Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Challenge 2024 discussion
General Introductory Matters
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Introductions
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I assume I don’t need an introduction. — Anne RiceI won’t swear to it but I think the quote above was given to Lestat the Vampire. Maybe Lestat’s reputation precedes him, but mine does not.
Ergo, an introduction: I am a Nebraska farm girl, currently living in a townhouse on the farm where I grew up. Our old farmhouse and one of the barns left our farm, crossed the interstate and moved back to the country when Lincoln expanded into our space. I say that I moved back home when I traded my house for the townhouse but the land is so different, I would not recognize it if I didn’t know it was home.
Introductions are hard to come by when your natural state is shyness. — Steve Martin
I joined this group in 2017. This was my final entry for that year:
“504. Pemberley in Peril: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary 5 Stars
Goodbye to 2017! I doubt I will be over 500 JAFF in 2018 but I'm ending the year on a high-note with 5-Stars.”
Looking back, I see that I did not reach 500 in 2018 but since then I have been “hitting the books” big time.
2018 – 484
2019 – 612
2020 – 742
2021 – 724
2022 – 859
2023 – 703 (I might have 2 more to finish the year)
As you can see, I read a lot and I expect to make it to Pemberley again this year. I know I will see lots of you there.
If you read my reviews, you know how I love quotes, so it seemed appropriate to include a few here.
Do you suppose I could buy back my introduction to you? — Groucho Marx
(I don’t want to get my introduction back but I always loved Groucho even though he was such a sexist!)
No goals for me this year but I really like this group and want to hang with you guys for another year. It's been a while since I read Emma! 🐱
Hi everybody. Long time lurker here. I live in Wales, in the UK. My first introduction to Austen was via my mum's books and I was lucky that she had all six of the main ones. I read them in the early 90s so was fortunate enough to not have seen any adaptations before I read them, so could imagine the characters for myself.I'm pretty sure that the first adaptation I saw was the 1940 P&P which isn't entirely faithful, but is good fun.
My first introduction to JAFF was when I got a kindle and found JAFF books when I was looking for Austen titles. From there I found the forums. I started a blog back in 2014 I think https://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot... , but I'm currently taking a break from it as I'm burned out and have been for a long time. I haven't even got round to posting about the break, which I meant to do at the beginning of November :(
I've not been reading much full stop, but haven't read any JAFF in a while. This isn't because I wouldn't enjoy it, but because I don't have the energy to review anything, and I like to review them so I can remember which story they are - as by their very nature they are similar, if I dont review them I don't know if I've read them or not. This was actually the reason I started reviewing, when I found myself with deja vu and was a third into a book before I realised I'd read it before!
So my aim for this year is to start reading regularly again. And hopefully read some Austen inspired books amongst that. I'd like it if my blogging mojo made a re-appearance but I don't know if it will. On the one hand I enjoyed the blogging but as with any hobby once you take away the freedom of it you can also suck out some of the joy by making it something added to your to-do list and perhaps that is what happened.
I wish you all lots of good reading in this upcoming year!
Excited to start a new year with all you wonderful, like-minded readers and hope that you have even more pleasure derived from your list this year than the last ones! Colonel Brandon, I hope to be comfortably ensconced in your library come December!
Ceri wrote: "Hi everybody. Long time lurker here. I live in Wales, in the UK. My first introduction to Austen was via my mum's books and I was lucky that she had all six of the main ones. I read them in the ear..."Good to see you again. Hint: I post a rating when I read a book even if I don't have time to review it. I do try to go back soon afterwards but the rating is there to tell me I read it. Happy New Year, Ceri.
Kimbelle wrote: "Excited to start a new year with all you wonderful, like-minded readers and hope that you have even more pleasure derived from your list this year than the last ones! Colonel Brandon, I hope to be ..."Welcome.
Happy New Year, all! I've been part of this group for several years (starting 2017 or 2018, I believe), I discovered JAFF around 2011, and it's been so long that I can't recall when I first read Pride and Prejudice (but I feel like it's been my favorite book forever).
I'm a retired almost-septuagenarian who currently lives in NE Florida after 35 years in SE Pennsylvania, USA. I've had many different jobs in the past, including teaching high school English, and I continue to perform music with my husband and edit the occasional book.
I used to be a more active participant, both as a frequent book reviewer and as a member of this group. I still read a lot (just under 200 books in 2023, most of them JAFF), but my other activities (grandparenting, golfing, book editing, music) have forced me make time management decisions. So now I'm mostly a lurker here.
I still love keeping up with y'all! It's a wonderfully positive, supportive space in GoodReads for JAFF-lovers.
