Ramblings of a Jane Austen Addict
Hello everyone! I am so happy to be apart of such a wonderful community. My name is Shannon and I am a lover of all things Austen. I am so in love with Pride and Prejudice that two of my cats are named Mr. Darcyand Colonel Fitzwilliam. It is kind of funny because their personalities match their literary counterparts. I also drive my husband nuts with my repeated watching of the very extensive catalog of Jane Austen inspired films. He also finds my ebook collection quite funny to browse through since 90% of the books have the word Darcy in the title. So needless to say it is a pleasure to meet others who share my passion for all things Austen even if it is just a virtual meeting. 🙂
My favorite Austen titles are Pride and Prejudice (shocking I know) and Persuasion. Emma comes in at a close third. I have numerous favorite Austenesque novels and authors but the books from Wytherngate Pressare some of my favorites. If I had to pick one it would have to be the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series. I have a physical book set, the ebook set and the audiobook and have read/listened to it more times than I can count. I love Pride and Prejudice but P&P from Darcy’s point of view is more romantic to me since Darcy was in love with Elizabeth a lot sooner than she was with him. I also love the original characters that she came up with. In fact her book contains my two absolute favorite original Austenesque characters; Fletcher (Darcy’s valet) and Lord Brougham (his university friend). I am just dying for a sequel about Dy and Georgiana. Pamela Aidan are you reading this? Please?
I love Austenesque novels because they allow me to relive the stories I love so much in new and exciting ways. Austenesque authors have so much creativity and they imagine and flesh out scenarios that I wouldn’t even have thought of. They have become such a regular part of my life now that I have decided to follow in Meredith’s footsteps and create my own Austenesque blog.
My most recent Austenesque novel was My Dear Sophy by Kimberly Truesdale, which was short but oh so romantic. I can’t wait for her next book in the series. I am also looking forward to starting my next book Mr. Darcy’s Refuge by Abigail Reynolds. It seems like a really original variation and so far I have loved her other ones!
Here is a pic of my small collection of physical books as well as a snapshot of my ebooks. I just recently counted and I have 68 on there. I didn’t realize it was so many!!!
I can’t wait to read about everybody else as well as all the other wonderful things this extravaganza holds for us! Special thanks to the extravaganza organizers! You guys are awesome!
Nice to meet you, Shannon. 68 Austenesque novels, wow, that’s impressive! My Austen related shelf on my nook needs some beefing up, I think 🙂
Heather M.
hmoll(at)nycap(dot)rr(dot)com
Nice to meet you. I am amazed at your collection. You’ve given me some interesting titles to pursue also.Thank you.
Nice to meet you Shannon! Lots more titles to add to my TBR!
@samjaymc
Wow, I love your collection! That’s awesome! and thanks for the recommendations. 🙂
araminta18 at gmail dot com
Hi Shannon. It is nice to meet others who share our love of all things Austen. I, too, had no idea that I had or had read so many Austenesque books until Meredith asked how many we had read. Going through my Goodreads and looking at my physical book case proved that I had read over 50 as well!
oreannie at yahoo . com
Hi Shannon! What a great collection you have. Pamela Aiden’s trilogy were some of the first Austenesque I read. I found a stray kitten last summer and wanted to name him Colonel Fitzwilliam so badly but since I knew I couldn’t keep him and didn’t want to get too attatched, I just called him “Sir”. Lol
Thanks for sharing, and now I have a new Austenesque blog to add to my list.
Monica
@jaffobsession
Hi Shannon!
I love that you cats are calles Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam. WOnderful!! 😀 And even matching personalities.
I´m looking forward to start reading your blog! Jakki and Meredith are the reason I have been thinking about book-blogging too, some day!
kewinkler at gmail dot com
@kaewink
Hi Shannon! It’s nice to meet you. I went over to your blog, it’s very nice! I didn’t find any follow buttons. I would love to follow your site.
Hello Shannon !!
thank you for sharing your love for jane austen’s work. indeed so many e-books must drive nuts ;)you also highlied Pamela Aidan’s trilogy, I’m intesrested by the books now, I just looked on google for that 🙂
I have the same order for jane austen’s book but ” Emma” comes after” sense and sensibility”..colonel brandon *__*.
I also have more e-books that physical, because being shipped in France is hard !!
during rainy days you must be busy !!
jandia4junpyo[at]yahoo(dot)fr
I love your cats names..My siamese’ are Darcy and Lizzy…
My three most favorite (though I love them all) Austen novels are Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion.
I own about 56 at last count while I have only 3 e-books…I’m an old-school kind of girl…
Well you are definitely in good company. I have a confused DH too, but you’ve one upped me by naming your cats after characters. Hmmm- I’ll have to consider that if for no other reason than to get that strange confused expression on my DH’s face.
Thanks for sharing!
Oh, forgot my contact info.
Sophia
sophiarose1816(at)gmail(dot)com
Hi Shannon!
You have so many e-books! I also have the same favourites amongst Jane Austen’s books (P&P, Per and then Emma). I have read Pamela Aiden’s series and like you said, it was so adorable watching Darcy fall in love with Elizabeth first.
