VICTOBER 2025 discussion

A place where you can share what you are currently reading for Victober!

(Re-posting this from the TBR thread)

I started early!
I kind of like to start early because it lets me sneak in a story that isn't on my "hard" tbr 🤭 I read The Canterville Ghost yesterday and absolutely loved it, I don't know why I didn't read it earlier since I have it on my shelves for quite some time...

I think it could work for the stranger prompt in case you want to read something shorter for it since we follow American family in England AND the ghost is basically a person from a different time, therefore kind of a stranger. I wouldn't say that it's the main theme of the story, but it's definitely present and I really enjoyed it.

My review if you are inclined to read more of my ramblings: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Anyone else couldn't wait and started early? 🤭
I always enjoy hearing what everyone is reading!

I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim. Couldn't wait, but managed to resist the temptation of starting Agnes Grey. Phew!

Lindenblatt wrote: "I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim. Couldn't wait, but managed to resist the temp..."

I looked it up - I feel I heard the title before, but I never looked what the book is about and it looks delightful. I especially liked this sentence from the Penguin edition blurb: Elizabeth discovers that the path to joy lies in having a garden, rather than a room, of one's own.
Did you enjoyed it?

Couldn't wait, but managed to resist the temptation of starting Agnes Grey. Phew!

Haha, yeah, that was my goal too! Not Agnes Gray yet!
I think the timing would be just right after I finish my last audiobook, I'm about half-way into that, so I might start Agnes Gray just at the beginning of October 🤞🏽

Jassmine wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim. Couldn't wait, but manage..."

I am afraid that I only liked the first half or so. Elizabeth describing her garden, enjoying time alone, her love for nature amd books, not caring for elegant society and entertainment (Katie's challenge?). Well written, too. Then the tone changes and she and a friend seem to be ridiculing a young woman again and again. She also shows on several occasions a lack of empathy towards animals and servants and in general doesn't seem like a likeable character at all. Seemed like an entirely different book in the second half...

However, I absolutely loved von Arnim's "Enchanted April" and can recommend this one unreservedly! Of course, that can't be Victober read as it was published in 1922. :)

I will probably begin Agnes Grey on the 1st or the 2nd. Finally!

Oh, and I love the picture you selected for opening the thread! :)

Lindenblatt wrote: "Then the tone changes and she and a friend seem to be ridiculing a young woman again and again. She also shows on several occasions a lack of empathy towards animals and servants and in general doesn't seem like a likeable character at all."

What a shame! Hmm, I found that it's on LibriVox though and quite short, so I might read it for science at some point 🤭
I looked up The Enchanted April and I realised that GR must have kept recommending it to me at some point, because I recognise the cover! 🤭 It's on LibriVox too! In three variants! 🤭 So I might read it later too, not in October then... I'm always curious to discover new classical women authors 😊

Lindenblatt wrote: "Oh, and I love the picture you selected for opening the thread! :)"

Thank you! I feel like an image at the beginning can make a thread feel more welcoming. But I also didn't want to spend too much time on it, so I just googles "victorian reading" and picked an image I liked 🤭 Glad you liked it too!

Jassmine wrote: "(Re-posting this from the TBR thread)

I started early!
I kind of like to start early because it lets me sneak in a story that isn't on my "hard" tbr 🤭 I read The Canterville Ghost yes..."

I chose The Canterville Ghost as a ‘stranger’ book and also because I had never read it. I bought a new copy, the one with the great ghost picture on the front. I haven’t started it yet, but will do very soon.

PaulaJA wrote: "I chose The Canterville Ghost as a ‘stranger’ book and also because I had never read it."

I think it fits with the stranger prompt quite well! Hope you'll enjoy it, I thought it was hilarious!

Hello all, it's the morning of the 1st October where I am, so Victober has started for me. And now I am (officially) currently (re-)reading: Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë. Surprise, surprise 😊

Have you started Victober yet and which book did you pick?

Lindenblatt wrote: "Hello all, it's the morning of the 1st October where I am, so Victober has started for me. And now I am (officially) currently (re-)reading: Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë. Surprise, surprise 😊"

I started Agnes Grey too! (Surprise! 🤭)

Hi all,
At the stroke of midnight I started listening to my audiobook of Wuthering Heights. What a great way to usher in the Victober vibes!

I have started ‘The Odd Women’ and have read the ‘four chapters’ of ‘The Way We Live Now’. It has taken me a while to get used again to a different kind of writing, after having read the Booker Longlist, but I’m really enjoying this slower mode.