Sophia is the BEST moderator! ❤️
Just chiming in to say I've so enjoyed reading all of these intros. Jane Austen sure knows how to bring together some kind and clever people...as does Sophia! (I second Debbie's comment about Sophia being the best moderator!) Wherever you are in the world, may you have a joyful start to 2024.
Good to see both of you chiming in and being here. Happy New Year, Christina and Debbie.
Mod
I am Barb and have been the member of this group you rarely hear from. 2023 was not a good year for me and my husband due to health concerns. But all is better now. I have been consis..."
What a shame about a year of bad health, Barb. I'm glad you had your reading to give your mind something different to think about. Yay for a new year and better health. Hopefully, you can get back in the swing of things.
Hi everyone!My name is Katie. I'm a Pennsylvania native who now lives in South Carolina. I'm an art teacher and artist. I fell in love with JAFF about two years ago and found the challenge group last year. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen book and I'm working on re-reading the other books to determine my second favorite.
Last year I was just short of my goal of 150 books. I'm hoping to make all 150 this year!
I also started a book challenge group for my friends who aren't JAFF readers. It's based on book covers. If you want to double dip challenges here's my other group! - https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Mod
I won’t swear to it but I think the quote above was given to Lestat the Vampire. Maybe Lestat’s reputation precedes him, but mine does not.
Erg..."
Oh, how I do love your 'coming home' story, Rose! And, your review quote picks are the best. Looking forward to see you enjoying tea in Mr. Darcy's library before long. :)
Mod
Woohoo! Glad to have you back, Cindy. You'll be footloose and fancy free with your reading. Cheering you on in your Emma re-read.
Mod
What a shame about the burnout, Ceri, but you are definitely not alone with that. I'm glad you felt you could put the blog and review reading on hold to recharge your batteries.
So glad you could join us again and slowly get back into your pleasure reading habits.
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Yay, Kimbelle! So glad to welcome you back and cheer you on to a visit with Colonel Brandon by the end of the year.
Oh yes, we have a great group thanks to you and everyone else making it special. :)
Mod
I've been part of this group for several years (starting 2017 or 2018, I believe), I discovered JAFF around 2011, and it's been so long that I can't recall when I first read ..."
You've been a cornerstone of our group even as a lurker, Debbie. :) So glad you're back and fitting in a few visits with all you have going on in real life. Besides, editing brings us more gems to read so we need to you to keep that up. Hehe!
Yay for a new year together! I love our group, too.
Mod
My name is Katie. I'm a Pennsylvania native who now lives in South Carolina. I'm an art teacher and artist. I fell in love with JAFF about two years ago and found the challenge group ..."
Super news that you're back and ready to try again at that 150 mark, Katie!
Love learning your background and how you came to love JAFF/Austenesque.
Your challenge looks fun with the covers. That would go great with our challenge here.
Hello Everyone.I’m Heather living in the South East of England. I am a sewist running my own business which I combine with life married to a vicar (think Henry Tilney NOT Mr Collins!). He used to be the vicar of Godmersham which was beyond exciting for a Janeite like me.
My love of Austen goes way back to my childhood. My mum was a librarian and I read everything in my path. - and I mean everything.
For 2024 I am going to aim for a nice wingback in Colonel Brandon's library as I intend reading/listening a bit more in other genres.
Happy Reading one and all.
Mod
I’m Heather living in the South East of England. I am a sewist running my own business which I combine with life married to a vicar (think Henry Tilney NOT Mr Collins!). He used to ..."
I get a fun tingle just knowing your husband was vicar of Godmersham for a bit. Yay for you, Heather!
Cheering you on to making it for tea with Colonel Brandon this year. :)
Katie wrote: "Hi everyone!My name is Katie. I'm a Pennsylvania native who now lives in South Carolina. I'm an art teacher and artist. I fell in love with JAFF about two years ago and found the challenge group ..."
Welcome.
Hi everyone, it's good to see you all here again. I'm Brigitte from Hampshire in the south of England. I'm more of a lurker but nonetheless feel as though you're all good friends. I was never more thankful to find a collection of Jaff lovers as everyone in my life seemed to find my preferred reading to be weird. It was such a relief to find I wasn't actually so strange after all!
I first found both Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen books via my Mum in my teens and I have many memories of discussing and debating the stories with her.
I hope to invite myself to Mr Darcy's Library again this year. However, real life often gets in the way and this year is going to change in a big way as my husband plans to take early retirement. This may severely impact my reading time! I am also very active with keeping fit and walking so there don't tend to be enough hours in the day for everything. I have periods of active reading time, where I devour books with speed and then weeks where I don't have time to read much at all, which frustrates me. Reading is very important!
