Fast away the old year passes

2010 is only a couple of hours away, but today saw a couple of new experiences for us. DH reminded me this morning that today is the last day of the Everything Austen Challenge. He accomplished his goal of reading all six novels, but I have two things left. My Jane Austen sampler is kitted up, but not stitched on, and I have two chapters left of Persuasion to listen to in French.

We did manage to get out in the snow this morning and go into New York to see the Austen exhibit at The Morgan Library. It was well worth it! I loved looking at her letters and reading in one about the portrait Austen imagined to be of Mrs. Bingley and how she couldn't find one of Mrs. Darcy. A print of that painting hangs next to that letter. It was very cool to read her words in her own handwriting. I also liked the manuscript of Lady Susan.

We very rarely go to museums, so today was a real treat, especially since we also walked to MOMA to see Monet's Water Lillies and the Tim Burton exhibit. That sounds like some type of time-travelling triple play combo - Austen to Monet to Burton. And not only did we visit two museums in one day, but we also walked through Times Square on New Year's Eve. Now, we've been to Times Square before, but never on a New Year's Eve, so we felt kind of like tourists in our own city. We got to see the stages and the 2010 sign that the big crystal ball will light up in two hours.

DH wrote his own report about the day:

The last day, and would you believe we went to The Morgan Library to see The Jane Austen Exhibit? It was a great day even with the early snow and New Years Eve crowds. We went to Times Square first and then to the museum in the heart of the storm. But it was worth it. The exhibit was a new insight into the past few months of reading. The exhibit had many letters of Jane’s to many of her family and friends. There were copies of her books, many stories and artwork that showed the era and characters of her works. The Video was excellent and I know because I watched it three times.
The great end to the year continued; we walked 16 plus blocks to MOMA to see Monet’s lilies and the Tim Burton Exhibit. Along the way we saw the tree at Rockefeller Center.
It was truly a great end to the Jane Austen Challenge.

Happy New Year!

I must've hit the snooze button...

...because I feel like I've done a "Rip Van Winkle!"

Oh well, life comes at you and sometimes the diary or blog has to wait. But that's what's great about a diary/blog. It waits patiently until you're ready to come back.

Let's see, DH and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary in November. He finally finished reading Emma, which I think he enjoyed, although maybe not as much as I have. I read a very long historical romance called To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker. It is set at Versailles from the time of Louis XIV to Louis XVI, and concerns four generations of women in one family. Of course, their lives are dramatically affected by their proximity to royalty. Some of it was a bit improbable, but the history was interesting. This family started out as fan makers, which was different. Mostly, though, this was the sort of novel I would have loved in high school. The history was what kept me reading more than the plot. But I will say that the ending was quite a page turner!

I haven't made any more progress on the Everything Austen Challenge although at this point, the clock is ticking! I got together the materials for the JA sampler I want to stitch, and I still have two more chapters to go with Persuasion in French. I don't know if I'll finish by year's end, but the challenge has certainly been fun!

Now to go clear the cobwebs out of my head!

Bienvenue and books

Lately my mind has felt pretty blank. No ideas to blog about, no exciting finishes, not even a pretty picture to post. Well, I did manage to finish The Phantom of the Opera over the weekend. Now I want to see the movie, the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, to compare with the book. And I did a tiny bit of stitching, a little welcome sign that I was thinking of hanging on my front door, only now it strikes me as a bit pretentious since I stitched "bienvenue" rather than "welcome." I'll still finish it off, but maybe for inside the house.


Did I ever blog about the library book sale I went to last month? I was lucky enough to find a pile of books about needlework. Usually I go home with mysteries for myself and science fiction for DH. At the same sale, I also found one of Zola's novels in the Rougeon-Macquart series in French. Of course, it also came home with me, even though I have a long way to go before I can read Zola in French.

The Everything Austen Challenge is still very much on my mind. I have almost finished my annotated Pride & Prejudice, as well as the audio of Persuasion in French. (The music soundtrack on that one is beautiful!) The last item on my challenge list is to stitch a Jane Austen project, but I don't think I'll get this done by December 31. I want to make a couple of changes on the original design I had picked, which is taking longer than planned. I also have to decide on a color and fabric for it.

Today's the Day!

Today is the deadline for DH's challenge. Happy Birthday, sweetie! Here are his thoughts on Emma:

It’s down to two days. I have about 200 pages to read and I have only two days. I think Emma will be my downfall. I am really enjoying it so I don't want to rush.