Hoping to start Guy Fawkes A Historical Romance by Ainsworth tonight after I get my final paper edited and handed in for grad school.

Susan wrote: "At the stroke of midnight I started listening to my audiobook of Wuthering Heights. What a great way to usher in the Victober vibes!"

Haha, what a way to start! Wuthering Heights is one I really want to re-read. Is this a re-read for you or a first time?

PaulaJA wrote: "I have started ‘The Odd Women’..."

The Odd Women really peaked my interest this year. I don't think I will have time to read it this year, but I would be curious how you (or others) enjoy it 😊

Rebecca wrote: "Hoping to start Guy Fawkes A Historical Romance by Ainsworth tonight after I get my final paper edited and handed in for grad school."

Good luck with your paper! 🤞🏽

Lindenblatt wrote: "Jassmine wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim. Couldn't..."

I read Vera by Von Arnim and didn't care much for it.

I started Agnes Grey on the first and am trying to finish some books from September.

Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Jassmine wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth..."

Ah, I had eyed that one as my next read from von Arnim. It just lost a few priority points :)

Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Jassmine wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabeth and Her German Gar..."

I was excited about it because of the back story, but it constantly was repeating the same stuff over and over. I kind of want you to read it now to see what you think. 😁 I had to go look it up. I gave it three stars and said the end was good. It's getting there that was the hard part.

Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Jassmine wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "I went ahead and started and finished the last, very tiny book on my Victober TBR last weekend: Elizabet..."

Ok, if I can get it in the public library, I might squeeze it in. But if I have to buy it, it'll take long before I get to it... Sometimes I am also very lucky and find a book that's actually on my TBR in one of the Little Libraries in my area! Fingers crossed :)

Is anyone else keeping up with the reading of ‘The Way We Live Now’? I am doing so but find the Discord discussion confusing.

PaulaJA wrote: "Is anyone else keeping up with the reading of ‘The Way We Live Now’? I am doing so but find the Discord discussion confusing."

I'm not, I always love to join buddy reads, but this book is just so long so I decided to prioritize books that I wanted to read more.
I can create a thread for it though, if there is more people who are reading it and would prefer chatting about it here. (Or obviously someone else can make the thread, I'm just offering my services in case they are wanted.)

Oh please do - maybe someone else will join me.

PaulaJA wrote: "Is anyone else keeping up with the reading of ‘The Way We Live Now’? I am doing so but find the Discord discussion confusing."

I agree with you about Discord, but like Jassmine, I choose this year to pass on such a big book.

PaulaJA wrote: "Oh please do - maybe someone else will join me."

Done! Sorry, I was a little busier in the last few days and forgot about it 😅

Started Guy Fawkes a historical romance. It reads like the book The Princess Bride and is about as historically accurate as the movie Braveheart. I love it. It's so bad its it's good.

Rebecca wrote: "It reads like the book The Princess Bride..."

Haha, that doesn't sound like much of a compliment to me. Was it supposed to be one? (I had high expectations of The Princess Bride that weren't met, so... I'm still a bit sour about that...)

I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's ghost story "The Old Nurse" Story" which I read to fulfill Petra's challenge (first person narrative) but it also fulfilled Kate's challenge (stranger/outsider) I *think*. The nurse was a telling a story about her young charge and their experience of their first few months in an old Manor house which makes them both outsiders although I don't know if it's in the way intended by the challenge. You can read it for free.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0605...

Melissa wrote: "I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's ghost story "The Old Nurse" Story" which I read to fulfill Petra's challenge (first person narrative) but it also fulfilled Kate's challenge (stranger/outsider) ..."

I was just thinking that I read that one some years ago and don't really remember much of it. Hope you enjoyed it! Gaskell is the best...

Melissa wrote: "I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's ghost story "The Old Nurse" Story" which I read to fulfill Petra's challenge (first person narrative) but it also fulfilled Kate's challenge (stranger/outsider) ..."

I loved The Old Nurses Story. It had the right amount of spook for me.

Just started A Child's Garden of Verses by Rob. Louis Stevenson. Still reading Agnes Grey.

Hi all,

Sorry I have been silent for a few days, but there is not much to share. I have started 'Adam Bede' on Thursday and find it a lot more demanding than 'Agnes Grey'. No surprise here, but the progress is sloooooow 😅 I just stopped the second time in the same chapter... Well, I'll try again this evening as I do love the writing so far and, as usual, Eliot's ability to draw characters is amazing. Hope you are all enjoying your Victober reads!

