Austen in August: First Thoughts

I thought it would be love at first sight. It wasn't it.

Jane Austen is everything contemporary America is not. Jane Austen has no real plot points; no buildings explode, and no diabolical schemes to control the world appear in her stories. But Jane Austen isn't wispy either, no light read, no little summer story, not just a bit of romantic fluff.

Jane Austen is completely unexpected. A Jane Austen book is a solid two hundred pages of people in beautiful but uncomfortable clothing, standing around in lovely but uncomfortable homes, talking together, beautifully but uncomfortably.

I thought about turning my copy of Persuasion back into the library. I resisted.

I stuck with Jane.

Jane grew on me.

Jane Austen is clever and intricate; it helps to have an annotated edition of your Austen and to watch the four hour BBC movie of the book and a Jane Austen reference book or two. Jane Austen is subtle; I've missed subtle. Jane Austen builds, rewarding patience and persistence and all those wonderful old-fashioned virtues of the past, as it culminates in a just and genuine ending.

I've been reading Jane Austen for ten days now. I'm reading Carol Shields' bio of Jane as well. And, just for fun, I'm browsing through Jane Austen for Dummies.

I finished Persuasion. I will go on to read all six of Jane's novels. I am completely surprised to discover that I have grown to respect her and admire Jane Austen. So I urge you to persist. Have patience. Read Jane Austen. We need Jane Austen in our world today, I think.

What do you think about Jane Austen? 

Do you have any tips to offer? Suggestions? 

Are you doing Austen in August? 

Which novels of Austen's have you read?

Austen in August is a celebration of all things Jane Austen, featuring reviews, discussions, vlogs, giveaways, interviews and more. This event runs all of the month of August. Faith Hope and Cherrytea has also created an Austen in August Instagram challenge for the month of August.  To find out more about the Austen in August Instagram challenge, visit Faith Hope and Cherrytea. To find out more about Austen in August, visit The Book Rat.

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've 
wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound
 journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens 
at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their 
own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, 
mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” 
book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

We Visit Pakistan

One of the things I loved to do in my school library was to visit other countries. One of the last places we visited last school year was Pakistan. 

One of the parents at my school was born in Pakistan and shared some clothing, some household items, and even some food from Pakistan with the children in my school

Afterward, of course, I read them stories set in Pakistan: Four Feet, Two Sandals, a poignant story of two refugee girls who share a pair of sandals; and For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai's Story, a children's biography of a girl in Pakistan who dared to speak up for the right for girls to get an education.

We loved visiting Pakistan.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

If You Mashed Together Some of Your Favorite Books...

Let's do this for fun, shall we?

I have 106 books on my Must-Read list at Goodreads. I'll assign a number to each title. Let me use the Random Number Service to choose five sets of two numbers and let's see what books we can mash up.

Here goes the spin....

#71 and #103: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Franz Kafka's The Castle

Plot of ZAMM: The book is the author's fictionalized autobiography of a 17-day journey he made on a motorcycle from Minnesota to Northern California along with his son Chris. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions.

Plot of Kafka's The Castle: A protagonist known only as K. arrives in a village and struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities who govern it from a castle. 

Mashed-up Plot:  A man known only as K and his son ride on a motorcycle from Minnesota to a village in Northern California, with numerous philosophical discussions along the way, and struggle to gain access to the mysterious authorities who govern the village from a castle.

In Short: Mysterious Castle + Philosophical Discussions + Motorcycle Ride

#19 and #15: For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Wrinkle in Time

Plot of For Whom the Bell Tolls: It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia.

Plot of A Wrinkle in Time: Thirteen-year-old Meg Murray travels with three supernatural beings, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, across time and space to a dark planet to rescue her father who is captive there.

Mashed-up Plot: Thirteen-year-old Meg Murray and a young American man, Robert Jordan, travel with three supernatural beings, across time and space to a dark planet in order to blow up a bridge to rescue Meg's father who is held captive during the Spanish Civil War.

In Short: Witches + Bombs + Bridge + Dark Planet + Spanish Civil War

#86 and #71: Old Yeller and Millions of Cats

Plot of Old Yeller: The Coates family reluctantly takes in a stray old yellow dog who soon proves his worth by rescuing family members from a bear, a bunch of wild hogs, and a wolf.

Plot of Millions of Cats: An elderly couple are lonely, so the husband wanders far from home and finds a hillside covered with "millions and billions and trillions of cats." The cats follow him home.

Mashed-up Plot: It is pretty clear what will happen when an old yellow dog, who easily dispensed with a bear, a bunch of wild hogs, and a wolf, meets up with millions and billions and trillions of cats.

