#Victober

[fictionadventurer]

We laugh at sci-fi for how it over-explains technology, but we also need to make fun of how Victorians describe any time period that takes place more than ten years before the book's publishing date.

It's like if we wrote like this about the '80s or '90s.

According to the curious fashions of the day, she wore a shirt of tie-dye print. It may seem quaint to our modern sensibilities, but such colorful styles were a common sight in any public street of those times.

At the time this story occurred, it was not uncommon for young men to wear their hair cropped closely around the face, but allow the hair behind the head to grow until it brushed the level of the shoulders.

In those days, the information superhighway was little more than a crude unpaved path, full of hazards and beset by brigands, so it is not strange that our heroine, instead of entering her query into the search bar on her browser, went to the public library and scoured the books on the shelves for the information she sought.

She and her friends went to the theater to see E.T. How strange to think that film was once at the heights of popularity and acclaim, as well-known in its day as films like The Hunger Games or The Avengers have become in the intervening time.

I get that the lack of video and audio recording made it harder for future generations to experience the details of the past, and that technology was changing their world at a faster rate than ever before, but also, dude, it was only, like, forty years ago, so maybe chill out a bit.

[aliteraryprincess]

It's Victober, which means I need to make another list of all the Victorian literature I've read (or that I can remember reading anyway). How many have you read?

[iscahmckrae]

[casadegatos]

Victober is upon us! My tbr feels good!

[protagonistspub]

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is classic Victorian literature. I purchased the Penguin Clothbound Edition, and a version on my Kindle. This was my first Collins novel and it will not be my last. The novel was told in serialized format which made the epistolary format of the novel perfection. It was also a sensational novel when released. It was written to engage, scandalize, and engage…

[the-wine-dark-sea]

I spontaneously decided I needed to read Thomas Hardy again, it's been too long. This is my fifth novel by him.

[sunlitsorrows]

Noob question, is poetry allowed for Victober? Does anyone have any recommendations?

[1864-66readingproject]

Aaaahhhh! Yet another cliffhanger at the end of the installment of The Doctor's Wife... Braddon knew what she was doing to to get people buying that magazine monthly!

[fictionadventurer]

Book: This young woman was lively, vivacious, outgoing, and cheerfully unconcerned about propriety.

Me: Okay, she seems fun.

Book: She had an older sister who was quiet, thoughtful and proper, but not as beautiful/captivating.

Me: Oh no, I just found my new favorite character.

[aliteraryprincess]

My Annual Overly Ambitious Victober TBR!

[iscahmckrae]

Faretheewell, Victober, until next year! ~rapturous sigh~

Hellloooooo, NaNoWriMo, my honored and worthy foe. Time to have at thee yet Again!

[ttsmckingdom]

Month challenge - Victober art ! Part 3/3

[protagonistspub]

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula by Bram Stoker was the classic I have spent a lifetime avoiding. Vampires hold no interest for me and the thought of ��slogging through” a classic about them was about as appealing as burnt toast. I was beyond pleased when I was proven wrong. For a book published over a hundred years ago, the modern reader will be surprised by how accessible and modern this book reads. The language isn’t…

[lizabethstucker]

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

2.5 out of 5

Manfred, Prince of Otranto, is determined to secure his family line. When his only son is killed before he can marry, Manfred decides to marry the young bride-to-be himself. As supernatural events increase, another threat to his reign appears.

Trying to give a succinct summary of this trainwreck is, at best, difficult. To be honest, it is mostly impossible as too much information gives spoilers and too little doesn't provide enough information to make a informed decision as to whether to read. So, this is what you get. Sorry!

I chose this gothic tale in honor of October. Maybe I should've went for Victober selections instead?

This tale begins with tragedy and desperation, the suspense building until it falls over the cliffs of ridiculous farce. Fear turns to disbelief and laughter. So many tropes have been tossed into the mix that it's hard to keep track of them all. The levels of ridiculous posturing and diva level drama quickly had me losing interest fast.

This ongoing mess was a rating killer, sad to say. We started at a decent 3.5 only to suddenly dive into the sub-basement. Would I recommend it to anyone? Uh, frankly, no. And this was Walpole's favorite of his stories? Doesn't bode well for me to read any of his others. I get that it was written in the 18th Century, but that isn't normally a problem for me considering classics were my first and still abiding love.

[sigmasoyboy]

it's finally time for the grosstober 2023 masterpost °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

like vicetober, this is the origin point of quite a few new characters (notably Coeus and the others) even if not 100% of the details in each artwork remain canon. Contrary to victober I didn't try to make it one narrative this time, I had in mind to make each day a picture like a day 1 and 2 but by day 3 I realized I was just being and hindrance to myself and I decided to have fun. I'm glad I did, even if the idea of a picture book full of gruesome pictures is still pretty cool for an artbook.

(no crazed ramblings this time, just a few pointers and fun facts)

[iscahmckrae]

I mainly use audiobooks so that I'll get some housework or artwork done instead of doing nothing in life except sitting and reading/taking in other media. They're also great for reading together on long car trips. Or if I'm having trouble getting through a particularly dense book, sometimes I'll listen to the audiobook while following in the physical book.

My husband, on the other hand is a chain-reader with a daily, long commute. In everyday life, if he's not busy doing something else, you will find him with his nose in a book. If he's doing something else, chances are high that he's listening to an audiobook while doing it. And driving 3 hours most weekdays, if it weren't for audiobooks, it would be an intolerable amount of wasted book-reading time.

Reading challenges are fun (52 Book Club, Victober, etc.), even though he'll blithely blitz past the goal and keep reading, while I'll generally manage to get 3/4 of the way through said challenge.

Graciously, when I sigh over my unfinished reading list, comparing it to his, he smiles and asks, "Maybe you haven't read as much, but how much have you written?" Have I mentioned that I love him a lot?

listen, I think audiobooks are great. I think they "count". I'm not bothered by people calling listening to audiobooks reading. however, I think a large part of the reason people are annoyed by this recently is that there are many, many people online saying, "I've read 300 books this year" and then posting a lot of stuff implying they are superior to (or like to read more than) people who haven't.

But then, all it takes is to scroll back on their profile a little ways to find out that they "read" 300 books because they listened to audiobooks on 3x speed while they were doing other things and flat out didn't listen or absorb any of it and couldn't tell you what 90% of those books were about even if their life depended on it. And THAT is not reading. If you're actually taking in the story, sure, then you've read the book. If you're speed running the process without paying attention, then no, that's not reading. I would say the exact same thing about skimming/flipping through the book.