JA uses her writing to explain the complicated class system of the era and how the changing times will eventually change the whole country. We know this now because of history and what happens later.

I have come to realize that Charles Dickens is a man who takes Austen’s way of writing descriptions to explain the way life is afer Austen in England and how the Industrial Revolution has changed the landscape of England. We look at Dickens’ writing as a picture of Post IR England and how society has changed and then reflect on Austen’s picture of British Society many years before.

In Emma we see the youngest daughter holding the family together and worrying about others and forgetting about herself. As in society today so many times changes in family dynamics will cause someone to step up to the plate and bring everything back into place.

Being an analytical person I have had to learn during this time to leave my predispositions and just read. In the beginning it was hard but now at times I can't put the book down and at times I have to try to just find time to pick it up.

The challenge, even though it looks like I won't make it, was one of the best things I have done in many years. I think it brought me closer to my wife doing something she liked and something we could talk about together. I have a few books to read after Emma and then I will take the next challenge up. Thanks for letting me be a part of the JA Challenge. DH Bruce

Thank you for doing this, Bruce! You did great with it! It was so much fun for me to see how you were really enjoying these books and discovering for yourself why I like them so much. It doesn't matter that you haven't finished Emma. Just the fact that you like it is enough for me! So now, what's next?

More Books

Not much new on the stitching front, but I've read a couple more books. I started my annotated copy of Pride and Prejudice as part of the Everything Austen Challenge. The notes are interesting, although at this point, I don't need so many words explained. But I did find one note in particular very helpful. It was about a remark Elizabeth makes to Darcy when she is staying at Netherfield with Jane. She and Caroline Bingley are out walking in the garden one morning and they meet up with Mrs. Hurst and Mr. Darcy. Caroline takes Mr. Darcy's other arm, and as there is only room enough on the path for three to walk together, Elizabeth is left out. Darcy tries to include her, but Elizabeth declines, saying that a fourth added to the scene would spoil the harmony. This is a reference to a book written by William Gilpin about the picturesque in landscape painting. Apparently, Gilpin used illustration of cows to make his points. So this is a very subtle insult to Darcy and Bingley's sisters.

I had read about a challenge on the Austenprose blog to read Lady Susan, but it was too late to sign up for it. But I did manage to read it on my own for the first time. What a novel! Lady Susan is totally different from Austen's other works. For one thing, it is told through a series of letters exchanged between different characters. This creates sort of a barrier in front of the reader because you don't see the action unfolding before you. Instead, you get someone else's version of what has happened, and you have to judge for yourself how reliable or biased that character might be. Lady Susan is also a very different heroine because she is a bad person. Think Austen mean girl all grown up. Or Erica Kane. I had to keep reminding myself that this was by Austen, but I enjoyed it very much.

Every October I try to read something gothic or scary. A couple of years ago I read short stories by Daphne du Maurier. Another year I watched "Poltergeist" on TV. (At least that time, I didn't have any fears about facing my bedroom closet.) This year I picked up a novel in my TBR pile, From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris. This is number eight in a series featuring Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress whose friends include vampires, wereanimals, witches, a shape shifter, and a fairy godmother. Since this is the first of these novels that I'm reading, there is a lot of back story that I'm not really familiar with. And I'm not quite sure if the vampires and wereanimals are sympathetic characters or not. While I like the setting, (the fictional Bon Temps, LA) and the breezy tone, I don't know if I'll make a point to read the other novels in the series.

My JA Challenge progress

I'm still hanging in there with the Austen Challenge. This morning I finished the third of my six challenges. I had finished Udolpho a couple of days ago and this morning I finished Northanger Abbey. Now its a mystery to me why I didn't like either one the first time I read them in college. Udolpho was written in an era when people had the time to enjoy a leisurely, meandering story. The plot took a turn I didn't expect, but it was good. I expected to be bored by the descriptions of the scenery, but instead, this book was incredibly visual, like watching a film. And it was a good idea to read it right before Northanger Abbey, because it made that novel so much more enjoyable. Catherine starts reading Udolpho after she gets to Bath. There is a scene where she mentions the Black Veil, and I thought, "Ha ha, Catherine, I know what's behind the Black Veil and its not what you think!" I love the part set in Bath. Those Thorpes were horrible! The story got a little tame when Catherine went to Northanger with the Tilneys, but it was still good. Can you imagine an Austen mean girl clique - Isabella Thorpe, Lucy Steele, Mrs. Elton, Caroline Bingley, Maria Bertram, and Mrs Clay. Talk about your scary stories!

