WhatTheDickens

@Cuilin and I are so excited to start up #whattheDickens again in June! Read the tagged book in June and July and share the joy of one of the best authors in human history. (I‘m biased, I‘ve started already and loving his prose as always.) We look forward to sharing your thoughts about the book.

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Cuilin

Little Dorrit (UK) | Charles Dickens

#WhatTheDickens #LittleDorrit

June 1st, we will start Little Dorrit. Read at your own pace, tag @Cuilin and @Texreader with any thoughts, quotes, or reviews. All are welcome. This is a first time read for me and I‘m looking forward to it. How about you?

Cuilin @texreader @CaitlinR @raelovestoread @fortifiedbybooks @BarbaraJean @Annececilie @LeeRharry @quietjenn @bookwormAHN @dabbe @alldebooks @Daisey @sparklemn @bcncookbookclub @TheAromaofBooks
@lcsmcat @bornareader @cogsofencouragement @thebookhippie @thearomaofbooks @bookwormjillk @Lin3han @wordslinger42 @curiouserandcurioser @catlass007
1d

35 likes1 comment

Texreader

Little Dorrit | Charles Dickens

I love Dickens‘ personification in his stories. It‘s what made me first love his writing. And here we go, what‘s that crazy mud up to this time?

#whattheDickens @Cuilin

35 likes

Texreader

Little Dorrit | Charles Dickens

I can forgive Dickens for interminably long sentences because look at this beauty! It‘s so gorgeously crafted and delivers a soft powerful punch there at the end. I love this man.

Consider this a preview of things to come reading our next book for #whattheDickens ! @Cuilin

43 likes

Texreader

Little Dorrit | Charles Dickens

I‘m starting this audiobook today to get a head start on our next read for #whattheDickens in June. @Cuilin

Cuilin As I was organizing a reminder post yesterday, I was thinking Karen will have this finished by the end of June and now I think you might have it finished by the end of May lol. Enjoy, I can‘t wait to hear what you think. 3d

Cuilin I will listen to this one too, because I love Juliet Stevenson as a narrator. 3d

Texreader @Cuilin She‘s brilliant! And I only wish u could read/listen that quickly! This book is 40 hours long! 🤣 3d

42 likes2 stack adds3 comments

BarbaraJean

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | Charles Dickens

pick

I read this back in Feb/March with #WhattheDickens and then never got around to reviewing it!

In classic Dickens fashion, he spins an engaging, wide-ranging story, full of implausible coincidences and over-the-top caricatures of supporting characters. There are so many characters here that I love: from Nicholas and Kate to Smike and Miss La Creevy, Newman Noggs and the Cheeryble brothers. ⤵️

Cuilin, Texreader

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) I enjoyed this, but couldn‘t help but compare it with David Copperfield as I read—and I kept trying to figure out why I like DC better. I liked Nicholas and Kate much better than I liked David—David is so frustratingly naive, and Nicholas and Kate are far more self-aware and grounded. Many of the supporting characters (Mrs. Nickleby in particular, but also the Kenwigs and the theater troupe) were grating rather than amusing or lovable. ⤵️ (edited) 6d

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) I did find the Mantalinis ridiculous and hilarious (I frequently find myself saying “demn‘d” and “demnable” now), so there‘s that. But overall, the stakes felt higher and more serious here—and I think that combination of serious and silly just jerked me around a little too much.

Pictured with my World of Dickens puzzle 😁 (edited) 6d

Texreader Excellent review!! I loved this book and don‘t necessarily agree but I can absolutely see where you‘re coming from. Nicely said all the way around!! 6d

34 likes3 comments

dabbe

Untitled | Untitled

#ThreeListThursday #TLT @dabbe
We're on to list 2! Bye bye, scary 1700s. All of these are from the 1800s!
1. Survey link: https://www.listchallenges.com/1001-books-you-must-read-before-you-die-1800s
2. Share your score if you'd like.
3. Share your 3 favorites from the list or 3 that you might be interested in reading, or 3 you thought were horrible or a combo of whatever you'd like.
4. Tag a few!
Tagging JUST A FEW who've played before. 🤩

