Kathy's (kac522) BFBs in 2023

I again hope to read some BFBs this year--my goal is 8.

Some books from my shelves that I'm considering:

The Dollmaker, Harriette Arnow
✔ To Serve Them All My Days, R. F. Delderfield
Romola, George Eliot
Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell
In This House of Brede, Rumer Godden
✔ The Betrothed, Alessandro Manzoni
Waverley, Sir Walter Scott
The Family Moskat, Isaac Bashevis Singer
✔ Ralph the Heir, Anthony Trollope
The Way We Live Now, Anthony Trollope
Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories, Jenny Uglow (biography)

And some possible re-reads:

The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
✔ Barnaby Rudge, Charles Dickens
✔ Martin Chuzzlewit, Charles Dickens
✔ Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens
✔ David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
✔ Framley Parsonage, Anthony Trollope
✔ The Small House at Allington, Anthony Trollope
✔ The Last Chronicle of Barset, Anthony Trollope
✔ The Claverings, Trollope

I've read Romola and it is unlike a lot of Eliot's other novels. I will be interested to see what you think of it. Also for Dickens I'm going to read Barnaby Rudge. For some reason, I skipped over that Dickens in my reading(s).

>2 Tess_W: I'll have a big learning curve with Romola because I'm completely unfamiliar with that era. Hope the notes in my edition are helpful.

Most people don't like Barnaby Rudge but I am one of the few that liked it. It's Dickens' "other" historical fiction along with ATOTC. I think it resonated with me because there is a riot scene that I read some months after the Jan 6 insurrection, so it felt all too real.

Hi Kathy, great to see your planned reading list. There are so many familiar titles on it, I'm looking forward to your comments.

>4 MissWatson: Most of my big reads last year were re-reads. I hope to get to more new ones this year. Of course, I've already started with re-reading The Pickwick Papers, which is not one of my favorites. I'm listening on audio and my mind wanders. Oh well.

>5 kac522: I wish we could buy time for re-reads somewhere. I watched the Pride and Prejudice version dramatised by Fay Weldon the other day, when the news of her death came, and it made me want to re-read it.

>6 MissWatson: Very true. To make time for them, most of my re-reads are on audiobook, which I listen to in the car. I have the whole Jane Austen set read by Juliet Stevenson and listening to those takes away all the stress of driving.

Hi Kathy my dear, nice to see you back here. Good luck with the Big reads this year, dear friend.

Hi Kathy, good to see you here too. Good luck with your plans. Your list of BTR big fat ones is very impressive.

>9 connie53: Thanks for stopping by, Connie. Listing possibilities is SO much easier than actually reading, isn't it? I do hope to read at least 8, so we'll see....

Although I've read a lot of small books these first couple of months, I finished my first BFB this week:

1. Framley Parsonage, Anthony Trollope (1861), on audiobook read by Simon Vance; 573 pages.

This was a re-read for me from 2012. I am re-reading the entire Barsetshire series on audiobook and have just started The Small House at Allington today.

Two more to add:

2. Mar 2023: The Small House at Allington, Trollope (1864); 665 pages, on audiobook read by Simon Vance.
3. Apr 2023: The Last Chronicle of Barset, Trollope (1867); 861 pages, on audiobook read by Simon Vance.

I have really enjoyed this re-read of the Barsetshire books, which I started in July 2022, and have now finished in 2023. I first read the series in 2011-2012. I love these stories, and I am going to miss all of the wonderful characters and love stories.

4. To Serve Them All My Days, R. F. Delderfield (1972); 624 pages

5. Barnaby Rudge, Charles Dickens (1841); re-read on audiobook, read by Simon Vance; 688 pages.

6. The Betrothed, Alessandro Manzoni (1840 revised edition); 720 pages.

7. The Claverings, Trollope (1867); 560 pages (a re-read)

8. Martin Chuzzlewit, Charles Dickens; 726 pages on audiobook, read by Sean Barrett (a re-read)

9. Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens (1848); 1024 pages; on audiobook read by David Timson. This was a re-read.

10. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens (1850); 737 pages; on audiobook read by Simon Vance. This was a re-read.

11. Ralph the Heir, Anthony Trollope (1871); 700 pages.

Total 2023 BFBs:

Finished with 11 titles:
3 new titles
8 re-reads on audiobook

Exceeded my goal of 8, although I would have liked more new titles. But re-reading BFBs that I loved is part of my "comfort" reading.

On to 2024!