How will you spend December 16? If you are among the many “Janeites” who span the globe, you might celebrate the 248th birthday of the beloved Jane Austen. You could make the pilgrimage to the Jane Austen House Museum in person or join its virtual party from anywhere. If you are busy that day, you could still attend the four-day symposium held annually in Chapel Hill, N.C. There, you can mingle with esteemed Austen scholars, take craft workshops, don period-appropriate dress, and conclude your stay by dancing at an elegant Regency Ball.

If you have not already had the sublime pleasure, you should immediately give yourself the gift of reading at least one, if not all, of Austen’s six completed works. It is almost impossible to overstate her influence on English literature or absorb the enormous amount of content still generated in her honor. For this month’s blog, I am indulging in a small sampler of the many works inspired by, and celebrating, one of my favorite novelists.

NonFiction:Austen and her legacy
The Friendly Jane AustenThe Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense & Sensibility - Natalie Tyler

"Both diehard addicts and new converts to the cult will find endless revelations and witty insights here, the latest in the enormously successful pop reference."

Jane and Her GentlemenJane and Her Gentleman: Jane Austen and the Men in Her Life and Novels - Audrey Hawkridge

"Looks in detail at Jane's relationships with her brothers, father, and other male family members and friends...including a mysterious suitor."

The Darcy MythThe Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love - Rachel Feder

"An examination of how the romantic narrative from Pride and Prejudice was born out of Gothic horror, how it influenced pop culture since its publishing, and how it has reinforced harmful cultural concepts of real-life romance"

Jane Austen at HomeJane Austen at Home: A Biography - Lucy Worsley

"Jane Austen at Home is a richly entertaining and illuminating new book about one of the world's favorite novelists and one of the subjects she returned to over and over in her unforgettable novels: home."

AustentatiousAustentatious: The Evolving World of Jane Austen Fans - Holly Luetkenhaus

"This book explores online fan spaces in search of "Janeites" all over the world to discover what fans are making, how fans are sharing their work, and why it matters..."

Fiction:

Austen and her collected works as a "character"
Jane and the Year Without a SummerJane and the Year Without a Summer - Stephanie Barron

"Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, Emma, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa. Other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own-some of them deadly."

Miss AustenMiss Austen - Gill Hornby

"Moving back and forth between the vicarage and Cassandra's vibrant memories of her years with Jane, interwoven with Jane's brilliantly reimagined lost letters, Miss Austen is the untold story of the most important person in Jane's life."

The Jane Austen ProjectThe Jane Austen Project - Kathleen A. Flynn

"An unusual twist on the legacy of one of the world's most celebrated and beloved authors: two researchers from the future are sent back in time to meet Jane and recover a suspected unpublished novel."

Jane Austen's Lost LettersJane Austen's Lost Letters: A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery - Jane K. Cleland

"Josie sets off on the quest of a lifetime to learn what Veronica knows about her father and to discover whether the Jane Austen letters are real. As she draws close to the truth, she finds herself in danger..."

Jane in LoveJane in Love - Rachel Givney

"Magically, she finds herself in modern-day England...this wonderfully witty romantic comedy offers a new side to Jane's story, which sees her having to choose between true love in the present and her career as a writer in the past."

Fiction:Adaptations/Variations on Austen Characters
Polite SocietyPolite Society - Mahesh Rao

"A modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma with a touch of Crazy Rich Asians set in Delhi, in which the daughter of a wealthy Indian family aspires to match-make for her friends and family, only to find herself caught up in an unforeseen scandal--and an unexpected match of her own"

Pride and PrometheusPride and Prometheus- John Kessel

"Pride and Prometheus fuses the gothic horror of Mary Shelley with the Regency romance of Jane Austen in an exciting novel that combines two age-old stories in a fresh and startling way."

Sansei and SensibilitySansei and Sensibility - Karen Tei Yamashita

"Yamashita imagines how Jane Austen's seven novels might look 'in a small provincial armpit of postwar sunshine' in sixties and seventies Japanese America."

UnmarriageableUnmarriageable: A Novel - Soniah Kamal

"In this retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan, Alys Binat has sworn never to marry--until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider."

Just for Fun:The eclectic
Bitches in BonnetsBitches in Bonnets: Life Lessons from Jane Austen's Mean Girls - Sarah J. Makowski

"Bitches in Bonnets examines how six novels of quiet English life, penned by parochial Regency spinster Jane Austen, still provide insight on female relationships after all these years and how Austen's writing - and our reading of it - offers solace to millions of fans worldwide"

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, WitchThe Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch - Melinda Taub

"A sparkling, witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and-according to her-much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia."

Pride and Prejudice and ZombiesPride and Prejudice and Zombies - Seth Grahame-Smith

"Elizabeth Bennet is a fearsome warrior whose ability with a sword is matched only by her quick wit and even sharper tongue."

Jane Austen EmbroideryJane Austen Embroidery: Regency Patterns Reimagined for Modern Stitchers - Jennie Batchelor and Alison Larkin

"This unique book showcases rare and beautiful embroidery patterns from her era, repurposed into fifteen modern sewing projects."

The Jane Austen DietThe Jane Austen Diet: Austen's Secrets to Food, Health, and Incandescent Happiness - Bryan Kozlowski

"Whether that's learning how to eat like Lizzie Bennet, exercise like Emma Woodhouse, or think like Elinor Dashwood, explore how Austen's timeless body beliefs are more relevant, refreshing, and scientifically sensible now than ever before."

Summaries sourced from publishers' marketing materials

This just in: A new PBS Masterpiece miniseries: Miss Austen!

December's Featured Reviews

Hop on the Holds List

1. The Heiress – Rachel Hawkins

2. The Fury – Alex Michaelides

3. House of Flame and Shadow – Sarah J. Maas

4. Holmes, Miss Marple & Poe Investigations – James Patterson

5. Random in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel – J.D. Robb

Recent Readings

I have recently finished reading The Reformatory by Tananarive Due and Wellness by Nathan Hill (both are fantastic and I highly recommend them!) I also just finished listening to The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Garcia-Moreno on Libby.

I am currently reading Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson and Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede . I am listening to the audiobook of Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth MacNeal

Do you have your a list of favorite writers? Any series that you have exhausted or anxiously await for new releases? Please let me know! Please share! : jnmegan@gpl.

Until next time: Be safe, be well, and be well-read!

Joelle


So, who am I, anyway? I am a resident of West Groton, with a husband, 3 children in college (and one at GDRHS) and a Samoyed that keeps my vacuum well-employed. I am currently working part time at the Groton Public Library and in a former life I was a Director or PR/Marketing at a high-tech consulting firm. My BA is in Psychology, but most of my time was spent in college earning a Concentration on the Novel. That is all to say that I make no claims at being an expert of any kind and my thoughts, opinions and mistakes are solely my own. I am just a person whose passion for books has continued to grow from the moment I was first able to grip and gnaw on them. I have been devouring them ever since.

Dec 01, 2023 / Joelle M Egan