mcctrish, DebinHawaii, wanderinglynn, Megabooks, peaKnit, melissajayne, Soubhiville, BarkingMadRead, Crazeedi, tpixie, Cuilin, AmyG, kspenmoll, TheBookHippie, Amiable, CogsOfEncouragement, catiewithac, Susanita, Lynnsoprano, Blueberry, Vansa, Bklover, Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick, Aimeesue, TheLudicReader, Larkken, jenniferw88, julesG, Deblovestoread, Librarybelle, Eggs, Chrissyreadit, Read4life, rwmg, CatLass007, Q84, BookwormAHN, Pogue, Traci1, Sleepswithbooks, CSeydel, Ruthiella, RamsFan1963, TheSpineView, EadieB, CBee, Bookish_Viking, ShelleyBooksie, TheAromaofBooks, ImperfectCJ, Cupcake12, bthegood, Sparklemn, lil1inblue, The_Penniless_Author, PageShifter, LiseWorks, AllDebooks, AnnCrystal

jenniferw88 1700s were NOT scary for me thanks to my MA 🤣 1w

CSeydel Yikes, only 13, although a couple of my favorite books did make the list (Silas Marner and Tess of the D‘Urbervilles) 1w

jenniferw88 18 this time! 1w

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Chrissyreadit Only 9- but a lot of nf books. 1w

Lynnsoprano Wow, only 12! However, there are 19th century authors who are missing from this list, whose books I would have expected to make the list—Hawthorne, Austen, Brontë, to name a few. 1w

Bookwormjillk Ooof only 9! 1w

Susanita @Lynnsoprano I guess the divisions are not entirely exact with so many books. There were some Austen and Brontë last week. In fact, without them my score would have been even worse! 1w

Lynnsoprano @susanita Ah, that explains it. I was down with COVID last week—not bad except for the headache. I‘ll have to go back and look at that list. 1w

BarkingMadRead I only had 15. I own like 5 or so more but haven‘t read them yet 🙈 1w

Bklover 15- thanks to a years ago obsession with Jules Verne and HG Wells. And, of course, #hashtagbrigade 1w

Librarybelle So bizarre—I did worse this week than last with only 13! And I call myself a classics reader! 🙄 1w

willaful 12 for me. Alice and Little Women my favs, of course! I'd like to read What Maisie Knew. Calling the #HashtagBrigade ! 😁 1w

dabbe @jenniferw88 Yay for you! I find them rather terrifying myself. 🤣 1w

dabbe @CSeydel I think my score will be right around there, too! TESS was my #1 fave book in 2023 with the #hashtagbrigade! And we're currently reading THE MILL ON THE FLOSS. I loved MIDDLEMARCH, too. Is SILAS your favorite of hers? Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @jenniferw88 #woohooyou Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @Chrissyreadit 🎯🩵🎯! Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @Lynnsoprano There are still more books from the 1800s coming your way! 🤩 Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @BarkingMadRead We need to get them into the #hashtagbrigade! 😍 Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @Bookwormjillk I feel it! I haven't taken it yet, but I think I'll score around the same! Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @Susanita @Lynnsoprano The list I have is ordered by centuries, but not necessarily in chronological order of that century. So, the 1800s could have one from 1813, then the next from 1802, then the next from 1889, and so on. 🤷‍♀️ 1w

dabbe @Lynnsoprano I hope you're feeling better! 😍 1w

dabbe @Bklover IKR? I still need to read WAR OF THE WORLDS. I've read his others, but not that one! 😱 Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @Librarybelle I think I'll score worse, too! But, man, some of those titles I have never even heard of! I'm more of a British Lit classics girl, not a world one. Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

dabbe @willaful Ooh, that one does sound good for the #hashtagbrigade, doesn't it? Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 1w

Bklover Thanks for the tag! I truly appreciate it. 🩷🩷🩷. Also loved Tess with #hashtagbrigade (edited) 1w

Susanita @Lynnsoprano Ugh. I hope you feel better! 1w

Eggs 💗🌺💖 1w

CogsOfEncouragement 19 for me this round. 1w

ImperfectCJ I missed last week, so I'm playing catch-up. I've read 17 from this round. Love Alice and was surprised how much I enjoyed Kim and Sister Carrie when I read them. Now to post about last week's list! 1w

dabbe @Bklover 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @Eggs 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement We scored pretty closely together this time! Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @ImperfectCJ We're close in our scores! Added your choices to my TBR. Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

tpixie @dabbe yikes! 9% I am currently reading Les MIs! December 31 that‘ll get me up to 10%! ❤️‍🔥. @dabbe @CSeydel Tess is a favorite ❤️ (edited) 1w

