I read The Woman in White way back when and I loved it - one of my favorite mystery books ever. But I will caveat that I read it during a high school summer break, when I had all the time in the world to dive in to the 700+ page novel. I then tried The Moonstone and couldn’t get through even 50 pages - a lot of that was because it felt so dated with the colonialism and racism; but if you’re ever feeling the urge to try out Wilkie Collins, I’d definitely go with The Woman in White over The Moonstone!
ok second vote for Woman in White, looks like I picked up the wrong Collins! I miss those summer break reading times when we didn't have so many responsibilities ::sigh::
Oh yes, I finished both but between the two it isn’t close. TWIW is one of my favorites; I could take or leave The Moonstone. And if someone isn’t sold on the book, I’d say at least watch the TV adaptation with Jessie Buckley as Marian. So good!
I'm so glad to see this comment! I love The Woman in White, too — and I keep thinking I should read The Moonstone. But every time I pick it up, it just goes pffffttt after a little while. (It was Alex Trebek's favorite book!)
I can wholeheartedly say The Haunting of Hill House changed my life it is my favorite book of all time but I do think you need to be in the right head space to really appreciate it. but I would highly recommend picking it up again, it is the most delicately crafted, well written, emotionally affecting and brilliant book I’ve ever read I could go on forever about it
I think you it’s best to be a little lost in life when you read it. at least that’s when I read it and it resonated in ways I don’t think it would have if I was in a better place
Have you read 'A Haunting on the Hill' by Elizabeth Hand? It's set in the same universe (and house) as Shirley Jackson's novel — and was approved by her estate. It's very eerie and gripping. I loved it! Maybe something to keep in mine for next Spooky Season :-)
I’ve read 4 of the 6, love Olive K and The Moonstone and Shirley Jackson. The woman in white might be the better Collins book. But don’t stress it , if you are not into them you not into them so that’s it!
!!! i tried to watch Blackberry a week or two ago and was too sleepy to give it the attention it deserved. Mere minutes in and i was soooo eager for more Bald Dennis.
I only very recently got to Haunting of Hill House, def think you'd like it upon return: I will say i listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it! lots of scenic description read by a british guy, really awesome
You are really selling Age of Innocence to me!!! I think I need to get on it? Look at us becoming classic queens!!! I also want to read in The Haunting of Hill House as my classic in October (bc Halloween, obvs) SO we could read it at similar times again if you’d like??? I’d be up for it if you are.
A classic I have sitting on my shelf that I tried to read last summer is ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’. It is raved about soooo much but I’ve got to be honest I found it so hard! It’s sat with my bookmark in because I do believe and want to try again one day. There’s a special kind of defeated feeling (I think) you feel when everyone but you seems to have been able to love & get on with a book!
I am always up for a little buddy read with you!! October will be the perfect time.
Special kind of defeated is a great way to put it. I read 100 Years a LONG time ago and loved it, but the magical realism was a lot. Funny enough, that might be one of those books that is easier to love the younger or less - I dunno, jaded? - you are since you have to suspend a lot of disbelief to get through it. Maybe suspended disbelief is not your thing and thats ok!!
I love magical realism usually - I think the no plot just vibes nature of it made it so hard to follow I just couldn’t do it. I do hope to get through it one day! Jaded lmao growing old is so….. special 😉 I appreciate you point about being able to enjoy it when you’re younger tho! I’ve got too much disbelief hanging around me today haha
I must be a middle aged person in a 30-year-old body because I loved Olive Kitteridge, and its format, haha. But I am all for DNFing stuff. Different books are for different times (and some not at all).
hahahha well to be fair I tried to read it in a time of my life when I was still effing around like an idiot so NOW I might be the right kind of middle aged 30 but def not 10 years ago
When a book is revered, an award winner, or a “classic”, I feel there is pressure to love the book. But it goes back to your personal taste - if you don’t like the book, you don’t like the book! And that’s okay! I wish people accepted that more (and also didn’t shame authors whose books they didn’t resonate with) 💞
agreed!!! sometimes I am in awe of the books people have read like you REALLY loved War and Peace ok go off! but don't get mad when I tell you all about Karin Slaughter lol
I read Olive Kettridge and the only reason I finished it is because my mum bought it for me and I would have felt bad for not finishing it. I enjoyed a few chapters and after reading it found out each chapter was published as a small story and this book puts them together. Knowing this makes more sense as I just didn’t think the book flowed at all. My mum has since bought me another book by that author but I can’t bring myself to read it yet.