DH is getting close

DH is getting close to the end of his JA challenge. The next installment in his diary:

S&S is done. I am sorry to say I think I like this one the best. I was a bit lost and I needed to clarify some things but I got it done.
Closing thoughts- Jane must have something with the letter W. It seems that if you have a W last name, you become a jerk or screw up someone’s life.
Then there is the rain. In the books someone always is in love or falling out of love and gets caught in the rain and gets very sick and its never at home so they have to impose one someone and the story line gets slowed or stopped and the drama moves in a different direction but it always works out.
After I finished the book I watched the last part of the Masterpiece Theatre version of S&S. I really liked it and it clarifed and confused at the same time. But after that we watched the movie version - very interesting interpetation. At times it messed with my mind again. I have learned one thing - Jane Austen is a great read but an adaptation can really screw up a story.
Well Emma is next and then I am finished. Its less than a month to the end of my challenge. Later,BR=

DH continues

DH writes:
It's the end of Northanger Abbey. I have two books to go.

Jane Austin is a very interesting read. But I think next time I do something like this, I will need to spread it out a little. Six books by one author in three months is just too much; the stories are meshing together.

I am looking forward to reading Emma at the end of the week. I am half way through Sense and Sensibiltiy. I am enjoying the images of the story and trying to put myself in this era.

I have realized that I have to finish S&S and Emma in the next three weeks. I have no idea what the next challenge will be with my wife but I am looking forward to it. Maybe a SCI FI or History. I would like to read some Dickens or Hemingway. We will see. Who knows, maybe it will be to cross stitch something. We will know after 10/6. BR

DH is at the Abbey

DH writes:

Its been a weird kind of week. Over the weekend I started Sense and Sensibility on my EReader. It seems that the longer books go faster that way, plus its easier to keep your spot and not worry about forgetting the book. Tuesday I again started to travel to work daily, so in the morning I try to read the newspapers and on the way home I read JA. So now I am reading Northanger Abbey. I found it interesting and am seeing why Annie is reading The Mysteries of Udolpho. I think that I will now have to read it also. I am reading the book, it seems that the second hundred pages are more interesting.

Now I write:

OMG! DH wants to read Udolpho! What have I unleashed? Does he know what he's getting into? One thousand plus pages of scenery, gloomy castles, mysterious music, meandering sentences, and melodrama. Still, I'm enjoying it somehow. In Volume 3, a character worthy of Jane Austen makes her first appearance. She is the Countess de Villefort, the Count's very vain, self-centered second wife. She isn't quite as bad as Emily's aunt Mme Montoni, but she is definitely not good. Radcliffe describes the Countess as being liked more for her beauty than her wit. She prefers Paris to the wild countryside surrounding the isolated Chateau-Le-Blanc, which doesn't go over well with her husband as he has fond memories of this castle. (It's his place anyway; he inherited it from a relative.) Paris is the "big, bad city," the seat and symbol of corruption and vice. (Actually, when DH and I went, it was quite nice. But we're from NY.)

There is a scene I really like in this section, but I don't have the book handy to quote the text. The Count and his daughter, Blanche, are watching a huge storm one night; the sea is visible from the Chateau. All of a sudden, there is a crash of thunder, and lightening illuminates a sailing ship struggling to avoid the rocks along the coast. I can just picture that ship crashing through the rough waves, at night, illuminated in the stark light of the lightening.

Another checkmark on the list

Yesterday I finished reading my copy of Jane Austen's letters, so that's a second item accomplished for the Everything Austen Challenge. I enjoyed the letters, but my edition had only the letters, no essay or notes to explain who she was writing about or what the context was. So, down the road, I'd like to get a better edition of them.

I'm almost halfway through Udolpho. Much to my surprize, this is a fun read. It seems overwrought by today's standards. Emily cries at the drop of a hat, but she is also strong enough to stand up to her evil relatives who want her to marry someone she doesn't like. Count Morano, her uncle's choice, reminds me a little of Sir Guy of Gisborne, someone who would be good if he only had the love of the right woman. Not that the Count is as evil as Sir Guy, but he's definitely not good enough for Emily. I also like the servant, Annette. She is superstitious and believes in ghosts, but she is also chatty and loves a good gossip. When she learns a secret about Emily's uncle Montoni, she just can't resist the urge to tell Emily.

