Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

News that Netherfield Park has been leased by a wealthy young landowner causes a stir in nearby Longbourn, particularly among the Bennet family. Mr. Bingley is instantly drawn to Jane, the eldest of the five Bennet daughters, much to Mrs. Bennet's delight. However, Mr. Bingley's sisters and his good friend, Mr. Darcy, are not pleased with what society has to offer. As they continue to encounter each other at social engagements, Mr. Darcy finds himself rather unwillingly attracted to Jane's sister, Elizabeth, and both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth must learn the repercussions of hasty and unfair judgments. 

367 pages. 

The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray

Must. Protect. Jonathan.
I feel like Jonathan's autism could have been written to be more nuanced.
400 Pages

Being Mary Bennett and Lola At Last by J. C. Peterson

Me being personally attacked because I feel like Marnie. Also like....
We love a nerdy dad.
We continue to hate all Mrs. Bennett look alikes.
I loved Whit. I loved Will. I loved big Sis Lindy.
I vote we get rid of Hayes and all of his predatory ways.
Doggos. Doggos with books for everyone.
Content warnings: car accidents, fat-shaming, miscarriage, toxic family
400 Pages

TS: Girl at Home, Speak Now,

Sometimes I really wanted to strangle Lola because like......she wasn't even thinking....and she was like..petty.
400 Pages

TS: Mirrorball, but like..make it extroverted

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray

All of Jane Austen's MCs trapped in a house together, and there's murder. sign me up.
It's like Death at Pemberley but there's more characters and there next generation.... I love them. 
400 Pages

Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price

So I love Edward from Sense and Sensibility.... and I love Mr. Brandon except my entire image of him (I hate to say it, because it's Alan Rickman) is tainted by Alan Rickman and the fact that he was like....49 playing a 30 something...
Am I a Marianne....yes... I know that about myself.
I love the way that the characters were adapted into the murder mystery tropes. And we're talking about drugs and chemistry and crime. Which is just...my jam. 
432 Pages

TS Song: ....Edward said Enchanted... We all want to aggressively sing Mean at Fanny

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Ok but a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but Lizzie wants to be a barrister. Like...sign me up.
I always love Darcy.
lol they brought up Darcy's first name. 
When all the details are revealed. I cackled. 
I appreciate that like...they found a way to tell the story while incorporating bits, but also adapted pieces to fit into the moment so that it felt more natural. 
384 Pages

The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Gläser

THE COVER IS SO PRETTY
And I seriously love German writers...
All of the Jane Austen nods.
sfjdklfdsjklsajk;slda
fdjklkldfas;jkl;dasj
Darcy staaaaaap
All the magic castles and stuff agh
336 Pages

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Jane Austen going off on writers who make heroines hate novels and not read fiction.
"I have no notion of loving people by halves. It is not in my nature" If we completely ignore which character said this, and just look at the quote, it's amazing, and honestly I relate to it so much.
Someone please protect Catherine from all these mean people.
I am so stressed. We need to get rid of these lying manipulative jerk faces.
240 Pages

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Fanny is a precious cinnamon roll who is too pure for this world.
Mrs. Norris is worse than Harry Potter's Mrs. Norris
I'm not even going to talk about Mary Crawford. She doesn't deserve it.
I will protect Fanny, the wonderful wallflower with anxiety, with my life. I think a lot of people see her as weak, but I relate to her a lot. She wants to helpful, and she is so afraid of being an inconvenience to people.....She doesn't want to be ignored or forgotten, but she doesn't want to trouble people.
#Fanny Price Protection Squad
480 Pages

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma and her book lists...saaaaame.
Mr Knightley is so snarky and I love him.
Let's be honest, Mr. Knightley is the ultimate matchmaker.
544 Pages

The Jane Austen Diet by Jane Austen and Bryan Kozlowski

The Jane Austen Diet by Jane Austen and Bryan Kozlowski

"What could Jane Austen possibly teach me about dieting in the modern era?" you ask. "More than you'd think," I'd answer. Kozlowski has a surprising amount to say on the matter. Using Jane's books and what is known about her life as inspiration, he covers how everyone's favorite Regency heroine would approach exercise, carbs, meat, sugar, and, yes, booze. Jane's approach, according to Kozlowski, remains as relevant as ever.

