Woo hoo! John Irving January! I'm so excited! I haven't read any of his books. I also love reading classics. My 2025 reading goal is to finish War and Peace, I'm halfway through. I'm just finishing up The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton which I'm enjoying. Bronte sisters were my pandemic escape/obsession!
I got the Penguin clothbound set of Bronte books on sale at Target, and it always makes me think of how you said they got so dirty at the library, lol.
Happy to join in for John Irving January! I’ve loved his work for a long time, and have read several of his books, but somehow have still never gotten to Cider House Rules. This is a great reason to pick it up!
I read Far From the Madding Crowd last year, and really enjoyed it. I haven’t read any older horror, so may try Dracula or Frankenstein.
Now that I'm not a bookseller anymore, I'm also trying to read longer, older books. So I will read The Cider House Rules! I'm also going to read Lonesome Dove (everyone including my husband read it in 2024 and I'm sad I missed out on experiencing it alongside everyone else) and Don Quixote. I'm also considering the Wolf Hall trilogy -- there is a substack that runs a year-long read along that I missed last year but luckily he is doing it again!
Here's to big old books in 2025! I really thought 2024 was the year I was going to tackle David Copperfield, but here I am carrying it over for another year. And yes for John Irving January! (I've only read The World According to Garp.)
Oh, I have read very little John Irving, so I'm the perfect candidate for John Irving January.
I adore reading classics and always try to mix them in with other stuff. I sometimes read along with various internet-y groups - mostly keeping an eye on a few groups on Goodreads and Litsy and picking up the ones that interest me. I've spent 2024 slow reading War and Peace with the Footnotes and Tangents Substack and will very much miss it next week. An thinking maybe Les Miserables in 2025? Haven't totally committed yet though.
There's something so fun about reading along with a Substack/podcast/group...I guess I'm just trying to recapture that feeling of being in an English class, but without the constant anxiety I had in college about not being smart enough (not that I've gotten smarter, I just realize that most of the people there weren't that smart either, ha).
It’s also a goal of mine to read a classic a year! 2023 was Sense and Sensibility (which I got to read while I was in airports so I’d look interesting and well-read to European strangers, lol), this year was Frankenstein (Justice for Frankenstein’s monster!). I read a bunch of those grand illustrated classics when I was little, and now I feel like I need to read the “real” versions. Little Women was a favorite and I have a major soft spot for it! No pressure, but if you announced you were reading Wuthering Heights or If Beale Street Could Talk, it might be the motivation I need to check both of those off my list! Whatever you choose, hope you enjoy your classic reads!
I read and wrote an essay on Emma for an English class in high school, and I remember liking it! I feel like I’ve read Don Quixote several times due to the many Spanish classes I took in high school/college. I only gathered so much reading it in Spanish, so I also read Man of La Mancha after finding it in a library book sale in my hometown. Despite all of this studying, I still couldn’t tell you how the book ended *facepalm*
Love love John Irving - that man’s tangents are the best. Trying to read more non-fiction this year but a couple classics sounds good too. I am feeling like maybe a James Joyce book to torture myself???
Woo hoo! John Irving January! I'm so excited! I haven't read any of his books. I also love reading classics. My 2025 reading goal is to finish War and Peace, I'm halfway through. I'm just finishing up The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton which I'm enjoying. Bronte sisters were my pandemic escape/obsession!
I got the Penguin clothbound set of Bronte books on sale at Target, and it always makes me think of how you said they got so dirty at the library, lol.
I just finished Astor by Anderson Cooper and I feel like I need to do a Wharton deep dive.
Happy to join in for John Irving January! I’ve loved his work for a long time, and have read several of his books, but somehow have still never gotten to Cider House Rules. This is a great reason to pick it up!
I read Far From the Madding Crowd last year, and really enjoyed it. I haven’t read any older horror, so may try Dracula or Frankenstein.
yes!!!
Now that I'm not a bookseller anymore, I'm also trying to read longer, older books. So I will read The Cider House Rules! I'm also going to read Lonesome Dove (everyone including my husband read it in 2024 and I'm sad I missed out on experiencing it alongside everyone else) and Don Quixote. I'm also considering the Wolf Hall trilogy -- there is a substack that runs a year-long read along that I missed last year but luckily he is doing it again!
Link to Wolf Hall readlong for anyone interested! https://footnotesandtangents.substack.com/p/welcome-to-wolf-crawl
I'm so excited you're in for John Irving January!
Here's to big old books in 2025! I really thought 2024 was the year I was going to tackle David Copperfield, but here I am carrying it over for another year. And yes for John Irving January! (I've only read The World According to Garp.)
I've never read David Copperfield! I think the only Dickens I've read is Great Expectations and that one third of Bleak House, lol.
Oh, I have read very little John Irving, so I'm the perfect candidate for John Irving January.
I adore reading classics and always try to mix them in with other stuff. I sometimes read along with various internet-y groups - mostly keeping an eye on a few groups on Goodreads and Litsy and picking up the ones that interest me. I've spent 2024 slow reading War and Peace with the Footnotes and Tangents Substack and will very much miss it next week. An thinking maybe Les Miserables in 2025? Haven't totally committed yet though.
There's something so fun about reading along with a Substack/podcast/group...I guess I'm just trying to recapture that feeling of being in an English class, but without the constant anxiety I had in college about not being smart enough (not that I've gotten smarter, I just realize that most of the people there weren't that smart either, ha).
It’s also a goal of mine to read a classic a year! 2023 was Sense and Sensibility (which I got to read while I was in airports so I’d look interesting and well-read to European strangers, lol), this year was Frankenstein (Justice for Frankenstein’s monster!). I read a bunch of those grand illustrated classics when I was little, and now I feel like I need to read the “real” versions. Little Women was a favorite and I have a major soft spot for it! No pressure, but if you announced you were reading Wuthering Heights or If Beale Street Could Talk, it might be the motivation I need to check both of those off my list! Whatever you choose, hope you enjoy your classic reads!
I read and wrote an essay on Emma for an English class in high school, and I remember liking it! I feel like I’ve read Don Quixote several times due to the many Spanish classes I took in high school/college. I only gathered so much reading it in Spanish, so I also read Man of La Mancha after finding it in a library book sale in my hometown. Despite all of this studying, I still couldn’t tell you how the book ended *facepalm*
Wuthering Heights would be such a fun one for a readalong...I feel like all the drama could be really enjoyable to recap, haha.
Love love John Irving - that man’s tangents are the best. Trying to read more non-fiction this year but a couple classics sounds good too. I am feeling like maybe a James Joyce book to torture myself???
Sometimes a little torture-by-reading is fun!!
I love a theme!!!!