Celebrate Victoria Day With These Top Victorian Novels!

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I love a long weekend more than anyone, but have you noticed we really don’t do anything to actually celebrate or acknowledge the dowager mourning Queen?

But I’m not encouraging everyone to dress in black from head to toe or marry their first cousin. Instead, enjoy these Victorian reads while you lounge on your patio while the BBQ heats up.

 

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde.

Cheeky at it's best! But in all honesty, any Oscar Wilde book is worth your time.

 

 

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens.

When a rich merchant dies, he wills most of his fortune to an estranged son, John Harmon, but only on condition that this son marry a girl the father has chosen. She is Bella Wilfer, the pretty, spirited, slightly petulant daughter of a humble clerk. But whether young John Harmon would have consented to marry her is a mystery, because his body shows up on the shore in the novels macabre opening scene.

Look, just because it was required reading in school doesn’t mean it won’t speak to you. Plus, the names in a Dickens' novels are incredibly wonderfully ridiculous. In his day, Charles Dickens was quite a rock star. People would line up on the docks for new copies of his books and women would swoon at his public readings.

 

Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthor Conan Doyle.

Fog. Murder. London. It doesn't get more Victorian than that, my friend.

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Orphans, a mysterious wealthy gentlemen, a spooky mansion with a forbidden tower and a drunken cook. What could possibly go wrong? 

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

We always picture the monster when we hear the name Frankenstein, but it is in fact Victor Frankenstein that the title references. Written completely in letter form by the narrator, you'll wonder who is the real monster of the story; the murderous creation or the creator himself.




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Far From theMadding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

A headstrong landowner in want of a husband considers three suitors; a farmhand, a wealthy neighbour, and a handsome soldier with a tragic secret.
 

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North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

Pride and Prejudice for socialists. Truly, a wonderful read.



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What are some of your favourite Victorian reads?

I Vlogged...and I Liked It!

Through modern technology of the interweb thingy you can watch me read an excerpt from my book, Butterflies Don't Lie.

This was my first attempt at vlogging. This isn't the best I could have done, but heck, I'm a lazy gal with low standards so it's good enough for me. I especially like the big flub-up at the end.

Enjoy!

Embarrassing Confessions of a Bibliophile

It's time to come clean.

I like to classify stuff, you know, organize and label. And this rings true for my bookshelves as well. Some books are great for rainy days, and others are perfect murder mysteries to read on that long flight or a weekend at the cottage.

But I have other labels too *lowers voice* ones I'm not proud of. These are my book confessions.

Confession #1. The Book I Stole From The Library

Frog and Toad Are Friends

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Okay, I know stealing is wrong and this is no excuse, but I was in grade two and it was raining heavily that day. I dropped the book in the puddle where it sucked up a gallon of water. The thing swelled like Harry Potter's Aunt Marge.

I stashed the thick mess under my bed, hoping it would somehow magically fix itself before it was due back at the library.

It didn't.

However, back then (1978) I guess the librarian at my school was so distracted by the approaching summer vacation and its promises of tanned cabana boys or whatever she did in the off season—that she never came looking for that book. Frog and Toad Are Friends is still mine to this day.


Confession #2. The Book I Pretend To Have Read

The Hobbit

I was thirteen. The first three paragraphs were about a gnarled tree stump. I haven't picked it up since.



Confession #3. The Book I've Read The Most

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This is kind of two confessions in one, because my artsy fartsy answer is Pride and Prejudice (read eight times), but the real answer is Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (read ten times).


Confession #4. The Book I Never Finished

Mr. Churchill's Secretary

Okay, there are several titles that fit this category, but this mystery novel is the most recent I haven't been able to finish. I kept falling asleep. I stuck it out until page 110, but I couldn't get any farther. I'm going to try again someday, you know when a bout of insomnia hits.


Confession #5. The Book In Which I'm Totally In Love With One of the Characters

Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy.


Confession #6. Book I Bought Purely Because Of The Cover

Hush, Hush

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This was when angels falling from the sky wearing only tight jeans was something of a novelty. Now you can't go for a walk without getting hit by one of those suckers.


Confession #7. The Book I Will Never Read

Fifty Shades of Grey

Life is too short. I read a few paragraphs composed mainly of the main character asking herself questions and biting her lower lip. That was enough for me.


Confession #8. The Book I Will Never Recommend

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

It's on my bookshelf as a testament to how stubborn a reader I can be. That sucker weighed in at 782 pages. Although there is one memorable scene, that only accounts for two of those 782 pages. I heard that it's been optioned for a movie. Good, choose that option instead.

Sorry, I hate being a critic, but confession is good for the soul. Let me know your answers!

Spend Canada Day With a Great Canadian Author

My official list is much too long to include in this blog, but here is a random sampling of my favorite Canadian authors. There's a genre for every mood. Happy reading!

The Republic of Love by Carol Shields

A contemporary story told in two alternating points of view that proves no matter how willing you are to believe the opposite, there is such a thing as love at first sight.

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An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark

Hilarious and heart breaking at the same time. A mother mourns for the two daughters she lost as a young woman.

