All About the Jane Austen Reading Challenge

[Perks Moderator, Know-it-all]

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Reader in possession of an ever-growing pile of books, must be in want of a Reading Challenge.

✨📜A CHALLENGE UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED 📜✨

An Invitation to Commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of Miss Jane Austen

Esteemed Readers,

You are cordially invited to take part in A Challenge Universally Acknowledged, a most delightful literary celebration in honour of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Miss Jane Austen, to commence on the sixteenth day of December, in the year two thousand and twenty-five.

This challenge may be undertaken either as a solitary amusement or in the cheerful company of a team, according to each participant’s inclination. Likewise, you may choose to employ the provided Google Sheet (for the orderly-minded) or to simply record your progress within your own post (for the free-spirited among us).

Pray, gather your volumes, polish your wit, and prepare for an abundance of books, intrigues, and accomplishments most proper to the occasion. We shall look forward to your attendance at this grand fête of letters.

With the highest regard,
Your Devoted Challenge Hosts📜✨


P.S.: The Discussion Threads (view spoiler)[A Refined Regency Drawing Room and Behind the Black Veil (hide spoiler)] extend their welcome not only to our esteemed challengers, but also to all members of this fine community who possess opinions, observations, or affections concerning Miss Austen and her world. One need not join the challenge to partake in conversation — only a fondness for wit, novels, and a touch of scandal is required. ✨

[Perks Moderator, Know-it-all]

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!” — Pride and Prejudice

📜 This is a self-directing, open-ended challenge and it's up to you whether you'll do it individually or as part of a team. Individual readers and teams can all create their own threads, but we'll be happy to help, if needed.

📜 You can also decide whether you'll be using a copy of the provided google sheet template or simply list and tick off tasks within a post.

🎻 How to Find a Team
Please go to The Assembly Rooms to seek Reading Partners.

📜 Challenge Date:
You can start any time from 16 December 2025. The challenge is open ended, no time pressure. Only books started on 16 December or later will count.

📜 Link to Master Sheet: This is for viewing only. Please make your own copies!!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

❓If you have questions, gather your courage and Ask Lady Catherine. 🤭

[Perks Moderator, Know-it-all]

“One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best.” - Persuasion

📜 There are 10 sets of obligatory tasks + 3 sets of optional scavenger bonus tasks.

📜Tasks/tasks sets may be completed in any order. Up to you how you go about it.

📜If you are an individual player, you can complete any 6 tasks from each set to consider the set completed. Of course you are welcome to complete them all.

📜 Teams must read for all tasks in a set.

📜 There are no page/genre limits for this challenge. Any book is fair game.

📜 Only books you start reading after creating your own thread and not earlier than 16 December 2025 can count towards the challenge.

📜 1 book covers 1 task only in Sets 1-10, however, you can use each book you read for an obligatory task to cover 1 scavenger bonus task as well. (It is not necessary. If you decide you want to use extra books for the bonus tasks, feel free to do so.)

[Perks Moderator, Know-it-all]

“Emma has been meaning to read more ever since she was twelve years old. I have seen a great many lists of her drawing up at various times of books that she meant to read regularly through—and very good lists they were—very well chosen, and very neatly arranged... ” - Emma

📜 Google Sheet
(YOU CAN MAKE A COPY OF THE SHEET!)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...


📜 Task Set 1 - Biography
1. a book published in December
2. a book with a character who stays single till the end
3. a JA biography or a book about her works, her letters or her times OR a book of fiction featuring JA as a characer
4. a book with a character who has a big or extended family (your interpretation)
5. a book set in the South of England (statistical regions of London, the South East, the South West and the East) (view spoiler)[
South West England: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.
South East England: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and West Sussex.
Greater London: The capital city of London and its surrounding boroughs.
The East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. (hide spoiler)]
6. a book (novel, novella, short story, poem, play, essay) by an author admired or read by JA (view spoiler)[a few examples: Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Charlotte Lennox, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Smith, Elizabeth Inchbald, Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, William Cowper, Byron, etc. (hide spoiler)]
7. a book (novel, novella, short story, poem, play) by an author who admired JA or was influenced by her work (view spoiler)[some examples: Walter Scott, Maria Edgeworth, Thomas Macaulay
George Elliot, Anthony Trollope, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James
Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Wolf, E.M. Forster, G. K. Chesterton, Kingsley Amis, P.D. James, A.S. Byatt, David Cecil, Georgette Heyer (hide spoiler)]
8. a book with MPG Classic(s)
9. a book with a cover in soft pastels or muted tones (evoking regency aesthetics - your interpretation)
10. a book with any type of correspondence in the text


