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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Everything Austen Challenge II Wrap-up


As readers of this blog know, I love everything Jane Austen related. I especially love the Everything Austen Challenge and was glad to be a part of it again this year. I don’t really need an excuse to read, watch, or listen to anything Austen related, but this challenge inspires me to go above and beyond, and I love reading all of the great reviews from others that come with it. It always gives me a lot more ideas for Austen related works to read in the future!

I completed all of the items I had originally intended to for this challenge, and added many more along the way. I read the following eight books:

I listened to the following three audiobooks:

I watched the following three movies:

In all, I read, listened, and watched a total of fourteen items for this challenge.

I learned that I had missed a great Pride and Prejudice mini-series, the BBC-1980 version. While it does not replace the 1995 mini-series as my favorite, it is a great series in its own right. I didn’t really enjoy the BBC versions of S&S or Persuasion. I don’t think I need to watch these versions again.

I also learned that while I love listening to Jane Austen on audiobook, some audiobooks are far better than others. Juliet Stevenson was an excellent reader for Persuasion, but the other two audiobooks I listened to had really dry readers.

I enjoyed all of the books I read, and don’t have one favorite. While I do love Mr. Darcy, I did enjoy reading about other characters from Pride and Prejudice (Charlotte Collins) and books based on other Austen works (Lady Vernon and Her Daughter). I thought Abigail Reynolds and C. Alleyn Pierson did a wonderful job of creating new works based on P&P, and especially creating great new characters while remaining true to the original characters. I also loved Mr. Darcy as a cowboy in Pemberley Ranch.

Thank-you to Stephanie for hosting this great challenge. I hope that it returns again later this year!

2 comments:

  1. Congrats on completing the challenge, Laura! I have never listened to Jane Austen on audiobook, but if I do, I'll keep your recommendation in mind!

    I hope Stephanie does it again too!

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  2. Congratulations Laura on completing the Everything Austen II Challenge with flying colors. I love your selections and have a few of them in my TBR pile.

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