Hi friends! I hope your December has gotten off to a lovely start! Did you have a busy November? We did! It felt like a very full month! One of our highlights of the past month were taking a mini-trip to Massachusetts to see extended family for a long weekend!
Mr. Bingley and I traveled with my brother and we had lots of fun seeing a little bit of Boston and a fun day walking around the living museum of Old Sturbridge Village.
It was an awesome trip, despite the cold!!! 😉
When we weren’t busy traveling, working, or celebrating Thanksgiving and family birthdays, we’ve gone to the movies… a lot. We saw 4 movies this past month!
Have you seen any of these? Did you like them as much as we did? We truly thought all 4 were great, and we’d recommend/see again. For Justice League, I will say we went in with low expectations.
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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 ~
~ MY ANNUAL TRADITION! ~
Since 2013 I’ve made it a tradition to read an annotated edition of a Jane Austen novel during my Christmas break. I’m working my way through both the David Shapard editions and Harvard University Press editions. This year, my choice is Sense and Sensibility, and since I read Mr. Shapard’s annotations for The Annotated Northanger Abbey last year – I’ll be reading the Harvard University Press annotated edition this year. Which I”m really excited about because I really enjoyed the annotations by Ms. Spacks in Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition.
~ FEATURED AUTHORS VISITING THIS MONTH ~
Audrey Ryan – December 3rd
Andreea Catana – December 6th
Jenetta James – December 11th
Maria Grace – December 15th
Zoe Burton – December 20th
So many author visits! This might be a record for my blog! 🙂
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Wishing all of you a very happy start to your December!!
What are you looking forward to this month?
Love your “Travels With Pedro.” Thanks for sharing the pictures!
Thank you, Robin! I love them too! He is the best travel companion!!! 😉
What a fun way to see Boston and surrounding areas! You share such great adventures! I haven’t seen any of those movies yet but Justice League and Orient Express are on the list.
Yes, it was perfect! We went so far and got to see many places, but weren’t tired. Just cold! 😉 Hope you get to check out those movies soon! I, of course, thought of you during Justice League! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Lovely photos Meredith. My daughter has just been to her first Thanksgiving in Connecticut with a friend who is American but works in London. They went to Boston, Rhode Island, Salem and New York. Had a brilliant time. Looking forward to your interviews with all the authors.
Thanks, Michelle! It was a very fun trip! I hope your daughter enjoyed her trip to the US! That’s great that they went to so many places while here!! Very fun! 😉
You obviously had a wonderful holiday judging by the photos – lovely!
Another busy month by the looks of it. I really enjoyed Pamela’s book and look forward to the next one. I also read the Maria Grace trilogy including this one and found them all wonderful (even the one about Lydia )
I will be shopping for books soon and one on my list is A Very Austen Christmas, I’m really looking forward to that.
I do have to ‘re read books regularly and have just finished the duo by the fabulous Lory Lilian – Rainy Days & The Rainbow Promise for the …….th time. Now I’ve gone to my TBR list and am finally reading Conceit and Concealment.
Thanks, Glynis, we did! Hope to did again soon! 😉 I agree with you about anticipating Pamela’s next book! I love her characters! And I can’t wait to read Maria Grace’s book about Mary and the Colonel. I love that you make time to reread your favorites. There are so many great Austenesque books out there that I’d love to reread again! Happy reading!!
That looks like a fun trip you all had. I especially like your husband’s t-shirt in the group picture. If I were to push on the triangle on his chest, would he play a video or song? 🙂
Thanks, Gianna! We did enjoy it a lot! LOL, it is a logo for the company he works for. I’ll have to share your comment with him. 😉
Perhaps they didn’t think about how it would look on a t-shirt, when they came up with it! 🙂
By the way, I am Ginna, not Gianna. I make the same mistake too, whenever I see her name! I think, “I don’t remember commenting here! Oh wait, that’s not me.” 🙂
Actually the company is tied into digital media and youtube so it was on purpose! 😉
So sorry! Reading and typing fast, I always make mistakes!
Very understandable about the typing fast. Especially with the two of us having such similar names. (I cannot type the word ‘raisin’. I always put ‘raising’!) Sometimes I think people might assume that we’re the same person.
I’d love to visit Massachusetts not only because of the fabulous history and scenery, but because it’s the home of my editor, the famous Gail Warner. I’m looking forward to the reviews for your reading recommendations as always, Meredith!
Oh awesome! How fun would that be to meet in person! There is so much to do nearby in Massachusetts! next time we go, we are definitely hoping to travel either to Cape Code or Rhode Island for some day trips! Great area! Although I’m not sure I’d want to live there, it is a little cold!
Saw Murder on the Orient Express yesterday–thought it was physically beautiful and suitably operatic in its emotions. I recommend Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri–lots of swear words, but behind that it’s a wonderfully nuanced tale of the corrosive nature of anger and the potential for redemption.
I agree about how beautiful the movie was. How terrific it would be to travel on a train like that through those countries…minus the murder! 😉 Thanks for the recommendation! Glad you saw some movies that you enjoyed!
Looks like you had a fab time Meredith. I’ve been in a reading slump so haven’t actually anything lined up. At the moment it’s all I can do to read the blogs I follow. At least I get some interesting articles reading them. Hoping I’ll get back in the swing for Christmas as I normally read a few books at that time.
I usually have a houseful for Christmas but this year it’s just myself and hubby and son and daughter. My eldest is staying put in London this year so I should have plenty time on my hands.
Thank you, Teresa! We did! 🙂 So sorry to hear about the reading slump! It is a busy time of year, a lot going on! I hope you get the time to read some books soon! I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family!
Thanks for sharing your gorgeous photos with us, Meredith! Looks like you had such a fun November. Fabulous plans for December too! Looking forward to all those exciting books and post. Take care and have a wonderful time!
