Laurie Viera Rigler's Blog: Jane Austen Addict, page 7

What I’m Reading: 11/22/63

I’ve decided that the definition of “unputdownable” in the OED should now be “11/22/63 by Stephen King.” I have lost sleep and work time racing through yet savoring every word of this masterfully written time-travel, what-if, alternate-reality tale of a man who travels back through a time-warp/rabbit hole in the back of a diner that lands him in 1958, where he must spend the next five years planning how to thwart the assassination of JFK. On the way, there is more of the past to tamper with,...

Surviving the Dreaded 14th: 14 ways to survive Valentine’s Day

Has a holiday ever caused so much unhappiness? I’m not talking about how it was when we were kids. Then it was all about giving everyone in class a paper valentine and those little heart candies. Though kids could get mean about that too if left to their own devices, like leaving out the kids nobody talked to.

As adults, we’re supposed to be more equipped to deal with that stuff, but it takes a stalwart sort to withstand the collective anxiety in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, let alone the d...

New Year’s Resolutions: doomed to fail, or an excellent idea?

I’m usually not one for New Year’s resolutions. Probably because I tend to fail at them. But is it the inherent concept of a New Year’s resolution which is at fault? Or is it the nature of my particular resolutions?

via GIPHY

This piece in Forbes has some insights into those questions, suggesting that resolutions tend to be unrealistic and/or punishing, and thus we inadvertently sabotage our real chance at making positive change.

Because of course, we can change. I truly believe that with al...

What I’m Reading: Everything by Gayle Forman

Having raced through Gayle Forman’s profoundly moving If I Stay, I immediately devoured the second book in the series, Where She Went. And that was it: I was hooked. My binge continued with Just One Day, Just One Year, and Just One Night, and finished (for now)with hercourageous I Was Here.

There’s a lot that I love about these novels:Theyare packed with wisdomwithout a hint of preachiness. They are brimming with love without a drop of sentimentality. And they are refreshingly unpredi...

Shapewear Nightmare

It may be the third millennium, but not much has changed* since the days of getting laced into a corset so stiff that one could barely lean over, let alone breathe. It’s no wonder ladies had to carry around smelling salts, or “vinaigrettes,” as they were called in Jane Austen’s day. Those Mr. Darcy types may have been swoon-worthy, but it was likely more a lack of oxygen than romantic flutterings that caused ladies to faint.

Itwasn’t only ladies who were wearing corsets or “stays.” The Prince...

EMMA 200th Anniversary Edition

This luxurious new edition of EMMAfeaturesa series of pieces by Austen scholar and professor Juliette Wells, who informs us in her introductionthat this is “a reader’s edition, not a scholarly one.” With the needs and wishes of her students in mind, Dr. Wells has included in this editionan abundance of extras that make EMMA’s world and its language as accessible as possible. There are tips for first-time readers of Austen, a series of short pieces that illuminate aspects of everyday life that...

Do the Work–another favorite writing book

“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce bully, cajole. Resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that’s what it takes to deceive you. Resistance will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stickup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everyt...

Welcome to the new janeaustenaddict.com.

We’re leaner but not meaner.Bestof all:

And the winner is…

…Marissa! Congratulations for winning our Austen in August giveaway of the 200th Anniversary Edition of EMMA by Jane Ausen, plus CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT and RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT.

The next book(s) are coming…

…including the long-awaited Book 3 of the Jane Austen Addict series, in which Courtney and Jane finally come face to face, and it’s not pretty, especially because they must decide which worldis really their home–while navigatingscandal, blackmail, deception, and romantic chaos.