Confessions and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Recently I picked up these two books at the library.  I am a sucker now for anything Jane Austen related.  With "Jane Austen" in the title, how could I resist?

Basic Premise: Two women, Jane Mansfield, a contemporary of Jane Austen although she's never met the author, and Courtney Stone, an Austen fan in present day LA, switch bodies a la Freaky Friday.  From there, each woman has to learn to navigate the new society and life.  Hilarity, confusion, and a sweet story evolve from there.

I enjoyed the new experiences each woman faced.  Even though Courtney is an Austen addict, she has now idea of what life was really like back in the Regency era.  Likewise, Jane cannot even fathom life in the 21st century.  Specifically Courtney is appalled at the hygiene of the 19th century (something I know I would never get used to; I love indoor plumbing and soap).  Although Jane has muscle memory for things like driving a car, her amazement at the new fangled gadgets of our time are delightful.  It's almost like a kid discovering a new trick or phrase.  Her glee at figuring out the "new" is infectious.  

The characters were likable, flaws and all.  Each woman had her misconceptions and prejudices that the other had to deal with in order to be happy in that life or her original.  The supporting cast had a good blend of obvious cads, close friends, meddling parents, potential love interests, and enemies.  I enjoyed the exchanges between characters, especially when the women were insistent that each was someone else.

The setting descriptions were realistic and attentive without dwelling too much on the detail.  The author obviously did her research on Regency era England settings.  I could really picture the places in my mind.  LA was, well, LA, but that's okay.  It was a nice dichotomy of the worlds, time and place.  Even the characters comment on the settings, which is definitely appropriate considering the circumstances.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed these books.  I didn't realize when I read the first one that there would be a sequel.  I am glad I happened upon it at the library or I never would have known Jane's side of the story.  A definite must read for all Jane Austen addicts out there.

Castles by Tracie Peterson

Another Christian historical romance down... but this one was a bit different.  Since it was unusual, I thought I would share.

The Same

Same type of plot.  Same type of characters.  Four novellas connected through characters -- same set up for the novella collections.

The Different

The setting: Most of the Christian historical romance that I have been reading is set in the United States in the 1800s.  They are usually set in a "wilderness," a newly explored/settled area such as Alaska or Montana.  This one was set in Medieval times in England.  There were many references to the politics of the time, i.e. the church versus kings versus high and low classes.  I loved the little tidbits of information here and there about daily life in the castle.  The change was refreshing.

The content: Usually the books are very heavy handed with the sermon-like content.  Two characters get into a discussion about whatever, and it ends up that one character recites a sermon in the guise of a discussion.  Sometimes these "discussions" get a little over the top.  If they take up three pages, it's too much.  This one was much lighter on the sermon front.  The characters still talked about their faith and attempted to sway another character, but it was much lighter.  The books focused more on the action and those of the characters.  I enjoyed the change.

Overall I really like this book.  I think my favorite novella was the first one -- Arianne.  It felt the most "real."  I hope I find more like this one.  Now, to move on to more "literary" fare...

Book Lust and More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl

I picked these two reference books up last week at the library.  I am a sucker for lists of books that I should be reading.  These two did not disappoint.  The author picked specific authors or gave some examples of good reads based on topics. I love making lists.  My mother thinks I am weird.  I've always loved making lists.  Lists for school projects, lists of movies I've read, lists of good restaurants, lists of great reads, lists of bad reads, etc.  These books really allowed for some good reading lists.

Examples of some great categories:

• Famous Alices
• Armchair Travel
• Books About Books
• Dinosaur Hunting
• King Arthur
• People You Ought to Meet

At this point I probably have a "To Read" list of over 2000 books.  I'll never get to all of them, but that's kind of the beauty of the lsits.  I tend to pick books based on my mood.  I have a list of books to look for every time I go to the library.  I find a book, review the summary or check out the cover.  If it strikes my fancy, I check it out.  Once I get it home, I start in to the book.  If the book doesn't catch me within about 40 pages, I close it for good.  I don't feel the need to finish every book I start.  If I don't like it, I move on to the next one.  So every time I go to the library I usually get 10+ books.  Out of those books, on average, I finihs about 6 of them.  My ridiculously long list offers lots of selections.

I've gotten at least 400 book selections out of these reference books.  But next week, I will probably get another reading list book and add to the "To Read" list.  And that's all part of the fun of reading!

Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

I'll admit it... I am very resistant to the Jane Austenesque books.  I love Jane Austen and cannot imagine some other author destroying her original works.  I love her descriptions, the character word play, the predictable but still so enjoyable plot twists.  I love everything about Jane Austen.  Along with my addiction to Jane Austen, I love zombies.  Anything about zombies really.  Even those Z-grade horror movies.  I love zombies. And so, a few months ago I finally picked up and read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Steve Hockensmith.  Fine, fine, I actually enjoyed it.  I found Hockensmith's blend of zombie inspired text with Austen's own words entertaining.  It didn't destroy Jane Austen... not at all.  In fact, it actually added to my Austen universe.

Last week, while browsing at the library, I ran across the sequel, er.... prequel.  Dawn of the Dreadfuls opens four years before Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  The book details the Bennet sisters' rise to warrior status.  The dialogue and writing style perfectly mirrors Austen.  She could have written this book.  I'm actually kind of disappointed that she didn't.  But that's okay.  I loved it anyway.

Plus both books have fun illustrations of zombies and dismemberment.  Always a bonus.

Now I'm wondering if I should try the other revisions of classics.  Maybe I should tackle Sense and Sensability and Sea Monsters.... Check back with me in a few weeks.