Good Reads Monday - Dear Emma

Title: Dear Emma
Author: Katie Heaney
Publication Date: March 1, 2016

Synopsis: Harriet, the author of her college newspaper's pseudonymous student advice column "Dear Emma," is great at telling others what to do, dispensing wisdom for the lovelorn and lonely on her Midwestern campus. Somehow, though, she can't take her own advice, especially after Keith, the guy she's dating, blows her off completely. When Harriet discovers that Keith has started seeing the beautiful and intimidating Remy, she wants to hate her. But she can't help warming to Remy, who soon writes to "Dear Emma" asking for romantic advice.

Now Harriet has the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the person who broke her heart. But as she begins to doubt her own motivations and presumably faultless guidance, she's forced to question how much she really knows about love, friendship and well-meaning advice.

Goodreads Monday: At Home with Jane Austen

Title: At Home with Jane Austen
Author: Kim Wilson
Publication Date: September 30, 2014

Synopsis: From her youth in a country rectory in Steventon, a small village in Hampshire, England—where she wrote her first stories for her friends, Volume the First, Volume the Second, and Volume the Third—to the fashionable spa town of Bath, to the seaport of Southampton, to her final years in her last settled home at peaceful Chawton Cottage, where she penned her most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s life was hardly that of a shut in. A regular visitor to London, to the seashore for holidays, and to the estates of friends and relatives, Jane carried her own notion of home with her wherever she went and drew inspiration for her brilliantly witty novels from every new experience. She wrote most everywhere she traveled, accompanied by her portable writing desk.

With gorgeous photography and illustrations, At Home with Jane Austen explores Austen’s world, her physical surroundings, and the journeys the popular author took during her lifetime. Author Kim Wilson ties Austen’s novels to places where she lived, visited, and even attended school, ending with her final months in temporary lodgings in Winchester, England. Jane Austen’s enduring legacy is the final chapter of this beautiful and eye–opening book.

Goodreads Monday: Jane Austen's First Love

Title: Jane Austen's First Love
Author: Syrie James
Publication Date: August 5, 2014
Synopsis: Inspired by Actual Events Fifteen-year-old Jane Austen dreams of three things: doing something useful, writing something worthy, and falling madly in love. When she visits her brother in Kent to celebrate his engagement, she meets wealthy, devilishly handsome Edward Taylor—a fascinating young man who is truly worthy of her affections. Jane knows a match between her and Edward is unlikely, but every moment she spends with him makes her heart race—and he seems to return her interest. Much to her displeasure, however, there is another seeking his attention

Unsure of her budding relationship, Jane seeks distraction by attempting to correct the pairings of three other prospective couples. But when her matchmaking aspirations do not all turn out as anticipated, Jane discovers the danger of relying on first impressions. The human heart cannot be easily deciphered, nor can it be directed or managed. And if others must be left to their own devices in matters of love and matrimony, can Jane even hope to satisfy her own heart?

Goodreads Monday - The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy

Title: The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy
Author: Maya Slater
Publication Date: June 15, 2009
Date Added to List: July 25, 2014


Synopsis: Have you ever wondered what Mr. Darcy was really thinking? Find out his secrets in this captivating novel of love, pride, passion, and, of course, prejudice. Mr. Darcy’s intimate diary reveals his entanglements with women, his dangerous friendship with Lord Byron, his daily life in Georgian London, his mercurial mood swings calmed only by fisticuffs at Jackson’s—and, most importantly, his vain struggle to conquer his longing for Elizabeth Bennet.

Why I Wanted to Read It: I've enjoyed other takes on P&P from Darcy's point of view and I was intrigued by this take on placing the novel in a more solid time and place with the introduction of a friendship with Lord Byron. Plus, I love Lord Byron. 

Goodreads Monday - Flirting with Pride and Prejudice

Title: Flirting with Pride and Prejudice: Fresh perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece
Author: Jennifer Crusie, Glenn Yeffeth
Publication Date: August 11, 2005
Date Added to List: July 23, 2014


Synopsis: One of fiction's most well-loved novels, this 19th-century classic continues to capture the hearts of contemporary readers with its notions of marriage, dating, and romance. Leading authors in the area of women's literature and romance contribute to this fresh collection of essays on everything from Lydia's scandalous marriage to George Wickham to the female-dominated Bennett household and the emphasis placed on courtship and marriage. Contributors include Jo Beverly, Alesia Holliday, Mercedes Lackey, Joyce Millman, and Jill Winters. This compilation is an excellent companion for both those new to Jane Austen and well-versed Austen-philes

Why I Wanted to Read It: I enjoy Jennifer Crusie's novels and when I find out that an author I like also like Jane Austen it makes me giddy. So when I saw she was the editor of this collection and that some other authors I like also contributed I really wanted to read it!

