Hayley

Which edition do you have? I think, from what I've read anyway, that the point on immigration is more of a theory than a proven intention? I have definitely seen it presented before as part of the Gothic motif of 'the other', playing more on a general fear of the foreign than a specific sexual fear (although, agree that makes sense in the same context). It was also necessary for Dracula to be from a different country to have that contrast of a place that is "less developed", where there's no industrial revolution, travel is slow and the locals are all very superstitious. I have never heard the theory that Dracula is subconsciously Oscar Wilde though! I ordered a really cheap copy of Lady Audley's Secret and it came today (I feel a bit bad saying this, because I know somebody had to design it, but the cover is hilariously bad). I think I'm going to start with Dance of the Serpents anyway though, because I'm very excited to read that and I think it will probably be a quicker read!

Well I totally forgot that the first of October would fall on a Friday, but that means it's the read-a-thon weekend! This one coincides with our 'Victober' reading challenge, so I'll be reading extra for that. I was planning to start with Lady Audley's Secret, but I don't think I can resist the temptation of Dance of the Serpents...

I love that . I also have a huge TBR, and although I do feel bad sometimes buying a book when I still have loads to read, I really love having a stock of unread books! I know some people feel overwhelmed by having too many unread books but, when I look at mine, I just feel excited about reading them. That pretty much sums up my approach too! I haven’t seen that study but I’d agree based on my own experience!

I have no idea if it is meant to be, originally, but as we're making our own rules for this first BCF Victober, I think it should include both . Yes, I will start on the 1st .

Ooooh I hadn’t even thought about modern books with Victorian settings - I might have to join you with Dance of the Serpents! I will also start reading Lady Audley’s Secret and I think I’ll see if I can get The Black Band by Mary Elizabeth Brandon on kindle (although I’m happy that the rule for the Penny Dreadful category was to read several chapters, rather than the whole thing, because I don’t think I’d want to read the whole thing!). That should make an interesting comparison to Lady Audley’s Secret! I think that would be a good one too!

The companies here are bands of soldiers. You would have a leader of the 'company' and he would be in charge of one group of soldiers. In the second part of the sentence, where it refers to 'these troops', they are talking about multiple companies of soldiers. Taking somebody to task means challenging somebody about something. So Mrs Dorothy is basically telling Amelia off; pointing out that she's done something wrong. Hope that helps Fife, and I will see your post even if you don't quote me directly

I’ve just seen this, which is very exciting: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-city-of-mist/carlos-ruiz-zafon/9781399600927?utm_source=wssignedspecialsffA260921&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup&utm_content=JACKET A new book short stories from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books universe by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Although not new, there are some that haven’t been published in English before, so they’ll be new to me!

Hello, welcome to the forum . I haven’t read Game of Thrones, so can’t absolutely confirm this, but I’ve seen other people compare Joe Abercrombie’s books to Game of Thrones.

I think I would feel exactly the same way. I saw this book recently though and did think it sounded like a great book for autumn! I do really love a spooky séance in a book. Brilliant reviews, as always

For some reason I thought I'd set the poll to end today, but it hasn't actually quite been a week! I'm very happy with the current top three though and excited to start a Victorian-themed October .

Hoping we can build a thread of lovely quotes to come back to . I saw this one earlier and thought it was very appropriate, being the autumn equinox today: 'Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.' -George Eliot

That's very strange. Maybe it's to try to keep people moving in and out quickly, so nobody ends up waiting too long at the door if the library is at full capacity? Unless your local library is a LOT busier than mine though I can't see that being a particularly big problem. Wow that is a huge shame . That sounds interesting. So you can go in and browse as long as you've booked a slot? The library near me (which, as I've mentioned, was my local library as child - the first library I ever went into - and we've moved right by it!) has had a screen up in the door with a slot cut out since I've been here. I assume you can call and ask for a book then pick it up through the window. I haven't been past it in the last week though so I'm not sure if that's changed. I'm looking forward to going back in (even if I do have more than enough books to be getting on with...). The library is also the community support centre for this area, the council use it and there are (or were, pre-COVID) events there for children and elderly people, so I think it's fairly safe.

That is a very sensitive way to deal with it oh no! I know we're early for this still, but is anybody making decorations for Christmas this year? I've seen some miniature embroidery hoops and I really like the idea of making some into tree decorations.

Ok, the poll is up! Let me know if you think I've missed any details!

Poll for our first ever 'Victober' inspired Victorian literature challenge. The poll is multiple choice, please vote for whichever challenges you would most like to take part in .

That sounds a bit gruesome . I hope this one will be more fun!

It's very good, I would definitely recommend it. The plot of The Asylum made me think of it (although I suspect Alias Grace is a lot darker - it's not a light read), so I was going to ask you if you thought there was much of a similarity, if you had read it .

I think so too! I was just assuming we would start on the first day of October, but shall we go ahead and start the poll now then?

Even though I'm sitting next to my massive pile of unread books I am still really tempted to buy this. Nineteenth-century approaches to insanity is a subject I find really interesting. Have you read Alias Grace, Luna?

I'm a bit late with this, I think it will end at midnight tonight, but Fahrenheit (being a Glasgow-based company) are offering 21% off anything in their store this weekend to celebrate the Bloody Scotland crime festival. The code is BLOODY21

I've actually never tried potato salad. I really like potatoes cold, but I've never really liked mayonnaise, so I've always just assumed I won't like it! That sounds amazing and extremely healthy! Rhubarb is something I would like to grow, my nan used to grow lovely rhubarb. I actually prefer it raw to cooked in a crumble though! I went to see my parents and had fish and chips tonight, which was lovely

Definitely agree. Having a few possible methods to try when you're stuck can only help! Also, funnily enough, the book mentioned at the end of the article, Gingerbread, is one I've had my eye on for a while!

This is one of the issues we need to get the developers to fix. For some reason embedded links just won't work since the last update. The links work fine but, annoyingly, it doesn't look as nice! Sorry about that!

Orbit has a few books for 99p on kindle at the moment (no idea when it ends, it just says 'for a limited time'). There are two epic fantasies: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks and Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J Parker as well as A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan

Did that level of difficulty make it more fun or just frustrating?? I definitely agree. I think it's really hard to get a combination that's colourful and vibrant but doesn't clash. Your blankets do that though! If they picked colours that don't go together, would you sneakily change it?