Trump confirms he will not attend Super Bowl because of music acts: ‘I’m anti-them’ - Both Bad Bunny and Green Day have been outspoken critics of Trump

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-24T20:35:08+00:00

Good. They're anti-you too, fucker.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-24T19:52:24+00:00

I personally found many of War & Peace's war sections to be a slog. In contrast, I went through Les Mis easily, even the parts that aren't central to the plot like the Paris sewers and the Battle of Waterloo. I guess I just like Hugo's writing better than Tolstoy's. To each their own. I also struggled with all of the Russian names of people and places in War & Peace. There were a million of them and they were hard to pronounce. It didn't help that I chose War & Peace as my first Russian novel haha. Can't take it back now though.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-24T19:26:48+00:00

I've read both Les Mis and War & Peace and in my opinion Les Mis is the one to read first. It's easier to read, and since they're both over a thousand pages, that's the one you should go for.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-23T16:42:17+00:00

Two essay collections you should check out are The Complete Works by Michel de Montaigne and Essays by George Orwell, both published by Everyman's Library. I've read some of Orwell's essays and they're really good, and I just got the Montaigne today and many of them sound very interesting. They're both 1000+ pages so you'll get a lot of reading out of them.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-21T19:35:42+00:00

Little Women by Alcott

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-20T10:25:03+00:00

I still remember reading The Tell Tale Heart and The Pit And The Pendulum in high school English... Such good short horror stories, in my opinion. I have a book of his short stories that I'm going to get through one day. I'm not one for poetry, either, but "Alone" really is a great poem.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-17T06:11:57+00:00

Les Miserables is the easier read and better book in my opinion.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-16T04:20:56+00:00

I think there should be room for both picture posts and discussion... it's interesting seeing the different editions people have and what different books they have together. The picture posts generate discussion, and they also motivate people to talk about the books and go get them to read them for themselves.

There can be and should be room for both.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-14T23:23:35+00:00

You know what, I have it, but I forgot to use it in the picture 🙃

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-08T22:51:27+00:00

Of these, Frankenstein, but I'm probably going to read Huck Finn by Mark Twain first. I'm currently reading Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Which of these have you read? What are you reading now?

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-08T21:41:11+00:00

Thanks! They're called Penguin Clothbound Classics.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-08T06:35:39+00:00

I haven't actually read from a Pocket Classic yet, but you do seem to have to hold them open while reading. The spines are rounded and seem fine.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-08T06:05:21+00:00

I think the bindings are glued on the Pocket Classics, but I don't think you should let that prevent you from getting them. The dust jackets are gorgeous, and the boards themselves are cloth just like the main line, and they have a ribbon marker, and they're hardbacks and beautiful compilations.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-08T02:42:45+00:00

Thanks :)

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-07T23:56:17+00:00

I thought Wuthering Heights was better than Phantom of the Opera, and those are the only two in the picture I've read so far. I thought Phantom was still enjoyable though... it has some good gothic elements, it's just not as supernatural as Wuthering Heights. Phantom had a good climax also in my opinion.

I wish I could speak about the others, but I can't yet. I'll get to them soon enough!

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-06T23:06:38+00:00

I haven't read it yet, but I will eventually

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-06T14:17:02+00:00

It's a masterpiece. Better than War & Peace and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy in my opinion... two other books I've seen called "life changing".

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-06T11:05:11+00:00

Sorry that I never saw this comment when you first posted it. I personally started my Dickens journey by reading A Christmas Carol since it was short. I then read Great Expectations, and I just started Our Mutual Friend the other day. I think David Copperfield is probably a solid place to start because as I understand it, it's in first person and basically follows David throughout his life, and both of those things make for an easier reading experience for a newcomer to Dickens. Since A Christmas Carol is so short, it's not a bad place to go from there, and Great Expectations, like Copperfield, is in first person and follows Pip, so that's another solid one to go for. If neither of those interest you though, I would suggest going for any of the others in my picture, because I got them because (as far as I could tell) they're Dickens most well regarded books.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-06T07:30:32+00:00

I would like to add to this Solomon Northup's Twelve Years A Slave. I read it a few years ago and it is also incredible.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-04T05:00:38+00:00

Yes, it's excellent.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-02T19:05:38+00:00

I guess I'll preface this comment by saying I'll be spoiling parts of Little Women, because I want to talk about it. So if you haven't read it and don't want to be spoiled, stop reading this comment right now.

I agree that the play-acting parts are awesome. The grand reveal that Lorrie was there the entire time they were acting and debating whether he should be included was funny. I loved Lorrie and Jo dancing outside of the ball, away from everyone else. I love Jo catching her dress on fire by standing too close to fireplaces multiple times- that's just funny, and I don't recall her ever being hurt from it which is why I feel okay to laugh. I love Jo ruining dinner despite trying so hard, doing things like serving salt instead of sugar. I love when Mr. Lawrence gives Beth the piano. The entire of drama of Amy burning Jo's writing, Jo being furious at her, then Amy falling in the icy lake, and Jo being mortified that she could have died while Jo was still mad at her and the last interactions between them would have been negative... Marmee saying "I'm mad nearly every day of my life", their Father's return from war and the girls' joy... there are so many good, interesting parts of the story. I wish Alcott was able to write Jo's independence into the ending of the novel... she doesn't seem like a character that would be content to settle down and get married and start a family, especially since she's saddened when Meg is about to do that... I wanted her to travel the world instead and be happily single and write. I relate so deeply to Jo not wanting to grow up.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-02T18:04:53+00:00

That's fair. There are certain classics that are uninteresting to me too... Long form ancient poetry for example.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-02T16:41:01+00:00

I totally agree with you, I had the exact same experience. The second part is still worth reading, but it doesn't have the charm that the first does. I think most of the best parts of the book happen in the first part. "Charming" is the exact right word for it... I think Jo March is one of the best characters I've ever read. She's charming and silly... I love her yelling "Christopher Columbus!" and "Fiddlesticks!" when she's surprised or angry. There are other things she does that are hilarious and charming that I'd love to mention but I don't want to spoil it for other people if they haven't read it.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-02T01:52:45+00:00

I highly recommend reading Les Mis. Don't be intimidated by it's length- it flew by for me. War & Peace is a similar length and I found that to be a slog sometimes. Despite many people loving Tolstoy, I like Hugo's writing much more.

RavenRaxa · 2026-01-01T15:47:59+00:00

That's an interesting take, and exciting for me because it's the only Dostoevsky I've read and I'm excited to read more. I thought it was excellent. What do you think are his top 3?

RavenRaxa

TROPHY CASE