Though I never thought to put Jane Austen and self-help in the same category, Jane and her co-author were surprisingly on point. 

304 pages.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, this was amusing, and I don't even need to explain why, since I can just point to the title.

My only request would be for even more zombies.

Now, let's all take a moment to admire that fabulous cover before I go watch the movie.

Pages: 320

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Lady Susan by Jane Austen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is an epistolary novel. It was an early text by Jane Austen, though she did not consider it to be a finished work. It bothered me, at first, to read an unfinished work, simply because as someone who likes to write, I wouldn’t want the world reading an unfinished work (same reason why I won’t read Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee).

But then I got over it, and I decided to listen anyway, out of curiosity. Okay. That’s a terrible lie. I’m reading it, because it’s short. I’m dreadfully behind on my Goodreads 2017 Challenge, and this was on a list of short books that people should read.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about how the protagonist for this book is actually the antagonist. She’s quite the bad girl, which makes her fascinating, indeed. She’s not particularly enjoyable, and I don’t like her at all, which I think is a positive for this short story. In fact, she is definitely an antihero.

The letter format is a bit hard to follow at times, but that is typical of the writing from this time period. Also, let’s not forget that this is an UNFINISHED work. It’s not a must read, but if you like the time period, the epistolary format, Jane Austen in general, frivolous characters, fancy dialogue, and/or a combination of immature and manipulative adults, this might be interesting to you.

Pages: 157

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

  A real treat. Mystery writer P.D. James loves the works of Jane Austin. Here she blends her skill as an author of mysteries with her love of Pride and Prejudice to craft a beautiful literary mystery. 

Set six years after Elizabeth and Darcy marry and are enjoying life at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate, they are planning the annual ball in honor of Darcy's mother, Lady Anne. Close friends have arrived the night before to help with final preparations when Elizabeth's disgraced sister, Lydia arrives in an hysterical state announcing that she is sure her husband Wickham has just been murdered in the woods. As always Jane and Bingley are there to lend support while Darcy tries to shelter his sister Georgiana from any details. 

It will take all of Jane and Darcy's wit to find out what has really happened and rescue all the inhabitants of Pemberley from any ensuing scandal. 

Pages: 291

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

I first read this classic many years ago as an undergraduate and really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd pull it out and reread it now that I'm more "mature" and have read many historical romances of that period written by modern writers.  However, I really can't compare them since the language and phrasing was so different when Austen wrote it in 1813.  I kept picturing Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet from the 1995 BBC miniseries which was made after I read the book the first time.  I was surprised to read that Darcy was bewitched by Elizabeth so early in the novel; I certainly don't remember that.  It seems quite wordy but is still compelling in how it conveys the idea that sometimes our first impressions of others are all wrong.  292 pages.

"Bespelling Jane Austen" by Mary Balogh, Colleen Gleason, Susan Krinard, and Janet Mullany

This is a collection of paranormal stories based loosely on four of Jane Austen's best-known works.  My favorite was "Almost Persuaded" by Mary Balogh, who used Austen's "Persuasion" to compose a sweet and emotional love story with reincarnation as its theme.  Balogh is one of my favorite authors, and she is perfect in her first attempt at writing paranormal romance.  The other stories were fairly interesting, particularly "Blood and Prejudice" in which Mr. Darcy and Lizzie Bennett meet up with vampires in modern-day New York, but could not compare to Balogh's.  The other two authors used "Northanger Abbey" and "Emma" as their bases.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with these classic Jane Austen tales and would enjoy a little paranormal twist to them.  337 pages.