Hello dear readers! I hope your December has gotten off to a smashing start! Some cold temperatures have finally come our way (no snow yet!) here in North Carolina. Sadly, I haven’t any outdoor pictures to share with you this month! I’ve stopped going to the beach and reading outside, and our outdoor activities and escapades have dwindled a bit. Instead we have been starting to hibernate and remain indoors.! We’ve been cooking up some great meals together (Mr. Bingley is by far the better cook!) Both these recipes came from Mr. Bingley’s family – I love cooking with so much color!!
And we have been enjoying a lot of TV! LOL! More so than normal! We usually only keep up with 3 or so TV shows, but with the new fall line up, Hulu, and our new Apple TV making it so easy, we’ve added a few more! I thought it would be fun to see if any of you watch the same shows as us. Do we have more than just Jane Austen in common???
~ Our Usual Faves ~
Big fans of all these shows! Love seeing the negotiations and competitive bidding amongst the sharks on Shark Tank. Master Chef completely inspires us to cook and be creative in the kitchen, and we love all three judges and their interactions with each other! The Big Bang Theory lets us explore our inner nerds and is right up there with Friends as TV shows we own all the DVD’s for and never get tired of rewatching. And Jimmy Fallon is brilliant as a late night talk show host. Love him!
~ Some New Shows We’ve Gotten Into ~
We love our super heroes in this house! Both The Flash and Gotham have been a lot of fun to get into. I love the origins stories we are seeing in Gotham and The Flash always seems to end each episode with an intrigue closing teaser! The Blacklist is a new fave – we devoured the first season and absolutely love James Spader! Sleepy Hollow is filmed here in our town – Wilmington, NC! We love catching sights we are familiar with in each episode, and of course Tom Mison is always fun to see, but I do admit I’m not as into this one as Mr. Bingley is – too much witchcraft and spiritual forces for my taste.
~ SHOWS I WATCH WITHOUT MR. BINGLEY ~
Got to have my girlie dramas! Not a fan of country music, but I love me some Nashville! Deacon + Rayna <3 And you know I’ve long admired Downton Abbey, although to be honest, the last season made me feel kind of meh. Looking forward to this season though!
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Want to know what Austenesque fun I’m getting into this month?
…here is what’s on this month’s
Austenesque Agenda:
~ TO REVIEW ~
~ TO READ AND REVIEW ~
~ TO READ ~
In case you are wondering, this isn’t Austenesque – its a book from a mystery series that is set in Wilmington, NC -where I live! I acquired this book a few months back, but saved it to read during December! 🙂
~ YOU CHOOSE! ~
PERSUASION! Last year I read my first annotated edition of a Jane Austen novel over Christmas break and I loved it! I think I might try to make this a yearly tradition! So for this upcoming Christmas break I plan to read an annotated edition of Persuasion – but the question is which edition should I read. I don’t own either the Shapard or Morrison edition, but whatever receives the highest vote will be the one I purchase and read! 🙂
~ FEATURED AUTHORS VISITING THIS MONTH ~
Syrie James – December 3rd
Stanley Hurd – December 10th
So much to look forward to!!! How about you? What are your plans for this month?
Hello Meredith, very cold day today in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK but no snow yet and no snow forecast. Have not yet put up the Christmas Tree but I will do it before my daugther returns from University for the Christmas break. There is a two hour Christmas special of Downtown Abbey on Christmas Day but not sure if you will be able to get that? I love Masterchef but I am not a great cook although I do try! I like the US series of Homeland, Grey’s Anatomy and Once Upon a Time but they only showed the first two series and then discontinued it! Going for a spa day tomorrow and then doing my first cross country run next week! I hope for the Shaphard edition of Persuasion. Enjoy X
Hi Michelle! I hope you are staying warm! Over in the US our season of DA starts after Christmas, so we won’t get to see the Christmas special til Feb probably! But I dot love them, so glad to hear it is 2 hours! 🙂 MasterChef makes me want to be more adventurous with our cooking…or if that fails go out to more foodie restaurants! Hope you had a lovely spa day! 🙂
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 1 / Morrison – 0
My husband and I love Shark Tank and Big Bang Theory! My solo shows are Jimmy Fallon and Downton Abbey. I have to agree that the last season left me a little disappointed. To inspire me for season five I am having a premiere party. There are only a few of my friends that watch the show but I intend to go all out anyway. I am looking forward to your future posts. Your blog is one of my favorites.
