Jane Austen Ruined My Life

Jane Austen Ruined My Life is a novel by Beth Pattillo, published by Guideposts. It's about a woman, Emma, who is recently divorced and recently fired from her university faculty position. The reason for the divorce is given right away, but the reason for the firing is not given until later in the novel.

Emma is an Austen scholar, and the lure of the possibility of the existence of Jane Austen's letters that are known to have been destroyed by her sister Cassandra, is a siren call she must follow.

The Formidables, a secret Austen society of sorts, send Emma on a series of tasks, through which she not only discovers some truths about Jane Austen, she discovers some truths about herself.

I enjoyed this book, and while it didn't end the way I wanted it to, it ended the way it should.

Beth Pattillo is also the author of the Sweetgum Knit Lit books, and you can learn more about her and her books here.

Part of the Everything Austen challenge.

Austen Giveaway

Everything Austen Challenge 2009

This morning I was checking my Twitter feed and found out about a fabulous giveaway! Our hostess for this challenge, Stephanie, has a post up about it here.

So what are you waiting for? GO! READ! ENTER! And tell her Pattie sent you.

So, last night I decided it was time to introduce my almost-teen to the world of Jane Austen. I figured the BBC Pride & Prejudice might be too long, so I chose Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility instead.

I had to laugh when she laughed at the same parts I find funny, and I was always ready to hit the pause button to explain a bit about the time or the culture (for example, why did the Dashwood women have to leave in the first place?).

What I did NOT expect was to hear:

"Mom! Is that Professor Trelawney?"

or

"That's Snape! He looks better without black hair!"

or even

"I know her! She's that mean professor." (That would be Professor Umbridge, by the way...)

and of course,

"That's Dr. House!"

Many apologies to Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, and of course Hugh Laurie...but it's all your own fault for doing the Harry Potter films (excepting Hugh Laurie, and that's just because I love Dr. House in all his curmudgeon-liness).

Pride and Prejudice and . . . Zombies?

Everything Austen Challenge 2009

Yep, it's true. Zombies. If you're interested in winning a copy, hop on over to Suko's Notebook to enter!

Everything Austen Challenge

Everything Austen Challenge 2009

I read about this from author Trish Perry's blog. What fun! Even though I need a new challenge like the proverbial hole in the head. But I can't resist Jane Austen!

When I was classifying books once on Library Thing.com, I used the word "Austenesque" to describe books that were either based upon Jane Austen's works, were modern retellings, or what have you. Then as I packed the books from my now-broken bookshelf, I discovered I had a small box of Austenesque literature. This challenge will, honestly, give me the chance to finish some of those books.

Here's the thing with challenges: Things crop up that distract me from my goal. New books come out, or I find treasures at the library. I also know if the list is too long (as in the Austen X2 challenge!) I will not have a prayer of finishing.

Therefore, I will list all the books and movies from which I can choose! This gives me some wiggle room.

I commit to reading and/or watching six between now and the end of the challenge.

These are the books currently in my possession to read:

• The Second Mrs. Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
• Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence **in process--not an easy read!**
• The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James
• Jane Austen in Boca by Paula Marantz Cohen
• Jane Austen in Scarsdale by Paula Marantz Cohen
• North by Northanger: Or, the Shades of Pemberley, a Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery by Carrie Bebris
• Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
  

These are the movies currently in my collection to watch:

• Pride and Prejudice (The BBC Miniseries)
• Sense and Sensibility (The Emma Thompson version
• a few BBC adaptations of Austen novels I taped from PBS's Austen marathon last winter.
  (I think Miss Austen Presents is one of them, which I've wanted to watch for a while now.)

These are the books currently on my wish list:

• The Darcy Connection by Elizabeth Aston
• Mr. Darcy's Dream by Elizabeth Aston