My Love for Jane Austen

The Austenesque scout is delighted to inform her readers about three giveaway for this week. Deb Barnum, blog mistress of Jane Austen in Vermont has interviewed Louise Allen, author of numerous Harlequin and Mills & Boon Regency romance novels. Part one of her interview is posted here if you like to read what she says. There is a giveaway to win a copy of Ms Allen's non-fiction book titled Walks Through Regency London at the end of the interview. You can either ask her a question or leave a comment here or here where the second part of the interview is posted or here for her post about this book review. This contest is open to worldwide readers and ends next Tuesday, 2 March 2011 at 11 pm EST . Drawing for this contest will take place the next day. My good blogger friend, Meredith Esparza is hosting a giveaway for a brand new copy of Jane Goes Batty courtesy of Ballantine Books. Written by Michael Thomas Ford, this novel is the second book detailing Jane Aust...

Rating: ★★★★/★★★★★ After reading some of my favourite Austenesque bloggers raving about this novel at their blogs, I decided to pick this up as my next read. Moreover, it is my fondest wish to celebrate Jane Austen's 200th year since the publication of her first novel, Sense and Sensibility . This modern retelling of her two sister's loves, lives, characters and family perfectly sets the tone of sharing her love to the people around me. The Three Weissmanns of Westport was first released last February before Allegra Goodman's The Cookbook Collector came into the picture which is another contemporary take on Jane Austen's first novel. I love the plot in both books actually and I found both contain Jewish culture and references seeping through their storyline although it is not so obvious in this book. If I have to compare between this and the earlier novel which I read, Catheen Schine's fiction does a better job in translating all of Sense and Sensibility ...

The Austenesque scout would like to wish her readers a Happy Valentine's Day and to celebrate this joyous occasion, the following is a list of giveaways to win something for yourself or your loved ones this week. The good news is all giveaways except for the last two are open to worldwide readers. Maria Grazia is hosting a giveaway at her blog, Fly High! for a pdf copy of Maggie Dove's Call Me Duchess . This is her second novel in the Windword trilogy. All you need to do is to leave a comment at this post with your email address . The lucky winner will be announced this Saturday, 19 February 2011 so make sure you comment before that. At her other blog dedicated to Jane Austen aptly named My Jane Austen Book Club , Maria is also organising a giveaway to win several cute Regency gifts made and offered by Masha Laurence at Etsy . Maria created a poll and ask her readers to vote for the most romantic finale in Jane Austen's novels. Read the description selected...

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★ I must acknowledge that I was sorely tempted to own this annotated copy of Jane Austen's most well-known oeuvre although I already have several copies in my collection including the Penguin Classics edition. This is a luxury that I can well afford because there are several reasons to choose this coffee table book. Firstly, it contains plenty of useful notes that are needed in order to truly understand her masterpiece of witty dialogues and finely drawn characters. An added advantage is its cover is one of the most beautiful which depicts presumably a Regency lady holding her bonnet. What this book differs from other editions is half of the page are devoted to the unabridged first edition text while the other half contains finely printed notes penned by Austen scholar and noted authority of Austen works, Professor Spacks in addition to excellent illustrations taken from various credited sources. This approach makes it much easier to read rather than flip to ...

The Austenesque scout is pleased to tell her readers about four giveaways of three novels reported this week on the blogosphere. Alexa Adams of First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice is hosting a giveaway to win a copy of The Three Weissmanns of Westport courtesy of the publisher, Picador. Written by Cathleen Schine, the paperback version of this Sense and Sensibility modernisation was released just last week. Take note that this contest is only open to US residents. If you fit the bill and would love to be entered, just comment here with your email address by next Wednesday, 16 February 2011 . For a second entry, please refer to her post . Jane Greensmith is also organising a giveaway of the same book at her blog . If you want to win a paperback copy direct from Picador, comment here with your email address as well. You can also tweet or Facebook this giveaway to earn extra entries but do inform her in your comment. Deadline for this contest is next Tu...

Just like Jane Odiwe, Karen V. Wasylowski's Austenesque novel, Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer is released on 1 February 2011. This is Ms Wasylowski's debut novel and I would love to read her first attempt of expanding Jane Austen's classic masterpiece. Her book is a Pride and Prejudice continuation that focuses on the close friendship of Mr. Darcy and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and the ups and downs of their romantic relationships. Karen is currently touring several book blogs to promote her first labour of love. As usual, her publisher Sourcebooks will be donating a few copies of her novel to US and Canadian readers to coincide with her visits. Below is the list of blogs (information quoted from Karen's blog ) that she will be interviewed or guest post. 2nd: Guest Post: Karen V. Wasylowski, Author of Darcy and Fitzwilliam @ Diary of an Eccentric 14th: Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam Guest Post (and Giveaway!) by Karen V. W...

