Everyone welcome avid Austenesque reader, Sophia Rose! I hope you enjoy her post as much as I did, definitely made me laugh! 🙂 She’s super brave for going first, isn’t she?
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You: Tell us about yourself
I am a married lady of middle age living on an old tree-lined street in an adorable home that the original owner ordered from a Sears & Roebuck catalogue. I was born and reared in Northern California in a military family, left to go east to college and met the love of my life which has kept me in the Michigan with only occasional visits home. I began my career as a teacher, then a family advocate, a small business owner, researcher, and now in my autumn years a contented homemaker. My mother instilled in me an early love of reading that included her purchase of all the Jane Austen novels for my birthday present and our reading aloud together Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice when I was eight years old.
Your Induction:
- When and how did you discover the Austenesque/JAFF genre? A quick browse through the books at Costco was all I planned on until a gorgeous Regency era book cover caught my eye. It and its friends nearby just leaped into my cart and insisted on going home with me.
- What was the first Austenesque novel you ever read? Amanda Grange’s Mr. Darcy’s Diary
- What did you think of it? I was hooked. If there was one author retelling Austen’s stories, might there not be more? Let the hunt begin…
Your Habits:
- About how many Austenesque novels do you read a month? One A year? 12 In the first few years, this would have been tripled.
- Around what percentage of your total reads a year are Austenesque novels? 2-3%
- Where/how do you obtain the Austenesque books your read? Buy them, win them, receive as gifts, review requests
- What is your favorite time of day to read? No preference, but usually early evening
- What is your favorite place to read? Lounge chair on screened in porch in warm weather, cozy couch before our fireplace in winter
- What do you like to listen to when you read if anything? I love music so I find it distracting if I’m reading because then I have a split focus.
- What do you like to drink or eat when you read if anything? Water, pretty boring I know
- Do you read more than one book at a time ever? Usually a couple, but sometimes more b/c I’m a mood reader.
- Do you ever read the ending of a book first? Never have
- Do you ever reread? Yes
Your Collection:
Collectively around how many Austenesque works do you own? Approximately 400
- Where do you store your Austenesque collection? On my kindle or on my bookshelves in our family room
- What format are most of your Austenesque books in – paperback, ebook, or audiobook? Paperback and ebook. I have one Austenesque audio book.
- How many Austenesque books are currently in your TBR at this moment? (ones you own and need to read) 96 I know, staggering.
Your Faves:
- Pride and Prejudice Variation: Memory v. 1-3 by Linda Wells
- Pride and Prejudice Sequel: The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
- Pride and Prejudice Modern Adaptation: The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelini
- Minor Character Story: The Three Colonels by Jack Caldwell
- Non-Pride and Prejudice Sequel: Mercy’s Embrace v. 1-3 by Laura Hile
- Non-Pride and Prejudice Modern Adaptation: Morning Light by Abigail Reynolds
- Reference/Nonfiction Work: What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Poole
- Austen-Inspired Original: Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron
- Original Character: Maggie Joyce from Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen
Your Desert Island 5: (You are about to be stranded on a desert island for unspecified amount of time you must select what you will bring)
- Five Austenesque/Jane Austen Movies (could Jane Austen Adaptations A&E’s Pride & Prejudice, Bride & Prejudice, 1995 Persuasion, 1999 Mansfield Park, The Lake House
- Five Austenesque Books (Besides Jane Austen’s original novels) Susan Kaye’s Frederick Wentworth Captain v. 1-2, Pamela Aidan’s Fitzwilliam Darcy v. 1-3, an unread Mary Simonsen, Nancy Kelley or Maria Grace
Would You Rather?
- Have Lady Catherine or Mrs. Norris as a mother: Lady C She might talk me to death, but she wouldn’t be cruel
- Live in Bath or live in London: Bath
- Be besties with Eleanor Tilney or Georgiana Darcy: Eleanor Tilney, that girl needs friends
- Dance every set at a ball or go horseback riding through the countryside with friends: two left feet, love riding so horseriding it is
- Marry Edmund Bertram or Edward Ferrars: Um, neither? Total runaway bride here
- Attend a strawberry-picking party at Donwell Abbey or attend the theatre with the Gardiners: Hanging with the Gardiners any day
- Go shopping with Lydia Bennet or have tea with Mrs. Elton: just shoot me now
- Discover and read the finished manuscript (by Jane Austen) of The Watsons or Sanditon: Be still my heart. I would give one of my kidneys to know what really happened in Sanditon.
You Right Now:
- What Austenesque novel(s) are you currently reading at the moment? Mr. Darcy’s Pledge by
Monica Fairview
- What Austenesque novels are on your wish-list? Short answer: a lot A sampling: The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy by Regina Jeffers, Alias Thomas Bennet by Suzan Lauder, For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
- What Austenesque novel do you wish someone would write? I would love to see a variation for Mary Musgrove, a medieval era retelling of Persuasion, any of the non P&P novels given a retelling or variation really, like Emma in Japan.
