Happy 2014 dear friends! I hope you enjoyed a lovely and restful holiday season and that your 2014 is off to a healthy and happy start! Mr. Bingley and I enjoyed a little bit of a getaway, some quality time with our family and friends, and had some extra time to tackle some projects around the house! Our little getaway was to NYC for 2 days – Mr. Bingley has never seen NYC during the Christmas and last time we were there I was terribly ill, so this trip was kind of a redo for us!
We saw the tree in 60 degree weather!
Discovered some AMAZING Colombian and Italian restaurants!
Found some new haunts for both of us to enjoy!
And the main attraction – Phantom of the Opera – was completely spectacular!!! Both Mr. Bingley and I had the best time seeing this musical live!
We hope you found lots to enjoy over your holiday break! Did any new books find their way under your Christmas tree? Have you gotten a good start on your reading for 2014?
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Speaking of books and reading…Here is what’s on this month’s
Austenesque Agenda:
~ TO REVIEW ~
~ TO READ AND REVIEW ~
~ FEATURED AUTHORS VISITING THIS MONTH ~
Maria Grace – January 6th
C. P. Odom – January 13th
L. L. Diamond – January 20th
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Looking forward to a busy month!
What are your plans for this month?
Wow your January looks very interesting! I got the annotated P&P by Spacks for Christmas and am looking forward to reading it. I have read Rain and Retribution so look forward to reading your review. Oh consequences looks good, as I have read A most civil proposal and did not realise it was a male author until months later, I see it is not on kindle so look forward to reading your review if you do one. I am reading Loving Mr Darcy at the moment and am writing my review for the BBC drama Death comes to Pemberley which I watched over Christmas. Happy reading!
This is my first time reading an annotated edition of P&P and I love it! Can’t wait to read more! I hope to read Consquences too, the plot really intrigues me. 🙂 I look forward to checking out your reviews, Tamara! Thank you for stopping by!
NYC in 60 degree weather at Christmas time AND broadway? Life’s tough, Meredith; I don’t know how you get by 🙂
Your reading schedule looks busy as always and, as usual, it will put my reading list to shame. I’m looking forward to a bunch of your reviews as I see Meryton Press is nicely represented. As for me this month: read Northanger Abbey. Got my Shapard annotated version for Christmas so I’m ready to appreciate all the Gothic parody to its fullest.
Happy New Year!
LOL! We got pretty lucky! Although one out of our three days in NYC was a very rainy day and we got ourselves good and wet. 😉 It is a busy schedule, I definitely need to work on find more time to read! LOL!
Yes, MP has been cranking out all these new releases lately and I need to catch up! What a lovely Christmas present, I think that sounds like a wonderful read, enjoy!
I have never been to NYC, but I think food and plays would be high on my list too. Looks like you had a good time.
Nice line up for the month.
My book pressies were all from my fav historical mystery series, but I did get a few Austenesque movies that I’ve never seen (Bollywood version of S&S and Prada to Nada a contemporary S&S version). Looking forward to them.
LOL! I think my husband and I might be turning into foodies – finding awesome restaurants in NYC was definitely a highlight of our trip! 😉
How lovely that you got lots of book presents and some nice additions to your Austenesque DVD collection! Well done! 🙂
Great lineup for January! I haven’t read any of these and as always I look forward to your reviews. Particularly Rain and Retribution, since it’s the one I know the least about.
I haven’t really planned out my reads for the month but I did just finish Abigail Reynolds’ s The Darcys of Pemberley (loved it!) and I think I will finally read Emma for the first time.
Thanks, Monica! I’m looking forward to them all! I kind of just want to start all of them at once, but I know that wouldn’t be wise! 😉 So glad to hear you loved Abigail’s latest – that one is on my wishlist! If you do read Emma, you must share your thoughts with us! I can just imagine your tweets! 😉
I recall Grey’s Papaya for $1 hot dogs (which included a papaya drink!) in NYC, followed that evening by the tasting menu at Grammercy Tavern. It was my 40th birthday. We’ve never spent so much on a meal before or since. What can I say, my tastes are eclectic! We also watched Liza Minelli signing autographs across the street from our window seat in a cocktail lounge during that trip. My birthday is just before Christmas, so it was as pretty as when you went.
My best Christmas gift this year was Carol Shields’ Jane Austen. I’d read it before but never owned it. Carol was a friend; her husband was my boss back in the day when I was writing marketing material.
I’ll be finishing Madeline Hunter’s Ravishing in Red and I have a huge backlog of other books to read, but I’m really tempted to let Stan Hurd’s book jump the queue. I hope you like Rain and Retribution; I certainly did. It has a nasty edge to it that differs it from other JAFFs.
Ooh the words “nasty edge” have me a little scared now! lol But intrigued.
Gray’s Papaya sounds like a fun place – I think I’ve heard of it before. 🙂 How cool that you saw someone famous on your trip! 😉 How lovely that you got a prized Jane Austen biography for your library! 🙂 and what a small world! That’s pretty neat!
“A nasty edge” is certainly a new description, Suzan! ;-p I kind of like it, though.
Happy New Year 2014!
I’m glad you had a joyful time in NYC, you seemed very happy in the photos! 🙂
I like the January agenda, it sounds very interesting with new novels, new authors… A beautiful way of beginning the year!
Happy 2014 to you Teresa! I’m excited about 2014 – it looks very promising so far! I hope your beginning to the new year is off to a great start! Thank you so much for stopping by!
I envy you the trip to NYC! We used to live about 50 miles away and loved visiting, especially at Christmas (though it was rarely 60 degrees!)
You have a busy month ahead, Meredith! I wish I had a book nearing publication, I’d love to visit your Blog and hear your opinion of it, but it’s a long way off happening! Moving to Switzerland next month isn’t exactly helping my Muse, either!
As for Christmas (apart from at least 6 books between us for my husband and I on Switzerland – road maps, walking books, general info books!!), I was so lucky! Julian bought me the new Folio Society beautifully bound and illustrated edition of P&P – it is SO gorgeous, I keep taking it out of the box just to look at it and feel the paper between my fingers!
My son bought me a lovely illustrated edition of S&S as well, part of the Bath Bicentenary Editions of Jane Austen. The images are just beautiful.
Happy New Year to you and Mr Bingley!!! May all your travels be as rewarding as the trip to NYC!!!
I heard about a peanut butter and jelly restaurant in New York from a show on the Food Network. I’m sure New York has every kind of restaurant! Haven’t traveled much but I’d like to go to Chicago someday. I’m in Toledo so it wouldn’t be a long trip.
In December I had a gift card so I bought two cozy mysteries and a lap desk at Barnes and Noble. I ordered six books from the Mystery Guild and got them in early December. On Christmas Eve, I received some books I won (a mystery and three historical romances, all Christmas themed). On Saturday I received a book I won, Follies Past, by Melanie Kerr. That’s the only Austenesque book I’ve acquired lately.
I’ve finished two books this year so far (and that’s good for me).