Відео

I really hated how she destroyed Fanny and Edmund. Fanny was SOOOOO weak. Based on the two I've read, I just don't think Claudia Gray respects Christianity at all and religion in general. I also hated the gay aspect. It felt like it was there as a sensationalized thing and disrespectful to AUSTEN since Austen would not have written that subplot.

I JUST finished The Curse of Misty Wayfair (like the middle of the night tonight and I think it's around two in the morning now so it wasn't that long ago) so I am behind as well but I like Jaime and her writing so I will be picking up another soon.

I just found your channel and was very excited for all 3 levels of prompts, but I'm not going to another platform to talk about it. 😁

Everyone I've heard that has read The Count of Monte Cristo always says it is a super entertaining page turner despite its intimidating size. I have a copy of Goethe's ("Ger-tuh" I don't think you are stupid, the pronunciation is weird) Faust, I haven't read it yet though, I'm aware of the general synopsis, just haven't wanted to read poetry lately. War and Peace is a spectacular book, the most gripping novel I have read. I have the Modern Library unabridged version which is 1,388 pages. I have not started listening to Christmas music yet.

We played Christmas music at home during our family game night this week!

I love how you print the readathon and challenge boards and put them in a journal!!! I am definitely doing that in 2025.

Hi @louisestgermain6428, thanks for your input on Ove, guess I need to add to my TBR! After 1250 pages didn't you just feel like you knew Pierre and company, like if you met one of them at a pub you could buy them a cold one and just keep talking like you were old friends! I love it when an author can pull that level of engagement off! The Road, yikes! Anything that drew my attention away from that bleak house was perfectly welcomed to me LOL! Did you ever read King's The Stand or Vonnegut's Slaughter House Five or Margaret Atwood's Madd Addam books? Good, bad times! Some people said McCarthy's prose was reminiscent of Hemingway, but I thought it evoked Steinbeck vibes, Grapes with a very thick thesaurus! Thanks again.

Abridging War and Peace makes as much sense as croping the Mona Lisa (can't we make this wallet sized?!?) or shortening up Motzart's Requiem..."too many notes..." God bless Amadeus!

The Count of Monte Cristo!...group read!...now you're getting somewhere!

I agree with you completely on The Murder of Mr. Wickham. I wasn’t planning to continue the series. I am glad to know that #3 was better. I recently found out my copy of The Count of Monte Cristo was abridged so I am on the lookout for a full length version. I did start listening to Christmas music a few days ago 🎄🎶

Hi Anne, I got my ears on a copy of Susan H.’s Mary can't wait to get going on it. “Guilt by association” LOL! After three decades in law enforcement I'd say that if ‘possession is 9/10th of the law’ then ‘association’ is the other 10th…LOL! That's why you should tell your kids to choose their friends very wisely! If I had a dollar for every convict that was “just in the car” with some other perp…I wouldn't need my pension!

Hi Anne, I appreciated the honest review of your Claudia Gray, sounds like a Melville, Twain, Hemingway DUDE reader should take a pass on her. I did get a kick out of your LGBTQ+...take in Mansfield Park! A few years ago I made my first (it will not be my last) trip through Proust's Lost Time and was commenting to my Mom how much I loved it, but that even after changing the genders of most all of the characters from what they were in Proust's real life, it was still 4651 of the gayest pages I'd ever read! She said how difficult it must have been for him to have to tip-toe around the subject and how if he'd have been born 50 years later he would not have had to. I acknowledged the justice in that position but pointed out that if that were the case then he'd have just been a Beat contemporary with Kerouac, Ginsberg & Burroughs and arrow straight old black dudes would never have read him at all. God help the Beat readers! I strongly suspect there could be a similar thing going on in Austen…yeah it was a thing back then too but…I bet if Jane had included all the LGBTQ+ stuff she could have, you and I would be discussing the famous Victorian writings of someone else in 2024…(Mary Elizabeth Braddon perhaps???) By the way, In Search of Lost Time is the BOMB! You were talking about your 50 by 50 list, you'd do well to make sure he's on it (I'm given ya pearls here!) But don't be in too big a hurry, 50 is the ‘correct’ age for reading Lost Time. Just like 40 is the ‘correct’ age for reading The Dead (if you must read Joyce, God help you!) Many thanks.

