Traffic consists of two different pieces. The first is a speech where John Rushkin is asked to talk about an Exchange but he just tells them he couldn't care less and talks about other things instead. This part was mildly interesting, but in fact very forgettable.

The second half was worse, and I had a little struggle to finish it. Not one of the best Little Black Classics that I've read so far.

Little Black Classic #6

I know this was the obvious choice for the Black cat square of the bingo card but I had never read it before. Come to think of it, I am not sure I ever read Edgar Allen Poe (*gasp*). Well let me tell you, as an animal lover I read this with my mouth hanging open. It is shocking and heartbreaking and disgusting but ultimately satisfying! 

 Another bingo block done!

"...and a cat. This latter was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree."

Goodreads summary:

'Mind you, it was a pukka, respectable opium-house, and not one of those stifling, sweltering chandoo-khanas that you can find all over the City.'

Kipling first became famous for his pungent, harsh and shocking stories of northwest India, where he grew up. This is just a small selection from his inexhaustibly contentious and various early work.

My opinion:

There are six stories in this bindup and here's my rating for each story:
1. Thrown Away 3 stars
2. False Dawn 3 stars
3. In the House of Suddhoo 1 star
4. The Bisara of Pooree 2 stars
5. The Gate if the Hundred Sorrows 2 stars
6. The Story of Muhammed Din 1 star.

Sadly enough not one story stood out for me or blew me away.. so this bindup it's okay. I think it's because of the subject and because they are just random stories, so I wasn't that interested. I recommend starting with The Jungle Books. 

What is your opinion about this short story collection?

Summary:

The Kiss is about hope in love etc. 

The Two Volodyas is about a woman who rethinks her marriage and feels she married him for money instead of love and goes kinda crazy.

Gooseberries is about finding happiness and about hope and freedom.

My opinion:

This is what I think every Little Black Classic should be like. I loved all of the stories and I cannot wait to read more by this author (which is also not good because now I want to buy more books ha). I can't see which one my favorite story is, but if I have to choose I'll choose Gooseberries, because it has not only Russian themes in it, but also themes that are still relevant today. If you want to buy a little black classic, i highly recommend this one.

Have you read anything by Anton Chekhov and if so what is your opinion about his work/any recommendations?

What can I say... I bought books.. again haha. I bought quite a lot, but let's say I blame the stress when it comes to school and they were cheap. Anyhow, these are the books: 

Oorlogswinter is a Dutch classic which I've never read, so when I heard it was only 1 euro, I had to buy it. It's about a winter in World War II. Of course I had to buy In The Afterlight, because it's the third book in The Darkest Minds trilogy. I gave away my copy of The Martian to a friend, because she will (is liking) it more than I do and she gave me Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, because I really want to read it and she doesn't want to anymore. 

Heuh, Penguin Little Black classics? But Vienna, you already own them al?! That's what I thought as well! These are new ones Penguin came out with in March, but this time I decided to buy only the few ones I really want (I want three of four more, trust me). I bought the one by Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Brontë. I've read other works by these authors and loved them all, so of course I had to buy these four first. 

My next goal is to make complete collections of authors that I already own some books of. I already had Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Pride and Prejudice, but now I own all of her novels. Sadly enough not in the same style (Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park are a bit different) and I had to buy Persuasion secondhand and it's a bit colour damaged, but it's complete! The short story collection is also on my way. Jane Austen isn't my favorite author (I've only liked Emma so far), but when I do like/love a book by her, I will also buy a different edition. I really want Emma in the Word Cloud edition, so yea. The edition I have now is very cheap, so then I don't mind.

What books have you bought recently?