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn about the devastating effects of Moranna’s mental illness on her life and that of her family. But An Audience of Chairs also gives us a glimpse into the mind of a true iconoclast and wild spirit, who has managed despite overwhelming odds to keep hope alive.—Goodreads

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Pluto's Ghost by Sheree Fitch

A male point of view love story/tragedy/mystery with a voice so authentic it reads like a diary.

Jake Upshore has loved Skye Derucci since before he can remember. Volatile, complex and frustrated (he's got a label disorder from all the labels he's been given) at the best of times, Jake's on a desperate quest to find Skye before she aborts the baby he believes is his. As he hurtles headlong toward certain tragedy, Jake relives the fatal choices he's made and the powerful forces that have led him to this to end. A gripping thriller and a heart-wrenching love story, Pluto's Ghost is a raw and powerful novel about anger, escape, and redemptive love.—Goodreads

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The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

A badly disfigured burn victim is visited in the hospital by another patient—a woman from the psychiatric wing. She tells him they were lovers in a past life, and so begins the epic love story of how they've met again after centuries.

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The Sisters Brothers by Partick deWitt

This book proves you CAN judge a book by its cover. This is one fabulous Western romp.

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Random Passage by Bernice Morgan

A pregnant stow away, an English family forced to escape to another land to save a thieving brother, a holy man, a murderer, and a young girl who starts a diary detailing all their secrets and miseries as they struggle to build a new life on the inhospitable shores of Newfoundland.

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February by Lisa Moore


In 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland during a Valentine's Day storm. All eighty-four men aboard died. February is the story of Helen O'Mara, one of those left behind.—Goodreads 

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The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro

Of course you're going to read this. *cough* Nobel Prize *cough*

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The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy


Plunged into an alien landscape, readers orient themselves in elephant time, elephant space, and elephant consciousness, and begin to feel, as Gowdy puts it, what it would be like to be that big and gentle, to be that imperiled, and to have that prodigious memory.—Goodreads

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The Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein and inseparable until Konrad falls gravely ill. In the forbidden Dark Library, Victor finds an ancient formula, and seeks an alchemist to recreate the Elixir of Life.—Goodreads

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What books will you be reading this holiday?

Ten Books You Should Read Again Now That You're All Grown Up

Nothing standing out in the best seller list for you these days? Does the Hot & New section at the bookstore look kind of dull?

Then I suggest you step in your own Tardis and revisit your teen favorites from long—or in my case, long, long ago.


1. Forever by Judy Blume

Holy crap! A book with sex scenes. I remember being totally blown away by Michael and Kathy's relationship and was devastated with Kathy's choice. Now, of course I'm digging the ending like a grave yard worker on a double shift.


2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag's world scared the bee-Jesus out of me and was completely depressing. I recently discovered it makes a great companion to a pumpkin spice latte.

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A perfectly creepy read ruined by homework questions like: Who was your favorite character and why? This time around I found reading without a looming book report was so much more enjoyable. For the record, my favorite character was Simon because he seemed like good boyfriend material. I didn't write that, but that's the truth.

4. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

This book felt mysterious and sacred when I read it as a teenager. But now that I have children, I wasn't surprised my focus went from Anne to her parents, especially her father who ends up being the only survivor. How he must have felt reading her words, knowing he'd never hear her voice again.

5. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Yes, we're all still a bunch of phonies. Poor Holden. I totally get him now.

6. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Plucky orphan + red hair + nemesis that grows into love interest = epic read

7. Nancy Drew by a bunch of writers who went by the name of Carolyn Keene

Any book from the original series. I can't say enough about a girl who wears white gloves and knows how to change a tire on her blue convertible. And don't forget the wonderful sweets by Hannah.

8. Stranger With My Face by Lois Duncan

Lois breaks all the rules for YA. Both parents are alive, the protagonist already has a great boyfriend and none of her friends are into 80's music or fashion designers. She creates tension the old fashioned way, by throwing the main character into a completely unnatural situation and watching her squirm. It's a psychological thriller at its best!

This is the cover I remember staying up late with too scared to sleep.

9. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

No explanation is needed. Just go read it again. Then watch the movie because of Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.

10. The Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Two precocious runaways secretly living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Sign me up! Great book to read aloud to your kids, too.


What are some of your old time favorites?

I Am Currently...

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Loving: The warmer weather. My garden kicks ass.
Reading: THE HYPNOTIST by Lars Kepler. Holy hebbie gebbies! I'm freaked out already and I'm only on page 65.  Next up is JOYLAND by Stephen King. Who needs sleep?
Watching: Kill me now, I'm watching The Bachelorette. And to counteract any neuron damage, I've decided to start watching Game Of Thrones...that is as soon as I finish THE HYPNOTIST. 

Thinking about: Alex Pettyfer, and how I should really learn to play the ukulele this summer. This is how I imagine Alex would react if I played the ukulele for him.

 

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Anticipating: Finishing my YA mystery novella, THE ASP. It's Veronica Mars meets Indiana Jones. Check it out for free! Plus there's a Pinterest board that your eyeballs may enjoy as well.

Wishing: For more wishes ;)
Making me happy: Knowing that summer and all its glorious 'french fries and ice cream eating at the beach' days are on the way. Plus there's writing and watching my tomato plants inch along each day. 

 

How about you?