CSeydel @tpixie it‘s so good. Reminds me, I‘m due for a re-read … on the other hand, I still haven‘t read Jude the Obscure. Decisions decisions 1w

CSeydel @dabbe believe it or not, I haven‘t read Mill on the Floss OR Middlemarch (despite having the latter on my shelf for like 3 years, gazing dolefully at me every time I walk by with another book in my hand). But yes Silas Marner is one of my favorite books of all books! 1w

Faranae 30! Some of these authors feel over-represented, like they could have just chosen 1 or max 2 by that author and fit someone else in. Some of these I really have to vote against! I read André Gide's “fruits of the earth“ in French and yikes. Also I love Sherlock but just put the Hound on there and move on! 1w

rwmg 29 Brings home how Anglocentric my 19th century reading has been, even if not completely so. But an embarrassing number where I've never heard of book or author. 1w

AnnCrystal
Thanks for the tag
📚☺️👍🏼💝. (edited) 1w

peaKnit Ope, 5! I also love Tess, I see she is a popular read! I read it in Highschool. 1w

Daisey I‘ve read 30 from this week‘s list, and that‘s with consistently reading from the 1001 list for the last several years. 1w

tpixie @Daisey 🩷🩷🩷 1w

tpixie @CSeydel I know it‘s so hard to do a reread when there‘s so many other books still left to read! 1w

dabbe @tpixie You're in good company; most of us are between 5 and 25! Here's hoping the 1900s are better for all of us! And I think we should be able to include LES as 3 books just for its length alone! 🤣 Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @CSeydel And SILAS is the one of hers I haven't read! 🤣 I adored MIDDLEMARCH and am enjoying MILL, though MIDDLE is better IMHO. I'm moving SILAS up on the TBR! 😍 1w

dabbe @Faranae The Sherlock is a hard one for me as I am a MAJOR Sherlock fan. But I see your point. Perhaps only one book per author, right? Yet some writers are way better than others and contributed more to the overall literary aesthetics of history. Hard choices all around. BTW, you beat my sorry butt. Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @rwmg 🩵🎯🩵 So many world authors I've never heard of, nor their books. I need the clock to slow down so that I can get to them! Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @AnnCrystal YW! 🥰 1w

dabbe @peaKnit I applaud any teacher who had high schoolers read TESS. I adored that book! 😍 Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

dabbe @Daisey You know, some of them just don't look that appealing to me. I don't care how low my score may be, if I'm not even interested by the cover or the little snippet provided in the 1001 book, I ain't reading it! 🤣 Thanks for playing and sharing. 💜💚💜 1w

CatLass007 My score was 11 and I think I should get some credit for at least TRYING to read Les Miz three different times. But I didn‘t check it. A couple of these I‘m pretty sure I read so I checked them. I read most of these with #NoPlaceLikeHolmes, #HashtagBrigade, #RandomClassics, and #WhatTheDickens, so thank you #LITSY! I also DNF several others. But, as @dabbe reminds me, #HailTheBail #BetterBooksAhead (edited) 1w

CatLass007 Three that I own and want to read are Anna Karenina, War and Peace, and Middlemarch. 1w

TheLudicReader 🤣 7. I still have the essay I wrote about Tess. Hated her. But I loved The Mayor of Casterbridge. 1w

catiewithac 27/100 but why so much Zola? It was a weird list. 1w

dabbe @CatLass007 YES! I love book surveys, but I don't always agree with them. If the book doesn't look good to me, I don't care who thinks I should read it! 🤣 And 🎯 for all of the books thanks to Litsy. I feel the same way. Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 7d

dabbe @CatLass007 If I had to put these in order of what I enjoyed, I'd say MIDDLEMARCH, ANNA KARENINA, then WAR AND PEACE. But don't listen to me! 🤣 7d

dabbe @TheLudicReader Well, here's something where we aren't in sync. TESS was my favorite read of 2023 (maybe that was a crappy reading year! 🤣). I want to read that essay when I get there! And I never read MAYOR, but I adored FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWS. That Hardy! #oy Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 7d

dabbe @catiewithac I guess Zola is Ze besZt. 🤣🤷‍♀️😍 I've never read anything by him! Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 7d

tpixie @dabbe lol Les Mis as 3 books yes! (edited) 7d

tpixie @CatLass007 I‘m hoping to read Anna K next year. I missed out on @TheBookHippie buddy read this year 7d