Lindenblatt wrote: "Hi all,

Sorry I have been silent for a few days, but there is not much to share. I have started 'Adam Bede' on Thursday and find it a lot more demanding than 'Agnes Grey'. No surprise here, but th..."

The beginning was slow for me also. It will pick up soon if you can hang in there. If not pick up something else and come back to it in a couple of weeks. I actually read it over several months.

Theresa wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Hi all,

Sorry I have been silent for a few days, but there is not much to share. I have started 'Adam Bede' on Thursday and find it a lot more demanding than 'Agnes Grey'. No s..."

Thanks a lot, Theresa! I'll definitely hang in there as I have very much liked all of her other books that I have read so far. In the worst case, if I am running out of Victober time, I'll kick off Wilkie Collins from the end of my TBR 🤷‍♀️ I'd rather take it slow and appreciate one book at a time as you've said.

Lindenblatt wrote: "Sorry I have been silent for a few days, but there is not much to share. I have started 'Adam Bede' on Thursday and find it a lot more demanding than 'Agnes Grey'. No surprise here, but th..."

You can do it!
I actually didn't have the time to pick up anything new yet, so...

I was procrastinating some things and wrote a review for Agnes Grey I'm pretty happy with it, so I'm sharing it if you are interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jassmine wrote: "I was procrastinating some things and wrote a review for Agnes Grey I'm pretty happy with it, so I'm sharing it if you are interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Very nice indeed, Jassmine 👍 Love that cartoon 😁

Jassmine wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Sorry I have been silent for a few days, but there is not much to share. I have started 'Adam Bede' on Thursday and find it a lot more demanding than 'Agnes Grey'. No surprise h..."

Hi Jassmine,

A lovely review and the images are brilliant.
Thank you.

Michelle Hyland wrote: "A lovely review and the images are brilliant."

Thank you!

Lindenblatt wrote: "Very nice indeed, Jassmine 👍 Love that cartoon 😁"

Thank you! The Hark! comics are very funny even though with some of them I feel they lack the deeper understanding of the subject matter...
There is quite a bit of them to peruse if you feel so inclined: http://www.harkavagrant.com/archive.php

Finished A Child's Garden of Verses today and close to finishing Agnes Grey. I am feeling like starting a mystery like Sherlock Holmes or The Moonstone but I also want to get to The Diary of a Nobody. Not sure yet which way to go.😀

I read The Squire's Story a short-story by Elizabeth Gaskell yesterday evening, I was under the impression that it belongs into her Cranford cycle which I'm trying to finish, but I'm not sure it did? The atmosphere was definitely very different, more gothic/horrorish. The only common thing is that it's happening in a small town vaguely similar to Cranford. I would say it was like 3 to 3,5 star read. It's still Elizabeth Gaskell you know, but pretty predictable 🤷🏽‍♀️
I'll share the review with you later if it's something worth sharing...

I’m finding it is taking all my time to keep up with the reading of The Way We Live Now, but I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. I am also reading The Odd Women - some very interesting ideas about independent women.

PaulaJA wrote: "I’m finding it is taking all my time to keep up with the reading of The Way We Live Now, but I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. I am also reading The Odd Women - some very interesting ide..."

Yeah, that was what I was worried would happen if I joined... glad you are enjoying it though!

I tried Mary Cholmondeley's Red Pottage but thought it was an awkward mix of melodramatic and stodgy. So read my third novel by queer, Jewish author Amy Levy her 1888 The Romance of a Shop. She's better known as a Sapphic poet and for her complex saga of Jewish family life Reuben Sachs which was republished by Persephone Books. It's the story of four, newly-impoverished sisters trying to make a living in London as photographers.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Started A study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and am really liking it so far.

Just started The Warden by Trollope. I really hope I like it, since that would mean a whole series to immerse myself in the future!

Meriyou wrote: "Just started The Warden by Trollope. I really hope I like it, since that would mean a whole series to immerse myself in the future!"

I hope you'll like it, but if not please consider to read at least the second book in the series, too. I almost didn't as I wasn't enjoying The Warden much, but then I really, really loved Barchester Towers! Would be a pity to miss out on this wonderful series only because the first book is a bit dry 😊

Lindenblatt wrote: "please consider to read at least the second book..." Thanks, I'll keep that in mind :)

I really enjoyed reading "Barchester Towers." The names of the characters are very amusing. A good read if a little dense on names.