving it and finding it very funny.

Happy Reading

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December 2021 Wrap Up

Hello!

I am playing catch up on the blog at the moment, as over Christmas and New Year I took a little bit of break. So here is my last wrap up from 2021.

Statistics

Books

Pages: 374

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Review

Pages: 288

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Review

Pages: 64

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Pages: 416

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Review

Pages: 18

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Pages: 172

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Review to follow

Pages: 144

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Review to follow

Pages: 140

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Review to follow

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Pages: 74

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Goodreads Challenge: 71/70

Happy Reading

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My 2021 in Books

Hello and happy New Year!

Apologies for being a bit quiet recently, I must admit I have been enjoying a break from everything over the festive period but now I am back to normal and looking forward to a good year of reading and blogging.

So here is my year in books!

I am pleased I made my Goodreads Challenge again this year.

Here are all the books I read

I think I read a few different genres in 2021 and I did try to leave my comfort zone at times as well. One thing I did learn was that I really miss reading classics so I think 2022 will involve me reading a few more classics.

Happy Reading

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WWW Wednesday: 29/12/2021

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I remembered what day it is! The days between Christmas and New Year are always a little hazy to work out but today I realised it was Wednesday so I thought I would do a WWW Wednesday.

What I am Currently Reading

I just started this last night and I am really enjoying the illustrations. I do love reading Harry Potter books so this is a nice book to finish the year with.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I haven’t done much reading over the Christmas period so this is the only book I have finished.

What I Think I will Read Next

I have so many books that I want to read in 2022 and I have a lot of book series I want to start and finish. My biggest problem is trying to work out what to read and when.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Goodreads Monday: 27/12/2021

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and got some nice new books as presents. My chosen book today has been on my TBR for ages but until yesterday I did not own it. Now I own the whole series because I had the set for Christmas.

For more than a hundred years humans, dwarves, gnomes and elves lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over and now the races once again fight each other – and themselves: Dwarves are killing their kinsmen, and elves are murdering humans and elves, at least those elves who are friendly to humans… Into this tumultuous time is born a child for whom the witchers of the world have been waiting.

Ciri, the granddaughter of Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra, has strange powers and a stranger destiny, for prophecy names her the Flame, one with the power to change the world – for good, or for evil… Geralt, the witcher of Rivia, has taken Ciri to the relative safety of the Witchers’ Settlement, but it soon becomes clear that Ciri isn’t like the other witchers. As the political situation grows ever dimmer and the threat of war hangs almost palpably over the land, Geralt searches for someone to train Ciri’s unique powers.

But someone else has an eye on the young girl, someone who understand exactly what the prophecy means – and exactly what Ciri’s power can do. This time Geralt may have met his match.

I can’t wait to start the series and it will most likely be one that I start in the new year.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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Murder in Midwinter by Various Authors (Review)

Murder in Midwinter: Ten Classic Crime Stories for Christmas by Various.

Blurb

Midwinter. As snow falls softly outside and frost sparkles on tree branches, it’s time to curl up before a roaring fire, wrap your hands around a steaming mug of mulled wine, and forget your worries for now.

But as the temperature drops outside, malice is sharpening its claws … and murder walks abroad. In these classic stories of mystery and mayhem, let ten of the great crime writers in history surprise and delight you with twists and turns as shocking as an icicle in the heart.

Featuring stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, Cyril Hare, Anthony Berkeley, Ruth Rendell, Margery Allingham, Ellis Peters … and more.

Review

I love the books from the Murderous Christmas Stories series and tend to read one every December to help put me in the festive spirit. Although I was surprised to find that this book only actually had 3 stories set at Christmas and the rest were set in the Autumn or Winter months, but I suppose it is called Murder in Midwinter rather than Murder at Christmas.

I enjoyed all but one of the stories but my favourites were The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet by Arthur Conan Doyle and Rumpole and the Health Farm Murder by John Mortimer. Rumpole was a brilliant character and made me laugh a great deal, he is set in his ways and no matter how much his wife tries he will not change. Sherlock was up to his usual fantastic deductions in The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet.

There was only one story in the book that I was not keen on which was the first one in the book The Queen’s Square by Sayers. I really did not get into it and found the relentless costume descriptions rather boring. However, thankfully I did not let the story put me off the rest of the book because the rest of the stories were excellent.

Overall, I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons because to be honest Rumpole and the Health Farm deserves 5 Dragons all to itself because I enjoyed it so much.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

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If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

WWW Wednesday: 22/12/2021

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week and that everyone is prepared for Christmas. I still have presents to wrap and the house is still chaos but hopefully now I have finished teaching I will be able to get everything ready.

What I am Currently Reading

Just started this today. I always read The Nutcracker on the run up to Christmas and I am really looking forward to reading this edition.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I forgot how much I love A Christmas Carol. I think 2022 I will be reading more Dickens because I really do enjoy his work.

What I Think I will Read Next

I am still on my Christmas reading list as I am really enjoying all the festive reads.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Christmas Pig By J. K. Rowling (Review)

The Christmas Pig by J. K. Rowling

Blurb

Jack loves his childhood toy, Dur Pig. DP has always been there for him, through good and bad. Until one Christmas Eve something terrible happens – DP is lost. But Christmas Eve is a night for miracles and lost causes, a night when all things can come to life… even toys. And Jack’s newest toy – the Christmas Pig (DP’s annoying replacement) – has a daring plan: Together they’ll embark on a magical journey to seek something lost, and to save the best friend Jack has ever known…

Review

As a big Rowling fan I had this book on preorder for ages and read it pretty quickly after receiving it but I am only just starting to catch up on my book reviews. I do love Christmas books so I was really pleased to read this one.

I was quite surprised with this book because as a children’s book I found that it had some quite adult themes. At the start of the book the effects of divorce on children is shown and how new relationships for both adults and children are explored. I found that Rowling did not hold back during this section but as usual Rowling covers it with her usual skill. The story then moves on the difficulties faced by children who find themselves with new step parents and step siblings and at this point I really felt sorry for poor Jack because he was not having things easy but thankfully he had DP to help him.

Christmas Eve something terrible happens and DP is lost but the Christmas Pig has a plan to get DP back but it can only happen during the magic of Christmas Eve. Together Jack and the Christmas Pig go to the land of the Lost to rescue DP.

I will be honest I found the land of the Lost a bit of a trial because it seemed to have everything in there, even the ridiculous which in my opinion are not lost. However, there were some great characters in the land of the Lost which made it worthwhile.

The story is full of magic and the illustrations by Jim Field really add to this. However, I did find the book lacked Rowling’s usual spark for me. Ickabog was an incredible read for me and I just found The Christmas Pig lacked in comparison. Overall, I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

Joanne Rowling born 31 July 1965, is a British writer and philanthropist. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter series. Rowling also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

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