ahh that feels like a mum book purchase for sure!! Sometimes books or authors just are not right for us - that was very thoughtful of you to push through anyway. My mom and I learned long ago to stop trying to choose and go with giftcards 🤣
Great line of yours about what writing an essay about a book that changed your life is such a high.
Count me as the third vote for Woman in White—much better read for me than The Moonstone. Finished Good Lord Bird—very enjoyable, especially right after reading James. Just saw Percival Everett at Politics and Prose interviewed by Wash Post reviewer Ron Charles—Everett is hilarious!
OK Woman in White is the clear choice here! And that is truly amazing, I love author events especially when they bring their whole interesting selves. So fun to see behind the curtain and hear really smart people speak. So cool
Madame Bovary. The only book I've ever DNFed. I hated it so much. I was reading it in the original French and just hated all of the characters. Classic? Sure. Whatever. Good for others not for me.
The only one ever??? I mean that is impressive still though. I powered through Madame B and I remember thinking I could use some guidance on what was supposed to be important here.
The only one I can remember!! I am very, very stubborn lol.
I was horribly annoyed by how boring all of these people were, and how provincial it all was, and how no one had ANY ambition to improve themselves. I was too angry and annoyed to finish.
Timing is everything! I was not a fan of The Magicians by Lev Grossman when I first picked it up but *loved* it when I read it again years later. The Haunting of Hill House is great but definitely a very specific vibe.
ahh I struggled to get through The Magicians too! I have a lot more unfinished business lying around than I thought dang... will have to give that one another try too because i do love magic.
FUCK YES to The Sound and the Fury being on this list. I could not do it. I think I got five pages in. I remember saying to Baldy, “someone called this a CLASSIC?!”
Just finished a great piece of fiction called When All is Said by Anne Griffin. Got it for dirt cheap on BookBub and so glad I picked it up. It gave me all the feels. Highly recommend.
Iced and hot here too! 🙋🏼♀️ probably more hot than iced though. Can’t do iced in winter.
This might've gotten me where I live just now. I've started House of the Spirits because it came in a subscription box---I can definitely appreciate that the writing is lovely, but magical realism has never been my jam, and now it's all mermaid tails and visions and I'm having a really hard time staying engaged with it all. I can still be convinced to persist, but I might have to throw in the towel.
When you can recognize its objective value but its still not for you, thats when I say let it go! Add Allende to the list of writers I started and stopped too oops!
This is how I feel about The Haunting of Hill House. I read the whole thing because I was curious about what would happen — even though I felt like that story and its characters held me at arms' distance (and maybe that's the point?) I don't know how to judge a book that's high-quality and yet zero pleasure to read? I still think about it a lot, which I think is the mark of Good Art, but I don't have affection for it and can't imagine reading it again. (Or will I because I need to know if I'd like it better as a different/older reader?)
Oh! This is so good to know. I've had that book on my TBR forever. So maybe I won't be in too much of a hurry to start that one. Makes it feel like a fall book to me. Is that weird? —Mel
So I am weirdly bad at DNFing? Like, usually i feel like i HAVE to muscle through even though like literally reading is supposed to be for my own enjoyment, so why the torture? unclear. Last one i remember putting down was Motherhood by Sheila Heti. Forced my through HUNDREDS of pages and quit i think when I had about 40 pages left. Insane, i know, but i had ENOUGH.
Currently reading Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet and it is so funny and odd and great. Really strange and I have no idea where it's going but I am liking it a lot.
ICED in the summer is the only way, unless you are in air conditioning or a cool lakeside morning– that will have me cozied up in a hoodie and my warm mug of coffee (and a book– duh. Always book with morning coffee).