Woot woot! You guys have good taste in TV! I’m glad it wasn’t just me who felt last season to be a little on the uninteresting side! That’s awesome that you are having a premier party! You must tell us how it goes! My mom and might try to do a little tea together before we watch the first episode!
Thank you for the kind words! I love seeing your comments on my blog so much, Sagan!! Thank you for visiting!
I’m not a big fan of TV. I would rather read every time but I’m married to a TV and movie junkie so our together shows are Big Bang Theory (it might have something to do with the fact that my 12 year old nephew is really really Sheldon) and then Chopped and The Voice. I love Castle but I’ve got (not joking) 24 episodes on the DVR that I’ve not watched. So I don’t know that I can say I watch it…LOL
I vote for the Shaphard version of Persuasion. I have all of his annotated versions of Jane’s novels. It just adds so much insight.
My plans for December involve baking, spending a week and a half in Texas with my best friend and her family for Christmas and finding some moments to do nothing but read!
Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas to you Meredith! Thanks for all you do for us!
LOL! We have a Sheldon in our family to – my brother! Although he is no way near as bad as Sheldon is! 😉
I probably would be happy to read more and watch tv less, but sometimes at the end of the day I’m just happy to watch mindless entertainment on the tv and give myself a break. 🙂 Plus it is nice to snuggle with Mr. B and share shows we like with each other.
What lovely plans you have for December! It all sounds awesome! I hope you have a wonderful time with your friend! And thank you for being so kind and reading my blog! I love hearing from you!
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shaphard – 2 / Morrison – 0
Big Bang Theory, Sleepy Hollow, Gotham, The Flash (should watch The Arrow as the two shows intertwine) and Downton Abbey are on my list, also. I just visited Winterthur Museum on Tuesday, where costumes from the show are exhibited. Winterthur used to be the home of the DuPont family. There are other shows I watch faithfully. Many shows are PBS shows and some are detective shows, i.e. Sherlock, Elementary, Person of Interest, Castle, Grimm (police/supernatural show) and Vampire Diaries, HIstory channel’s Vikings and STARZ’s DaVinci’s Demons and Outlander. Also Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D., in which I share an interest with my oldest and her husband. Lastly, I watch Once Upon a Time and Revenge on Sundays. BBC America has one, Ripper Street, which has had 2 seasons run here in the USA. It stars the actor who played Darcy in the 2005 version, Matthew Macfadyen. And I watch Game of Thrones which 2 of my children watch so we share this interest. Many of the shows I listed are only on for 8 or so episodes and then you wait months for the next “season”. Dancing with the Stars is one of those.
Looking forward to your reviews, especially of Stanley’s book, as I loved that series. I also read Syrie’s sweet story of Jane’s Austen’s First Love so will be interested in that review additionally.
I checked on Amazon: there are reviews of the book by Morrison but none by Shaphard so I vote for the latter one – especially since I have it on my kindle but have only read 2% of the book. Will have to do so this month so it is fresh in my mind. I did listen to it on audio as Persuasion 200 posts began.
Hi Sheila, you mentioned that you had the kindle version of an annotated text and I just wanted to ask if that type of book works in the kindle format or is it easier to read a paper copy? I don’t have any annotated versions yet and I wouldn’t want to buy them for kindle if they don’t work in that format.
I don’t have the paperback version so can’t give an honest answer. And I have not read through it all. I would think that the paperback version would work best. But each person will have to decide for themselves. sorry I can’t help you more.
Ceri, I have both and find the print version much easier. In the kindle version, the annotations are at the end and it is very difficult to go back and forth. With the paperback version, the annotations to the text are on the facing page. No going back and forth. I have both Persuasion band P & P annotated in both ways. I only use the paperback versions now.
