Welcome to Litsy!

'Why, bless my life and soul!' said Mr. Omer, 'how do you find yourself? Take a seat. - Smoke not disagreeable I hope?'

'By no means,' said I. 'I like it - in somebody else's pipe.'

'What, not in your own, eh?' Mr. Omer returned, laughing. 'All the better, sir. Bad habit for a young man. Take a seat. I smoke, myself, for the asthma.'

(from Chapter 30, 'A Loss')

#classics #charlesdickens

CHAPTER 11

I BEGIN LIFE ON MY OWN ACCOUNT,
AND DON'T LIKE IT

Good on you Dickens. I don't think I've ever read a chapter heading and smiled as I did :)

I fagged through the Park again and again, long after I was quite knocked up.

🌲🫃🌲

In anticipation of reading Demon Copperhead I decided to take this classic on holiday, making my luggage 2lb heavier. I have not read it before and was soon totally lost in a world I thought I knew already. The characters are astonishing from the well-known Uriah Heep and Micawber to the wonderful Mr Dick and Traddles. I can only imagine the anticipation of waiting for a new chapter to appear each week. A brilliant read.

#coffeeandabook #charlesdickens

Been a long, dirty week. I relish these easy-chair Saturday mornings, when I hear nothing but my office clock and the wind outside.

But the best parts are my coffee and a book :)

Enjoying Dickens's writing so far, especially the humor that comes from looking at the adult world through a child's eyes. But I have to say, there's been a lot of instances of crying in these first few chapters... Especially David's mother, Mrs. Peggotty & Mrs. Gummidge. Everyone is bemoaning their treatment or their lot. Just an observation :)

So many… especially after the recent #tlt lists posted by @dabbe

I plan on reading the tagged this year for #chunksterchallenge hosted by @Amiable

#SundayFunday

I have not finished all of Dickens's works. Or Shakespeare. I shy away from philosophical works because I fear I don't have the intellect to understand it. Although, I did enjoy Thoreau. I have tried Ulysses three different times and bailed. The Art of War is still on my TBR, too.

#SundayFunDay @BookmarkTavern

I must confess the size of this book always scared me a little - I mean could one person truly be so interesting that I would want to read about him for almost a thousand pages?
The answer I'm glad to report is: Yes!
I quickly found myself so interested in the life of David Copperfield that I just couldn't put the book down.

👇🏻 continue 👇🏻

I've been reading really hard on this Chunkster, tugging away at it in 20 pages at a time. With some intervals going up to 100 pages a day when the story grabbed me and the time permitted.

And now I have 107 pages left... I'm so close 🤩

Thanks @julieclair for setting up #AllergicToChunksters it's really helping me chop away at these big books.

I finished this in October but waited to review until #whatthedickens was finished with it, and well, here I am. I want to write a 5-star review after some so-so books. Still I found this a difficult read when David was a youngster. His life was so downtrodden and he was so gullible, I almost gave the whole book a pass. And I hated so many characters so much it was hard to read about them. But Dickens has a way with describing characters. It‘s ⬇️

“The elms bent to one another, like giants who were whispering secrets, and after a few seconds of such repose, fell into a violent flurry, tossing their wild arms about, as if their late confidences were really too wicked for their peace of mind.”

No lie, this description made me lol. “Really too wicked!” Gossipy elms.

My #TopRead2024 is “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens #fiction #readingbracket

Here are my November read books. I finished the tagged book way ahead of schedule for #whatthedickens. I got carried away! Three books for #authoramonth, one for #Canada #foodandlit (but I have two more in the works), and four “impulse” reads. @Cuilin @Soubhiville @Catsandbooks

Ok I‘ll start: David Copperfield

You?

Well, I‘m so embarrassed. Here I am co-hosting #whatthedickens and I lost track of where I was and finished the book! We still have part 4 to finish in December. I can attest it‘s almost too good to stop once it really gets going. Definitely worth the read! I‘ll refrain from reviewing it until the end of the year. @Cuilin

Checking in to see how you‘re doing with this month‘s chapters. For November we are reading parts 11 - 15 Chapters 32-47. Let us know! Big surprises are in store!!

#whatthedickens @Cuilin @CaitlinR @raelovestoread @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey @sparklemn @bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks

Catching up? Or are you ready for November? Either way, here‘s a reminder about where we are at, or hope to be:

Oct parts 6 - 10 Chapters 16-31
Nov parts 11 - 15 Chapters 32-47
Dec parts 15 -20 Chapters 48-64 (the end)

#whatthedickens @Cuilin @CaitlinR @raelovestoread @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey @sparklemn @bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks

Now that we‘ve survived the awesome #hauntedshelf gaming in October, it‘s time for our discussion of Part 2 of David Copperfield. I look forward to our “discussion” over the weekend!