I feel you - even these that I have DNF'd, very few have I actually been able to let go of completely. I keep thinking I will finish at least two of them.
Havent heard of the Barnet, I love a good odd ball humor story though.
I am a mostly a hot coffee drinker, but iced coffee hits different on a hot summer morning, that's for sure 😊
I recently DNF The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I vaguely remember reading it as a child in the 1980's, but I retained nothing about it. I've heard many people say how much they loved this book, so I attempted a re-read this past spring and I just could not get into it. Maybe it was timing? I'm not sure. I can definitely be a "mood reader", so maybe I just wasn't in the mood to read it. I am passing on it for now, and maybe one day, I'll attempt it once again 😉
ah thats an interesting one, because most people who love that book probably read it as kids (I know I did). I tried to read Lemony Snicket as an adult and couldnt manage it. It might be partially its intended age range, who knows!
even better I had chicken and waffles with a side of espresso martini I WAS FLYING Lol
MYORAR was an insane book that most people either love or hate. I appreciated it but it was wild. Cant wait to read some Mellors she seems like a genuinely cool gal
I read The Woman in White way back when and I loved it - one of my favorite mystery books ever. But I will caveat that I read it during a high school summer break, when I had all the time in the world to dive in to the 700+ page novel. I then tried The Moonstone and couldn’t get through even 50 pages - a lot of that was because it felt so dated with the colonialism and racism; but if you’re ever feeling the urge to try out Wilkie Collins, I’d definitely go with The Woman in White over The Moonstone!
ok second vote for Woman in White, looks like I picked up the wrong Collins! I miss those summer break reading times when we didn't have so many responsibilities ::sigh::
Oh yes, I finished both but between the two it isn’t close. TWIW is one of my favorites; I could take or leave The Moonstone. And if someone isn’t sold on the book, I’d say at least watch the TV adaptation with Jessie Buckley as Marian. So good!
I'm so glad to see this comment! I love The Woman in White, too — and I keep thinking I should read The Moonstone. But every time I pick it up, it just goes pffffttt after a little while. (It was Alex Trebek's favorite book!)
I can wholeheartedly say The Haunting of Hill House changed my life it is my favorite book of all time but I do think you need to be in the right head space to really appreciate it. but I would highly recommend picking it up again, it is the most delicately crafted, well written, emotionally affecting and brilliant book I’ve ever read I could go on forever about it
SOLD!!
I really want to read it and love it so I can be glad I stopped when I wasn't feeling it that long ago time and try again with a more ma-TURE vibe
Because I am planning to read this classic this year, out of curiosity what headspace do you feel like is needed to appreciate it?!!?
I think you it’s best to be a little lost in life when you read it. at least that’s when I read it and it resonated in ways I don’t think it would have if I was in a better place
Have you read 'A Haunting on the Hill' by Elizabeth Hand? It's set in the same universe (and house) as Shirley Jackson's novel — and was approved by her estate. It's very eerie and gripping. I loved it! Maybe something to keep in mine for next Spooky Season :-)
I haven’t yet but I’ve been meaning to! I’ve heard mixed reviews but I’ll take you word for it that its good!
I’ve read 4 of the 6, love Olive K and The Moonstone and Shirley Jackson. The woman in white might be the better Collins book. But don’t stress it , if you are not into them you not into them so that’s it!
I know I just need to give the Jackson another fighting chance, and I might take you up on trying the Woman in White instead, it sounds so haunting.
!!! i tried to watch Blackberry a week or two ago and was too sleepy to give it the attention it deserved. Mere minutes in and i was soooo eager for more Bald Dennis.
I only very recently got to Haunting of Hill House, def think you'd like it upon return: I will say i listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it! lots of scenic description read by a british guy, really awesome
Bald Dennis is such a vibe lol. Audiobook ok that is a good tip!! I love British narrators
You are really selling Age of Innocence to me!!! I think I need to get on it? Look at us becoming classic queens!!! I also want to read in The Haunting of Hill House as my classic in October (bc Halloween, obvs) SO we could read it at similar times again if you’d like??? I’d be up for it if you are.