In Short: Dog + Millions of Cats

#76 and #102: Frankenstein and The Three Musketeers

Plot of Frankenstein: Frankenstein is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque but sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.

Plot of Three Musketeers: It recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard and befriends the three most formidable musketeers of the age—Athos, Porthos and Aramis.

Mashed-up Plot: A young man named d'Artagnan and the three most formidable musketeers of the age---Athos, Porthos, and Aramis---are joined in their journey to Paris by a grotesque but sapient creature from in an unorthodox scientific experiment.

In Short: Musketeers + Monster + Journey to Paris

#104 and #25: Don Quixote and How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Plot of Don Quixote: The story follows the adventures of a noble named Alonso Quixano who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Plot of How the Grinch Stole Christmas:  It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who attempts to put an end to Christmas by stealing Christmas-themed items from the homes of the nearby town Whoville on Christmas Eve. Despite his efforts, Whoville's inhabitants still celebrate the holiday, so the Grinch returns everything that he stole and is the guest of honor at the Whos' Christmas dinner.

Mashed-up Plot: A noble named Don Quixote and a grouchy, solitary creature named the Grinch set out together to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, bring justice to the world by stealing all the Christmas-themed items from the homes of the nearby town of Whoville on Christmas Eve.

In Short: Nobleman + Grinch + Stealing 

What do you think? Would you read any of these mash-ups?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

It's August, and It's Time for a Month of Jane Austen

AUSTEN IN AUGUST


Paris in July was a glorious month of reading and writing and cooking. Where shall I go next?

Sometimes life is delightfully serendipitous. I've just become one of the four new moderators of The Classics Club. My face-to-face book club is reading Persuasion this August. And I've just discovered a wonderful event called Austen in August.

I believe I shall join in.

Here's what my library had on Jane:

Ordinary Extraordinary Jane Austen by Deborah Hopkinson (picture book biography)

Jane Austen for Dummies

Searching for Jane Austen by Emily Auerbach

What Matters in Jane Austen? Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved by John Mullan

Student Companion to Jane Austen by Debra Teachman

Readings on Jane Austen

Jane Austen (Penguin Lives) by Carol Shields

A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things that Matter 

The Annotated Persuasion

Austen in August is a celebration of all things Jane Austen, featuring reviews, discussions, vlogs, giveaways, interviews and more. This event runs all of the month of August. Faith Hope and Cherrytea has also created an Austen in August Instagram challenge for the month of August.  To find out more about the Austen in August Instagram challenge, visit Faith Hope and Cherrytea. To find out more about Austen in August, visit The Book Rat.

I'm looking forward to a month of Jane.

 Have you read a lot of Jane Austen?
Will you be joining in this month for Austen in August?
How will you participate?

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've 
wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound
 journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens 
at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their 
own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, 
mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” 
book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Muffins and Biscuits

I love making breads. 

I've always been good at making biscuits. I usually use my Grandma Ashley's biscuit recipe. I've even dared, in the past, to put my Grandma Ashley's biscuit recipe up against other people's biscuits (see my post from September of 2012, The Pioneer Woman vs. Grandma).

I was happy to snag a copy of Heidi Gibson's Muffins and Biscuits from Chronicle Books at last year's BookExpo in New York City. This week, I finally got a chance to try the recipe I've always wanted to try: Ultra-Flaky Biscuits.

The result? Amazing flavor. Light buttery layers. The best biscuits I've ever tasted.

Here's the recipe. 

ULTRA-FLAKY BISCUITS

14 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 3/4 cups flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. salt

1 egg

3/4 c. buttermilk

1. In a large bowl, toss the butter with 1 Tbsp. flour until evenly coated. Put in a small bowl and place in freezer for about 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. In the same large bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk.

3. Remove the butter from the freezer, add it to the flour mixture, and toss gently with a wooden spoon until the butter is evenly distributed. Cut the butter into the flour with a knife until marble-size chunks of butter are visible.

4. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and toss gently until the dough just starts to clump together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flour to fully hydrate. 

5. Dust the countertop with flour. Scrape out the dough from the bowl. Coat your hands with flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inches thick, with the long side about twice as long as the short side. Starting at one of the short ends, carefully fold the dough into thirds. Turn the dough so the open end is facing you, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into another 1/2 inch thick rectangle and fold into thirds like the first time. Repeat the turning, rolling, and folding two more times. Wrap in plastic and return to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. Use the biscuit cutter dipped in flour between each cut and press straight down without twisting and cut out as many biscuits as possible. Gather the scraps, press them together, and preroll to cut as many additional biscuits as possible. (The biscuits from the second set may not be as pretty as the first, but they will be just as delicious.) 

8. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet. Bake until puffed and golden brown, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, 12 to 15 minutes.