- What do you love most about Austenesque novels? the nearly endless possibilities for a new story to build from the original that is still recognizable as related to the original
- Where can we find you?
Facebook Twitter GoodReads The Delighted Reader Blog (general romance) Pinterest
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Big thanks to Sophia Rose for taking the time to answer my questions and share her love and admiration of Austenesque literature with us!!
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Want to see some more Ardent Austenesque Admirers? CLICK HERE!
Wow I loved reading all about Sophia Rose – I am a novice compared to you lot with all your books – I have not read nearly as many so a lot of catching up to do! Just purchased all the Linda Wells novels – All of the Memory series and the first one from the Imperative series – lovely chunky books full of D & E – can’t wait!
Thanks Michelle! I’ve been reading Austenesque for about five years and it was all I read the first year I found it. Hope you enjoy Linda’s books. They are definitely chunky. Haha!
Great start to your new series, Meredith. Sophia Rose, you made me chuckle. Runaway bride and just shoot me now. Thank you for allowing us to get to know you better.
Thanks JDawn! Seriously, I just couldn’t make a decision about which was worst and then I realized that both choices were just…really awful. 😉 Glad you enjoyed!
Thanks, Joy! Sophia Rose was terrific, wasn’t she?
Meredith, yes she is terrific. I wonder, does her husband hire out and will he come to Ecuador. My stacks and stacks of books are seriously taking over.
Wow, I don’t have nearly as many books as you do! I have some shopping to do! I love Linda Wells books too, she has such great detail in her stories. I agree with Joy: the “runaway bride” comment just cracked me up. Thanks for sharing Sophia Rose!
Ha! Yep, both of those choices were unappealing at best and divorce was tough back then. 😉
I was struck by Linda’s books because they were the first ones I read that really got innovative with the P&P story and characters.
Happy Shopping! Or stick around Meredith’s blog long enough to win a few. 😉
I have won a few! Woo hoo!! =D There is just not enough time in the day for all of the books I want to read!!
Your husband sounds delightful to “enable” all that reading. I don’t have anywhere near that amount of space so I have to give away books at times to make room. I do have and read the “For Darkness Shows the Stars” by Diana Peterfreund. Wish you were nearby so I could lend it to you. I have nowhere near that number of Austen books but have been making great strides to catch up now that I am retired. Agree with others that I like your sense of humor with the 2 answers given. Loved your video and hearing your voice. Great start to this blog! Chance Encounters and Memory Vol. I by Linda Wells are two of my favorites.
My husband had a blast taking a corner of our unfinished basement and building this room, the shelves and the fireplace facing and mantle. Working with his hands is soothing to him when he has bad days at work so I got to reap the results. I told Meredith that if her hubby is Mr. Bingley, mine is Mr. Tilney. 😉
That is sweet of you to want to loan out your book which makes you a better gal than me, Sheila. I loan out to very few who will actually return the book and return it pretty close to the condition they got it in.
Thanks for the compliments too.
Great start to the series, Meredith. I’m very much a rookie when it comes to JAFF, so I’ve a long way to go apparently, compared with Sophia Rose!
I started slow too, Anji! However, its like a downhill snowball that turns into an avalanche- the good kind, mind you.
So glad you enjoyed the first post of Ardent Austenesque Admirers, Anji! I’m loving this series so far!
This was awesome! It was delightful to learn more about you, Sophia Rose! Loved the video.
You’re welcome, Alexa! Now you can see where I read each of your books. I have them proudly displayed on a lower shelf on the far left. You and Sharon Lathan are keeping company. 😉
Sophia Rose, your post was fabulous! So many wonderful details, and so much FUN!!! Do cool people still use ROTFL? (my son laughed at me when I used it!) Any which way, I think that ‘shoot me now’ deserves no less 😀 Thanks for the opportunity to get to know you better, and for all the chuckles!
Before I go, I must say, what a fabulous idea this is, Meredith! It’s fun to see facebook posts or blog comments, but this brings people closer like nothing else!
Thank you, Joanna! Yes, you are so hip with your text-speak. I think Meredith has a great idea too. I love meeting fellow Austenesque readers and authors too.
Thank you, ladies! I’m so glad you like the idea! It really started out as a selfish desire – I wanted to know about the people who read my blog and what their thoughts on Austenesque books were! But I’m glad that other people are enjoying these posts as well! You all are the best!
Thanks for the opportunity, Meredith. I had fun with the questionaire and I look forward to all the other Ardent Admirers.
Thank you for being a willing participant, Sophia Rose! I’m glad the questionnaire wasn’t too intense! It was such a pleasure getting to know you better, my friend!