Goodreads Monday - Flirting with Pride and Prejudice

Title: Flirting with Pride and Prejudice: Fresh perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece
Author: Jennifer Crusie, Glenn Yeffeth
Publication Date: August 11, 2005
Date Added to List: July 23, 2014


Synopsis: One of fiction's most well-loved novels, this 19th-century classic continues to capture the hearts of contemporary readers with its notions of marriage, dating, and romance. Leading authors in the area of women's literature and romance contribute to this fresh collection of essays on everything from Lydia's scandalous marriage to George Wickham to the female-dominated Bennett household and the emphasis placed on courtship and marriage. Contributors include Jo Beverly, Alesia Holliday, Mercedes Lackey, Joyce Millman, and Jill Winters. This compilation is an excellent companion for both those new to Jane Austen and well-versed Austen-philes

Why I Wanted to Read It: I enjoy Jennifer Crusie's novels and when I find out that an author I like also like Jane Austen it makes me giddy. So when I saw she was the editor of this collection and that some other authors I like also contributed I really wanted to read it!

Goodreads Monday - Dear Jane Austen

I went looking for some new memes to keep the blog fresh and new ideas coming. I found one called GoodReads Monday. You look back through your GoodReads To Be Read list and share the oldest book on there. I tend to mark nearly any Jane Austen related book as To Be Read so I'll be sharing some of them in hopes, I'll get myself to read it or interest you into reading a book you may have missed.


Title: Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love
Author: Patrice Hannon
Publication Date: June 26, 2007
Date Added to List: July 23, 2014


Synopsis: Women have looked to Jane Austen’s heroines as models of appropriate behavior for nearly two centuries. Who better to understand the heart of a heroine than Austen? In this delightful epistolary “what if,” Austen serves as a “Dear Abby” of sorts, using examples from her novels and her life to counsel modern-day heroines in trouble, she also shares with readers a compelling drama playing out in her own drawing room. Witty and wise—and perfectly capturing the tone of the author of Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice—Dear Jane Austen is as satisfying as sitting down to tea with the novelist herself.

Why I Wanted to Read It: The book was kind of a tie-in to the movie Becoming Jane. I liked the idea of Jane receiving letters from women seeking advice.

Goodreads Monday - What Would Jane Austen Do?

I went looking for some new memes to keep the blog fresh and new ideas coming. I found one called GoodReads Monday. You look back through your GoodReads To Be Read list and share the oldest book on there. I tend to mark nearly any Jane Austen related book as To Be Read so I'll be sharing some of them in hopes, I'll get myself to read it or interest you into reading a book you may have missed.


Title: What Would Jane Austen Do?
Author: Laurie Brown
Publication Date: May 1, 2009
Date Added to List: May 13, 2014


Synopsis: Surely Jane Austen would know how to handle such a rake...

From the author of Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, a new time travel romance featuring a modern day career woman swept back in time to Regency England, where she thwarts a Napoleonic spy, chats with Jane Austen, and falls in love with a notorious rake.

Eleanor is a costume designer in England for the Jane Austen festival, where her room at the inn is haunted. In the middle of the night she encounters two ghost sisters whose brother was killed in a duel over 200 years ago. They persuade her to travel back in time with them to prevent the duel. Eleanor is swept into a country house party, presided over by the charming Lord Shermont, where she encounters and befriends Jane Austen. But there's much more to Lord Shermont than the ghosts knew, and as Eleanor dances and flirts with him, she begins to lose her heart.

Why I Wanted to Read It: It has ghosts, time travel, a rake and Jane Austen. Sounds like a great pool side read!

Goodread's Monday: Lizzy Bennet's Diary

I went looking for some new memes to keep the blog fresh and new ideas coming. I found one called GoodReads Monday. You look back through your GoodReads To Be Read list and share the oldest book on there. I tend to mark nearly any Jane Austen related book as To Be Read so I'll be sharing some of them in hopes, I'll get myself to read it or interest you into reading a book you may have missed.


