My Love for Jane Austen

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★ This will only be a short review in anticipation of the film release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader next week. I picked this book to read during my lunch break. I can say that the book contains more pictures of the movie than the story itself. Moreover, I am ashamed to say that I have not read the original children's story yet. My copy of The Chronicles of Narnia has been lying in my bookshelf for some years and I hope to rectify this soon. Back to my review. This book focus on the novelisation of the movie screenplay which in turn is based on the third story written by C. S. Lewis in his seven-part story of The Chronicles of Narnia . However it is now chronologically re-arranged as the fifth story. As I have watched the two movies based on C. S. Lewis's books, I am very much looking forward to watching the third instalment of Narnia. In order to prepare myself for the movie, I decided to read and look at the pictures depi...

Pemberley Ranch , the latest offering by Sourcebooks is released today in US market. This Austenesque novel is a re-imagining of Pride & Prejudice that sets in Texas after the American Civil War à la Gone with the Wind . To celebrate and promote the publication of his debut novel, author Jack Caldwell is virtually touring book blogs. He will be guest blogging and interviewed by blog owners and to cap it all, there will be giveaways of a few copies of his book specially for US and Canadian readers. Please visit the individual posts on contest rules and deadline. A big thank you to Austenprose for providing Jack's blog tour information. Details of his virtual tour with giveaways are as follows: November 29th: Pemberley Ranch Author Jack Caldwell's Whistle-stop Blog Tour @ Austenprose (previously posted here ) December 1st: Interview + Giveaway with Jack Caldwell, Author of Pemberley Ranch @ Austenesque Reviews 3rd: Interview: Jack Caldwell, Author of Pem...

The Austenesque scout is delighted to bring good news that there are two giveaways for this week. Jack Caldwell whose debut novel, Pemberley Ranch released this week by Sourcebooks is guest blogging at Austenprose on his first stop for the whistle-stop blog tour. Pemberley Ranch is a Western-themed re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice set during the Reconstruction era in Texas just after the US Civil War. Go here to read his take on Fitzwilliam Darcy, the timeless parallels between Darcy in Regency England and the American Wild West and how he incorporated this element into his writing. There is a giveaway of five copies of Pemberley Ranch for US and Canadian readers only. You just need to leave a comment here by answering Jack's question on the parallels between the Regency and the American West or which other Austen characters makes a great cowboy. This contest ends at midnight PT on Monday, 13 December 2010 . The lucky winners will be known the next day after con...

Overall rating: ★★★★/★★★★★ I am big fan of Janet Mullany's works on Regency romance and this is one of the reasons I picked this anthology of four novellas to read in my free time. Bespelling Jane Austen is a collection of entertaining stories written by four romance authors who each select one of Jane Austen's four novels as their plot but infused with paranormal elements. I admit that I am not keen to read these rip-offs unless it makes perfect sense although I have read a few of those type of novels. My take on each of the tales are as follows: Almost Persuaded by Mary Balogh (reincarnation) A variation of Persuasion set during the Regency era, the story tells about the love between Jane Everett (Anne Elliot), the middle and unmarried daughter of Sir Horace Everett and Captain Robert Mitford (Wentworth), a British Army officer stationed in India who recently returned home after sustaining serious injuries. They are destined to be soulmates and fall in love but due ...

The Austenesque scout is happy to enlighten her dear readers that there are three giveaways for this week. Firstly, the great Laurel Ann Nattress, blog mistress of Austenprose is organising a grand giveaway of ten Austen-related novels at her blog . This giveaway is brought about to celebrate a list of delightful Austen-related blogs around the internet that has some way or other transform Jane Austen industry into a cult phenomenon among her countless followers throughout the whole world (including yours truly). Laurel has specifically chosen 35 blogs (inclusive of this blog which I'm truly honoured) that are worthy for any Janeites to visit on the subject of the great authoress. So if you want to know which blogs are counted in her list, head on over here . Alternatively, if you want an idea of what other Austen's blog have to offer besides the ones that are already known, you can also look at her list which is constantly growing at the moment. If you comment at th...

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★ As mentioned in my review of Marvel Illustrated Comics' Pride & Prejudice here , I cannot wait to read this comics of Sense & Sensibility . Adapted by Nancy Butler who previously work on the Pride and Prejudice comics, I commend her for doing a marvellous job in compressing the plot using free-flowing dialogues and smooth narration. There was never a doubt that I would not enjoy this comics and I would love to re-read it again in future.  However I admit that I have never fully finish reading Jane Austen's original novel which was published since 1811. My own understand came from watching the 1995 movie directed by Ang Lee which stars Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet in addition to the 2008 BBC adaptation which was recently reviewed here . Therefore, I could not confidently say that this comics is faithful to Austen's prose except that Nancy herself mentioned in the introduction that she expanded Edward's proposal scene to Elinor after sh...