RedRose15
twitter: rosefire15
Hi Shannon! Nice to meet you. I too love Pamela Aidan’s Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series. 68 eBooks in you Nook – that is a lot. I prefer to read paperback copies but since my bookshelves have limited space left, I started reading eBooks from my iPod touch or visit the bookstore and read there.
evangelineace2020[at]yahoo[dot]com
Thanks for being a part of this – it’s fun to see how our love of Austen novels bring us together!
Hi Shannon. So fun to meet more Austen obsessed fans! I love your cats names. Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of my favorite characters! I love your collection. I have a bookshelf and kindle full of books. I am afraid to count them.lol Thank you for sharing a little about yourself!
cherringtonmb at sbcglobal dot net
My husband is constantly amazed that I have more than one version of P&P, Persuasion, Emma and Sense and Sensibility. They just don’t get it, do they?! I enjoyed your delightful post.
elaine489(at)gmail(dot)com
Very nice to meet you, Shannon!! I love that your favorite is P&P… that’s also my very-most FAV! I have no idea HOW MANY P&P variations I have, but I know it’s a lot – my grown daughter asked me one day when she was in my “office” if I “have enough books about Mr. Darcy”… and of course, the answer was “NO”! LOL
Valerie R.
txreyn5663 (at) earthlink (dot) net
hi Shannon! I, too, am hoping for a continuation of Georgiana and Lord Brougham. I even emailed Pamela through Amazon hoping to encourage her to do so. Hopefully both our wishes will come true!
Oh I hope so! Maybe I should do that too 🙂
I hadn’t heard of the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series. How did I miss them? I guess I know what I am going to be getting soon. 🙂
drcopeland(at)hotmail(dot)com
I have read so many books with Darcy in the title, I get them confused! I will have to take a look and see if I have already ready the Gentleman series and if not, I wil read them now!
Thanks for sharing your story!
Joy
Hi Candy! Thanks for visiting! I still have to fix up the design and add things like a follow button 🙂 I hope to have it finished soon!
Lol! It was hard to get him to go along with naming the cats after P&P characters. He really liked Fitz though. He loves to read so I am hoping one day to get him to read a JA novel 🙂 One day!
Thank you everyone for reading my post! It was so nice meeting all of you!!
Nice to meet you, Shannon! You have impressive collection of Austenesque books and even your own Mr.Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam!:) Will you share their photos on your blog someday? We could even have guess-who game:)
oloore (at) gmail (dot) com
Hi Shannon, I enjoyed your post! Every time I watch a JA movie, Hubs will say “didn’t we just see this?” When I tell him its another version, he just rolls his eyes! Recently came up in conversation that he has NOT read JA!! I’m shocked and now determined that he will before the year is out!
Lovely post, Shannon. It is so nice to meet you! I just finished the first book in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series and I really enjoyed it! I’m excited to start the second one. Congratulations on starting your own blog. I will definitely be stopping by!!=)
kellik115(at)yahoo(dot)com
Nice collection of ebooks and physical books you have there! I’m jealous about your audios – I listen to cds on my commute and am always looking for a good story. Unfortunately, my library doesn’t seem to carry alot of Austenesque books 🙁
I have cats named after literary persons, too. Unfortunately it isn’t Jane Austen though. (Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin, Pimpernel, Smeagol, Bilbo, Rosie, and non-Hobbits Gilbert, Lucky, Jack and Chief.)
I have cats, too, but they’re not named after literary characters. My favorite publisher of Austenesque novels is Sourcebooks. I don’t think I’ve heard of Wytherngate Press. I haven’t heard any Austen sequels on audio book. It’s fun to look at others’ bookshelves (and e-readers). I’ve read two that are on your Nook: Kara Louise’s Only Mr. Darcy Will Do and Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds. They’re both good books. I own the first one and got the other through an interlibrary loan.
All my books are print. I have about 28 Austenesque titles, not counting a few mysteries by Carrie Bebris and Stephanie Barron and All Roads Lead to Austen. I don’t own an e-reader, but if I did I’d probably only use it for free books and books that I won; I like physical books and their covers and sometimes acquire used books from swapping online.
For those of you wanting to get your husband to read Austen, an Austen sequel might be easier reading than the original novels. Maybe they’d be interested in a paranormal one.
spookycat72(at)gmail(dot)com
Great Shannon. Great info about you. Loved your pics of books. Those cats sound interesting.
Nice to meet you Shannon, and I found your story delightful! Isn’t it great to find other people with this passion! At first, I thought I must be ‘a little weird’ to have such an obsession with all things Austen so was much relieved to discover I was not ‘alone in the world’! Pride and Prejudice is my favorite with Persuasion second.
Thanks again for sharing. I too, enjoyed Pamela Aidan’s series. I wish she would write more. (I also liked the two characters that you mentioned!) When you get a chance, do read Mr. Darcy’s Refuge by Abigail. It is a great book. I have only read two other of her books but found this one to be the best!
Nice to meet you! I am simply limp with envy over your Austenesque collection. I only have 40-something. 😉
liedermadchen(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thanks for sharing, I love P&P too. That’s cute that you named your cats after Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
crystal_dark[at]att[dot]net
Your collection is huge! I only own about a dozen or two. I don’t have too many yet but my collection is slowly growing.
castlefan[at]att[dot]net