A classic I have sitting on my shelf that I tried to read last summer is ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’. It is raved about soooo much but I’ve got to be honest I found it so hard! It’s sat with my bookmark in because I do believe and want to try again one day. There’s a special kind of defeated feeling (I think) you feel when everyone but you seems to have been able to love & get on with a book!
I am always up for a little buddy read with you!! October will be the perfect time.
Special kind of defeated is a great way to put it. I read 100 Years a LONG time ago and loved it, but the magical realism was a lot. Funny enough, that might be one of those books that is easier to love the younger or less - I dunno, jaded? - you are since you have to suspend a lot of disbelief to get through it. Maybe suspended disbelief is not your thing and thats ok!!
Ok let’s do it!!!!!!
I love magical realism usually - I think the no plot just vibes nature of it made it so hard to follow I just couldn’t do it. I do hope to get through it one day! Jaded lmao growing old is so….. special 😉 I appreciate you point about being able to enjoy it when you’re younger tho! I’ve got too much disbelief hanging around me today haha
I must be a middle aged person in a 30-year-old body because I loved Olive Kitteridge, and its format, haha. But I am all for DNFing stuff. Different books are for different times (and some not at all).
hahahha well to be fair I tried to read it in a time of my life when I was still effing around like an idiot so NOW I might be the right kind of middle aged 30 but def not 10 years ago
When a book is revered, an award winner, or a “classic”, I feel there is pressure to love the book. But it goes back to your personal taste - if you don’t like the book, you don’t like the book! And that’s okay! I wish people accepted that more (and also didn’t shame authors whose books they didn’t resonate with) 💞
agreed!!! sometimes I am in awe of the books people have read like you REALLY loved War and Peace ok go off! but don't get mad when I tell you all about Karin Slaughter lol
I read Olive Kettridge and the only reason I finished it is because my mum bought it for me and I would have felt bad for not finishing it. I enjoyed a few chapters and after reading it found out each chapter was published as a small story and this book puts them together. Knowing this makes more sense as I just didn’t think the book flowed at all. My mum has since bought me another book by that author but I can’t bring myself to read it yet.
ahh that feels like a mum book purchase for sure!! Sometimes books or authors just are not right for us - that was very thoughtful of you to push through anyway. My mom and I learned long ago to stop trying to choose and go with giftcards 🤣
She normally gets it spot on, that’s the first book she’s bought me that I didn’t get on with.
I love that :)
Great line of yours about what writing an essay about a book that changed your life is such a high.
Count me as the third vote for Woman in White—much better read for me than The Moonstone. Finished Good Lord Bird—very enjoyable, especially right after reading James. Just saw Percival Everett at Politics and Prose interviewed by Wash Post reviewer Ron Charles—Everett is hilarious!
thank you Brian! It really is
OK Woman in White is the clear choice here! And that is truly amazing, I love author events especially when they bring their whole interesting selves. So fun to see behind the curtain and hear really smart people speak. So cool
Madame Bovary. The only book I've ever DNFed. I hated it so much. I was reading it in the original French and just hated all of the characters. Classic? Sure. Whatever. Good for others not for me.
The only one ever??? I mean that is impressive still though. I powered through Madame B and I remember thinking I could use some guidance on what was supposed to be important here.
The only one I can remember!! I am very, very stubborn lol.
I was horribly annoyed by how boring all of these people were, and how provincial it all was, and how no one had ANY ambition to improve themselves. I was too angry and annoyed to finish.
Timing is everything! I was not a fan of The Magicians by Lev Grossman when I first picked it up but *loved* it when I read it again years later. The Haunting of Hill House is great but definitely a very specific vibe.
ahh I struggled to get through The Magicians too! I have a lot more unfinished business lying around than I thought dang... will have to give that one another try too because i do love magic.
FUCK YES to The Sound and the Fury being on this list. I could not do it. I think I got five pages in. I remember saying to Baldy, “someone called this a CLASSIC?!”