Thanks for being here :)
Mod
I'm Brigitte from Hampshire in the south of England. I'm more of a lurker but nonetheless feel as though you're all good friends. I was never mor..."
I'm so glad you could rejoin us, Brigitte. As you've noticed we're a friendly group and lurking is always welcome when you just want to sit back in your cozy chair with your book and watch the antics from a little distance. :)
Oho! I do get what you mean about a husband's early retirement changing up real life reading time. We've gone through bouts where mine has been home for several weeks at a time post surgery and injuries and its enough to put the schedule in a tail spin. Haha!
Cheering you on to Mr. Darcy's library this year.
Bsao wrote: "Hi everyone, it's good to see you all here again. I'm Brigitte from Hampshire in the south of England. I'm more of a lurker but nonetheless feel as though you're all good friends. I was never mor..."
Welcome and enjoy your stay!
My name is Cynthia. I'm from the Long Island, NY area. I joined this group last year and mainly was a lurker. I read the daily digests and appreciated all your reading lists and reviews. They helped me find books to read. I really appreciate you all! I did meet my goal for last year as Goodreads tells me I read 112 JAFF books. I will try to contribute more this year. I'm setting my goal for 101 books. Wishing you all the best for 2024!!
Hei! I am Elin, a reader/writer from Norway. I discovered JAff in 2016 and this lovely group in 2017. I have been hooked ever since, and spend all my spare time with my nose in a book.
Mod
Yay, I'm so glad you could return for this year, Cynthia. Lurking is a perfectly acceptable past time around here and how fun that you spotted so many great books to add to your stack. We are more enablers for adding to the TBR than thinning it. Haha!
Cheering you on to 101!
Mod
I am Elin, a reader/writer from Norway. I discovered JAff in 2016 and this lovely group in 2017. I have been hooked ever since, and spend all my spare time with my nose in a book."
Elin is back, woohoo! So glad you found us not long after you found JAFF. Your contribution to our book shelves has been fabulous, too. :)
Sheila wrote: "Welcome."Cynthia wrote: "My name is Cynthia. I'm from the Long Island, NY area. I joined this group last year and mainly was a lurker. I read the daily digests and appreciated all your reading lists and reviews. They helpe..."
Thank you!
Sophia wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "My name is Cynthia. I'm from the Long Island, NY area. I joined this group last year and mainly was a lurker. I read the daily digests and appreciated all your reading lists and rev..."Thank you!!
Elin wrote: "Hei! I am Elin, a reader/writer from Norway. I discovered JAff in 2016 and this lovely group in 2017. I have been hooked ever since, and spend all my spare time with my nose in a book."
Welcome. Glad to see you joining us again.
Hi everybody!👋🏼I discovered Jane Austen in high school (back in the last century) and read my first P&P variation in 2020. While it seems like everyone I knew was learn8ng to bake sourdough bread or can tomatoes, I escaped Real Life that year by turning off the news in July and the TV in August and looking for books to download from my local public library. My very first variation was the book Longbourn by Jo Baker. It is the same basic story but instead of the focus being on E and D the story is told from the point of view of the servants at Longbourn. Then I made the enabling mistake of buying a KU membership and searching for JA variations and fell down Alice’s rabbit hole!
Another member invited me to this group in 2021 and I have really enjoyed the various discussions about books and life that I find here.
I was born in Brazil raised in many cities in the USA went to college in France for a while and settled into married and home life in Akron Ohio in what is described as the Midwest of the USA.
My background is in economics and I retired from public service in 2021. Now I read, knit, travel and visit family and friends.
Good to see you back. Interesting to read your history. Welcome.
Mod
I discovered Jane Austen in high school (back in the last century) and read my first P&P variation in 2020. While it seems like everyone I knew was learn8ng to bake sourdough bread ..."
I love how you shut off the TV and discovered Austen variations. Quite the rabbit hole to fall down. :) Fun learning your life experiences and glad you found us, Adele!
Adele wrote: "Hi everybody!👋🏼I discovered Jane Austen in high school (back in the last century) and read my first P&P variation in 2020. While it seems like everyone I knew was learn8ng to bake sourdough bread ..."
lovely to be reading this genre with you!
Hi! I’m Laura. I join the challenge every year, but I hadn’t read much in the last 2 years. About 6 months ago, I was able to start reading again, and I have not stopped. I love classics especially Austen. I’m more Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma than P&P. This year I’m hoping to achieve Anne Elliot status. I don’t have any books lined ip yet. So, I might just start with the original works. Good Luck, Everyone!
Mod
So glad you could return to the group, Laura, and return to your reading stack. Can't go wrong with a Jane Austen re-read. :)
Laura wrote: "Hi! I’m Laura. I join the challenge every year, but I hadn’t read much in the last 2 years. About 6 months ago, I was able to start reading again, and I have not stopped. I love classics especially..."Welcome. No pressures - just please yourself.