Those are fun questions and helps us all know each other a little better. Making friends around the world is great.
Hi there Sophia! Great post. I love that your husband built you shelves, that is true love right there!
Hehe! You are so right, Ceri! It took him a while and I tried to help, but he did it by himself for the most part. I got in his way more than helped so he gave me the ‘I’ll let you know when I need assistance’ look and I left him too it.
Love your bookcases, Sophia Rose! So Jealous! This is a fun post! It was great getting to know you better. =)
I was glad to do it. I thought I would reciprocate since others have done it long before. Those shelves are great. He didn’t think I’d ever fill them the silly man. Haha!
A pleasure to meet you, Sophia Rose. I’m stunned by the number of titles you own. Your to be read shelf is about the same size as my total Austenesque books read. I know it’s not a competition, but I feel like I have some reading to do! Your bookcases are lovely! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
Haha! Totally not a competition, but I get it. We do love our Austenesque books, right? I wish my TBR pile wasn’t so high. I used to have it under better control, but then there were freebies and $.99 ebooks and…there I was with a pile. This is why I am determined to read one a month until I’ve got it back to normal. Thanks for the compliment on the shelves. I’m passing them all along to my handsome woodworker.
What a great interview, Sophia, you certainly covered a wide-ranging number of subjects! I’m afraid that if I handed my husband the tools to build a bookshelf, I’d soon be driving him to the hospital. I’m very glad to have contributed something you enjoyed to your shelves!
LOL! Yep, I love that he can do it injury-free too. My dad was very much handy-man challenged and we had some fun DIY experiences.
Nice to meet you, Sophia Rose 🙂
It´s been a pleasure to read your post and listen to your voice. You have a wonderful collection of Austenesque books and a delightful sense of humour.
Hi Teresa!
Thank you for the compliments. It’s odd, but I was nervous to do the video clip even though I was behind the camera and kept forgetting what I wanted to say.
I really liked the video clip. It was nice to hear what you sound like, because I’m sure many of us have communicated with you via blog posts and Goodreads etc but it’s always written communication.
You’re right, Ceri! Hearing a voice is an additional layer to knowing someone that written communication can’t give.
Loved your interview Sophie Rose. Love getting to know another avid reader and JAFF fan. Your collection is impressive and love your cozy reading chair. My books are in my son’s bedroom….and so…Wish we lived nearer one another…. There’s a lot we could discuss
Thanks Deborah! LOL, your son must enjoy that. 😉
Thank you Sophia Rose for your delightful post! It was great getting to know you and I too love your bookshelves. Your even imparted your sense of humour! Through this, I have found some new authors to check out that I didn’t know of before! You are going to love ‘The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy’!
Thank you Meredith for setting this all up and getting us JAFF readers more connected.
I’m so glad yo enjoyed it, Carole! You all are such a lovely group!
Thanks for saying so, Carole! I’m glad that The Disappearance of GD will be good.
First of all, I want to say “ditto” to all the comments above. Sophia Rose, it feels as if you are a long lost buddy with whom I just reconnected. I was most diverted by your comments. Meredith, another super idea!! I have to admit my ignorance here–what do ROTLF and DIY mean. I only text for necessity, and try to actually write in sentences with punctuation. Since I can’t remember all those alphabet things, I’m sure I’ll say something embarrassing!! I have one of those cell phones for old people you see in the ads!!
Rolling on the floor laughing. Do it yourself. I have to go on the internet at times, myself, to find out what these acronyms are so don’t feel bad.
It has been awhile since I have seen or used ROTFL, so I had to think for a minute when I saw it too! 😉
I also found a list which I copied and keep by my computer.
Thanks, Sheila. I went on the internet and found a website that has all sorts of classifications of acronyms; such as “military,” “government,” and luckily “chatting.” I added the site to my Favorites. BTW I don’t understand some of the meanings. I’ll have my granddaughters translate for me when they get home. 😉 I’m sure they’ll say, “Oh Baba (my grandma name), really!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the first post in this series, Catherine! Sophia did a stellar job and so did everyone else who sent in their responses! I can’t wait to share the next one! 🙂
I think my dad has everyone beat here. We just had a funny incident where someone responded to him via text with the letter “K.” He was very confused, and when I explained that they meant “okay,” he said, “no, it just says the letter k.” He made us all laugh! 😉
Loved the book case (Or wall) so interesting and lovely to hear from other Janeites! Happy reading 🙂 Pamela Aidan for stranded on an island most definitely!
Great interview, Meredith! Loved your answers, Sophia Rose. It was such fun getting to you know you better and ‘hearing’ your sense of humor! You made me chuckle! I know I’m late to the game but decided I would comment anyway! 🙂 Thanks, ladies!