Jane Austen Movies

 Jane Austen Movies that I adore:

Pride & Prejudice

Obviously, both of these adaptations - I honestly love them both. 

This was fantastic

A modern classic

Emma:

Clueless: a modern classic

* I like the newest one, but I don't love it like I do these ones.

Another modern adaption.

Persuasion:

I do love the scenery in Bath. To be honest, it's been years since I've seen either of these. But I do remember enjoying them.

Sense and Sensibility:

I am looking forward to the new Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility projects

Did I miss any of your favorites? Any I should add to my watch list?

Christmas Picture Books Reviews: (4)

 

The third week of Christmas picture books:

The chicken is super excited to attend the Nutcracker and is bringing their tutu and ballet shoes. The chicken promises to be on their best behavior. But it's hard....

This is a very funny story of what happens when things do not go according to plan.

* This is part of a series

On the night before Christmas, a train leaves and travels through a winter wonderland until it reaches the North Pole. 

A fantastical train ride through winter with charming illustrations. 

One little girl is SO excited for Christmas. She can't help but be spirited. 

I loved this book - it's funny and sweet and clever. There MAY be such a thing as too many times Jingle Bells has been sung. I hope there is a sequel coming. 

Unicorn and Kitty know they both love Christmas and they always agree...don't they?

This is a story of holiday traditions and friendship and having the perfect Christmas together. 

The trucks are getting ready for Christmas and decorating the whole town. But what happens when they run out of decorations before they get to the tree?

With a little help from some friends, the trucks understand that somethings are best when they are simple. There are pages on how to decorate like the trucks. 

Dasher meets a polar bear named George. George is impressed that Dasher can fly. He longs to have some Christmas magic too. 

This is a charming story about magic and the holiday Spirit. Things don't always work out the way one thinks, but it does work out. I love these books. I hope there are more in this series planned. I illustrations are amazing. 

Pepe is celebrating with his community at the holiday festival.

I love how the town square has food and decor from so many Hispanic cultures. The festival looks like so much fun; I love how everyone comes together to celebrate. There's a glossary, author's note, and sources written at the end of the book.

Children's Biographies of Jane Austen

 A round-up of Children's biographies of Jane Austen:

Picture book biography - I loved it. 

I love the art on the cover, and the illustrations are just as charming.

She certainly did take the ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary. 

Although: This one says that she was not famous when she died, which is not true.

Loved this one - it talks a lot about what was "proper" behavior for young ladies at the time. Jane was clearly not proper. This one goes from her childhood to her death - it's quite informative. It does mention that she was famous.

I liked this one; it showcases that times were hard for the Austen family. It's very blunt about Bath, death, and poverty. This book does make good on it's promise of Jane Austen discovering her voice.

A biography for older kids - I really liked this but I didn't love it. 

I always thought I would love to write a Jane Austen biography. 

Do you think there's room for more?

Jane Austen: My Favorite Book Retellings

 This is going to be tricky as I'm going to attempt to share my top 10 (only) Jane Austen adaptations. I've read so many and I adore so many.

Probably the first one I read - too funny. I read the British version

Probably the first novel I read from Mr. Darcy's POV - this is the first of trilogy.

I adored this idea and have since read several:

Including these two by the same author:

A regency Romance's adaptation that kicks off a four book series 

A modern YA P&P with Spies

A YA P&P historical Mystery - the start of a series

A modern YA P&P adaptation

This is the 3rd book in the Jane Austen adaptations - Sense and Sensibility 

a modern YA Pride and Prejudice with baking

An adult modern P & P tale about a champagne store

A modern adult Persuasion (book 3 in a companion series)

I'm probably forgetting several favorites!  Clearly, I have a softer spot for Pride and Prejudice retellings. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR

 This week's topic is all about our WINTER TBR List. To be honest, I have a lot of books for review that I need to read, so I might use this time to read a few of those. But here are some new books - January, February, and March released books that I'm looking forward to reading.

Middle Grade:

YA:

Adult:

I have these to read for review:

Clearly, I need more YA books coming out. 

Are any of these books on your list too?

What should I read first?