I found a cute Quaker-style sampler at Jardin Prive. It is called Gentleman Quaker, and the figure on it reminds me of Mr. Darcy.

I hope this is okay, but I've been responding to comments left on the posts within the comments. (Does that make sense?) Thank you for reading my blog!

DH has left the park...

The next installment of DH's Jane Austen diary:

I have left Mansfield Park. This was a long haul for me. But really I finished Persuasion in between and watched Northanger Abbey, so all was not wasted.

The theme again was love at first site for our heroine or main femme fatale. Also, there are the conflict between love and money and the abuse of the body and mind (drinking). We did see some conflicts between the father and the children.

The love Fannie had for Edmund was eternal and I think that’s what Austen uses for her conflict more than once in her books. Also the times show the shallowness of some of the characters. Position, money, and status are what life is all about.

As usual there is a lost soul or the character sent away for her betterment and to add flavor to the story. Again there are multiple daughters of marrying age and limited worthy husbands available. And of course, a familiar picture of brotherly conflict between Thomas and Edmund. Finally you have the Crawfords. From the beginning I felt they were con-artists.

In this story there is a stronger father figure but he is away on business which again causes issues and he is of the old school. The eldest son eventually does himself in, too much of a good thing.

I really don’t understand the mother’s deal; she seems always to be falling asleep and sometimes I think she is sickly. Also her constant companion Mrs. Norris and in the middle I felt Fanny was the person to fill that role in the future.

Then of course you have the sisters’ love life, falling in love with Crawford while engaged to someone else. It was apparent that eventually it would cause breakup and disgrace to the family.

In closing the themes of the first three books I read are the same, Love & Money. But as with all great stories these things lead to conflict and keep the reader going. Even in the deadliest spy novel or space alien book there is always some reason to keep the reader interested to the end. I think if Austen was alive today her writings would again reflect the themes she has masterfully created so long ago.

It's a mystery...

...exactly why I like The Mysteries of Udolpho. In general, I don't care for novels written before the nineteenth century, except for La Princess de Cleves. The characters seem more like types than like real people, and the language sometimes puts me off. Late the other night, I found my old college copy of Otranto/Udolpho/Northanger Abbey. Udolpho was so drastically abridged that it's no wonder I didn't like it. The plot probably didn't make much sense to me, since only about a dozen chapters were included out of how many? The novel is over 1,000 pages and has 4 volumes of I forget how many chapters each. That's a lot of story to leave out! The first six chapters have been meandering through the countryside, where St. Aubert, his daughter Emily, and their young friend Valancourt stop to admire the mountains and trees and crags and sweeping scenery. How characters react to the scenery is one way to tell the good guys from the bad. The good guys love trees. The bad guys want to cut them down. So far, except for St. Aubert sighing over the miniature of a woman Emily doesn't recognize, and mysterious music heard in the woods surrounding a castle St. Aubert and Emily have been warned not to approach, there hasn't been much mystery or horror. The story is taking it's time to unfold, and I think that's what I'm enjoying. A leisurely walk through the woods.

Some progress...

on the Everything Jane Austen Challenge.

I finished reading Persuasion, but not the French translation that I had challenged myself with, so this doesn't count as a finish. I'll go back to it in a week or two, but in the meantime I've started The Mysteries of Udolpho, which I want to read before Northanger Abbey. Way back when I was an undergraduate, I had to read The Mysteries of Udolpho, Northanger Abbey and The Castle of Otranto for an English lit class. All three were in one volume, and The Mysteries of Udolpho were abridged, and that is the extent of the impression they made on me. So it is much to my surprise that I'm kind of enjoying Mysteries. So far, I've only read the first four chapters, and mainly St. Aubert and his daughter Emily have been admiring the scenery while Valancourt has been admiring Emily. Mme St. Aubert died, and Monsieur doesn't seem long for this world, although he has an amazing amount of energy for hiking through the Pyrenees. I've left the three travelers spending the night at a monastery.

