Welcome to Litsy!

Once I got over just how long this novel was, I was on a roll. The heroine certainly got her money's worth out of adventure.

#horror #gothichorror

I also got this fabulous mug decorated with books by female writers (I already have the other bookish mug they do!) from Santa 💖

I've only read 4 of the books, but I own a few more waiting to be read and I've found some new additions to the TBR too...

How many have you read? Are there any you'd particularly recommend?

Now to make myself a mug of tea 😁

Some lovely poetry and descriptions of nature (though excessive, perhaps). I did get a little weary of Emily becoming ‘insensible‘ (apparently the 18th century equivalent to swooning 😂).
#1001books

Day 30: Lots of #mysterious characters in this book!

#maycharacters @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I loved this so much more than I thought I would. Little drawn out at times but overall compelling writing, enchanting plot and delightful characters. 5 ⭐️

@mklong how you doing?

In to volume III and the gothic has intensified, with menacing, ominous, and sinister characters The wonderful Annette thrown in for comic relief. MC is getting gutsy and feisty by the minute, oh where will it all lead? Channeling Catherine Moreland right now!!!

@mklong so this arrived in time for volume two!! Im still enjoying it, how about you? The poetry quotes though are sending me down rabbit holes. Howbeit the MC can be frustrating, the writing is flawless.

@mklong so this finally arrived. I‘m a little concerned about the volume I part 😳 Didn‘t notice this when I ordered.

@Cuilin and I are going to squeeze in a #UdolphoBuddyRead before the #PemberLittens #TheItalianBuddyRead begins at the end of the month. Anyone else want to join in?

I have a vague plan to read a volume per week, but am not setting a schedule. All are welcome 😊

I can't sum this up. Its energy is bonkers & I respect it. Had it been shorter I might have loved it. Radcliffe was doing all kinds of wild stuff stylistically; combining the sublime with the ludicrous. Some of it was enchanting & gripping. Some of it made me want to nap. It's the fact that we're living in 2020 & I've no attention span to speak of. But that's not Radcliffe's fault! She was writing for people like Henry Tilney & Catherine Morland.

This trillion-page book is a *lot*, but it's also fun & excessive & enjoyable (+ occasionally boring & frustrating, yes ?)

There was a nice moment where, Ludovico, part of the domestic help, settles down to read on a cold & stormy night. This quote appears, as I read this book & am myself "fascinated by inventions, which had captivated the careless imagination in every rank of society, in a former age". Very meta of Ann Radcliffe.

I've always wanted to read this pioneering Gothic thriller, and what better time than now as we read a chapter a day of Northanger Abbey! #pemberlittens 🏰

I've only just started so no dastardly acts as yet, though there's LOTS OF DESCRIPTION... 😅

Dear #PemberLittens, those of you who want to read The Mysteries of Udolpho, you can download the Kindle book for free today 😊
#dealalert

And some boys, too...

So happy to hear The End. Been listening to off & on since my Austen in August reread of Northanger Abbey. Thought I should have a frame of reference to what Jane Austen was poking fun at. I could only take so much of the Histrionics & would bail for awhile. Apparently no Editors in 1794 when this was published. It rambles on and on. Finally I can get this 31 h 15 m 42 s mess off my phone. 🙄
#austeninaugust2019 #listenwhileyouwork

Repost for @jenniferw88 :

New game!

Post a picture of the 5 books someone would need to put in a pentogram to summon you with the hashtag #mypentogrambooks and tag me @jenniferw88 in order to win litsy influence (I can't really do shipping costs at the mo, so I will repost some of your posts for a week in order to increase your litsy profile). Ends when I reach 250k (currently at 210k, so a while to go!)

New game!

Post a picture of the 5 books someone would need to put in a pentogram to summon you with the hashtag #mypentogrambooks and tag me @jenniferw88 in order to win litsy influence (I can't really do shipping costs at the mo, so I will repost some of your posts for a week in order to increase your litsy profile). Ends when I reach 250k (currently at 210k, so a while to go!)

@LitsyHappenings can you share please?

#CastleontheHill #WanderingJune

The medieval fortress, Udolpho, is located on a hill, if I remember correctly

Another year, another library sale. This round: mostly cheap gothic romances. YES!!! 👄🏰😱

Well, life has been busy so I'm still on this book. Running behind of my goal but not giving up. It's been good so far. I hope to finish it up now that I'm taking time off for Spring Break. She was a talented author for sure.

The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. Store it with ideas, teach it the pleasure of thinking; and the temptations of the world without, will be counteracted by the gratifications derived from the world within.
Ann Radcliffe- Mysteries of Udolpho

Been on the to-read list for like 20 years.

This one has like 3.38 on Librarything, which seems to stem in part from a dislike of weepy virtuous-type characters again. Idk, I kinda prefer them. Emily tries hard to be a decent human being and stick to her principles. She isn't weak.

