Victober is here!

 

VICTOBER IS HERE!

One of my favorite things about the bookstagram corner if Instagram is that it introduced me to the idea of reading Victorian literature in October. What a cozy delight! Now I look forward to this tradition all year. It is a fun way to remember to read more classic books and it kicks off the holiday season for me. 

The picture above is a messy pile of Victorian-era books, mostly novels and one small book of nonfiction – Thomas Carlyle’s Essay on Burns. That one is also the only one of this bunch I haven’t read yet. Can you spot the anomaly in the picture? Leave a comment with your answer.

Do you participate in Victober? You can join in whether you are on Instagram or not. (If you are, please find me @gilioncdumas so we can connect.) If you are a fellow bookstagrammer, there are official Victober hosts and prompts for book ideas. But you can take part on any platform, simply by reading a Victorian-era book in October. Even better if you use the #victober hashtag. 

NOTE: The "Victorian era" is the span of years that Queen Victoria ruled England. She came to the throne in 1837 and died in 1901. Victorian literature is considered to be books by British authors published during her reign. Arguably, authors from other countries wrote in what could be thought of as a "Victorian style" during those years. For example, American authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne published his first collection of short stories in 1937 and died in 1864. French author Alexandre Dumas published most of his books, including The Three Musketeers, during Victoria's reign. Both these authors wrote books similar in style to Charles Dickens or Robert Louis Stevenson, luminaries of the Victorian era. But officially, Victorian literature is limited to authors under Victoria's reign. 

MY VICTOBER BOOKS

This year will be the fifth year I've participated in Victober. My main book will be The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Bronte. I already finished a short novella to kick off the Victober season. Here's my Victober list:

2023

Liza of Lambeth by W. Somerset Maugham (1897)

2022

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1855)


2021

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (1860)

2020

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853)
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens (1841)

2019

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (1878)

Exit Music by Ian Rankin -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Thank you for joining me here for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

The girl screamed once, only the once, but it was enough. 

-- from Exit Music by Ian Rankin. 

Exit Music is the 17th book in Ian Rankin's mystery series featuring police detective John Rebus. It is one of my very favorite series, in part because it is set in Edinburgh, a city I've visited a couple of times and love. 

As much as I enjoy the John Rebus books, I've been reading the series for a long time. There are several new series I want to start, but am making an effort to finish this one and a couple of others before I do. I've been marching though these books -- this is the fifth one I've read this year -- but it's a long series! I still have seven more to go to finish all 24. And no doubt Ian Rankin will have another one out before I finish those. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings.

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FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

It's late in the fall in Edinburgh and late in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus. As he is simply trying to tie up some loose ends before his retirement, a new case lands on his desk: a dissident Russian poet has been murdered in what looks like a mugging gone wrong.

Rebus discovers that an elite delegation of Russian businessmen is in town, looking to expand its interests. And as Rebus's investigation gains ground, someone brutally assaults a local gangster with whom he has a long history.

Has Rebus overstepped his bounds for the last time? Only a few days shy of the end to his long, controversial career, will Rebus even make it that far?

Exploring Wine Regions: The Central Coast of California by Michael Higgins -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Please join me every Friday for Book Beginnings! Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Instagram, Twitter, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

It is important that we talk about terroir before we begin exploring this book.

-- from Exploring Wine Regions: The Central Coast of California by Michael Higgins.

This book about the wines of California's Central Coast is the third book in Michael Higgins's Exploring Wine Regions series. The first two books covered Bordeaux country in France and the wines of Argentina. Like the first two, this California book is a meticulously researched, insider account of wineries and vineyards, as well as a travel guide to the food, special lodging, sights, and history you will find. 

This book focusses on the Central Coast of California, specifically Monterey, San Louis Obispo, and Santa Barbara Counties. This coastal area stretches from south of San Francisco to Santa Barbara, just north of Los Angeles. 

I'm familiar with some of the wineries of the Central Coast, mostly those around Paso Robles, from when I lived in San Francisco. But we never did a deep dive into wines of this area. California is close to me here in Oregon and we have family in the Bay Area and Central Coast, so I plan to use this book to plan several wine-centered road trips. 