However, I can report one finish on my Challenge list! Last night DH and I watched Northanger Abbey on dvd. This version was from the 1980's, and is part of a Jane Austen boxed set. I picked it after finding out that Peter Firth stars in it as Henry Tilney. Peter Firth is best known in this household as Harry Pearce of "MI-5." It was nice to see him in a romantic role. Move over, Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Penry-Jones! It was even nicer to see that DH enjoyed the dvd, even though he swore that the only thing keeping him awake throughout was the cup of coffee he drank earlier that evening. Yeah, right! He also kept asking how similar the dvd is to the book, so maybe he wants to read it?

Stray Thought on Persuasion

It occurred to me that perhaps Capt. Wentworth confuses a strong mind with being headstrong. Louisa Musgrove is headstrong, which leads her to hurt her head. Luckily, she has a strong head and recovers. Anne has developed a strong mind, ie sure of her opinions, but is so quiet and unassuming that he doesn't see it right away.

Funny, the first time I read this novel, I didn't think much of it. I had even forgotten that I'd read it! But now, I love it!

To Be Read (and read again)

Have you ever had a nice, neat stack of books to be read...








and then gone off and read something completely different?



A recent trip to the library saw me leave with a copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and very happy I was to have read it. Just the thing for hot summer days. Now I want to go look for some other books I've read long ago, The Book of Ebeneezer Le Page, 84 Charing Cross Road, How to Make an American Quilt, and even Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Is it too late to add Lady Susan to the Jane Austen Challenge? (That is epistolary, isn't it?)

Actually, I'm being good and have started Persuasion over again as I went about a week without touching it. This time, I've noticed that Anne's first direct words in the novel are about the navy. She defends sailors as deserving whatever benefits they earn. And Mrs. Clay's first words are also about sailors. She mentions knowing firsthand not only how generous they are, but also how "neat and careful" they are. And just how does she know that, I wonder?

More of DH's Diary

DH has made some more progress on his Jane Austen Challenge. Here's the latest installment from his diary:

Journal Number 6
Well it’s been a crazy few weeks. I am reading Mansfield Park the old fashioned way and Pride and Prejudice on the computer thanks to Barnes and Noble EReader. It was part of the Software Download.
The reader itself has some flaws but it allows you to read the book on your PC, IPod or IPhone and more applications are coming soon. It was recently compared to the Amazon Kindle in the NY times. It was a great article.
Now back to Jane. I am stuck between books so it’s time to choose. I am 75 % done with Pride and Prejudice and just finished volume one of Mansfield Park.
After being on the second and third book of six, I have to get back on track.
The stories are interesting and the conflicts are also at times confusing when reading them together. I understand the stories were written in a short period of time so story lines can reoccur and the era the books were written are also reflected in the story lines.
The premise of all the stories I know is to marry off your daughters to the richest or most established and for the sons to marry within your station and for the better of your families.
The conflict of old money and new money comes into the story. The classes collide; the Admiralty and Professionals, which many times is the new money as the Industrial age started, and of course the royal class, the Sirs and Ladies of the estates.
This time is also the time of British expansion for needed materials for the production and the expansion of the British Empire. These all play into the story lines. As a student of business history this part is what gives me the most interest to keep reading. Nobody ever looks at novels as a reflection of economic times. Some day I think I will reread the books and look at them totally from a business prospective.
Lost in Austen or just on target!

DH goes to Mansfield Park

My DH has started Mansfield Park and has this to say so far:

Mansfield Park- I read the introduction in the edition I have and again asked why I am reading the book. Jane Austen is an interesting writer and I understand why people who read can be really into it.

Volume 1- pages 1-56 – I have now gotten the impression that some time in Miss Austen’s life she had seen families broken up, felt hardships and seen changes in people’s comfortable lifestyles.

The main character is Fanny and she has been sent to an aunt to have a better life, if you can say it’s better. I think being with your family is the best place to be. When you send someone off it causes conflicts but that’s what makes a good story.

This is my second Austen book and I am realizing the story lines are very period driven and similar. The key issues are so true to life and even in today’s climate they are still true.

