Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 47

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 13 & 14

So much to discuss in these two chapters!  Let's get to it.  ::rubs hands eagerly::
I chuckle a bit over the description of the picnicking party assembled at Barton Park:  "They were all in high spirits and good humour, eager to be happy, and determined to submit to the greatest inconveniences and hardships rather than be otherwise" (p. 120).  Boy, if that's not a perfect description of people ready to set off on a pleasurable outing, what is?  It especially makes me think of going on field trips...

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 11 & 12

Boy, things are escalating quickly between Marianne and Willoughby, aren't they?  By the end of chapter 12, they are calling each other by their names without the words 'miss' or 'mister' in front of them.  That's huge.  According to the notes in my copy, that would be seen as tacitly acknowledging an engagement without formally announcing it yet.  (Now, Elinor and Edward do sometimes refer to/address each other by their first names, but that was allowed because they were sort of in-laws, since ...

"Dearest Josephine" by Caroline George

Um.

Well.

Yeah.

Hmm.

Let's begin with the things I liked a lot.  Oliver!  I liked Oliver so much.  He is everything I like in a guy -- helpful, kind, thoughtful, never pushy, respectful, relaxed, funny, playful, and great at chopping wood.  He was definitely my favorite, and I basically liked him from the get-go.

Josie was also an interesting bundle of conflictedness.  She's mourning her dad, she's trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, she's convinced she's falling in love with a g...

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 9 & 10

Here we go, then!  We've started clicking up the first hill of the rollercoaster.  In other words, Willoughby has arrived on the scene and captured Marianne's affections by being exactly the sort of Romantic hero she was convinced she would never find.

And he really does make a romantic-with-a-small-r entrance, it's true, swooping to the rescue through the storm and exactly the right moment.  Ignoring propriety in the interest of getting Marianne safely home.  Carrying her around in his manly arm...

"The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes" by Wade Albert White

One of the joys of raising kids who read is that, eventually, they'll start recommending books to you!  Which is what happened with this book.  My kids read it, and the two sequels, and laughed sooooo hard over them.  They began to quote them constantly.  A couple of weeks ago, my son said to me, "Maybe you should just read the first book, Mom.  Then you'd know what we're talking about."  I think he was surprised when I said, "Okay!"  You should have seen how ridiculously pleased all three of th...

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 7 & 8

I don't have tons to say about these chapters.  We get to know Sir John and Lady Middleton a bit more, and they're both kind of shallow people.  But at least they're kind (Sir John) and polite (Lady Middleton) -- they're like reverse images of John and Fanny Dashwood, aren't they?  Like a photograph and the negative.  

And then there's Mrs. Jennings.  Um, yeah, I'd probably run away and hide from her if I met her in real life.  Or I would have, in my teens.  I might handle her better now that I'm...

Jane Austen This or That

Cordy posted this at Any Merry Little Thought, and it looked like fun, so I thought I'd give it a whirl myself!

(All photos are mine from my Instagram.)

1) Who is a cuter couple? Emma and Mr. Knightley or Jane and Mr. Bingley?  
I think Jane and Mr. Bingley are much cuter.  I'm not sure I could ever call either Emma or Mr. Knightley cute, to be honest.  I'd be just a little too afraid of them.

2) You must go to tea with Mrs. Jennings or Mrs. Bennet. Who would you rather go with?  
Mrs. Jennings!  I'm...

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 5 & 6

I do admire Mrs. Dashwood for being "exceedingly rapid in the performance of every thing that interested her" (p. 48).  This is something I wish I had more of -- often, I'll have things I want to do and know I will enjoy doing, but I'll put it off because of silly reasons, and then it just never happens.  So I say, good for you, Mrs. Dashwood, for getting your moving plans all settled so swiftly!  And she even politely invites John and Fanny to visit them... though I suspect she knows they won't...

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 3 & 4

Side note: I had a lot of fun finding pictures of book covers for all these posts.  Some of them are funny, some are weird, some are boring, and some are just plain puzzling.  Like this one.  I mean, wow, there's a lot going on here, and I'm not at all sure who's supposed to be who.  Like, why are there three girls on the cover when it's mostly about two sisters?  Is one of them Lucy Steele?  And why only one guy when there are three guys involved?  I give them props for kind of getting the Rege...

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 1 & 2

Here we go!

One quick note: I don't know how your chapters are numbered in your copy.  Some editions use the numbering from the original publication, which was in three volumes, and so these first two chapters would be listed as "Volume I, Chapter I" and "Volume I, Chapter II."  Other editions just number them sequentially entirely, from 1 to 50.  Because it's the easiest, I'm using the latter method for these post titles, even though the annotated copy I'm reading uses the former system.  I hope...