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| I was lucky enough to find these stamps of the Bronte sisters (no Anne though), Eliot, and Gaskell awhile ago and they are now framed on my bookshelf near their works. |
I absolutely love this week's theme and couldn't resist playing along. Visit The Broke and the Bookish to play along or see what other bloggers fill their shelves with.
Here are the authors whose books grace my shelves most prominently.
1. Jane Austen - a given, right. All her books in various editions ranging from complete works to graphic style.
2. Charles Dickens - I always put out the disclaimer that Dickens and I have issues, and yet I own most of his stuff, and good editions too!
3. The Family Bronte - again multiple editions of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, including my beloved hardbound copies with the woodcut illustrations that match that of my parents' copy that I read as a teen.
4. Edward Rutherford - I love his historical novels and own everything except the ones on Russia and Paris, and the Paris one I'm getting this summer.
5. Diana Gabaldon - I have the complete Outlander series - half in hardbound and half in paperback, plus the Outlander Companion and the graphic novel.
6. Daphne du Maurier - I read her a lot as a teen, lost all my books in a flooded basement when I was in my early twenties, and bought a complete set at a used bookstore because I knew I wanted to reread everything again.
7. Shakespeare - two complete works, plus individual plays, plus three biographies, plus multiple critical works.
8. Elizabeth Gaskell - I read her end-to-end a few years ago, so I have everything she ever wrote including letters. Love, love, love this author.
9. George Eliot - working my way through Eliot though slower than when I did Gaskell, still I own everything she wrote, and love most of it. Felix Holt may be my nemesis.
10. Tracy Chevalier - one of my favorite contemporary writers. I own all her books, and have read most of them.
Elizabeth Gaskell is an author I really want to read next year...she's on my 2015 must-read classics list...but I don't know which of her books to start with. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteMy favorites are North & South, and Wives & Daughters. The only problem with the latter is that Gaskell died before she could finish it. It was close to being done but not quite, and some readers struggle with that lack of closure.
DeleteN&S is wonderful--a powerful love story, a gripping look at industrial Victorian England, memorable characters who are flawed and make mistakes and are human and real. Then, when you're done, you get to watch the mini-series with Richard Armitage. :)
Sounds wonderful...I can't wait. Thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteI am with you on Jane Austen, though I have many more books about her than by her. I have my first Rutherford on the TBR stacks. I've heard such good things about him.
ReplyDeleteRutherford novels are the kind that you can read slowly because the stories in the various timeframes each read like a short story. I like this because they are generally several inches thick!
DeleteHey! I was introduced to Jane Eyre through the Eichenberg woodcuts as well. So beloved.
ReplyDeleteAren't they wonderful--definitely shaped my view of the Brontes and the moors.
DeleteThis is a great theme for a Post.
ReplyDeleteIt may take me a little while to actually figure out what my list would look like. Because I collected some not so great science fiction series when I was younger my list might not look so great.
Your list is awesome!
Well, I personally left out my shelves of Little House and Anne of Green Gables books as well as a complete shelf of Mark Twain...not that those books weren't important to me at some point, but for this moment in time, these are the ones I resonate with. :)
DeleteSo you've hung onto the sci fi stuff? I'm more of the purging type myself.
What a fun topic this week! We share Jane Austen and I wish I'd thought to group the Brontes together. Gaskell is a relatively recent discovery for me. North and South made me want to read everything she's written.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your bookshelf matches my own! The only author I don't have and haven't even ready is Rutherford. It sounds like I need to add him to my list. Any suggestions on which novel I should start with?
ReplyDeleteI love your Gaskell recommendations. Cranford is another favorite of mine that I've read a few times.
I always forget to mention how much I love Cranford! I've read it three times, and I like it better each time. Interesting tidbit--Cranford was Gaskell's favorite of her novels. I'm not sure if it was the story (based somewhat loosely on her own youth) or if so many of the others had baggage associated with them. She was roundly criticized by her peers for Mary Barton and Ruth, and fought with Dickens about N&S the whole time she was writing it, and then was sued over The Life of Charlotte Bronte (another absolute favorite of mine). Cranford was hers, was comfortable, and didn't have painful memories associated with it.
DeleteI am so sad that there is not more Bronte, Gaskell and Austen to read... I don't know whether I'll make it through all of Dickens and Eliot; like you, I found some sticky points. I love Tracy Chevalier too but I didn't like The Last Runaway -- I thought the research overpowered the story on that one. What did you think?
ReplyDeleteI did like The Last Runaway--she had me at quilts and I'm interested in Civil War and pre-Civil War stories, so it was a good fit. One of the things I like about Chevalier is that she never writes the same book twice, if you know what I mean.
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