Top Ten: Jane Austen Books I Want to Read

Happy 250th Birthday Jane Austen!

 Here are 10 retellings that I want to read:

Time travel back to Jane Austen's time - adult

YA Pride and Prejudice: with Georgiana Darcy

YA retelling of Sense and Sensibility 

Modern Adult Pride and Prejudice

YA retelling of Pride and Prejudice 

Modern Adult Persuasion 

Modern Emma retelling  

Historical mystery with Pride and Prejudice 

Nonfiction: celebrating her life

Authors who influenced Jane Austen

Places in Jane Austen's world

A bit older, but a travel guide to Jane Austen's England. 

Have you read any of these? Do you have other suggestions for me?

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?

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. 

Jane Austen and Me

 

Clueless, the flawless masterpiece, was my introduction to Jane Austen when I was in high school.  I read a movie review in our school newspaper that stated it was an adaptation of Emma. I should read that, I thought. 

So, I did. I bought a used book that contained all six novels and I read them. And I’ve been a fan ever since.

Three little stories:

1. I traveled abroad to Bath, England during college to follow her footsteps. As I walked down the streets, I imagined her doing the same, only in much more fashionable clothing. The program took a group of students to Chawton Cottage. I saw her writing desk, her bedroom, and the gardens. It was magical. (More on this later in the week)

2. When I was in graduate school, an adjunct professor noticed my Pride and Prejudice email address. She told me that her college library had a first edition of Pride and Prejudice and asked if I would like to see it. We made arrangements and I held the three edition volumes in my hand. I have a very blurry picture of the volumes, as this was before cell phones and digital cameras. What a magical moment.

3. I wrote a modern-day novel of Pride and Prejudice set in high school during basketball season. I had planned a four book "series" centered on my four favorite Jane Austen novels. Each book would be a different grade in high school and while it wasn’t a straight series, there would be connections and Easter Eggs between the books. Sadly, although it was the book of my heart, it was rejected several times. It might never see the light of day, but I wrote it.

Clearly, I have my favorite books. I’ll admit that it’s been years since I’ve read them. It’s time for a re-read of the big four.

Do you have a favorite Jane Austen novel?

Mini Review: Jane Austen's First Love

At fifteen, Jane Austen wanted to write, she wanted to find love, and she wanted to be useful. Upon visiting her brother, she meets a boy not much older than she. He's handsome and charming. Could love be in the air?

The Good:
I could see inspiration from Jane's writing forming in this novel
The flirting
The advantages Jane has during this time
Jane breaking the rules
The Author's Afterword is fascinating
The Bad:
Jane is not the best matchmaker (and neither is Emma) but she does make some horrible choices.

Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed this fictional meeting between Jane Austen and a potential suitor. As a Jane Austen fan, I'm always intrigued by her love life.

Cover Thoughts: Love
Source: Sent for Review
Fun Fact: Jane Austen was born on this day 241 years ago
If You Like Jane Austen, here are some modern books to try

Review: Sass and Serendipity

A modern day retelling of Jane Austen's masterpiece Sense and Sensibility.

Sisters Gabby and Daphne are nothing alike.

Daphne's the younger sister - she's romantic, believes the best in people, social, and out going.

Gabby's the older more responsible sister. She helps run the household, studies constantly to win a scholarship for college, and has one best friend.

They fight all the time as neither sister can put herself in the other's shoes. Each sister wishes her sister would be more like her. When their mother goes out of town for job training, the two sisters must learn to live together to survive their mother's absence. Will they ever be able to see eye to eye???

My Thoughts: I can't stop thinking about this book - and wondering how much I liked it. As a sister, I can see both sister's view perfectly. On one hand, it was hard to connect with the sisters as they were so dramatic with each other - everything was in black or white. On the other hand - the story was compelling and I needed to see it ended. I really liked Mule and Prentiss. I loved how closely it related to Sense and Sensibility.

Cover Thoughts: I LOVE the cover! Especially the way the purple and the white play off each other

Source: Blue Slip Media

Stay Tuned: Chatting with Jennifer during her blog tour! PLUS a contest to win the book!

Fun Fact: This year is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility

Adult Review: Mr. Darcy's Little Sister

Most girls can't wait for their debut and presentation to the court but Georgianna isn't most girls. She's nervous and has a horrible feeling she will mess up dreadfully.

She's so shy that it's painful for her to talk to strangers. On top of that, her social graces need serious work. Now that her brother's getting married, there are big changes ahead.

She doesn't want to feel like an outsider in her own home. Georgiana's only met Elizabeth Bennet once. She's nervous about meeting her again.

Elizabeth smooths over her feelings, happy to have a new sister in her life. As Elizabeth comes to understand her role as the new mistress of Pemberley, she strives to help her new sister feel at ease in society. Together the new sisters form a a deep bond while tackling the elite society.

As her season commences, Georgianna finds herself happier and look for potential husbands. Before long, she knows that one man in particular has captured her heart. If only she could get him to notice her...

My Thoughts: As an avid Jane Austen fan and particular fan of Pride and Prejudice, I love reading other sequels. I found this a delightful read. I loved watching the relationship between Georgianna and Elizabeth grow and blossom. I loved watching her interact with the rest of Elizabeth's family. I loved reading more about Georgianna's other friends. It was nice to see more of the slice of the Darcy family mentioned in Pride and Prejudice. All in all, a very enjoyable sequel.

Cover Thoughts: Very elegant and ties in nicely with the book

Source: My Library

Happy Birthday Jane Austen!

As you know, I'm a HUGE Jane Austen fan. I studied in Bath, England for a semester in college just because of her presence there. We went to Chawton


*also I owe her a great debt - I started writing this fanfiction before moving on to other works. It's not completed, and I hope to finish it this year, but it started me on the serious path of writing. *

In honor of her birthday, here's my favorite read-a-likes of her work.

Teen books:

Prom and Prejudice: Just finished this book - AMAZING - modern day teen Lizzie and Darcy

Dashwood Sisters' Secrets in Love: Modern tale of the Dashwood sisters looking for love

I was Jane Austen's Best Friend: Jane Austen's cousin's diary of their live, including a romance

Scones and Sensibility: a modern day matchmaker who helps out at her parent's bakery

Pies and Prejudice: the Mother/Daughter book club tackles Pride and Prejudice while Emma spends the year in England.

Adult Books:

Bridget Jones's Diary: HILARIOUS! Loved the book, which is better than the movie.

Mischief of Mistletoe: I just finished this spy novel- about a friend of Jane Austen, who makes a cameo in the book.

Mr. Darcy's Diary: I love reading the tale from Mr. Darcy's perspective and this read is AMAZING

Mr Knightley's Diary: While, P&P is my favorite Austen read, I think Emma falls as a close second. I loved this tale of how Mr. Knightley fell for Emma.

Pride and Prescience: A great mystery series featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy

Darcy's Story: First book I'd read that took the story and turned it on it's head. I wanted more stories written from the Darcy/Bennet world after reading this one.