Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2015 discussion
Introduce Yourself & Announce Challenge Level
message 51:
by
Sophia
(new)
Nov 21, 2014 02:51AM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Mod
Sophia, what a great idea to start this group! Thank you. My name is Abigail and I have been accumulating a stack of to-read Austenesques as a result of participating in Goodreads this year, so this challenge is perfect for me. I go through heavy-reading and light-reading phases because of fluctuations in my workload, so I’ll start at the Caroline Bingley level and hope to work up from there. (Though when I read about the challenges in LouAnn’s life, I feel like my light-reading phases are more about a failure to organize my time!)I’ve been a Janeite for many decades and tried to dip my toe into the Austenesque pond ’way back in 1975—before most of you were born, no doubt—with an abortive attempt to complete The Watsons. Didn’t pursue it till my best friend sent me a huge stack of Austenesque novels some years back when I was recuperating from surgery. No sooner had I read Paula Marantz Cohen’s Jane Austen in Boca and Pamela Aidan’s Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series than I was hooked!
I look forward to linking to other people’s TBR shelves for inspiration.
Mod
That's always fun to see how people come to enjoy Jane Austen's works and Austenesque.
Absolutely poke about amongst the shelves.
Hi there! My name is Meredith and I'm from the US (North Carolina) I am an avid reader of Austenesque novels (it's about 85% of what I like to read!) And I run a book review blog called Austenesque Reviews where I post reviews, author features, and Austenesque lists! Since this is a TBR challenge I'm going to strictly maintain it as books that are in my personal TBR pile and not count books that I have in my "for review" pile. My TBR has been growing/dwindling/growing for years and I'd love to get it a whole lot smaller. This challenge might be the impetus I need!
I currently have 26 books in my TBR/not for review pile. I think I can maybe cut that in half this year, if not more! I'm in at the Anne Elliot level!
Big thanks to Sophia for setting this up!
Mod
If you would like, you are welcome to also add your blog link to the Promotion Place so people can learn about it and visit. Any giveaways etc can always be added there too.
Welcome!
Erika wrote: "If I worked at a bookstore I'd never bring home a pay check!!! LOL"I understand about the bookstore. I worked at the library for 4 years. It doesn't hurt your wallet that much, but your reading list takes a beating.
Sophia wrote: "Yay, this will be fun I hope, Ahnya. Fair warning that your reading pile might increase rather than decrease with all the suggestions. ;)Northanger Abbey makes perfect sense knowing your reading..."
Thanks for the recommendation and the link. They will both help. My Austenesque TBR list is growing fast.
Mod
Good morning. y name is Deborah from the US. My husband introduced me to Jane Austen via Pride and Prejudice. I found her, rather late in the game,I was 46. I love reading, but due to my work schedule I have a difficult time keeping up the pace. I'm putting myself in the Catherine Moreland level as my TBR pile is pretty exentensive and I want to catch up. I am actually hoping to get into the Mr. Bennet level though.Thank you for this challenge Sophia and thank you, Erika, for redirecting me here. It's wonderful having found people who love reading what I enjoy.
Hello everyone. I'm Monica Fairview and I love a Challenge (pun intended -- for those in the know). I write JA sequels and variations. I think it would be fun to see what everyone is reading and what their thoughts are. I love JAFF but I try not to read too much of it (sadly) because I don't like it to interfere with/influence my own writing. However, I do like to read modern-day Austenesque novels and I'm going to pick up a few YA novels because my daughter is reading them and loves them (hurray!!) so I'm ready to set myself some goals.
I forgot to mention that I'm setting my challenge at the Anne Elliott level. I find that when you're a writer you have less time to read :( Also, I try to read in other genres to give myself a break. We'll see!!
Mod
Welcome and glad you could do this. Wow, Catherine level, you go, lady! We'll all be cheering you on. That is so sweet that your hubby introduced you that makes him aces in my book.
And thanks, Erika, for referrals. ;)
Mod
I love most every sort of Austenesque/JAFF and I've read several good contemporaries and a few YAs so that out to be a fun goal for you.
And just in case you didn't notice, we have a Promotion Place down at the bottom that you can share any book promos that you want everyone to see.
Hi. My name is Paige. I usually read much more than I post or outwardly participate, but I love the idea of this group challenge and camaraderie. I am going to aim for the Caroline Bingley level. It will be an accomplishment for me to create a shelf and to review the books I read. I always feel as if I am not adequate to the task of writing book reviews. I usually read very good books, and I also have found some intelligent and wonderful readers and authors in blogs and forums. My tastes exceed my abilities much of the time. But, every group needs the less accomplished or the minimalist, so here I am!
I am very excited about this. my TBR pile is insanely out of control and grows larger every time I go online, it seems. There is so much goodness everywhere! I love all things Austen, of course. I also love so many other types of books and don't get to read as much as I would like, which is a reason for my challenge here to be at the lowest level.