Aha, that is what I suspected, thank
You Debbie!
So much in common, Sheila! 😉 I did forget to mention Sherlock! How terrible. We love that show too. That’s wonderful that you share an interest in so many shows with different people in your life! Just like with reading, I love talking about an episode after I watch it with someone. My mom watches Nashville and we always love chatting about what storylines we like, what characters we can’t stand, etc… 🙂
I actually already did review Syrie’s book: https://austenesquereviews.com/2014/10/jane-austens-first-love-syrie-james.html She is visiting this month for an interview. 🙂
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 3 / Morrison – 0
Sheila, you said you listened to it on audio. Do you mean the annotated version?
I watch Forever mostly because I love Ione Gruffudd. Going along with my British actor theme, watched a little British mini series on Youtube Grantchester, and will go see mr swoon himself, Richard Armitage in the last Hobbit movie this month. Of course will tune into Downton in January.
My reading between now and then will be Karen Witemeyer whom you introduced us to with Full Steam Ahead a few months ago. Of the four I’ve read, Stealing the Preacher was my favorite. Her stories are worth reading because her use of language is so fantastic : )
I’ve not heard of those shows, Ginger! I’ll have to look them up! I am with you about the new Hobbit movie – we just re-watched #1 last night. Can’t wait!
Oh I”m so glad to hear you are enjoying Karen Witemeyer! I have 3 books of hers I haven’t read yet – looking forward to picking them up soon!
Oh, that’s funny about the TV shows. Our household has slightly similar tastes with the superheroes, Black List and Sleepy Hollow, but we go in for crime dramas, sports, and sci-fi otherwise. I like period drama, but my Mr. Tilney is not amused unless it comes with suspense or adventure to it like Horatio Hornblower.
Nice line up of books for reading. As to the vote, I have only read David Shapard’s S&S which I liked so I guess I’ll vote that direction for your annotated version.
I’ve got Alexa Adam’s Madness of Mr. Darcy and Syrie James’ JA’s First Love coming up for my Austenesque reading.
Woot woot for the super heroes! I’m sure my Mr. Bingley would agree with your Mr. Tilney. 🙂
What excellent reads you have coming up this month! I hope you enjoy both of those as much as I did!
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 4 / Morrison – 0
I felt the same way about the last season of Downton Abbey (which was season 5 in New Zealand). Which season are you up to?
Oh no! We’ve only seen Season 4 so far. Not sure this is a good sign of Season 5… :/ may have to watch Seasons 1-3 again for sure!
I am freezing Meredith and it does not help that my heating stopped yesterday! I love Big bang theory and I watch the UK Masterchef. Started to record Gotham but missed some episodes so gave up ;(. Just about managing to watch season 5 of Downton. Although I do not like the cold it is a perfect excuse to snuggle warm and watch some TV. I have Fairbourne Hall and Darcy’s tale but have yet to read 🙂 I look forward to your December month. I am going to go for Morrison as I think Shaphard is more facts which I like but I think Morrison will be more analysis. Happy holiday reading!
Oh, so sorry to hear about the cold and the heating not working! Yay for Big Bang! And yes, hibernating with some good reads and warm beverages is definitely a great way to spend the winter months.
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 4 / Morrison – 1
Hello Meredith! I love Master chef too! I’m in love with Gordon Ramsey even if, I have to say, Master chef Australia is the better among all. I learn a lot of things about coking and sometimes my friends look at me and say: “How did you know?”…and I wear my Master chef smile! XD I like the Morrison edition of Persuasion. Hope you have a great December!
Hi Loren! Gordon Ramsey is amazing, isn’t he? Love him and all his many shows! Love that you have a master chef smile! 🙂 Thank you, I hope yours is fantastic too!
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 4 / Morrison – 2
I’ve heard great things about Holidays with Jane. I really want to pick that up…once I’m finished with the two Austenesque YA books that I’m currently in the middle of. 😉 I look forward to your review.
I just started it this morning! Wonderful so far! I look forward to seeing all the different Austen novels featured! Hope you enjoy all your Austenesque reads this month! Thanks for checking my post out!