I HAVE begun listening to Christmas music 🎶❣️❣️ And decorating too 😁🎄

Thank you for reminding me about Miracles!! I had forgotten I was going to check that out Hoopla.

Did you see Chantel is doing a L. M. Montgomery read along for next year? I want to read a couple more books from her. I read Anne of Green Gables for the first time this year.

I often miss the time of life when my kids were home and gathered ‘round me, but I do not miss the shuttling and scheduling shuffle!😂😂 Again! So impressed with your adaptive your journaling commitment ❣️ Reading LOTS; finally had an A+ read and hoping for another before the end of the year!

I mean, I can't find proof, but I'd be shocked if Lewis never read Montgomery.😂😂 So that might count for inspired Lewis.

Oh, I'm soooo far behind in watching videos, lol! I read Lady Susan just a few weeks ago and LOVED it. ❤️📚

I just discovered your channel today, and loved this book tag! Thanks for the video. I've read A Man Called Ove and thought it was fantastic (like you, I'd never read any other Backman book before). I highly recommend getting to that one. I also really enjoyed War and Peace - though if your copy is only 600-ish pages, I think it's abridged since my copy is almost 1250 pages of quite dense text. I agree with one of the other commenters that while there is war in the book, it's quite character-driven so it's a lot about the people and relationships. I'm not a fan of military novels in general but did enjoy this book. As for the multitude of characters, in my copy (Vintage Classics edition) there is a 2-page list of characters at the front, which is basically just the characters that matter. So if I saw a character in the story who wasn't in that "short list", I wouldn't worry about trying to remember them since they are not likely to reappear. Worked well for me! And finally, The Road - I was not the biggest fan of it - maybe like a 3 out of 5 stars kind of thing. It was quite literary and I found the writing drew attention to itself sometimes more than to the story. I would be reluctant to re-read it!

Hi @libertylady4041, I didn't mean to imply I didn't like McCarthy's little dystopian ditty. Quite the contrary I found it to be a very well thought through addition to the corpus of apocalyptic literature. I don't have a physical copy so I can't review it in all it's minutiae but just wagging off from my memory I'd note the many similarities it bears to Steinbeck ‘s Grapes of Wrath. Ma Joad is surely one of the greatest heroines in English literature. I thought Cormac did a good job at showing and telling the attendant moral dilemmas of desperation. You see a not dissimilar take in my beloved Gulag literature (Solzhenitsyn's Archipelago & Ivan Denisovich, Figes’ Just Send Me Word…ect) I was a housing officer at various prisons around the state of Michigan for the better part of 3 decades and have seen many acts of remarkable kindness from fellas who had very very little to give. I was a minister for about half that time and we frequently made much of the widow's mite and the miracle of the loaves and fishes from the pulpit (Mark 12:38 & Matthew 15:36). Several of us are reading C.S.Lewis’ Miracles over on Anne's Voxer chat right now, you might find it entertaining. There's a ton of end of the world as we know it (God bless R.E.M.) books out there and anybody who wants to can surely make them their career. I'm just not enthusiastic about the whole thing, but as I think of it I did enjoy Margaret Atwood's Madd Addam series, she's a very good writer too. No if I'm gonna take a literary road trip I'd much rather it be of the Blue Highways, Wm Least-Heat Moon variety, or if it's with Steinbeck how about Travels with Charlie. The other theme McC probed pretty well was the whole Proverbs 22:6 thing. With respect to road trips certainly Prisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance stands out as a father son travel tale. Gilead is another great one. The story John Ames tells of his dad taking him across country to Kansas in the 1880's to find his grandfather's grave is harrowing! And now what about Percival Everett's new James!

This is a cool challenge. I have so many classics on my shelves that I'd like to get to. Maybe this will help me to do just that.