Hello from southcentral Kentucky home of bourbon, fast horses, and beautiful women. Or was that fast women and beautiful horses? Oh, well, I can never get that straight. And yes, we do have bluegrass. At least it looks that way when the sun is just right. I am in my third quarter of life, retired, and enjoying reading JAFF more than any other genre unless it is a Scottish Highlander. Shout out to my father’s people. I can’t help it. Before the scourge of the world hit [COID], our area hosted the Highland Games. Oh, My Goodness, I get goosebumps whenever I hear the bagpipes. Put a man in a kilt and I become weak in the knees even at my age—heavy sigh.
I had a rough year in 2023 as I tangled with the new Bot over at Big Brother. I lost and was kicked off. As part of my punishment, all my reviews since 2015 were deleted. I finally managed to get reinstated but the old reviews were gone. I can at least post now but I have to walk a fine line. I plan to write a short review for the Bot and my usual for Goodreads, Booksprout, and Bookbub. I think it is only fair to the authors. They work so hard and I want to promote them as well as possible.
Speaking of Goodreads… you guys are the best. To the newcomers, this group has been the lifeline for so many of us. For me, they were the encouragement I needed as I became a full-time caregiver and finally a widow after 50 years of marriage. They have been there when I needed relief from the overwhelming burden and grief while I carried the weights and responsibilities as I picked up the pieces of my life. I will always be grateful for the love and support of this group.
In return, I have laughed and cried with them during the ups and downs of life. I’ve prayed for and supported all who felt comfortable in sharing their concerns and troubles here. We may be many miles, time zones, and even countries apart but that doesn’t matter with this group. We are here for each other. We share our thoughts and views on a little lady from England who took her time to write a few books that have bound us forever. I love and adore our little group. Welcome to the new people and I hope you have a great time reading and enjoying JAFF with the rest of us. I’ve noticed a few returning that we have missed. Thanks to the many old friends sticking their heads in to say hello. Greetings to all.
Jeanne [J.W.] Garrett
Mod
Ah Jeanne! You are part of the heart that drives this group. Your laughter, tears, and generous kindness shine forth from your 'welcome' note. So glad we're blessed to have your continued presence.
I'm not even Scottish and I think I'd be weak-kneed walking around a fun Highland Games festival. ;)
Thank you, dear Sophia. We love you and all the hard work you do for this group. What would our discussions be without you leading the way? Blessings for a fabulous new year.
J. W. wrote: "Hello from southcentral Kentucky home of bourbon, fast horses, and beautiful women. Or was that fast women and beautiful horses? Oh, well, I can never get that straight. And yes, we do have bluegra..."We also have "Highland Games" every fall in the town, Bethlehem, next to mine. Celtic Games is what it is called here. Bethlehem also has Musikfest every August, which attracts many tourists.
Glad to see you back, Jeanne. Sorry to hear about your troubles with getting your reviews posted and/or re-posted. I always like to read your reviews before I read a story or before I write my own review. I always enjoy your comments. Welcome.
Thanks, Sheila. You and I first conversed over reviews when Big Brother allowed comments back in the day. You invited me to Goodreads and that was it for me. There wasn't anyone I could talk to about Austen's books. I joined in 2016 and have had a blast with this group. I didn't even know what JAFF was. Look at us now. LOL!
I am so glad to have you here. You have a large presence in this community!
SO glad you are in again this year Jeanne - I love your cheeky reviews and joyful optimism! I am a quarter Scottish but I have to admit the skirl of the bagpipes makes me cover my ears!I love the new photo btw! Perhaps I shall have to be brave and put one on too.
Jeanne is in the House!The ladies here welcome everyone with warm open arms. You are at the front of them.
Here is to a new year Jeanne, with lots of accepted reviews.
Jeanne -- new year, new photo! Love it!
@97: Heather, I decided to update my photo with the new year and a new haircut to go with my cheeky reviews. LOL! Love that. I will admit [under torture] that at times the pipes can be a bit much. However, you didn't hear it from me. Find a photo that you like, even if it is your eyes over a book. That would be fun.
@98: Sam, virtual hug to you, my dear.
@99: Thanks, Rose. You're the best.
Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Challenge 2024
Books mentioned in this topic
Pemberley in Peril: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary (other topics)The Darcy Brothers (other topics)
I am Barb and have been the member of this group you rarely hear from. 2023 was not a good year for me and my husband due to health concerns. But all is better now. I have been consistently reading and listening to JAFF all year but not recording it. I hope to be better at this is 2024. Looking forward to seeing you all in the group!