Paige, I know what you mean about not feeling adequate to writing book reviews. I started doing it when I found myself inadvertently re-reading something because I'd forgotten that I'd already read it! So I began with just a brief outline of plot and what I thought about it, just for my own reference, and then over time the reviews just got longer and longer. I really enjoy seeing what other people thought of a book, even if it's just a sentence about whether they whether they enjoyed it or not, it can start a conversation.
Hi, I'm Victoria. I am a long time Jane Austen fan and an Austen variation novel author. I love almost any kind of Austenesque fiction, although the kind I read the most is Pride and Prejudice variations. I have a huge Austenesque TBR pile, so it will be great to have others to share the reading with! I aspire to the Anne Elliot level. Thank you, Sophia, for organizing this. It's a great idea!
Hi everyone! My name is Farida. I'm from Ukraine, I'm a writer and I adore Jane Austen. The first book that I wrote, Margaret's Rematch, was a tribute to JA. So if you like sweet romantic regencies, you can download it at any time for free here: http://girlebooks.com/ebook-catalog/f... .I make it a point to reread at least one JA novel a year but I manage much better when there's an online Reading Group that meets up every week for a discussion, otherwise I tend to get distracted by other things and lose track of time. This spring I was rereading Emma in this way. It was lots of fun. So if anyone ever decides to have such a group reading experience, I'll gladly join in!
I also want to challenge myself to read some Austenesque novels. I have a whole bunch of them in my TBR pile, but I must confess that, so far, I'm not a big fan of JA rewritings. However, I hope to change my opinion and, with that in mind, I've decided to give it a go. For a start I choose Caroline Bingley Level, because I don't have much spare time these days))
Mod
Yes, you put into words exactly what I want this group to be with your words like camaraderie, participation and group challenge. I'm glad you're going to try to write some reviews, but if it gets to be too much then its only an optional thing. Ceri's way of getting started on review writing was close to mine, plus a good author friend told me that author's need reviews favorable or otherwise to help them. Reviewing can be whatever you make of it so long as you get the point across about what you thought of the book and why.
Glad you could join us with the Caroline level!
Mod
Always room for more particularly those who have a pile of books begging for attention. The Anne Elliot level ought to help with that. Most of my Austenesque reading has been P&P variations, retells and sequels, but I do have a few from the other books too on my pile that I hope to vary things up.
As an author, if you have an Austenesque book/s that you wish to promote, you are welcome to include it down in the discussion Promotion Place.
Good Luck for the challenge!
Mod
So glad you could join the party! This is good that you could be a part of the challenge even though you are very busy. Good luck with the Caroline level.
Thank you so much for sharing about your book with everybody. You are welcome to put your link about it down in the discussion Promotion Place too.
I can put in a discussion post for a group read place if you are interested in finding reading buddies for a specific book from your pile. Just let me know.
Hi to everyone!My name is Gwen, I'm from Italy and I'm 30.
I like reading and Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers. The first book written by her I read was P&P, followed by Emma and Northanger Abbey. I love these 3!
I also appreciate austenesque books and I want to thank Georgiana for asking me to join this group and
Sophia for having created it!
I choose Marianne Dashwood level to enjoy this challenge with you :-)
Mod
And I add my thanks to Georgiana for inviting you to join. The more the merrier. ;)
Gwen wrote: "I also appreciate austenesque books and I want to thank Georgiana for asking me to join this group and Sophia for having created it!."
Sophia wrote: "And I add my thanks to Georgiana for inviting you to join. The more the merrier. ;)"
You're both welcome! On Tuesday I'll announce next Reading Group on Old Friends & New Fancies. I hope you and Elisabetta will join me, Gwen! ;)
Hi my name is Kaycie. I live in Michigan in the USA (but I'm from Louisiana). I love Austen books and most movies based on her books, although I like some more than others and don't really dabble in anything written for teens even if it is JAFF. Anyway, I hope to reach the top level, but since my days can be hectic I'm starting off at the Marianne Dashwood level. I work, have a 1 year old, and am in college classes so pulling off Austenesque 50 may be hard to do with all my other reading and interests. We shall see!!!
Mod
Her books sure inspired a lot of JAFF and the movie adaptions are fun no matter how many remakes. Teen reads are definitely an acquired taste, but there are plenty of adult books out there to keep you busy.
My my! You do have a full life so it will be exciting to see you do with the Marianne level! Go for it!
Hello everyone! Another Italian girl here!! :) I'm Maria and I LOVE anything Austen! I started reading JAFF about two years ago, basically when I started reading English books and after I won some of them. Out of all the novels on my Austenesque shelf, I have only read 22 books so far. However I think it's not so bad since I like to read other genres as well! :) I can't wait to start this new challenge and meet new friends! I'll start with Marianne Dashwood Level but I hope to reach Anne Elliot Level since she is my favourite heroine! I don't have a blog so I'll post my reviews (well, the links) here.
