As you read this message, dear readers, I shall be in the midst of my very first gaming convention. Mr. Bingley is a fan of Minecraft and we are presently attending Minecon this year in Orlando, Florida!
For those of you who have never heard of Minecraft, it is a PC (and now xbox) game where players can create, build, explore, and try to survive. It has only been around for two years and has spawned millions of videos on youtube (some of which are Mr. Bingley’s!) Mr. Bingley produces music, writes musical parodies, and runs a youtube channel, so you can say Minecraft has become big part of his life these last two years.
And just as my darling Mr. Bingley has taken interest in my love for Jane Austen (and has become interested in it himself thanks to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries!), I have taken an interest in and play Minecraft with him! But I must admit, I’m quite girlie when I play – my favorite part of the game is all the domestic chores – taking care of farm animals and growing our food! 😛 )
I’m happy to travel with my husband as he attends these conventions because we make little vacations out of them! We plan to visit some theme parks on our trip this weekend (in fact…we might be on a theme park ride as you are reading this right now! 😉 )
Mr. Bingley’s work with Minecraft has brought us to Seattle and now Orlando…wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could bring us to England next…
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Speaking of England and Jane Austen…Here is what’s on this month’s
Austenesque Agenda:
~ TO REVIEW ~
~ TO READ AND REVIEW ~
~ TO READ (if time) ~
(Not sure if I’ll be getting to any of these this month, but a girl can dream, can’t she?)
~ FEATURED AUTHORS VISITING THIS MONTH ~
J. Marie Croft – November 6th
Jane Odiwe – November 20th
…and possibly a few more!
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So much to look forward to this November!
I’m curious to know, what are your reading plans this month?
Ooh, I hope you’re having a lovely time! My husband sometimes plays Minecraft, it’s hugely popular, isn’t it, although I don’t quite get why myself. It’s a fantastic idea to make a little holiday out of it. My hubby went to a games convention in Paris a few years ago but I couldn’t tag along as our son was very young at the time and I didn’t want to leave him, so he went to one of the most romantic cities in the world without me!
You are so good, planning your reading this far in advance. I have literally hundreds of books waiting for me, and I can’t choose one to start next, gaaaah! I think I will follow your example and plan my month out rather than choose the next read when I finish a book. Have fun on your break! 🙂
Hi Ceri! It is amazing how big Minecraft is considering how simple the design and game play is – and the fact that it is only around 3 years old! LOL! Minecon was in Paris last year and because the trip would have been very costly if I came, so he didn’t bring me to that one. I can easily commiserate with you about husbands going to such a romantic city without their wives!
I’d start to feel overwhelmed if I didn’t plan what I wanted/needed to read each month in advance. I love making schedules and to-do lists, it helps me stay organized. 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful trip! It is great that you can support each other with your “hobbies.”
I am reading Longbourn right now and LOVE IT! I highly recommend it and will look forward to reading your review.
Enjoy your time away!
Since both Mr. Bingley and I have something we are extremely passionate about, I think it makes us very understanding of each other. We get each other’s obsessions and are never trying to get the other to quit.
So glad to hear you are enjoying Longbourn! I’m excited to read P&P from this very unique perspective!
Meredith, I hope you and your Mr. Bingley are having ‘fun and games’ in Orlando; and I look forward to a bit of the same here on Wednesday. 😉
Thank you, Joanne! We had a blast! Looking forward to our fun together here!!
I’ve been enjoying your pictures on FB of your trip. Looks fun! I confess my knowledge of that style of gaming is from the way distant past of Nintendo.
You’ve got some good books on your list for this month. I too will be reading Holidays at Pemberley, but also Fall Into You, and Almost Persuaded.
Have fun for the rest of your trip.
Thank you, Sophia! It was so exciting to be a part of this trip. Mr. Bingley has been to two conventions without me, I loved getting to see what it is all about and meet all his friends! Oh…but if it wasn’t for Mr. Bingley, I’d probably have no clue what Minecraft is! 😉
I look forward to sharing thoughts with you about Holidays at Pemberley! 🙂
Hey Meredith! Yep, my kids are into Minecraft too! One has a YouTube channel and posts Minecraft and Sims videos. She was following the convention from home over the weekend.
I have read The Silent Governess and just finished Project Darcy. I enjoyed both of them! I just started The Subsequent Proposal. I think I’ll be reading Against His Will by Nancy Kelley next. 🙂
Have a safe trip back!
That’s awesome, Candy! I’m amazed with how big Minecraft is on Youtube! That’s pretty cool that your kids know how to make their own recordings and videos – I would definitely need my husband to show me how to do that!
Looking forward to sharing thoughts with you about the novels we both have read! I should have my review for The Silent Governess up on Friday and maybe one for Steampunk Darcy on Monday (didn’t get as much reading done as I was expecting to on this trip!)
¡Hola Meredith!
I hope you and Mr Bingley enjoy a lot in Orlando with Minecraft!
Speaking of books and your agenda, well, I´m looking forward to reading your review of “Steampunk Darcy”, and, seeing the others books I´ve realised you have in your list “Longbourn” (don´t worry if you don´t have time to read it this month!) and I saw this book a few weeks ago in a bookshop, I read the cover and it looks good 😉 it seems “P&P” from the point of view of maids and butlers, wouldn´t it be wonderful a mix of “P&P” and “Downton Abbey” with ladies, gentlemen, maids and butlers all connected?:)
Hi Teresa! Yes, we had a such an incredible time in Orlando! It was a lot of fun to be around so many Minecraft fans, meet Mr. Bingley’s friends, and have a mini-vacation from our normal lives. I enjoyed it a lot! I’m almost done with Steampunk Darcy – I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you all soon! And yes, I think I am very intrigued to read Longbourn because it does sound like it has a very Downton Abbey kind of vibe to it! Should be fun! 🙂
I have never heard of Minecraft before, but it looks like a such a fun weekend! It’s so weird that the doll, which looks like it’s made of simple boxes, really does look like you! That’s sweet that you and your husband went together. Just curious, has he read Pride and Prejudice?
Ah, another month where Meredith tells me all the awesome JAFF books coming out that I’ll never find the time to read. Thank goodness you do reviews, too, or I’d never know what to jump on first. I plan on reading Longbourn this month, or maybe next month. It’ll be done by the end of the year, I promise 🙂 Other than that, who knows!
Thanks, Meredith!
Hi Heather! Yes, all of Minecraft is made of blocks – even the animals and people. The doll or my “avatar” was made by one of my husband’s friends who used the image of me that I use on my blog and on twitter. I thought it came out pretty accurate!
LOL! I wasn’t intending to list all the upcoming or newly released novels in this month’s agenda but I guess I kinda did. There is a lot going on these last couple of months! Perfect for Christmas wishlists! 🙂 I’m like you, Heather, I plan to read Longbourn either this month or next month! I look forward to comparing thoughts with you.
I hadn’t heard of it before until I visited with you in Seattle. Then this past week we visited with the kids in Idaho and sure enough they play it and think it’s amazing. Yay. I’m so glad you got another trip! I was tasked with asking you something about it from a 6 year old but I can’t recall what it was at the moment.
That’s so cool that your grandkids know MInecraft! How nice that you got to visit with them. Hope you are doing well! 🙂 let me know if you remember the question!