Persuasion by Jane Austen

Every summer I try to read at least one classic that I somehow missed in previous years. There are so many of them that I could literally spend an entire summer doing nothing but reading classics. I usually discover that I missed gems in my early years, and never more so than when I read a Jane Austen novel.

I love Jane Austen. I love the whimsical characters and the happy endings, the subterfuge and the misunderstandings. Persuasion has all of these things, yet it's not my favorite Austen novel. It was published posthumously and maybe had Austen had time to polish it a bit, it would have read a little better. There is less dialogue in this novel than in other Austens, and the beginning is slow. But by the time Anne Elliott and her erstwhile beau, Frederick Wentworth, are reunited, I was smiling. Any Austen is many times better than a lot of what's published today.

Here is my amazon review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2H64HH1Q9X7P/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm . Please visit and vote if you are so inclined.

~taminator40

Summer Classic Time!

Every summer I try to read at least one classic novel, and this year it was Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I love Jane Austen! Her novels just take me away into a world that is so long ago, so caught up in what others think, that I find myself smiling as I envision the settings and characters. This particular novel is quite small (216 pages) and the characters are perhaps not quite as well developed as some of her other novels. I do love her sense of intrigue and the misunderstandings that abound throughout her books, and this one is no different.

Here is the link to my amazon review:

http://tinyurl.com/35bv6z

I hope you'll find time to click on my review and give it a positive vote, if you are so inclined. I love doing those reviews because it gives me a way to reflect on just why I did or didn't like a novel, and it exercises my latent writing skills (something I intend to rectify this upcoming week, btw).

Next up? Club Dead by Charlaine Harris. To say I'm addicted to her series is an understatement!

~taminator40

Cassandra's Sister...

I finished an ARC our librarian loaned me today entitled Cassandra's Sister by Veronica Bennett. Our librarian knows I enjoy Jane Austen, and when this ARC crossed her desk about Jane and her sister, she knew I'd probably enjoy it. And I did, though I'm still not sure who the actual audience will be for this book. It appealed to me, an Austen fan, because basically it's written in the style of Austen herself, but I'm still unsure that it will go for middle school girls who are unfamiliar with Austen. It is sort of written in the style of Little Women, so it might gain an audience there, but I think it's going to take some tricky advertising on the part of the publisher to find its niche.

Since it's an ARC, I can't review it on Amazon, so I'll give a brief review here: We first meet Jane when she is 17 and looking for love. We follow her, not unlike many of her heroines, as she attends balls and visits with friends and family, and we see her mature as a young woman hopeful for love and ever looking up to her elder sister. Following Jane as she develops her writing skills is interesting, and the author does a credible job of using Austen's own style to give us insight into the world of the late 1700s. I was kept engaged throughout, and enjoyed this little gem quite a bit, though I did find it tragic that poor Jane never did achieve the love and household of her own that she so desired. Beyond that, I can recommend this one to lovers of Jane Austen, no matter their age. Now I'm off to read What's a Ghoul to Do? and I'm already almost 70 pages in, and gobbling this fun one up. ~taminator40