damned_colonial: Convicts in Sydney, being spoken to by a guard/soldier (Default)
damned_colonial ([personal profile] damned_colonial) wrote in [personal profile] juliet 2009-05-18 08:55 pm (UTC)

I'm a big fan of "Vanity Fair" by Thackeray -- nice and snarky in places, and long enough to keep you busy for a while.

Early P. G. Wodehouse is there, I think. Check out the Psmith stuff, if you haven't already. http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a783

It's a little random, but see if you can dig up any old manuals of household economy, cookery, etc. They're quite fascinating if you're at all into women's history, domestic life, etc. A subject search for "cookery" shows you some fun stuff. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4219 amused me, for example.

James Cook's stuff on his voyages of exploration: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/c#a2644

Matthew Flinders' "Voyage to Terra Australis": http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/f#a4720

Dumas's "Three Musketeers" stuff. http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/d#a492 (If I were in your situation I'd invest in a paperback French-English dictionary/grammar and try reading them in the original.)

The Scarlet Pimpernel. http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/o#a45

Also, again if I were in your situation, I would take knitting with me, or some other such handcraft.

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