@Cuilin @CaitlinR @raelovestoread @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey @sparklemn @bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks

And more catch-up audio coloring listening to the tagged book

#falljamboreedoodles #goat #hauntedshelf #hexesandcrows @Catsandbooks @PuddleJumper

More audio coloring listening to the tagged book

#falljamboreedoodles #owl #hauntedshelf #hexesandcrows @Catsandbooks @PuddleJumper

#wickedwhispers #haunt #hauntedshelf #hexesandcrows @Catsandbooks @PuddleJumper @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This last weekend while I was out husband bought and built me an Ikea bookshelf to fit into a tight space I have left. Unfortunately Ikea doesn‘t sell the lovely pine bookshelves we bought 30+ years ago when we married so the shelves don‘t match but that‘s ok. I‘ve almost filled up one shelf with my anticipated Dickens reads!! #whattheDickens @Cuilin

Aunt Betsy: all about humanely raising chickens for food well before it was a thing

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Dickens, not a fan of attorneys! So, why do I like him so much when I‘m an attorney!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

First it was Peggotty and her buttons. Now I‘m enjoying Littimer making Copperfield feel so young every time they speak. It‘s hilarious!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Such a wonderful history!

I'm got two versions of the book, one from 2012 and the other from 1970... I love both covers, but the translation from the second one is more formal and in a complicated Spanish writing to be understood, I'm find a little hard but is interesting to see how the way to use a language can change time by time.

#whatthedickens @Cuilin @Texreader

It's almost time to start October #WhatTheDickens!
Sept parts 1 - 5 Chapters 1-15
Oct parts 6 - 10 Chapters 16-31
Nov parts 11 - 15 Chapters 32-47
Dec parts 15 -20 Chapters 48-64 (the end)
Discussions to start soon!!

Via @texreader

It‘s almost time to start October #WhatTheDickens!

Sept parts 1 - 5 Chapters 1-15
Oct parts 6 - 10 Chapters 16-31
Nov parts 11 - 15 Chapters 32-47
Dec parts 15 -20 Chapters 48-64 (the end)

Discussions to start soon!!

@Cuilin @CaitlinR @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey
@bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks
@Sparklemn

If I‘ve left anyone off let me know so I can add you!

Pulling out this gorgeous edition for a read today! I've read some Dickens before, but not this one 🥰

This scene just broke my heart. Poor innocent gullible David Copperfield

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Peggotty‘s buttons! 😢

#whatthedickens @Cuilin

I‘m reading the timeline of Dickens‘ life in the front of the tagged book. It‘s really interesting

#whatthedickens @Cuilin

The Peggotty button saga continues.

#whatthedickens @Cuilin

Whoops! There go the buttons again!!

#whatthedickens @Cuilin

That‘s quite the hug Peggotty!!

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

Why I love Dickens. His descriptions of Peggotty just make me LOL!! #whattheDickens @Cuilin

What a great readathon! Here‘s my wrap up:

-I finished The Alternatives (#campLitsy) and A Town Like Alice (#foodandlit #Malaysia #readingOceania #Australia)

-I continued reading Wolfsong (#authoramonth), and

-I started David Copperfield (#whatthedickens) and The Storm We Made (#foodandlit #Malaysia)

Thanks @TheSpineView for hosting #fortheloveofbooks!!

@Catsandbooks @Cuilin @Soubhiville @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @Megabooks

Let‘s get started!! #WhatTheDickens

Sept parts 1 - 5 Chapters 1-15
Oct parts 6 - 10
Nov parts 11 - 15
Dec parts 15 -20

@Cuilin @CaitlinR @raelovestoread @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey
@bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks

Let us know if you want to be added to notifications

Halfway through the year and it looks like the one to beat will be ‘David Copperfield‘ by Charles Dickens.

January - Tom Lake
February- David Copperfield
March - Sea of Tranquility
April - Dead-End Memories
May - A Woman Is No Man
June - Waiting
Bonus - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Bonus - Bright Young Women

#topread2024

PS thank you @CSeydel for this great bracket template— I just realized you are the creator!

I wasn‘t in the mood for The Mystery Writer, and I was having issues with Hoopla anyway, so I listened to David Copperfield on my #audiowalk. It rained this morning and was pretty chilly this evening.

I undertook this doorstopper because it inspired ‘Demon Copperhead‘, which is on my reading list this year and because I enjoyed ‘Great Expectations‘ so much last year. Since the book is long (it was serialized) I liked the idea of going back and forth between written and audio formats. The saga is said to be close to the life and experiences of Charles Dickens himself. I think it was extraordinary in every way. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally finished! Doing it mostly on audio helped & it‘s easy to forgive the length when remembering it was first released as a serial. David himself is easy to root for (even as you want to shout at him for his naivety on occasion) & the gaggle of side characters are easy to love: the eternally devoted Peggotty, the bombastic Mr. Micawber, the donkey-hating Aunt Betsey...

Except Dora. I almost couldn‘t stand Dora as much as the real villains.

I‘m so excited my book club is reading Demon Copperhead this month, but the only reason I haven‘t read it already is that I was insistent on reading this first. (Or listening to it, as the case may be — don‘t think I could finish it in time otherwise.)

This is by no means my first Dickens, but it‘s been quite a while. And I keep being struck by how funny this book is. 22% in and, yes, I‘ve cried twice. But I‘ve laughed much more.

A good story, but so much longer than it needed to be. We have a literature teacher in my book club who reminds us that this was published in monthly installments. Apparently Dickens even applied feedback from readers to tweak future portions of the novel with this work, so that probably led to more rambling.

This is the longest book I‘ve read on Serial Reader. 150 episodes means I started somewhere in April. Phew!

Even if you think you know where Dickens is taking you, you never quite know what you‘ll meet on the journey. I loved every minute of this #chunkster, and now I‘m ready for the Kingsolver retelling (Demon Copperhead). @Amiable