Librivox audiobooks are free, but this is my worst experience with one. Some of the readers mispronounce words or have background noise.

I probably never would have finished this book if it wasn‘t for the excellent audiobook.

Holy buckets, Ms. Radcliffe could go on! And clearly this book wasn‘t edited in the least. It‘s long, y‘all. It gets convoluted and outlandish, but somehow it was still never boring. 🤔 The Scooby-Doo wrap-up ending was almost too much, but I loved the gothic, creepy castle vibes and the love story. Just call me Catherine Morland. 😂

⭐️⭐️⭐️

#1001books

#1001, #ghosts #October #gothic #LTScaredyCat #ROOT

I love when reading one book ( Northanger Abbey) leads you to discover a new book to add to your TBR pile. Catherine and Isabella seem to love it so I‘ll have to give this a read in the future 😊 What are some books that lead you to read another book referenced?

For #PrinceOfJuly #letsgocrazy I immediately thought of this book - in true gothic style, the main character is unsure if she is going crazy, or being driven to desperation by her supposed caretakers, or if something more sinister is occurring. I didn‘t like this one quite as much as I have others in the genre, but it was still pretty creepy, like this old picture of my cat in our previous apartment! @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @vkois88

Yesterday, a friend and I went to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Manor outside Nashville, TN. There was beautiful gardens, and one cool little library. Seems this book was everywhere back in the day.

Day 6 of books that changed my life. Yes I know it's another 18th century book but this one led me to my MA dissertation topic and my love of the Gothic genre.

Tagging @TrishB if you'd like to join in.

#Booksthatchangedmylife

Reading an ARC for #FangirlFriday but not saying what it is until tomorrow!
In the meantime, have a reminder about #HyperUdolpho

#HyperUdolpho begins! Yay!

Tomorrow I'll be reading an ARC for the return of #FangirlFriday! Yay! Not saying which ARC, you'll have to read the blog post to find out.
In the meantime, have a reminder about #HyperUdolpho which also starts on Friday.

The Hyper RPG book club on Goodreads is doing a 15 week read along of The Mysteries of Udolpho starting June 1st. Come join us!
#HyperUdolpho

Not #horror per se, but more gothic in nature. I‘m still reading this from last year and hope to get back to it soon! When library books, book discussion books and other “must read first” books get in the way, sometimes books find themselves going to the bottom of the pile....#maylovesclassics

Count Montoni is the #villain in this gothic classic #litsyclassics

I recommend SO much! I was intimidated because it was so long and from the eighteenth century, I was sure it would be difficult to read, but it turned out to be the most exciting book I‘ve read in ages. It was a genuine page turner and I totally forgot how old it was most of the time.

Yes the heroine was old fashioned - very gentle and lots of fainting - but still believable, brave and stood up for what she believed in. Pleasantly surprised.

#25infive challenge officially completed! That puts me at nearly 26 hours in five days and I am SO proud of myself. I hope everyone who took part feels proud of themselves too - the most important bit wasn‘t the numbers we managed it was talking about it together (god I sound gooey). Well done to everyone who took part!

I genuinely can‘t remember the last time I found a book this exciting! I can feel a gothic literature phase coming on...

#25infive two days in! 7 hours today on top of 6 yesterday so 13 in total so far which I‘m pleased with. Finished the History of Western Philosophy and moved on to the Mysteries of Udolpho!

One of the classic Gothic romances, mentioned by Austen in Northanger Abbey.

This book felt never ending. Reading it reminded me of watching long-running soap operas: recycled plots, change of locales (because only so much can happen in Pine Valley... erm... one place), long lost characters coming back. Just yesterday I told my wife that all that was missing were pirates and lo and behold, today we have pirates! In short, this book has the gothic equivalent of everything but the kitchen sink.

I am so behind on this book!

I picked this one up because I needed to read a #GothicNovel for #AroundTheYearIn52Books and I knew it had been influential to Austen when writing Northanger Abbey. As this was all I knew of the novel I decided to Google its plot and found this character description in Wikipedia. The last line is priceless.

#AroundTheYearIn52Books #Gothic

@SerialReader 🙌 If anyone wants to be friends on this #app, let me know. 😊

Love this #app! @SerialReader

Progress Update: Good golly! How come no one told me this was an almost 600 page book?!?! 🤣I obviously did not pay attention when I got it from Serial Reader and thought it was shorter. 80 issues read and still 46 issues to go, so it won't be finished until next year. I don't know if I would have stuck with it except in a chapter a day format, but I'm actually enjoying it in all its gothic-ness. 👍📚

I plowed through the last 80 pages of this yesterday! I found it to be quite different from many female-authored and female-heroine books of that time (written late 18th century, admittedly my read list is not long for then). The women in this book do have some agency--and sure sometimes it leads to bad choices--but it is refreshing nonetheless. #udolphoread #1001books