The Victorian Reading Challenge returns, dear Reader! After careful deliberation, duly considering the investment of time and fatigue of the wrists occasioned by these ponderous volumes, I have concluded that the profit to the intellect and imaginative faculties far outweighs any perceived disadvantages. (As the Victorians might put it.) The 2024 Victorian Reading Challenge was one of the highlights of my year in reading, and I have decided to repeat the challenge for as many years as I can.
This year I have changed up a few of the categories, while the decade categories remain the same to ensure broad reading across the Victorian era.
Here are this year's categories, along with my choices:
The Woman Question - The Odd Women by George Gissing
Book with a place as the title - Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau
Book published in serial format - East Lynne by Ellen Wood
Book published 1837-1840s - Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Book published in the 1850s - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Children's Book - The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley
Book Published in the 1870s - A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
Book published in the 1860s - The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Wilkie Collins - Armadale
Mystery, Suspense, Sensation - Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Book published 1890s-1901 - Trilby by George du Maurier
Book published in the 1880s - The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
The Woman Question replaces Female Author, as I will always read several female authors anyway. In Victorian times, "the woman question" referred to debates surrounding women's roles and rights. Book with a place as the title replaces Book with a name as the title. Wilkie Collins is replacing Anthony Trollope in the specific author category. I've kept Children's Book as a category this year, to prompt myself to read the weirdness that is The Water Babies, though we will probably lose that category next year. And yes, I am already planning next year's challenge! I might host it as a more formal challenge next year. Feel free to join me this year at any time, if you like!
My book choices for this year are heavy on sensation novels and women's issues, with a couple of Thomas Hardys thrown in for good measure. And, of course, David Copperfield, because it's high time I read it.
Ah . . . the notorious Water-Babies!
ReplyDeleteI love all your categories and choices. Good luck (as the Victorians would not put it)!
Thank you! I'm really looking forward to each and every one of these books - even The Water-Babies! :)
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