📜 Task Set 2 - Sense and Sensibility
1. a "Domestic fiction" book or from the GR shelf of the same name
2. a book featuring two contrasting main characters
3. a book published in October or with 11 in the publication date
4. a book with a teacup or teapot on the cover
5. a book with a character who can play the piano or can draw/paint
6. a book featuring a character moving houses
7. a book with MPG YA
8. a book with events that can be considered dramatic
9. a book with the letters HEARTBREAK in the title and/or author's name
10. a book featuring a journey to London


📜 Task Set 3 - Pride and Prejudice
1. First sentence of the book contains one of the following words: Truth, Man, Fortune, Want, Wife
2. an enemies-to-lovers or rivals-to-lovers book
3. a book with any big social gathering (where people are expected to dress up: party, wedding, ball...)
4. a book with a character who married for money or social position
5. a book featuring 3 or more sisters OR from the GR shelf Siblings
6. a book with a wealthy character
7. a book with Regency-era clothing on cover
8. a book where the publication date contains 1 & 3
9. a book with a character who was/is in the army
10. a book where the plot shifts between city and country


📜 Task Set 4 - Mansfield Park
1. a "country house" book or from the GR shelf of the same name
2. a book featuring a timid or shy character
3. a book with a morally ambiguous or manipulative character
4. a book with an actor character or where characters visit the theatre
5. a book where someone is (or think they are) hopelessly in love
6. a book featuring someone sailing or a sea voyage
7. a book with a with a horse or riding scene on cover
8. a book with "harp" in text
9. a book that is disliked or underrated (your interpretation) or from the shelf on GR with the same name: disliked / underrated
10. a book set in a country considered the West Indies (or Caribbean) (view spoiler)[Countries in the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Bahamas & Turks and Caicos, Bermuda (yes, it's technically North Atlantic, but allowed :) and mainland territories often considered part of the Caribbean (like Belize, Panama, Colombia, Guayana, Suriname, French Guiana) (hide spoiler)]


📜 Task Set 5 - Emma
1. a book featuring a matchmaker or a meddlesome character
2. a book about society or social issues (your interpetation) OR from the GR shelf society or class
3. a book with a love triangle (your interpretation)
4. a book with a friends-to-lovers OR slow-burn romance
5. a book featuring a hypochondriac
6. a book set in a village or small town
7. a book with fruit on cover
8. a book featuring a jealous character
9. a book featuring a character who is a "newcomer"
10. a book with all the letters SECRET in title


📜 Task Set 6 - Northanger Abbey
1. a book with MPG Gothic or Mystery
2. a book with someone reading on the cover
3. a book that references or parodies another book OR from the GR shelf Parody
4. a book with a title containing a building or location
5. a book with the words "secret" and "passage" in text
6. a book with a misunderstanding in plot OR with a character who jumps to wild conlcusions
7. a book with a character whose sibling(s) behaves badly
8. a book where the publication date contains 1 & 7
9. a book with a plot twist that could be supernatural (or someone thinks it is)
10. a book with a character who eventually realises they were wrong about someone/something


📜 Task Set 7 - Persuasion
1. a book with a character whose first and last names both start with a vowel
2. a book that is partly set during autumn or winter
3. a book with all letters in BATH found in title
4. a book featuring a character in a seafaring profession
5. a book with a stately home/country house on cover
6. a book where a character visits or lives by the sea
7. a book with author's initials in CAPTAIN
8. a book featuring a second chance romance
9. an MC with unpleasant family member(s)
10. a cover with a pen (quill) or letter or handwriting on cover


