Written by S. Lauderdale
Wuthering Heights
Written by Emily Brontë
Currently Reading: February 7—28, 2026
I needed to re-read Wuthering Heights before seeing the new movie that’s coming out on Valentine’s Day. The film ads were saying things like “The Greatest love story ever told” and I had to pause. I read Wuthering Heights in High School and know that there was no love story in that book. It was a lust story. An obsession story. A revenge story. But definitely not a love story. It’s a Gothic fiction. Gothic fiction is described as a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. A Byronic Romance, which centers on a passionate, often destructive relationship involving a Byronic Hero: a brooding, intelligent, and rebellious outsider with a dark past.
It turns out the movie is indeed a distant interpretation of the novel. At least they used quotes around the title “Wuthering Heights” because it was very loosely based on the novel.
Mansfield Park
Written by Jane Austen
Reading Next: March 1—7, 2026
My friends and I are doing the Jane Austen Book Club. We are reading all of Jane Austen’s novels in publish date order. One book each month. Starting in November 2025. Half of these novels are re-reads for me but I read them many years ago.
Our third book is Mansfield Park. Yes, I read this one a bit late because I snuck in reading Wuthering Heights and Bound to Bedlam in February.
Pride & Prejudice
Written by Jane Austen
Read: January 1—31, 2026
My friends and I are doing the Jane Austen Book Club. We are reading all of Jane Austen’s novels in publish date order. One book each month. Starting in November 2025. Half of these novels are re-reads for me but I read them many years ago.
Our second book is Pride & Prejudice. What can I say that hasn’t been said about this novel. It has one of the most iconic opening sentence in a literary history. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” The pacing is electric. Everyone loves a good ensemble of characters. From Mrs. Bennet to Mary Bennet. From Mr. Collins to Lady Catherine De’Burgh. The personalities of each character shines.
Obviously, I love this book. All a woman wants is a rich man who changes their behavior once you roast the $*%@ out of them after refusing their proposal.
Sense & Sensibility
Written by Jane Austen
Read: November 1—30, 2025
My friends and I are doing the Jane Austen Book Club. We are reading all of Jane Austen’s novels in publish date order. One book each month. Starting in November 2025. Half of these novels are re-reads for me but I read them many years ago.
Our first book is Sense & Sensibility. It has a slower pace to the story. It’s about three girls; Elenor (19), Marianne (17), and Margaret (13) Dashwood, and their mother Mrs. Dashwood (40). They lose the patriarch (and money) of their family and have to begin humble lives with no help from their half brother/step son, who inherits the estate.
This book encompasses the “First Born Daughter” trope. Eleanor is the only one who can bring her Mother and younger sister Marianne’s, head out of the clouds. All while pushing her own emotions to the side. Margaret, says almost nothing the entire novel.
Of course there are romances. The one between Marianne and Colonel Bradford, a love born out of gratitude from kindness and care. The other, between Eleanor and Edward Farris, a will they/ wont’ they, where the characters barely interact.
I liked this book but it was a slow read for me. All of the characters sit and most of them gossip. It made me feel for Eleanor who had all the sense for her entire acquaintance, it seems. She deserved to end up happy. Though the gossipy characters were annoying, Gossip is the main character. All that was found out about Willoughby and Edward Farris came from little conversations.