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★ I have always love reading about the locations that were used in all Jane Austen's adaptations of her six beloved novels. In fact, I even purchase  The Making of Pride and Prejudice book about the whole production process of transforming Jane Austen's most popular novel into BBC's successful and critically acclaimed 1995 mini-series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Thus I was delighted to find that there is such an informative guide available on the movies and television dramas based on her novels because there are very few books written on this subject. Compiled by Marcia Kennedy-McLuckie, this 60-page paperback book is filled with short but precise descriptions on each of the places used in the most recent productions. It gives me a glimpse into some of Britain's most picturesque houses, towns and villages. Besides this, there are some wonderful pictures of the actual settings which is very useful because it helps me to recall the fi...

One of the Austenesque novels I'm really looking forward to this spring season is Mr. Darcy's Secret written by the ever delightful Jane Odiwe who has previously published Lydia Bennet's Story and Willoughby's Return . Mr. Darcy's Secret is a Pride & Prejudice continuation taking place just after the wedding of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. The novel focuses on two equally compelling and absorbing plots. The first story is about Elizabeth, her husband, Mr. Darcy and his secret. The other involve Georgiana Darcy, her fiancé and the man she really loves. Jane is doing a virtual blog tour as is customary for Sourcebooks authors to celebrate the release of her third novel this month. There will be giveaways to win a few copies of her novels in the blogs listed below including her very own blog. However, please check the rules of the contest first before entering as some giveaways are only for US and Canadian readers. Jane Odiwe's ...

The Austenesque scout is delighted to inform her readers about five sets of book giveaways this week. The wonderful Meredith Esparza, blog mistress of Austenesque Reviews is organising a giveaway of a brand new paperback copy of The Three Weissmanns of Westport courtesy of the publisher, Picador. If you are unsure whether this latest Cathleen Schine's novel is good, read Meredith's review here . If you would like to be entered for this contest, please leave a comment with your email address here . For additional entries, please click on this page . Take note that this contest is only open to US residents and ends next Thursday, 10 February 2011 . Secondly, Jane Odiwe's newest Austenesque sequel, Mr. Darcy's Secret is released today. To celebrate this joyous occasion, she is giving her blog readers a chance to win an autographed copy of this lovely novel by participating in a game called ' Guess Elizabeth's Secret '. If you would love to win...

Rating: ★★★★/★★★★★ This is the second book about Prince William and his fiancée's Kate Middleton's romance that I read after previously reviewing Robin Nunn's charming book, William & Kate: Celebrating a Royal Engagement here . Penned by James Clench, the Royal Reporter for UK's The Sun tabloid newspaper and includes photos by Arthur Edwards, this 208-page hardcover book tells the relationship between the two love birds. For your information, this is the first book available on the market since the official announcement of the couple's engagement on 16 November 2010. For this review, I will make a fair and honest comparison between both books. This book contains a more intimate and elaborate account of the couple's love story. It briefly talks about the holiday vacations that they spend whether together or with friends and family. Compared to Robin Nunn's book, it definitely has more pictures of the couple's time together and individual photo...

The Austenesque scout is happy to let readers know about book giveaways for this week. Blogger mistress of My Jane Austen Book Club , Maria Grazia is interviewing Ms Syrie James as a weekly post featuring Austenesque author. Syrie is the author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen , The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë , Dracula, My Love and her latest novel, Nocturne . The transcript of the interview is available here if you would like to read it. There is a giveaway open for US and Canadian residents only. The prize up for grabs is a copy of Nocturne if you comment on this post . Be sure to leave your email address so that Maria can contact you if you are the winner. This contest ends next Wednesday, 2 February 2011 . Janet Mullany, author of several books including Jane and the Damned , Bespelling Jane Austen and other Regency romance novels, will be releasing a new Little Black Dress book titled Mr. Bishop and the Actress next week on 4 February 2011 to be precise. ...

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★ After some male colleagues recommended that I watch the latest animation of Tangled , Disney's take on the Brothers Grimm folk tale called Rapunzel , I was initially baffled and curious about what made them (the boys) very keen on this type of fairy tales. As far as I could recollect, most girls who grew up reading a healthy dose of fairy tales like me would find this movie fascinating and delightful to watch with a happily-ever-after ending. So I decided to view this movie with an open mind and I enjoyed this hilarious and emotional take of Rapunzel's journey of learning so much of the world before her. However, I must stress that this is not a review of the movie but rather the concept art behind this successful animation movie. I was fortunate enough to browse through this art book before it is bought by customers since it is now out of stock at the publisher's side and listed as temporarily unavailable at Amazon website. Did you know that Tangl...