CatLass007 @tpixie I didn‘t know there was a buddy read to miss. 7d

dabbe @tpixie 🎯🩵🎯 7d

tpixie @CatLass007 🩷 it‘s hard to keep up with all the buddy reads!! 6d

Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick I think I'm coming in with the lowest score: 4! I'm confident enough to carry that torch. 🤣 I enjoyed Little Women & Dracula. Jekyll & Hyde and Alice's Adventures...not so much. I am not familiar with many of these. I should probably do a little research and bump myself up to a nice, round eight books read. 4d

dabbe @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick Some scored “0“, so you're not the lowest! Even if you were, who cares? 🤣 I loved Jekyll & Hyde, but did NOT care of any of Alice's adventures! Thanks for playing and sharing. 💚💜💚 4d

50 likes65 comments

Daisey

The Complete Works of Charles Dickens | Charles Dickens

I went to Audible looking for something else this morning and stumbled across this upcoming release. I tend to use the library or Serial Reader for most classics, but I also appreciate making the most of my credits with collections so I preordered. This collection featuring several narrators will be released in the middle of June.

#WhatTheDickens

Cuilin, Texreader

Cuilin This is absolutely fantastic!! Thank you for sharing. Is it the same narrator for all novels or are there different narrators? 1w

Daisey @Cuilin It includes multiple narrators, I‘ll go back and edit to include that. 1w

Texreader Oooh thanks for sharing this!! 1w

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llwheeler Wow, how long must that audio be?? Definitely making the most of a credit! 1w

Daisey @llwheeler It actually doesn‘t include a length yet. 🤷‍♀️ There is a 10 novel collection that is 264 hours. It used to be that I had audiobooks I could download in parts on Audible, but that doesn‘t seem to still be the case. This would be one where I‘d like to just download a novel at a time. 1w

dabbe He only wrote 15 novels? 😳 I thought it was more like 100! 🤩 1w

Daisey @dabbe It does seem like it sometimes when you‘re working your way through them! 😆 1w

dabbe @Daisey 🎯🩵🎯 1w

39 likes8 comments

Texreader

The Count of Monte Cristo | Alexandre Dumas

#tlt #threelistThursday

Faves: tagged
Pride and Prejudice
Frankenstein

I‘ve read and really liked David Copperfield. I expect to read Dickens‘ other books this year for #whattheDickens and I‘ll probably read Mansfield Park someday

I recently bought The Three Musketeers so I‘m looking forward to that one

Not a huge fan of the books I read in high school and college: The Scarlet Letter and Candide

dabbe

ChaoticMissAdventures I really really struggled years ago when I read with

Candide

dabbe I was surprised GREAT EX wasn't on the list, but I adored BLEAK HOUSE. I'm still working through NICHOLAS NICKLEBY. 🤣 Thanks for playing and sharing. 🩵📚🩵 2w

41 likes2 comments

AllDebooks

Nicholas Nickleby (Complete and) | Charles Dickens

Working through a backlog of Sunday newspaper supplements, I came across this great article, Is Dickens better than Shakespeare? 🤔

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/02/is-dickens-better-than-shakespeare...

#WhatTheDickens @Cuilin

Cuilin That is such a good read, and there‘s definitely a case to be made. I think Dickens lived in a more free society and could write and be a little bit more on the nose than Shakespeare could during his time. Plus, I think modern readers can recognize/understand a Victorian time period more than an Elizabethan/Jacobean one perhaps 🤔 I would love to see one of those Oxbridge debates on this subject!! (edited) 1mo

AllDebooks @Cuilin I don't think they are so comparable, due to the different time periods. I think Dickens characters are more defined between good and villainous. Shakespeare's characters are more nuanced, with both virtues and flaws. I love them both and wouldn't put one over the other. 1mo

Ruthiella I definitely prefer Dickens because he‘s more accessible to me. Interesting article, thanks! 1mo

Cuilin @AllDebooks True, I like both but for different reasons. 1mo

36 likes4 comments

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