Review: The Jane Austen Project

image via Goodreads

If you're a follower of Modern Mrs. Darcy (I'm sure by now you can tell that I am an avid fan of Anne Bogel), then you may have glimpsed The Jane Austen Project on her summer reading guide for this year. I've said this before -- and I think it's important to be honest -- I am not a true Austenite. I've only read Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility and started to read Emma but found Emma herself to be, well...annoying. (I know, I know, she deserves a second chance.) I say this because I've had a couple readers reach out to ask if you needed to be a true fan of Jane Austen in order to enjoy this novel and the answer is certainly not. While there were references to all of Austen's works -- some that I didn't understand for lack of reading -- I felt that my reading experience was just as pleasant and that I understood the story perfectly.

 The adventure takes place in 1815, shortly before the death of Jane Austen from a mysterious and drawn-out illness. Rachel and Liam were selected for a mission -- to travel back in time, infiltrate the Austen's social circle, and return to the future with a missing Austen manuscript. Rachel and Liam pose as wealthy siblings, recently arrived from the West Indies. Both Rachel and Liam are Austenites, and while they are intent on completing their mission, life in the Regency era begins to grow on them. They struggle to navigate their genuine affection for their new friends and their questions about the cost of changing the past, and by proxy, the post-apocalyptic world to which they will return.

What I will say is that this novel started out a little slow for my taste. It wasn't until about eighty pages in that I started to feel the desire to read uninterrupted, as the first bit was really the setting up of the novel and the plot itself didn't get going until after that. I saw many readers who were uncomfortable with the level of sexuality in this book, but I wasn't bothered by it at all. In fact, I thought that the contrast between the strict prudence of the Regency era and our own social rules was interesting; it brought to light some of the feminist issues that Jane and her contemporaries dealt with in a world where men controlled every aspect of women's lives. I was interested in the character relationships as they changed throughout the book and had one or two moments where I felt my heart swell or shrink on behalf of a character. The time travel element was captivating as well -- it brought about big questions (the type that make your brain hurt) and I loved thinking about the implications of changing history, for better and for worse. This was a story that had me rooting for so many of its characters, and I have to admit that I wish there was a sequel in the works, as I would happily re-immerse myself for another adventure into the past.

Bottom-Line Rating: 4/5

Title: The Jane Austen Project

Author: Kathleen A. Flynn

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2017

Price: $10 on Amazon

ISBN: 0062651269

Format: Paperback

Source: Public Library

My Spring Break Reads

Since beginning my full-time semester of student teaching, my reading habits have changed pretty significantly. I have less time to read (and sometimes feel guilty when I prioritize reading over schoolwork or planning), so I've developed a more selective attitude towards books. I want my reading time to be spent with quality stories, so I've become more particular in my picks and quicker to abandon a book when it's not working for me.

Over the course of my spring break vacation I finally had the chance for some completely uninterrupted reading. We went down to St. Simons Island in Georgia for a full five days of sun, sand, and salt water (all of my favorite things). If you're looking for a relaxing vacation in a gorgeous setting, I highly recommend the island! 

I mentioned on Instagram that I had been saving Anthony Doerr's Pultizer Prize-Winning All the Light We Cannot See for this particular trip, and I am so glad that I did. I had heard (from just about everyone who's read it) that it was a favorite, so I wanted to be able to fully immerse myself in the setting. I spent two days parked in a beach chair while I sped through the book, and rather than reviewing the book, I'm going to just chime in with every other reader and insist that you put it on your list. Not only was the story captivating and heartbreaking (everything that you want in a WWII novel), it was also just so beautifully written. I stopped countless times to reread sentences and just appreciate the way that Doerr put them together. This book was a definite 5-stars, and you can count on seeing it on my Top Ten list for this year.

After I completed All the Light We Cannot See, I wanted to move on to another book but found myself hesitant to pick one because, well, not much is going to measure up to that. My mom had brought along The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins for her beach read, so the day after I finished All the Light I borrowed it from her. I read it in an afternoon and thought it was an excellent thriller. I guessed the wrong culprit (more than once) and felt that the ending was just superb. The suspense was high and I got so involved in the book that I wound up getting a pretty bad sunburn from failing to move for the entire 5 hours that it took me to read (Oops!) but it was worth it. I definitely recommend it for a vacation read (and I really liked the juxtaposition of the very serious All the Light with the suspense of The Girl on the Train -- they turned out to be an excellent pair). 

Because I've had a habit of reading each night before bed for, well, my entire life, I brought along my Kindle as well (tip for traveling with others -- Kindles are great for night-time because you can use the backlight to read while your travel buddies sleep peacefully in the dark!). So while I was reading more modern and popular books during the day, I was spending nights with Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I haven't finished it yet, but I do love the story so far (and found myself chatting about what a scoundrel a certain character is to my mom) and I'm going to continue reading it now that I'm home. I love that feeling of checking off a highly-anticipated book from my to-read list, and this vacation allowed me to do that more than once. Plus, having no agenda was probably the nicest feeling in the world. I feel totally refreshed and ready to hit the ground running -- and with only three weeks until graduation and eight more weeks of school, that marathon feeling is exactly what I'm expecting. Here's to a busy spring!

Happy Reading!

-Madeleine-

Favorite Female Characters

One aspect of the "bookstagram" community (i.e. those who have Instagram accounts dedicated to books) that I've really enjoyed since bringing Top Shelf Text to Instagram has been the "tags" that go around. People are really creative in coming up with unique tags that prompt you to show off your book collection in new ways. Essentially, you get tagged by another account, which then challenges you to take a picture of specific books. For example, I've participated in tags to show the 20th book on my shelf, a book with a unique cover page, and to show a rainbow of books. One of the tags that I recently participated in was for your pick of top five female characters, and boy was it tough to decide.

Here are the #topfivefemalecharacters that I shared on Instagram (in no particular order):

1. Miss Penelope Lumley, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

"...in Miss Penelope Lumley's day, it was universally understood that there is nothing like a nice cup of tea to settle one's nerves in the aftermath of an adventure-- a practice many would find well worth reviving." - The Hidden Gallery

2. Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

"Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can." 

3. Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones

"I am the blood of the dragon. Do not presume to teach me lessons." - A Dance with Dragons

4. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter

"I've learned all our course books by heart, of course." -Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

5. Madeline, Madeline

"To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just said 'Pooh-Pooh.'"

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Disclaimer: I cherish these characters, but it's hard for me to say that they are absolute top five in all of the books that I've ever read. Because let's be honest, that's a lot of books, and five isn't a big number. I can think of a bunch more character that I truly admire (a post for another day, perhaps?), and I love that we, as readers, can draw inspiration from characters of all ages in all different seasons of our lives.

Do you have a few favorite female characters?

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P.S. I'll be taking next week off from the blog while I finish up two of my summer courses (it feels like finals right now), so check back the following week for some new reviews. I have been reading up a storm and can't wait to share with you all!

Happy Reading!

-Madeleine-