Mod
Yay! Austen book lovers are very welcome here. I look forward to seeing what you pick to read from your Austen and JAFF collection. Good luck on that Marianne Dashwood level and hopefully you get to your favorite Anne.
No blog necessary and reviews posted here on GoodReads work perfectly fine.
Haha! Thank you, Sophia! I was just surprised to see so many Austen addicted from Italy! :)Thanks! I really hope I can read more Austen inspired books next year, and I'm sure that this challenge will help me a lot!
I have about a dozen kindle books to read plus a couple of books. My wish list for Christmas included only Austenesque books so the number I read will depend on how many my husband has bought and how many I buy myself with my amazon gift cards.
I will probably end up reading them all in January though.
Mod
Hi Everyone!I just discovered this group and am excited about the prospect of a challenge! I started reading Jane Austen's novels when I was in graduate school in London (I'm from the US, but lived in the UK for two years back in the 90s). Now I re-read the novels every other year or so. A few years ago I got to play Mary Bennet and Charlotte Lucas in a theatre production of Pride and Prejudice. I still have a fondness for Mary :-)
Although I write Austenesque books, I don't know much about the genre, having stumbled into it by chance. So I'm looking forward to hearing about what everyone else is reading! I'm going to start with the Anne Elliot level and see how I fare.
My favorite Austen varies--sometimes it's Sense and Sensibility, other times Persuasion. I just saw a lovely stage version of Persuasion, so I'm leaning that way these days.
There seem to be many P & P variations--does anyone know of a list with books based on Austen's other novels?
Mod
Good luck with the Anne Elliot level!
Sophia wrote: "You are so welcome, Beth! I love your theater background with Jane Austen's works. Absolutely there are lists of Austenesque based on the other novels. Persuasion is my favorite. My go to gal fo..."Thank you! This is perfect!!
I was going to suggest Meredith's lists too, they are so comprehensive!
Mod
I haven't seen any that are better. Great minds think alike. ;)
Sophia,I was wondering if there is a challenge widget we could have for this group? You know how Goodreads has the yearly challenges and the widget monitors your progress? I've seen them in other groups on Goodreads. I don't actually know how to add them to a group though! Maybe another member does? Here is one group that has them - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
It would just be good to have a visual reminder if what we've challenged ourselves to do.
I've been Googling but can't find instructions on how to do it. Maybe it's not possible!
It's a good idea Brenda. I'm not an admin on any groups so I don't know what options it gives you, maybe it's pretty straightforward (I'm being hopeful, I know!)
Mod
That sounds like a fab idea and I would love it, but my technical abilities don't extend that far. I'll do some checking.
UPDATE: I poked around the GoodReads help pages and moderator pages and I even checked out the link Brenda. Following the link didn't give me any extra insight mostly b/c I'm not a group member so couldn't see the tracker. And going over all the help and moderator topics didn't show any discussion of adding trackers too. I'm guessing having the html code for the actual tracker and inserting it into a topic comment box like this one would make it appear, but therein lies the rub as I don't have the html code for the tracker.
Soooo, I'm game to let anyone who wants to wrestle with this one poke around and try.
I'm not sure my technical abilities would extend that far either. Thanks for trying though Sophia! :)
Mod
It seems straightforward to add in the type of tracker that people sometimes have for a pregnancy, you probably know the type of tracker I mean, but these ones are better. I don't think I'd be able to work out how they do them though!
Mod
Hi! I saw Ceri's comment from a few hrs ago on the news feed and checked out the page. I like to joke that I came to Jane Austen from the class of 95(S&S, P&P, and Emma)....ie the films and adaptations. I watched them, read them, and then read the other three. Finishing that....I immediately checked out a P&P sequel and "The Third Sister" about Margaret Dashwood. I'm a member of two Austen book clubs, one of which I'm the overall adm. (Austen in Boston). AiB generally reads JAFF once or twice a year. Most like JAFF. My other Austen book club rarely reads JAFF and doesn't overall like it! Sad! As I'm a card carrying member of Team Marianne, I'll start at that level. In viewing my Austen shelf for 2014, it looks like I could make the Catherine level. I'm also Team Catherine....at least as portrayed by Felicity Jones!
Mod
Woot for Team Marianne and Catherine. Good luck on the challenge!
Sophia wrote: "LOL! Class of 95 is probably well represented in this group, Kirk. Glad you say Ceri's comment and were able to join up. It always amuses me about the two separate camps of Janeites. Mary Simon..."Thx!!!!!!! :)
Sophia wrote: "It always amuses me about the two separate camps of Janeites. "What are the two camps? 1995 & 2005?
Mod
No, the two camps I meant were those who are Austen purists vs. those who embrace everything Austen including JAFF.
Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2015
Books mentioned in this topic
Pemberley's Promise (other topics)Yours Forevermore, Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (other topics)
Mr. Darcy's Refuge: A Pride & Prejudice Variation (other topics)
Il diario di Mr. Darcy (other topics)
Elinor & Marianne (other topics)
More...