Hi Meredith!
I enjoy too with “Master Chef”, the spanish version ( although my mother likes Gordon Ramsey, LOL). I’ ve seen “Arrow” but not “the flash”. It’s awesome that “sleepy hollow” is filmed in Wilmington, your place!. “Downton Abbey” is one of my favourites but some of the plots get on my nerves!.
Coming to the subject of “Persuasion”, well, I put the “Morrison” version in the hat.
Happy December 🙂
Hi Teresa! Woot! Masterchef seems to be popular! Gordon Ramsey is brilliant, isn’t he? Very entertaining to watch. Mr. Bingley and I are thinking of trying out Arrow (when we have time for more tv), there have been some crossover episodes with The Flash and Arrow. I agree about Downton Abbey.
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 4 / Morrison – 3
Hi Meredith! I am not good at watching tv, cuts into my reading time too much! My husband and I watch The Big Bang Theory and Elementary (Sherlock Holmes series played by Jonny Lee Miller, aka Edmund Bertram) and Modern Family and some British shows. I also watch Who Do You Think You Are, have you ever seen that? It’s a genealogy show. I know they’ve done a US series of it too.
My hubby watches all of those zombie programmes so I have somehow ended up bring drawn into watching The Walking Dead which is not really my type of thing! Believe it or not, I’ve never watched Downton Abbey, I missed the first series and just never caught up.
I can’t vote on your reader choice as I have no clue, but I’ll be interested to see your review regardless of what version you read! Have a happy reading month 🙂
I have not seen Who Do You Think You Are, I have heard of it though. Sounds interesting! We don’t have cable or any kind of satellite, we have a Hulu Plus membership which is nice because it lets us watch the shows we want when we want to watch them. And if is very reasonably priced. If we had something that gave us more channels I’m afraid I’d start watching way too much tv! LOL! 😉
The first Season of DA is great! I’m sure you will love it! I’ve wanted to watch Outlander, but haven’t had the to get started.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for the lovely visit!!
Outlander is being shown as a marathon starting at 3 PM on CHRISTMAS DAY on STARZ. I wonder how many viewers they will get? My daughter and son-in-law in Seattle got rid of their cable and bought a HULU subscription also.
That probably won’t be a good time for me. 🙂 I think I saw somewhere that I can watch the episodes online maybe? Will look into over Christmas break.
You can watch online if your cable company has paid for that service. Even though I get STARZ my cable company has not paid for that service so I watched it when it was on. You can set your TV to record it.
Hi Meredith! I was a big fan of ‘Blacklist’ but missed several episodes at the start of the season that I never got caught up on. I love Tom Mison from ‘Sleepy Hollow’ but find the show a bit ‘scary’ for me. He was a wonderful Mr Bingley in Lost in Austen! I do love ‘Once Upon a Time’ and will watch it tonight. I will be watching ‘Downtown Abbey’ in January. I had been watching ‘Revenge’ and ‘Scandal’ but not this season. I’ve been reading alot more when the TV isn’t on! I do like to watch on BBC Canada the British real estate duo Kirsty and Phil – ‘Location, Location, Location. Tried watching ‘Outlander’ but ‘Claire’ was just not doing it for me. They cast ‘Jamie’ perfectly though. My daughter loves it! She has read all the books. I read them back in the 1990’s when they first came out and enjoyed them up until the 3rd book. After that, just couldn’t get into them!
I hope you catch up Carole! The show continues to surprise and stump me – love it! I agree about Sleepy HOllow and Tom Mison – he looks so different from his Mr. Bingley, doesn’t he? Must be the hair! I used to watch Once Upon a Time and Revenge but my interest seemed to wane a little last season. Now I have too much to keep up with, but maybe I’ll got back and check them out sometime. Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!! 😉
Revenge has a HUGH surprise last night! I was flabbergasted. “Revenge does murder so well.” is their motto.
