It is such happiness when good people get together – and they always do. Miss Bates, Emma, Chapter 21
READING GROUP CHOICES 2009
When a book begins with a Jane Austen quote, I know that it’s sure to be filled with great things. Lucky for me, my assumption played out when I discovered two very worthy Jane Austen inspired novels from 2008 included in the new 15th anniversary edition of Reading Group Choices 2009. A big congratulations to Laurie Viera Rigler author Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Syrie James author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen for being selected from a very competitive field for the new annual reading guide, Reading Group Choices 2009. The guide includes recommendations by book group members, librarians, booksellers, literary agents, publicists, authors, and publishers and features 75 book selections such as best sellers The Memory Keepers Daughter; Eat, Pray, Love; and Water for Elephants. Each of the titles is featured with a two page spread listing the books particulars (author, publisher, websites, format, number of pages, price subject, and ISBN), reviews, summary, about the author and a full page of discussion questions to get the conversation rolling when your book groups meet. Here is a bit of what they have to says about the two Austen inspired books.
CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT
Summary: After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy? Try as she might to control her mind and find her way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman – and being this other woman is not without its advantages.
Question 5. One of the ways in which Courtney/Jane defines herself is by what she reads. To what extent do we define ourselves by what we read? To what extent do we form our opinions of others based on what they read?
THE LOST MEMOIRS OF JANE AUSTEN
What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen’s memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? That’s the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen’s life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.
Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.
Question 2. Which character archetypes do we see in The Lost Memoirs that are reflections of the archetypes in Jane Austen’s novels?
Reading Group Choices 2009 is a handy and concise resource for book group readers who need suggestions and focus for their discussions. Individual readers will feel the rush when they crack open this nifty guide and recognize some previous best sellers and new discoveries that will make your next visit to the book store a pleasure. The guide can be purchased online at the Reading Group Choices website.
Book Giveaways
Leave a comment by Sunday, November 23 to qualify for a drawing on Monday, November 24th for one copy each of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen. Also available to four lucky readers are one copy of The Reading Group Choices 2009. Tell us which books you have read in 2008 that you would recommend for the 2010 guide that will be published next year. All suggestions will be forwarded to the publisher. Everyone’s selections count, so please share! Good luck to all, and happy reading.