Title: Lizzy Bennet's Diary
Author: Marcia Williams
Publication Date:April 22, 2014
Date Added to List:April 14, 2014


Synopsis: When Lizzy Bennet’s father gives her a diary, she fancies she will use it to write a novel, as her real life is exceedingly dull. Then the handsome Mr. Bingley moves to nearby Netherfield Park, and suddenly life is every bit as thrilling as a novel would be. Who will he dance with at the Meryton ball? Who is his haughty friend? Will Lizzy ever receive a marriage proposal? Readers will have to read her diary to find out! Marcia Williams offers a lively introduction to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in a highly illustrated scrapbook-diary format, featuring such novelties as foldout notes from sisters and suitors, an elegant bill of fare, and an invitation to the ball.

Why I Wanted to Read It:I was interested in the fact that it was "a highly illustrated scrapbook". Like other books on this list and that I've shared, I liked that it was an interesting take on P&P.

Goodreads Monday - Darcy's Voyage

I went looking for some new memes to keep the blog fresh and new ideas coming. I found one called GoodReads Monday. You look back through your GoodReads To Be Read list and share the oldest book on there. I tend to mark nearly any Jane Austen related book as To Be Read so I'll be sharing some of them in hopes, I'll get myself to read it or interest you into reading a book you may have missed.




Title: Darcy's Voyage
Author:  Kara Louise
Publication Date: September 1, 2010
Date Added to List: July 23, 2013

Synopsis: In this enchanting and highly original retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet sets out for the new world aboard the grand ship Pemberley's Promise. She's prepared for an uneventful voyage until a chance encounter with the handsome, taciturn Mr. Darcy turns her world upside down.

When Elizabeth falls ill, Darcy throws convention overboard in a plan that will bind them to each other more deeply than he ever could have imagined. But the perils of their ocean voyage pale in comparison to the harsh reality of society's rules that threaten their chance at happiness. When they return to the lavish halls of England, will their love survive?

Why I Wanted to Read It: It was a different kind of retelling of Pride and Prejudice. 

GoodReads Monday - Jane Austen's England

I went looking for some new memes to keep the blog fresh and new ideas coming. I found one called GoodReads Monday. You look back through your GoodReads To Be Read list and share the oldest book on there. I tend to mark nearly any Jane Austen related book as To Be Read so I'll be sharing some of them in hopes, I'll get myself to read it or interest you into reading a book you may have missed.




Title: Jane Austen's England
Author:  Roy and Leslie Adkins
Publication Date: August 15, 2013
Date Added to List: July 15, 2013

Synopsis: Billed as a cultural snapshot of everyday life in the world of Jane Austen. The book discusses topics such as  birth, marriage, religion, sexual practices, hygiene, highwaymen, and superstitions. It also includes the topics of chores like fetching water to healing with medicinal leeches, from selling wives in the marketplace to buying smuggled gin, from the hardships faced by young boys and girls in the mines to the familiar sight of corpses swinging on gibbets, Jane Austen’s England offers an authoritative and gripping account that is sometimes humorous, often shocking, but always entertaining. 

Why I Wanted to Read It: It just sounded like a really interesting read and a more solid way in learning about the time period. 

GoodReads Monday - The Three Colonels

I went looking for some new memes to keep the blog fresh and new ideas coming. I found one called GoodReads Monday. You look back through your GoodReads To Be Read list and share the oldest book on there. I tend to mark nearly any Jane Austen related book as To Be Read so I'll be sharing some of them in hopes, I'll get myself to read it or interest you into reading a book you may have missed.


Title: The Three Colonels: Jane Austen's Fighting Men 
Author:  Jack Caldwell
Publication Date: March 1, 2012
Date Added to List: April 27, 2012
Synopsis: Caroline Bingley marries war hero, Colonel Sir John Buford, who serves as an aide to the Duke of Wellington in Vienna. Back in England, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam and Anne de Bourgh fall in love. Colonel Brandon and his young wife Marianne build a life of tranquility. All is disrupted by Napoleon's escape from exile.
Why I Wanted to Read It: I was interested in the man would win Caroline, (who in my mind is still pining away for Darcy). I'm not too keen on the Richard/Anne match, I always like the stories where Richard ends up with Georgianna. What I really wanted to read was about the 'life of tranquility' that Colonel Brandon and Marianne build. I never liked that match up and was curious as to how this author pictures their life together.