VICTOBER 2025 discussion

Now that Victober is alas over, I'm creating this thread for us to discuss what we've read. How did everyone do?

I read 13 and a half books in Victober, and really enjoyed them all!

I only managed 5, which I think is pretty good going for me. I do have 3 hours left of North and South to listen to

I loved my first #victober.
I read 11 and a half books.
I loved everything I read and intend to go on reading books from this time.
I had never read Trollope before and now intend to pick up the Barchester Chronicles.

I collected several e-books with the complete works of several Victorian authors. I will be reading them from now on and will pick some favourites in physical form when I’m able to afford it.

I loved this month reading.

I read 15 books this month, with a lot of them being shorter stories/novellas:

- Hunted Down - Charles Dickens
- The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde
- Cousin Phillis - Elizabeth Gaskell
- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
- The Diary of a Nobody - George Grossmith & Weedon Grossmith
- The Island of Doctor Moreau - H.G. Wells
- Through the Looking-Glass - Lewis Carroll
- Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome
- Hard Times - Charles Dickens
- The Warden - Anthony Trollope
- Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
- Shirley - Charlotte Brontë
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

My favourites were Jane Eyre, The Warden and Oliver Twist 😊

Out of 10 books I finished this month, 6 of them were Victober reads:
'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories' by Oscar Wilde
'Leaves from the Highland Journals Of Queen Victoria'
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte
'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde
'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' by Anne Bronte
'Mrs. Zant and the Ghost' by Wilkie Collins
I had a great time reading Victorian literature. Thanks for hosting this readathon. :)

Just 2:
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
but I enjoyed seeing what others were reading and the #victober videos on YouTube

I'm disappointed with myself... I did consume 8 works and fulfilled the challenges BUT I only read one of them physically. Normally I try to balance audiobooks and physical reading half/half but I just didn't take the time to sit down and read

Victober in Review
Novels
Griffith Gaunt; or, Jealousy Charles Reade 1866
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman E.W. Hornung 1898
The Small House at Allington Anthony Trollope 1864

Novellas
The Lost Stradivarius John Meade Falkner 1895
The Return Joseph Conrad 1898

Poetry
High Waving Heather (a Phoenix mini classic edition) Anne, Emily, Charlotte, and Branwell Bronte

Diaries
Maud: The Illustrated Diary of a Victorian Woman Maud Berkeley, Edited by Flora Frazer

Currently Reading
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte (a reread)
The Last Chronicle of Barset Anthony Trollope

I finished A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde
Really enjoyed this; I still need to review it

Still reading:
Lilith by George MacDonald
Vanity Fair

I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Bottle Imp also by Stevenson and North and south by Elizabeth Gaskell. My favourite was North and South and least favourite The Bottle Imp as it is a short story and generally not as enjoyable. I also read some Emily Brontë poetry and loved it!

I had a lovely Victober reading Barnaby Rudge by Dickens as my favourite genre choice (definitely the highlight) but also exploring Victorian poetry. I also read Millais' letters which were quite interesting although perhaps not entertaining. I'm midway through Shirley by Charlotte Brontë and am enjoying reading through the group read board a little late. I have begun Lady Anna by Anthony Trollope on Kate's recommendation since I was delighted to find it already on my bookshelf. I'm loving it so far - especially since it is set near Grasmere in the Lake District where we have a family home. For my dress as a Victorian I having been wearing silk ribbons in my hair. My plan is continue my Victober indefinitely in hair ribbons and reading to keep me going through lockdown.

Oh, and how could I have forgotten Lady Audley's Secret ! That was a fantastic read. Much more plot-driven and less beautifully written than my usual choices such as Trollope but it was great fun. I'm glad I finally got round to it after it being on my to-read list for the past two Victobers.

Hi, i started to read Shirley by Charlotte Brontë and A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf by Emily Midorikawa. I am liking them both and hopefully i can finish them by the end of the year as they are big books and I want to take my time to thoroughly enjoy the writing.
Overall, my first Victober was a nice reintroduction into the world of classic literature. I can say that my TBR only grew thanks to so much inspiration from group posts and so did my classics book collection. Who doesn't love a great book cover? Looking forward to add more classics to my monthly TBR from now on.
I wanted to mention that all of the prompts were inspiring and led me to find so many new authors. I also like the idea of wearing something similar to fashion from the Victorian era. I think it is such a nice detail.

Finished:
Mrs. Zant and the Ghost (really liked)
Shirley (LIKED - from beginning to end; my cousin had a hard time starting)

Some of:
Elizabeth Gaskell's Gothic Tales (short stories) finding a little difficult, but will continue.