📜 Task Set 8 - Lady Susan, Juvenilia, Unfinished works
1. a "comedy-of-manners" book or from the GR shelf of the same name
2. a book with a scheming character
3. a book with a character who has an aristocratic title to their name
4. a book with a character who is an entrepreneur/developer (your interpretation)
5. a book with a street scene or promenade on cover
6. a book with the word "reputation" in text
7. a book with the word "health" or "wellness" in text
8. a book with an eccentric or exaggerated character (your interpretation)
9. a book set in a fictional world
10. a book from the GR shelf Humour (or Humor) or Absurd


📜 Task Set 9 - Moving Pictures
1. a book with character or author or narrator named Colin
2. a book with the words WET and WHITE and SHIRT in the text
3. a book with a character you consider to be "Clueless"
4. a book with a character who keeps a diary or journal
5. a book with a character working in the film industry
6. a book with a character described as "brooding"
7. a book where a character is transported either in Space (eg.: Portal fiction/alternate worlds, etc) OR Time
8. a book where a famous Fashion House is mentioned
9. a book with "Bollywood" in text OR tagged India at least 5x
10. a book with a character considered an influencer or who works in some web(or IT)-related field


📜 Task Set 10 - Retellings & Graphic Adaptations
1. Read a book featuring zombies OR all the letters in ZOMBIE in the title
2. a retelling set in the same period as the original novel
3. a modern retelling set in the 20th or 21st century
4. a gender-swap or LGBTQIA retelling
5. a retelling in a genre that is not Romance only (Mystery, Paranormal, Fantasy, etc..)
6. a retelling set in a country outside Europe and North America
7. an illustrated edition or a graphic adaption (graphic novel, comic book, manga, etc.) of any JA novel or a graphic novel (or manga, etc.) inspired by JA
8. a book with a cover art that reminsd you of / you associate with JA or her novels (your interpretation)

[Perks Moderator, Know-it-all]

“One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.” — Emma

📜 This is the optional part of the challenge.
To cover the bonus tasks, you can use books you have read for the obligatory task sets 1-10 OR you can read new books instead.

📜 1 book covers 1 task only.


Scavenger Bonus 1 - Names - Find the names in the text.

1. Elizabeth OR Bennet
2. Fitzwilliam OR Darcy
3. Elinor (or Eleanor) OR Dashwood
4. Edward OR Ferrars
5. Fanny OR Price
6. Edmund or Bertram
7. Emma OR Woodhouse
8. George OR Knightley
9. Catherine OR Morland
10. Henry OR Tilney
11. Anne OR Elliot
12. Frederick OR Wentworth


Scavenger Bonus 2 - Characters - Find similar characters in your books. (Some prompst have been added on the sheet.) They don't need to be 100% fits.

1. Mrs Bennet
2. Lady Catherine
3. Colonel Brandon
4. Mr Darcy
5. Lydia Bennet
6. Emma Woodhouse
7. Mr Collins
8. Tom Bertam
9. Sir Walter Elliot
10. Mrs Norris
11 Miss Bates
12 Mrs John Dashwood


Scavenger Bonus 3 - Regency words Find the words in text

Transport & Travel
1. carriage
2. chase
3. curricle
4. phaeton
5. gig
6. postilion
7. coach
8. barouche
9. chaise and four
10. horse(s)

Clothing & Fashion
1. bonnet
2. muslin
3. pelisse
4. shawl
5. waistcoat
6. petticoat
7. regimentals or uniform
8. stockings
9. breeches
10. cravat

Architecture & Houses
1. manor
2. estate
3. parsonage
4. rectory
5. assembly (room/s)
6. cottage
7. park
8. ha-ha
9. stables
10. library

Society & Status
1. ball
2. promenade
3. concert
4. country dance
5. lord or lady
6. fortune
7. dowry
8. rank
9. inheritance
10. income

[Perks Moderator, Know-it-all]

R