Victober Reading List

Victober. Yes, that's right. An October full of Victorian fiction. It's no secret that I've been reading a lot of classics recently, but so far I've stayed fairly in my comfort zone i.e. anything written after Hitler. I'm not planning to read lots of books this October - Dickens takes quite a while to get through, and I enjoy taking my time with him. So, in the month before Donald Trump takes power like he almost certainly will and we're-all-really-fucking-screwed, here's what I'm hoping to read:

The Pickwick Papers

Dickens. YES. The master of English. I've been plodding through this ol' beast for the last month and am still only half way through. Admittedly I have been taking a break every 150 pages and reading something a little... easier. I think that's how Dickens should be read. We wouldn't want a Dickens overdose, now, would we?

Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it. In fact, I'm in love. I've never read any Dickens before, so this is all completely new to me.  It's funny, something I didn't think I'd be saying about Dickens, and really heart warming.  It's full of slapstick comedy that really wouldn't seem out of place in a modern sitcom, and does have some laugh out loud moment. It's pure genius - but pretty hard going. Will I finish it by November? We'll see. *insert dramatic cliff-hanger here*

The Time Machine

HG Wells is a little different from Dickens. I watched a really interesting BBC documentary on Wells' life (you can see it here), which got me excited enough to read this book. That link will probably only work if you're in the UK, by the way. And you'll also only find it interesting if you're weird and have some kind of book obsession. Like I totally haven't.

Anyway, I haven't read any of Wells' stuff before. If I like this I'll probably read War of the Worlds and some more of his lesser-known stuff too. I'm pretty excited to read this, as it's often called the father of science fiction (even though I'm not the biggest fan of the genre XD).

Wuthering Heights

Ah, where would we be without Jane Austen? I mean Jane Eyre. Or do I mean Emile Bronte? Nick Clegg? Mr Bump? OK, I don't know my Austen from my Bronte. My reading of this type of thing/genre is mainly restricted to Agnes Grey (which I love) and Pride and Prejudice (which I love more). But hopefully that will change with. Admittedly I'm really looking forward to reading this one, and also reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell if I get the time, who was one of the Bronte's main biographers at the time.

Are you taking part in Victober? What's on your October TBR?