It's Monday! What are you reading? A review and a new start

This is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

Book Review:

The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride & Prejudice Novel by Pamela Mingle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really, really enjoyed this novel. As I said a few weeks ago when I started this novel I have always felt bad for Mary, I feel she gets a bump wrap especially in the sequels she shows up in, even her own. I feel that Pamela does a great job in showing that once it's just her and Kitty in the house she has more of a chance to come into herself. Even though Mary knows she has changed and her family has noticed the change, they still have a tendency to treat her as the same old Mary.  This  story really is Mary's coming of age story. It's a story about a girl who is finally ready to stand up for herself and for the life she feels she deserves.

I'm trying to find a way to share everything I loved about this novel with out spoiling the story for everyone.  Let me just say we find Jane and Lizzie both happily married and Lydia still a mess (a pregnant mess). Kitty is still Kitty but not Kitty influenced by Lydia Kitty (does that make sense?). Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are still the same, but Mr. Bennett has finally noticed Mary. We meet some new and interesting characters like Mr. Walsh, his cousin Mr. Carstairs, and the Ashtons.

What I'm reading now:


I'm a tea lover and a Jane Austen fan. That being said I've never noticed how much tea was mentioned in her books until I started reading this book. "At the center of almost every social situation in her novels one finds tea" (Wilson pg 11).

Book Description:

Who would not want to sit down with Jane Austen and join her in a cup of tea? Here for the first time is a book that shares the secrets of one of her favorite rituals.
Tea figures prominently in Jane Austen's life and work. At the center of almost every social situation in her novels one finds tea. In Emma, does Miss Bates drink coffee? Of course not: 'No coffee, I thank you, for me-never take coffee.-A little tea if you please.' In Pride and Prejudice, what is one of the supreme honors Mr. Collins can envision Lady Catherine bestowing on Elizabeth Bennet and her friends? Why, drinking tea with her, naturally.
Tea with Jane Austen begins with tea drinking in the morning and ends with tea in the evening, at balls and other gatherings. Each chapter includes a description of how tea was taken at a particular place or time of day, along with history, recipes, excerpts from Austen's novels and letters and illustrations from the time.