Back to Mansfield Park, the characters are very interesting and do work into the plots in the other books, girls to marry, fortunes lost and won, and people dying and changing the story. Love won and lost. That’s about where I am right now.
Lost in Austen
BR

Paris and Murder

I've finished Murder in the Marais and have begun the second in the series, Murder in Belleville. As you might guess, each novel in the series is set in a different Parisian neighborhood. I've only been to Paris twice, very brief trips, but these novels really bring me back there. DH & I visited the Marais, but not Belleville. Maybe another time. (*sigh*) Murder in Belleville starts off literally with a bang, a car bomb which kills a mysterious young woman and almost kills Aimee Leduc. I got a kick out of it when Aimee notices the name "E. Grandet" on a doorbell, and later on finds out that the "E" stands for Eugenie. Eugenie Grandet. Really? Do you think that could be an alias?

My stitching has slowed to a crawl. This happens sometimes, but hopefully it will pass and I'll pull out a project.

I'm still listening to Persuasion in French. Actually, I've started it in English as well. This book is so delightful, so subtle and yet so full of emotions. This time around, I was struck by Anne's thoughts after Louisa hits her head. Of course, Anne is concerned about her, but part of her is thinking about Wentworth and how he said that he wanted a woman who knew her mind and who couldn't be easily persuaded out of something. Anne thinks to herself that here is an instance where being strong minded wasn't so good. It's just a small moment in the novel, easily overlooked, but this time I noticed it.

It doesn't seem fair but...

DH has finished Persuasion! Below are his thoughts (in two parts, as I got a little slow in posting):

JANE AUSTEN
MY DIARY
7/13/09
Here we go again Chapters 6-12. The Admiral is another interesting character and I truly see him as a Harry Mudd type from “Star Trek: The Original Series.” He is always looking to make things his way and help people have a better life and help in some way.
Today I did some internet work and found some stuff that made some of the things make a little bit of sense.
I am getting through the book slowly and finally figuring out some things. In reality they are on a different reality plane. The characters seem very materialistic and for that time period they seem not what I expected but add flare to the story line.
In chapter 12 I am reading about the trip in November to Lyme and how they were interacting with each other. I see how the captains interact with the women in story and sometimes it looks like a college party.
I am trying to look at this with a clear mind but every time I pick it up I can’t help but think about what would happen if it was present time. Boy would this story rock.
As in present time money is everything and status is so important and from what I see this is a common thread between the stories. There is the conflict between planned marriages and courtships for money versus love.
Still Lost in Austen
BR

JANE AUSTEN
MY DIARY
7/14/09
Day 4
It’s done - one down and five to go. After rereading chapters one and two and twelve to fifteen I finished Persuasion today around 1 pm.
I realized a lot of things about classics. If you don’t know the style you can get pretty lost. I think there should be a character profile before you start the book. I would even say there should be a guide for the DH so that sharing this with your significant other would be easier.
The final Persuasion log entry - hopefully I won’t destroy this great work of literature.
Why did Jane make so many different names and issues? I got lost in the Elliotts from the get go. After about 15 chapters and some research I figured out Mr. Elliott was a different person from Sir Elliott, his life’s goal was to get his title that was from what I get was his birthright. It would be easier if the daughters were all married. This would ensure the best chance for him to inherit some type of estate with a title down the road. The whole book is about status and future status and who has it from birth and who has it now. The captains became rich by taking ships but then you have the old money and the new money so that made it interesting.
My final thoughts - if the tide was turning and Jane had written this in this century, who would the characters be? Would they be on TV Shows like Dallas, Knott’s Landing , Falcon Crest, and Dynasty?
Haven’t decided what to read next but will be back soon.
Still lost but feeling better about it.
BR
I’m back, I have decided to read Mansfield Park basically because I haven’t seen any movie or BBC version so it will allow me to have an almost clear head to start it. It will be a little slower to read since I have a lot to read at work so I won’t be able to get that far for a few days.
Can’t wait to get started!
BR

First Steps on the Austen Challenge

My DH is getting ahead of me in this challenge, but I've started the first of my items. I've listened and read along the first three chapters of Persuasion in French. (One of my lifelong ambitions is to be fluent in French, and it may well take a lifetime to achieve it!) DH has asked me to post the first of his Austen diary, so if you scroll down, you'll be able to read his thoughts on Persuasion.

In the meantime, I'm reading the fifth and final volume of Christian Jacq's series of novels about Ramses the Great. They have been very entertaining, although I imagine that they're more fiction than history. I don't mind that in this case because so little is known about Ramses. I keep in mind that these are fun novels about a great pharoah. After I'm done with it, I'll start Persuasion in English.


I'd also like to thank Stephanie and Devon for reading my blog and leaving comments!