big summer re-read: war and peace: I love tolstoy

I've written about my stressful life, and nothing helps me feel better is working through a huge mammoth tome like War and Peace.

This will be a re-read for me. I have just been having a craving for it. I pondered with several titles (Middlemarch, Moby Dick, etc.), but something is calling me to War and Peace. So, that's enough for me. 

At 1382 pages for the Penguin Edition that I owe both physically and on kindle, I'll be starting on June 1st and having a goal of 25 pages per day.

i have this physical edition & this same translation on kindle

I love sinking my teeth into sprawling classics, and taking my time to structure my reading life around a "big read". 

Leo Tolstoy is one of my favorite writers of all time. I seriously have re-read Anna Karenina (one of my top 3 favorite books) over and over again. I find so much peace inside the complicated characters and stories that Tolstoy wrote.

Like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy creates psychologically complex characters that help you learn so much about yourself as you read them.

If you read Anna's story and connected with her desire to be unfaithful because she felt restrained- you can better know yourself and what you think about infidelity. Do you lean more towards Levin's story? In War and Peace, I am eager to get back into the Napoleonic Era and the French invasion of Russia. Nothing like a good fictional account including Bonaparte. 

I'm aways reading a biography of Napoleon which should be a good accompaniment. 

side by side, this should be a great reading experience

Plans for Reading War and Peace this summer

1. 25 pages per day
2. Read physically
3. Read on kindle at night time (hello eye strain + light)
4. Blog my weekly experience here (along with photos!)
5. Keep notes in my physical book journal

I only read what inspires or motivates me. I don't read for number goals. I don't read to keep up with the literary Joneses. 

This is my life. My mental health. My sanity. I'm excited to dive back into this amazing novel. Feel free to join me. I'll be writing about it here.

Happy reading ☕️