The Austenesque scout is pleased to inform readers that there are two giveaway for this week. I applaud Maria Grazia for her dedication and tremendous contribution towards the blogging community on her blog, My Jane Austen Book Club . Her weekly interview with Austenesque author is a great hit among Janeites who sometimes get to win novel(s) from the particular author for that week. Her guest for this week is Alexa Adams who has self-publish her debut novel, First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride & Prejudice . This is a Pride & Prejudice variation or 'what if' re-writing of the beloved novel which takes the reader on a different path from the original story. Click here to read the delightful interview about Alexa's opinion on Austen topics ranging from Jane Austen's novels to movie adaptation and Janeicillin posts in Alexa's blog . There is a giveaway of one copy of First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride & Prejudice to a lucky winner. You ...

As I have been away on vacation, this is a belated posts on book giveaways just for last week. The lovely Maria Grazia is featuring a weekly interview with Austenesque novelist, Janet Mullany at her blog, My Jane Austen Book Club . Please click here to read what she says about her recently released novels and Austen characters. At the end of the interview, there is a giveaway for international readers where Janet has offered a copy each of her books, Jane and the Damned and Bespelling Jane Austen . You just need to leave a comment at this post with your email address to be in the running to win either one of the books. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, 17 November 2010 so be sure to comment by then. Next up, Maria's original blog, Fly High! is interviewing another author, Ms Sherri Rabinowitz. Her second novel, Fantasy Time, Inc. was published in May this year. If you want to know more about Sherri, please head over to this post where she discuss her book, wri...

The Austenesque scout is happy to inform readers that there are two giveaways that can be won this week. Maria Grazia is continuing her weekly interview with Austenesque novelists at her Jane Austen dedicated blog, My Jane Austen Book Club . She has graciously welcomed Kara Louise to answer some Austen related questions and novels which she penned and self-published some time ago. For your information, Kara's debut novel, Darcy's Voyage was released just two months ago. As a treat for Maria's readers, Kara is offering a copy of Darcy's Voyage to a reader who leave a comment on her interview here . However only US and Canadian readers can win this giveaway. The lucky winner be known next Wednesday, 10 November 2010 so remember to comment before that. Do not forget to leave your email address so that Maria will be able to contact you if you do win this novel. Ms Grazia's original blog, Fly High! is having another interview with author, Philippa Ashl...

The tenth and final book in The Pemberley Chronicles series titled The Legacy of Pemberley written by Rebecca Ann Collins was released early this week. The series is a continuation of the characters from Pride & Prejudice as we follow their lives through the Victorian age. As with other Sourcebooks's Austenesque novelists such as Abigail Reynolds and Sharon Lathan, Ms Collins is virtually touring some book blogs by giving interviews and guest posts to celebrate and promote her latest release this whole month. Ms Collins' publisher, Sourcebooks is generously providing two copies of The Legacy of Pemberley to readers who comment on the blogs that she visits. However, it is only open to residents of US and Canada because Sourcebooks is directly mailing them to the winners. Please refer to individual posts for specific details and deadlines. Rebecca's blog tour are as follows: 2nd: Guest Rebecca Ann Collins: The Regency and Victorian Eras and Their Women @ ...

The Austenesque scout is delighted to share some wonderful news with her dear readers. There are a few giveaways posted this week from around the blogosphere. First up is a book giveaway offered by Vic Sanborn, the blog mistress of Jane Austen's World . I always visit her blog for my daily dose of Regency period posts and Austen-related information. Since setting up her blog in 2006, it has already reached 2 million visitors this week. To celebrate this milestone, she will be giving away a copy of Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 19th Century by Taschen featuring costumes from the Kyoto Costume Institute. I can personally attest to this beautifully illustrated treasure for I am a proud owner of it. In order to win this gorgeous looking book, you need to leave a comment here and state the topics that you would like to read in the future or which topics you would like to revisit. However, she can only ship to US or Canadian address. Giveaway ends next Wednesday, 10 ...

After viewing Emma (2009) and Persuasion (2007), I was on a roll and decided to re-watch Sense and Sensibility mini-series as one of my tasks to complete for the Everything Austen II challenge. Adapted by Andrew Davies ( Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Little Dorrit, Bleak House, Wives & Daughters, Bridget Jones's Diary ), this BBC production of the three part mini-series was broadcast in January 2008 to British audiences before it was shown 2 months later in the US as part of Masterpiece Classic's The Complete Jane Austen . The lead actresses are Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield who play the two Dashwood sisters (Elinor and Marianne) with a host of heavyweights and newcomers alike such as Janet McTeer (Mrs. Dashwood), Mark Williams (Sir John Middleton), Linda Bassett (Mrs. Jennings), Jean Marsh (Mrs. Ferrars), David Morrissey (Colonel Brandon), Dan Steven (Edward Ferrars), Dominic Cooper (Willoughby), Claire Skinner (Fanny Dashwood), Anna Madeley (Lucy...