Hi Anne, did you read The Road yet? This is the channel where people parlay the relative merits of Alcott and Montgomery, or who is their favorite Ms.Bennet sister or best Austen love letter. I can't imagine this crew having it out over the best Stephen King horror title, or comparing the work of Denzel in The Book of Eli with that of Mel in Mad Max! Well OK, don't say I didn't tell ya so, cause I told ya so! The number to the suicide hot line is…988…! The Road is incredibly DARK! That said I basically enjoyed The Road, it's a lot shorter than both The Stand (it's best near peer) and Blood Meridian (McCarthy at his bloodiest!) So you won't be immersed in this dark future for too long. The story line is not dreadfully complicated and lends itself to the excellent narration of Tom Stechschulte. As the genre goes this is not too bad a read. So I guess…enjoy???

This looks like a fun and flexible challenge!

I'm so glad you loved Dracula! 🧛‍♂️

A man called ove is one of my favvvv

Well done video. A unique biography you may enjoy is "Margaret Hamilton From Cleveland Ohio to the Land of Oz " about her journey from kindergarten teacher to becoming the Wicked Witch! She was a kindergarten teacher before becoming an actress.

Interesting tag. Sometimes it’s so hard when you feel like you need to or should read something, but you just don’t feel like it!

I love this challenge, especially the multiple layers you add to it! I've been hesitant to join any challenges because I am more of a mood reader, but this seems flexible enough to still allow for that, plus I've been wanting to read more classics. Thank you so much! Looking forward to next year!

The Road is really good

Massive books are always hard to pick up for some reason, even though I know I usually enjoy them. I don't own War and Peace yet, but I do have Shogun by James Clavell and it's over 1,000 pages!

Hi Anne! This is a fun tag. I have to say A man called Ove is a wonderful book and worth the read. I don’t think of it as hyped, it is, but it’s also a kind of quiet book that really can touch your heart. No pressure though 😊 I get what you said about obligation, I get reluctant to read the books I choose for my own book club sometimes! 😅 Just because of the obligation itself. I’ve been thinking of mixing it up with prompts too, I might try that next year!!

Love these tag questions! Totally relatable. I loved A Man Called Ove! When it comes to hype, I can sometimes be all in, especially if it’s a book in a series I’m caught up on. But I also sometimes give hyped books the side eye 🤨 lol

LOVE Mimi Matthews!!! 💙🔥💚

I am ALLERGIC to hype. 😆

I would think again about Mrs. Lincolns Dressmaker. I loved it and found it so interesting❤

I did not finish Tenant…. It made me fail at Victober lol! I just couldn’t finish it. I loved Agnes Grey but was not feeling Tenant…

In January I started an American history project. I'm starting to lose my motivation. I've been reading about the colonial period, which was more terrible than I'd realized. It put me into a reading slump for a good while. I have so many books about various wars on my project list that will be intense. I'm worried about reading them.

This was fun to watch --- thank you for tagging me! I will do this tag soon. I'm like you as far as getting over the feelings of obligation. Years ago I hosted a monthly book club but we all read what we wanted and then got together to talk about it. That was so fun!

Pamela is on my shelf also and after being told some things about it I’m reluctant! 😂

I love you guys!!! Anne, Anne, Anne...we are your friends, we're here to help! Just pick up the book Anne, Pierre and Prince Andrei and Princess Natasha are calling you Anne. God bless @kamindsjournee, @lindseyreads, & @CourtneyReads. And by the way, the number to the government anti-bullying hot line is...988 then press 1...!! LOL!!😂! But seriously, War and Peace really rocks!