The Brontes: A Life in Letters (really enjoying and will continue)

Started:
Wuthering Heights
Lady Audley's Secret

Still on my TBR:
The Woman in White
Moonstone
The Law and the Lady
Jane Eyre
North and South

This was my first Victober. I had never read any Victorian authors prior to joining. I wish that I had read more, but it was a little difficult for me to in the beginning because I am used to reading non-fiction: genealogy, biographies, and art books.

I am inspired by all of you and want to continue reading/listening to more Victorian authors. I found that audiobooks work best for me. That way I can continue my art and listen.

Thank you so much for hosting this!

For my first Victober, I followed through on my complete TBR of first-time reads!

I Read:
Shirley Charlotte Brontë 1849
My Reminiscences vol. 1 Lord Ronald Gower 1883
De Profundis Oscar Wilde (both abridged and unabridged versions) written in 1897
The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde’s 1890
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848
Three Ghost Stories Charles Dickens 1866
Aurora Floyd Mary Elizabeth Braddon 1863
A Woman of No Importance Oscar Wilde 1893
The Cricket on the Hearth: A Tale of Home Charles Dickens 1845
And 2/3rds of Dombey and Son Charles Dickens 1848

I Watched:
The Picture of Dorian Gray 2009
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 1996
A Woman of No Importance 2017

By tomorrow, I expect to finish reading Dombey and Son and watch the 2015 adaptation. I am looking forward to next year.

Thank you, Katie, Kate, Lucy, and all participants.

This was my first Victober (and a pretty eventful too) so I’m quite contented with what I read. I managed to finish The Moonstone from Wilkie Collins, The Great God Pan and other stories by Arthur Machen and De Profundis by Oscar Wilde. Looking forward for next year Victober!

I managed to finish 4 Victorian novels in October and one today.
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Hard Times By Charles Dickens
Around the World in 80 Days By Jules Verne (Didn't realize Verne was French till I was already reading it)
Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
And just finished Cousin Phyllis By Elizabeth Gaskell
Really enjoyed all the books I read this year and looking foreword to next year :)

I read five, but that's because I wanted to include some modern spooky reads too. I also read two rereads. I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Picture of Dorian Gray, Silas Marner, A Tale of Two Cities, and squeezed in A Study in Scarlet. I'm starting to realize I think I prefer watching the Sherlock Holmes mysteries rather than read them.

Jackie wrote: "I read five, but that's because I wanted to include some modern spooky reads too. I also read two rereads. I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Picture of Dorian Gray, Silas Marner, A Tale of Two Cities..."

I’m listening to the Definitive Edition ready by Stephen Fry and it’s fantastic. I had already read all the books and listened to some other versions, but this edition is 72+ hours of pure delight.

Here's my first Victober experience and wrap up story if you will. I loved and enjoyed it so much even though I failed with my first ever readathon TBR! :)

Out of 6 challenges, I participated in 4
- Katie's ☑️
- Reader's Challenge ☑️
- General Reading ☑️
- Group Readalong ☑️
- Lucy's ❎
- Kate's ❎ (Jane Eyre)

Out of 5 books, I read 4 but only finished 3
- Jane Eyre 4/5 ☑️
- Shirley 3.5/5 ☑️
- Wuthering Heights 3/5 ☑️
- Through the Looking Glass (tbc in November)
- Christmas Stories (tbr in December)

I watched 2011Jane Eyre movie (loved the book more)

I dressed like Victorian/Victorian-esque

I've watched historical videos about the Victorian Era and read some of the articles

2nd week of October came and I'm kind of just starting with the books and so I realized I shall focus on what I've already started than to start another book while I still have others less half open and read and not finish anything. Also, there are days when I struggled to sit down and read or to even read before I go to bed (which is so sad) but I'm happy and proud of my experience. :)

I know that these books are difficult to read as most classics are and so I just slowed down and tried to read and understand the book. I realized that I don't have to compete with anyone and so I just embraced the fact that it's okay to slow down, read what I can, enjoy, and have fun. :)

I read only three books (one of them tiny), and started a fourth, but they had been for a time on my TBR, and I feel that I savoured them, so this experience has been a very good one.
Looking forward to the next Victober!
(Funny thing: turns out I read those books in chronological order by their publishing date. Interesting.)

My Victorian reads in October were:

Mary Barton - 4 stars
Adam Bede - 4 stars
The Professor - 3 stars
The Dead Secret - 5 stars

Also read a nonfiction (modern) book about corsets called "Victorian Secrets" that was Victorian-centered - 3 stars

Loved reading with everyone! So much fun. :)