Happy to, Joana! I love taking pictures, especially when traveling. I am a visual person, so I love having some visual reminders of places I’ve been and good memories I’ve shared. 😉 Hope you are enjoying a wonderful month, my friend!
Wow! Loved your photos! I love Boston but I would be terrified on the two wheelie thingy (the name escapes me at the moment)…I’d be afraid I would roll right into the water! Can’t wait to read your review of Pamela’s book…I absolutely loved it! You have a wonderful line-up of guests too. I haven’t seen any of the movies yet but really want to see Thor (my son has seen it 2x and loves it) and Murder on the Orient Express…hoping this month! Star Wars is coming out this month too so will definitely see that. I hope to read some Christmas novellas this month too. Enjoy!
Thank you, Carole! 🙂 LOL! Segways are so great!!! They aren’t hard to do at all and don’t have to go fast. You just lean with your body, it becomes very natural – at first it is weird and not something I was used to, but after a few minutes I don’t even think about driving, my body just does it. We love to do these kinds of tours, saves our feet! 😉
Posting my review of Pamela’s book tomorrow! Can’t wait for the next book in the series! That’s awesome that your son loved Thor! I hope to see it a second time, because (and this is a terrible confession and no reflection on the movie) but I was fighting sleep when I saw it! I cannot go to movies that start late…even if I have caffeine beforehand! Hope you are enjoying your month so far!
I am looking forward to seeing Orient Express; it’s been on my list for months, and I’ve been awaiting the release with bated breath!!
I can’t wait for your review of A Less Agreeable Man…just don’t tell me if there are any typos as I proofread it…twice. 😉
Have a delightful December, Meredith!!
Hope you get to see it soon, Susanne! I love Kenneth Branagh and thought he was wonderful! 😉
LOL! How fun! I get to start that one next, looking forward to it! 🙂
Hope you enjoy a lovely month!
I went to see Thor with my son-in-law. (Chris is so easy on the eyes!) I have seen Murder on the Orient Express on Masterpiece Theater as a Hercule Poirot production so think going in and knowing the solution would make the movie anticlimactic. I have read and loved Dangerous to Know. I want to read Pamela Lynne’s book…just a matter of finding the time and it coming to the top of the pile. I read and loved A Very Austen Christmas.
Your photos are gorgeous! We have driven through Boston but we never toured the sights. Glad you got that in as it seems you enjoyed it so much.
Star Wars is a must and I would like to see Justice League as I have seen so many movies with those heroes but don’t know when. Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate those holidays.
Indeed! I had a feeling you’d go see this movie! 🙂 My dad knew the movie beforehand, and had fun teasing me during the whole film asking if I figured it out. LOL!
So much going on this month, right? Like you said, there are several movies coming out to excited about too! Hope you have a great month and enjoy a happy holiday season!!
I love going along on your trips via the pictures you share. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing Murder on The Orient Express, to reading your reviews of these new books and the author interviews. Looks like December will be full as well.
Thanks, Brenda! We love having you join our adventures! 😉 Hope you enjoy Murder on The Orient Express as much as we did! Thank you so much for sharing my post! I hope you have a wonderful month!
Beautiful photos… dang, they are so clear. I love your helmet and Segway [personal transport vehicle]. do That sure beats walking. I would like that. I haven’t had a chance to go to the movies. They look interesting. I’ve seen the previews.
Thanks! It was a very sunny day on one of the days, on the other Mr. Bingley was using is fancy phone camera. 😉 I love to segway too! I can walk fine (like Elizabeth Bennet) 😉 I’m just not a fan of standing!
I got to visit Boston really quickly one year when we flew in there and then drove up to Maine. I want to go back some other time and see a whole lot more. Looks like you had a fun trip to see the village and some family.
I love your tradition of reading an annotated version. Look forward to your thoughts on this one.
Nice line up of books and authors coming our way.
Have a great December, Meredith!
Fun! I want to go to Maine, never been there before. 🙂 I really like how so many interesting places are so near – Concord, Salem, Newport Rhode Island – there is a lot to explore!
Thanks! It is fun to share that tradition here on my blog! I’m looking forward to it since it has been quite a few years since I read Sense and Sensibility and there haven’t been too many S&S related Austenesque in my TBR pile lately. 😉
Hope you have a lovely December, my friend!
I’m just trying to get through Christmas
Hope it is a good month for you!
I’m wanting to see Murder on the Orient Express 🙂
Hope you enjoy it!! It would be awesome if they made another Hercule Poirot film in the future!
I love the pictures you shared!!! The first after the family group is an old kitchen? I like it very much, it seems a cupboard with spices…
I would like to see Murder on the orient express, I love David Suchet’s Poirot, how is Kenneth Branagh in this role???
As for Justice League, do I need to see other movies before to fully understand it? I admit I rarely go to the cinema and am a little bit confused about this XD
You will read some interesting books this month!!! I hope you will like A very Austen Christmas!
I hope this month will be less cold and more happy for us all, the world is going trough difficult time, I think about the possibility of a nuclear war and about all the natural disaster that are at our doors…may the magic of Christmas help us all to became more happy and deserving!
Wish you a very happy December!
Thanks, Loren!
It is a general store from the 1830s, showing you the kind of items that people would buy there. I love how many different things you could find in one place.
I thought Kenneth Branagh was great, but I don’t have anything to compare it to, having not read the book or seen any other adaptations.
It is a time of year to embrace such lovely wishes as you stated. I hope 2018 brings good health and happiness to you and your family!
Love the pictures from you trip. I feel behind in my reading with too much work… my TBR pile is getting bigger each month! Cheers to the holiday season and spending time with friends and love ones!