Hi Anne, O Boy! Where to start!?! Gilead…I loved this but I admit that was kind of owing to my personal experience in the ministry a long time ago and in a galaxy far far away (God bless George Lucas!) As a work of literature it is a little niche and some people didn't care for the whole Jack thing in the last quarter or so of the book, they found it jarring, but as a old black man myself, I loved it. Mrs. Lincoln's Dress Maker…I was trying to make up my mind on this one too. I was fascinated by the idea, Elizabeth Keckly had been a slave and the whole thing sounded right up my alley. But after an entire antebellum summer I feel a little done with it, so, thanks you made up my mind for me. War and Peace…Awwwwwww!!! There is a reason so many of us call this our GOAT! It is fairly well delineated into ‘war’ chapters and ‘peace’ chapters. The latter read a lot like Anna K. The former are an excellent mix of For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Longest Day. C.S.Lewis once quipped that he liked a war story in direct proportion to the number of combatants involved, the fewer the better. Bilbo Baggins and his buds whipping some Trolls under a bridge…good…The Middle Earth Allies on the plain of Armageddon against an army of Orcs…whatever! War and Peace also has the advantage of being a true history, at least as far as the ‘war’ goes, and even though the ‘peace’ actors were not historical figures they certainly were pretty good stand ins for the real Czarist nobility. Cover to cover it's a good education as well as a good read. Plus, on a personal tip, if you are raising boys, this is a story that dudes can engage with easier than Anna K. and of course carries major street cred with high school English teachers the world over. As with other Russian literature, an attendant audiobook with a professional narrator will help with pronunciations. Also @courtnyreads might be right about your physical copy, 696 pages sounds pretty short to me too although I do not have my copy in front of me at the moment, make sure it's all there including the rather lengthy epilog where L.T. explores the whole ‘free will’ and ‘great man’ in history thing. The Road…I'm with you on this one. I didn't care too much for Blood Meridian, but a few of your other subscribers swear Road is totally different. Goes to show just how important it is to make good reading choices. I cringe when I think of all the people who missed out on To Have and Have Not, A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls because some well meaning high school English teacher handed them a poorly curated list of ‘classics’ to choose from and they picked that damn fish story because it was the shortest! Awwwwww! Milton and Dante…yeah they suck…”There are two motives for reading a book: one that you enjoy it: the other, that you can boast about it.”- Bertrand Russell. The Inferno and Paradise Lost definitely fall squarely in the latter category! “Out of obligation”...LOL! When I get to the pearly gates I plan on presenting as my credentials for admittance not the blood of Jesus, not my decade and a half of ministry, not my life time of devotion and good works, not all the girls I could have kissed (Santa Baby, 2015AD, long live The Boss) but instead the first dozen or so installments of the Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Awwwwww! In his 1987 (God am I that old!) stand up comedy routine live in New York, Raw, Eddie Murphy famously asked the question ‘why would anyone want to shoot the Pope?’ He concludes that Mehmet Ali Agca must have just figured that he wanted to go to Hell, but didn't want to wait in line with everybody else, he wanted to take the Hell Express! That's how reading Left Behind has got to be for Heaven…’damn son, you must have REALLY loved the Lord! You just go right in now, I see your cloud assignment is number 9, well done my good and faithful reader!’ In fairness to Tim & Jerry, I did live to see that reading buddy of mine who got me into that literary Slough of Despond baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost a few years later…PTL! So sometimes these “obligated reads” pan out! “A book that hasn't come out yet” I don't have a crystal ball so I can't tell you the name of Donna Tartt's fourth novel, but as soon as it hits the press I'll let ya know! She's been publishing at the same rate as J.R.R.T's tree Ents so I'm waiting with bated breath…should be any day now just like that darn nove T Coronae Borealis, every 80 years or so. No problem if you happen to be a tree Ent! ENJOY!

I’ve read War and Peace and it isn’t focused on the war. I wouldn’t let the title sway you from reading it.

I finished War and Peace this year. It was very hard to get into so it took me six months (on Libby in Audio). But, at the halfway mark I was sucked in and saw exactly what all the hype was about. The war scenes seemed to be more about the ppl fighting rather than the fighting. I will be reading it again with my eyes. I did appreciate listening because of the non English words.

Thanks for tagging me! I feel the same about War and Peace!

I don't like those kinds of book clubs either. I like the Classics Reading Lounge discord that i'm in, but I do buddy reads more than the monthly reads. I was in a book club at the library too, which was fun, but I didn't like the books being chosen.

I think you must have an abridged version of War and Peace. The two editions I have are both over 1300 pages... And no, it isn't all about war. In fact, even the war parts are more about the internal struggles of the characters.

I love epistolary novels! This looks like a lot of fun 😊

I just finished Fates and Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini and other reviews said the second half of the book would be much more captivating than the first half, but I found the opposite to be true. I loved the early life years info about John Wilkes Booth. I totally agree about avoiding clubs that assign too many specific books if they do not at all appeal to me. I like prompts that result in a variety of reader choices.

I just discovered your channel : ) what a delight you are!! I was listening while preparing dinner, so I’m watching again to write down the challenges and prompts. Woohoo!! 🎉