I always get my little ‘woo hoo’ feeling whenever I see Austenesque Reviews in my inbox, and your Agenda Editions are something a really really look forward to. I vote for the Morrison Persuasion, because I HAVE all the other Shaphard Austen books (one of them personally signed….swoon) and his annotated editions are an automatic buy for me. Regardless of which one you choose, I’ll love reading the review. If you have read any of the Shaphard to compare with the style of the Morrison that would be really interesting, too.
I always think we watch too much TV in this house and then I hear about other people’s lists. We love Big Bang, Castle, Elementary, Sherlock, Outlander. And of course, Downton Abbey. My son and his girlfriend watch that too. So more fun to watch a program and talk about it your family or friends. We watch a lot of PBS here, and so miss out on a lot of popular TV. More and more often now, I am reading a book in front of the TV and paying only minor attention to the show that’s on. I’ve just gotten obsessed with reading, like there’s not enough time in the day to read.
I just recently finished ‘The Falmouth Connection’….wow. Heart wrenching and beautiful, and a definite reread.
I so enjoy the author visits you have on your site, Meredith. Really looking forward to the Stanley Hurd interview in a few days.
How sweet you are! Thank you, Michelle! I feel the same way when I see new comments! 🙂
This would be my first Shapard – I read an annotated P&P last year by Patricia Meyer Spacks and loved it.
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 4 / Morrison – 4 *neck to neck now!*
Reading more than watching TV is definitely the way to go! And I know what you mean about sharing shows with family and friends – it increases the enjoyment level so much! I always get excited when I find out someone loves the same show I do.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed The Falmouth Connection – wasn’t it brilliant? 🙂
I read during commercials so as not to lose any precious moments. May be just one page but there it is.
I *love* MasterChef!!! Also enjoy Big Bang Theory when I catch it — I’ve just put myself on the list to start binge watching it via the Library 😉 My #1 MUST WATCH show is hands-down Hawaii Five-0 … It’s kinda my dad & I’s thing, haha
I’d go with the Shapard annotation — I’ve loved his other versions (S&S and P&P), and hope to collect the rest of them for my persona library 🙂
Also, tiny squee of delight at seeing Holidays with Jane on your list 😀 hehe
Yes! I love hearing that other love MC! We are such fans of it in our house, wish they did more episodes or competitions a year. That’s awesome that you share a show with your dad. 🙂
Thanks for voting! 🙂 Shapard – 5 / Morrison – 4
I just read YOUR story this morning! Completely loved it! 😀
I love watching American/British TV shows! Since I’m Italian, they’re very good to improve my English! One of my favourites is Once Upon A Time. I think it’s wonderful! 🙂 I love Downton Abbey, too, but I agree with you, the last season (number 4) wasn’t that exciting! Let’s hope season 5 is better! Also, since you mentioned it, I LOVED Friends! I had always lots of fun watching it with my sister! One of the best TV shows! 😀 Right now I’m reading The Maid of Fairbourne Hall and I can’t wait to see what will happen when Margaret meets Nathaniel!
I haven’t read either of those editions of Persuasion, so I can’t vote. But I love the cover of the Shapard edition! 😛
PS: Those meals sound delicious!!
Hi dear Maria! That is very true! My husband said that watching American TV is what taught him English. 🙂 You’ve got great taste in TV!! LOL! Friends is a going to be a lifelong fave with us, I just know it! 😉
YAY! That’s great to hear you are reading The Maid of Fairbourne Hall I love the tension of their situations!! Happy reading!
Thanks for voting! 😉 Shapard – 6 / Morrison – 4
Hi, Meredith. Sorry I’m so late posting, but I thoufht I had done so. Just realized I hadn’t. I don’t watch much television, but enjoy The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon reminds me of an exaggerated version of my son. As for which annoyed Persuasion….I am biased. Shapard’s is the one I suggest as it is the one I have.
Forgot to say I also like Once Upon a Time and watch Ripper Street and older shows on my ROKU.
Hi Debbie! LOL! I think everyone has a Sheldon-type in their life. My brother is definitely the one ours! 🙂 I’ve never watched Ripper Street, it seems to be popular with a lot of people in this post. 🙂
Thanks for voting! 😉 Shapard – 7 / Morrison – 4