I love all the additional helpful comments the author includes in the recipe. If you are a baker, you really should get the book.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Hyped Books I've Never Read (and Probably Never Will Read!)

Here are six overhyped books I've never read 
(and probably never will read):

L to R: Three Twilight books; 

DaVinci Code; Fifty Shades; The Shack.

And just so you don't think I'm ridiculously negative,
here are some overhyped books that, 
in my very humble opinion, are worth the read:

Overhyped Books	Read?	Worth Reading?
Harry Potter	Yes	Yes
The Notebook	Yes	Yes
Hunger Games	Yes	Yes
Eat, Pray, Love	Yes	Yes
The Fault is in Our Stars	Yes	Yes

Do you read books that are heavily hyped? 

Are you like me and often feel disappointed by overly hyped books?

Are there any of the six books I listed at the top of the post that I should read? All of the six are listed in PBS' Great American Read, so I am tempted.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish, but is now being hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Au Revoir, Paris: I Say Goodbye to Paris

I say goodbye to Paris, but I will be back, I know.

What a lovely month it was!

I arrive in Paris.

I go to Mass at Notre Dame.

I watch movies and tv shows set in Paris.

I share short books about Paris.

I bake French bread.

I share books that take me into the world of Paris.

I eat delicious French treats at Macaron by Patisse.

I visit my favorite garden in Paris.

I have a breakfast picnic at the Eiffel Tower.

I read and review 28 books set in Paris.

Did you make it to Paris in July? I hope you did.

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've 
wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound
 journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens 
at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their 
own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, 
mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” 
book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Please join the weekly meme at An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? 

Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. 

We can take it.

Il est Juillet et il est temps pour le merveilleux Paris in July hosted by Thyme for Tea! (*It is July and it is time for the wonderful Paris in July!)

Let's Spin the Wheel and See What We Read in August

It's time for another Classics Club Spin!

But wait. What, you might ask, is the Classics Club?

From the blog:

• Choose 50+ classics you would like to read.
• List them at your blog.
• Choose a reading completion goal date up to five years in the future and note that date on your classics list of 50+ titles.
• E-mail the moderators of this blog (theclassicsclubblog@gmail.com) with your list link and information and it will be posted on the Members Page.
• Write about each title on your list as you finish reading it, and link it to your main list.
• When you’ve written about every single title, let the Club know, and your name will be posted on the Wall of Honor.

If you haven't done this, do this first. Then you can get going with your reading by joining in for our Classics Club Spin.

What is the Classics Club Spin? Again, from the blog:

• Go to your blog.
• Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
• Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before Wednesday 1st August.
• We’ll announce a number from 1-20. 
• Read that book by 31st August.

Here is my list:

1. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

2. Emma by Jane Austen

3. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

4. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

5. Mythology by Edith Hamilton

6. One Thousand and One Arabian Nights

7. The Wonderful "O" by James Thurber

8. Dona Barbara by Romulo Gallegos

9. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

10. Selected Stories by O. Henry

11. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

12. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

13. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

14. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

15. Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

16. The Doll's House by Rumer Godden

17. White Fang by Jack London

18. At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

19. The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

20. The Black Corsair by Emilio Salgari

Rationale: August is Austen in August, and I will definitely be reading Persuasion in August in honor of that event. Maybe I might squeeze in a little more Austen (Northanger Abbey; Emma; Mansfield Park). I've also included several titles from my list that are also on PBS' Great American Read list (Dona Barbara; Intuitionist). It would be nice to read them before the voting is tallied this fall. I'm trying to read all 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. Several books on my list are from this list (Arabian Nights; Little Princess; King Arthur; White Fang: North Wind; Black Corsair).

Are you a Classic Clubber? Have you made your list? Leave a link in the comments if you have so I can see what you are picking.

Now let's see what book the spinner chooses for me to read in August....

Update:  The wheel chose book #9, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett!

Look at the beautiful copy I have to read, part of the Puffin in Bloom Collection! So happy!

Update: I've finished The Little Princess. Five stars. Here's my review:

Sara Crewe is beautiful and clever and rich and has everything she could possibly want when she arrives at Miss Minchin's Boarding School in England. She has one thing that sets her apart from the other girls, though, and that is that Sara uses her imagination to enhance her life. Despite her riches and beauty and cleverness, she is kind to everyone, even those who are cruel to her and even those who are poor.

And then she learns that her father has died and that all her riches are gone. Miss Minchin banishes Sara to the attic and makes Sara a servant in the house.

But it changes nothing in Sara. She continues to be kind to others and to take refuge in her imagination.

A Little Princess is an inspiring story of a girl with deep reserves of character and imagination, who manages to do the right thing even when her entire life falls apart. I'm so glad I finally read this book and I hope you will read it, too.