Just finished a great piece of fiction called When All is Said by Anne Griffin. Got it for dirt cheap on BookBub and so glad I picked it up. It gave me all the feels. Highly recommend.
Iced and hot here too! 🙋🏼♀️ probably more hot than iced though. Can’t do iced in winter.
Bonded basket babies! Love 😻😻
I haven't heard of the Griffin before, will have to check it out! BookBub deals are the best.
I know some people who do iced even in the snow - they wild!
I just cannot condone that type of behavior.
This might've gotten me where I live just now. I've started House of the Spirits because it came in a subscription box---I can definitely appreciate that the writing is lovely, but magical realism has never been my jam, and now it's all mermaid tails and visions and I'm having a really hard time staying engaged with it all. I can still be convinced to persist, but I might have to throw in the towel.
When you can recognize its objective value but its still not for you, thats when I say let it go! Add Allende to the list of writers I started and stopped too oops!
This is how I feel about The Haunting of Hill House. I read the whole thing because I was curious about what would happen — even though I felt like that story and its characters held me at arms' distance (and maybe that's the point?) I don't know how to judge a book that's high-quality and yet zero pleasure to read? I still think about it a lot, which I think is the mark of Good Art, but I don't have affection for it and can't imagine reading it again. (Or will I because I need to know if I'd like it better as a different/older reader?)
that's how I felt while reading The Idiot by Elif Batuman. I like it more in retrospect but I hated being in her head most of the time!
Oh! This is so good to know. I've had that book on my TBR forever. So maybe I won't be in too much of a hurry to start that one. Makes it feel like a fall book to me. Is that weird? —Mel
So I am weirdly bad at DNFing? Like, usually i feel like i HAVE to muscle through even though like literally reading is supposed to be for my own enjoyment, so why the torture? unclear. Last one i remember putting down was Motherhood by Sheila Heti. Forced my through HUNDREDS of pages and quit i think when I had about 40 pages left. Insane, i know, but i had ENOUGH.
Currently reading Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet and it is so funny and odd and great. Really strange and I have no idea where it's going but I am liking it a lot.
ICED in the summer is the only way, unless you are in air conditioning or a cool lakeside morning– that will have me cozied up in a hoodie and my warm mug of coffee (and a book– duh. Always book with morning coffee).
I feel you - even these that I have DNF'd, very few have I actually been able to let go of completely. I keep thinking I will finish at least two of them.
Havent heard of the Barnet, I love a good odd ball humor story though.
You have your coffee sitch dialed in my friend!!!
I am a mostly a hot coffee drinker, but iced coffee hits different on a hot summer morning, that's for sure 😊
I recently DNF The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I vaguely remember reading it as a child in the 1980's, but I retained nothing about it. I've heard many people say how much they loved this book, so I attempted a re-read this past spring and I just could not get into it. Maybe it was timing? I'm not sure. I can definitely be a "mood reader", so maybe I just wasn't in the mood to read it. I am passing on it for now, and maybe one day, I'll attempt it once again 😉
ah thats an interesting one, because most people who love that book probably read it as kids (I know I did). I tried to read Lemony Snicket as an adult and couldnt manage it. It might be partially its intended age range, who knows!
Oh, I remember the Lemony Snicket books! Yeah, I can see how that would be an interesting reading at an different point in your life 😊
"I get obsessive and emotionally unstable in a fun way." Spectacular.
Laundry basket kitties are theeee best!
The Haunting of Hill House is on my list of someday reads.
I DNF My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Moshfegh. I couldn't do it and I tried really hard.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR PRACTICAL MAGIC 2!!!
Currently reading Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors and yes, it is very good so far.
I also like hot and cold coffee in the summer. I like to switch it up depending on my mood.
I hope you had all the chicken tendies on vacation!!!! ❤️🔥
even better I had chicken and waffles with a side of espresso martini I WAS FLYING Lol
MYORAR was an insane book that most people either love or hate. I appreciated it but it was wild. Cant wait to read some Mellors she seems like a genuinely cool gal
Chicken and waffles AND an espresso martini???!!! SHE WAS LIVINGGGGG!!!!