January Reading

Happy New Year!

There is a fresh stack of new books waiting to be read and new book ideas are filling up my head. This is a very good start towards having a happy New Year!

As mentioned before I would like to start posting a monthly review of classic novels and I ask anyone willing to join in. I've decided to start things off with one of my favorite female author, Jane Austen.

She holds a place in my literary heart because I've never read one of her books without laughing. The fact that I can still enjoy her humor in the modern age is thrilling plus she has a bit of a dry wit and often makes fun of her main characters even as she's writing from their point of view.

I've chosen her famous novel Sense and Sensibility for a few reasons. It gives us a possible view into her personality as some claim that the two characters are based off of her and her sister. I also like that it was the first book that she finished, at age 19, although it then went through heavy rewrites over the next few years. I will also admit that I am a fan of the 1995 movie adaptation staring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, and more importantly Alan Rickman. For those who can't find time to add the book to their reading list I encourage you to enjoy the film, although it does lose a bit of Austen's humor.

Excerpt from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility:

"I abhor every common-place phrase by which wit is intended; and 'setting one's cap at a man,' or 'making a conquest,' are the most odious of all....if their construction could ever be deemed clever, time has long ago destroyed all its ingenuity."

Sir John did not much understand this reproof; but he laughed as heartily as if he did, and then replied,-

"Ay, you will make conquests enough, I dare say, one way or other. Poor Brandon? ...he is very well worth setting your cap at...


So tell me what do you know about Austen and her novels? Have you ever read one of her books before or was she one of those that you worried that your English teacher would force you to read?

Read Along Time!

I love taking a fresh look at old classics, the kind that every English teacher has assigned at least once. As a historian I try to think about the atmosphere that it was made in, was there war, a cultural revolution, or did it take place in a nice quiet little countryside where politics didn't matter as much. The point is, no book was written inside of a bubble. Readers don't exist in that bubble either. Books that were once considered fantastic, can now seem a bit stiff as the times and readers change.

This year I'd like to try something new. I've planned to read some of the old classic books written by women, one each month. I will include my own thoughts and ideas about the book, both how it was viewed then and now. What I'd really like to add to it, is other peoples opinions.

Before the first of every month I will announce that month's book. Even if you haven't read the book before I'd like to know what your thoughts about it are right now. Anyone with a little extra time this month, or later if you'd like, is asked to join in my monthly read and help me in reviewing the book at the end of the month.

I am grateful to anyone who decides to take up this challenge one of the months, or all twelve! Right now my list includes Jane Austen, all three of the Bronte sisters and Louisa May Alcott. Write to me and let me know if there are other books written by females from that time period that you think I should be including.

Don't worry, I'm not completely sexist, next year I would like to do the same for male authors. It's just that I am being polite, which means that ladies come first!