You can read my review of Higgins's France and Argentina books here. Go to the Exploring Wine Regions website for more information about this book, the series, and Michael Higgins. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the Linky box below. If you share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings.

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FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Exploring Wine Regions – California Central Coast is the third book in the series exploring a lesser-known area of the wine regions in California. Most everyone knows of Napa Valley and Sonoma County; however, the Central Coast Wine Regions are producing top-level, high-quality wines, and the tourism is extraordinary.

Twenty million years ago, the Pacific Plate arose from the Pacific Ocean hitting the North American Plate (Canada, United States and Mexico) leaving a sliver of land above the water along California’s coast south of San Francisco. This sliver of land has its own very special terroir highly conducive to making high-quality wines. This book takes you on a journey to discover these amazing wines.

Also, the tourism along the central coast of California is unmatched. The beaches, mountains and valleys are ever so enchanting. The wineries are engaging, have lots of tourism activities available, and are especially inviting and friendly, unlike other wine regions. It’s not uncommon to find the vintner or winemaker at the tasting room wanting to share their stories and their love of wine with you.

Need Blind Admission by Kevin Myers -- BOOK BEGINNING

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Please join me every Friday for Book Beginnings! Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Instagram, Twitter, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

TIE IN: Sadly, Freda at Freda's Voice is taking a break from her weekly blog event, The Friday 56, Her event was a natural tie in with this event and there was a lot of cross over, so many people combined the two. Freda needs a break, but I hope she is back soon. Please visit her Freda’s Voice blog even if the Friday 56 is on hold indefinitely. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

William James was beyond saving when the Parker College security guards discovered his body sprawled near the community garden by the border of the affluent South Parker neighborhood.

-- from Need Blind Ambition by Kevin Meyers, out now from Beaufort Books.

Need Blind Ambition is the second novel from Kevin Meyers, a former journalist turned college administrator. I love the play on words in the title, the moody cover, and that first sentence. Wow! It really grabs you, doesn't it?

I only just got my copy and haven't started it yet. I can't wait! A novel of suspense set on a college campus is my cup of tea on any day. (I'm adding it to my list of campus novels right now.) But that this one is set in my town of Portland, Oregon makes it even more tantalizing. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS 

Please add a link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag. Have fun!

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It feels so strange to post my Book Beginning without a Friday 56 teaser! Here is more informaiton about Need Blind Ambition:

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

The desire for relevance--and to save his marriage--is ultimately what pushed Peter Cook to leave his beloved Alaska for the prestigious Parker College. Lured by the chance to work with his childhood political idol turned college president, Peter moves his family to Portland, Oregon to help promote his hero's fundraising initiative that would eliminate financial status from the college's admissions process.

Peter arrives on campus as the Great Recession looms, the stock market is trending toward disaster, and the opioid crisis has breached the walls of the privileged college. He quickly learns the reality of Parker College strays far from its professed idealistic mission after discovering a plot to cover-up felonious drug activity in return for a seven-figure payday to the Need Blind Campaign.

While plumbing the depths of his conscience for the conviction to do the right thing, Peter's untreated childhood trauma resurfaces, threatening to cloud his perception when it needs to be at its sharpest. Peter must stabilize his mental health while also trying to parse competing versions of "the truth" as law enforcement investigates the criminal conspiracy.

Need Blind Ambition asks: how far will a college stray to protect its reputation?

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Here's a quicky book beginnings post because I am running behind and still have a dozen things to do today, including making dinner. 

Thanks for joining me every week for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Share the opening sentence (or so) from the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your eye, even if you are not reading it right now. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow.

-- from Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. I am rereading this 20th Century classic as a buddy read on Instagram. It's a good one to read as an audiobook because that is not a title you want to be seen reading in public!

I read this in high school and found it rather plodding. But I love Maugham's short stories, so wanted to give it another try. I am now halfway through and still find it plodding. It definitely picked up when Philip goes to Paris to become an artist, but it will never win me over. It is on the Modern Library list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. Please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings if you share on social media. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Of Human Bondage:

He knew that Miss Wilkinson was the daughter of his Uncle William’s last rector, and he had a wide acquaintance with the daughters of clergymen. They wore ill-cut clothes and stout boots.