Happy May, everyone!! I feel like I have been barely around my blog lately and I want you all to know I am missing it so much!! 😩 Work has been keeping me soooo busy this year! 🤯 We have been making lots of improvements, and they are taking a lot of time an energy. I’m also in the process of hiring new teachers because of our exciting growth. I’ve hired 3 new teachers in 2019 so far, and am hoping to hire 2 more before the summer!! 🤞🏼And then hopefully, I can spend more time interacting on my blog!!
But other than work, the weather has started to turn nice and I have been trying to be outside as much as I can!
Early in April I got to visit my cousin and her daughter and check out 2Cellos in NYC, which was so much fun!!
And for Spring Break, Mr. Bingley and I went to our first National Park – Great Smoky Mountains.
We camped and hiked a bunch.
We loved looking for beautiful overlooks and vistas, and I was very eager to see some waterfalls.
We were lucky to catch a few wildlife sightings.
We ended the trip with a ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad in Bryson City, which was full of charm and such a fun experience.
Did you have a good April? Do anything fun?
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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 ~
And if by some miracle I get ahead of schedule, I plan to read
~ FEATURED AUTHORS VISITING THIS MONTH ~
Beau North – May 1st
Suzan Lauder – May 8th
Do you know of any Persuasion retellings publishing in 2019? Modern preferably. It’s very difficult to find any new works Persuasion inspired. I’d appreciate any information of upcoming books.
I know what you mean, we really don’t see too many Persuasion stories published. I am such a fan of modern Persuasion stories too!
So far for 2019, I’ve seen these new books: Persuasion: Behind the Scenes – https://amzn.to/2W8u4hW, Perception and Persuasion: Lady Russell Remembers – https://amzn.to/2YApbvX, and Still Believing: A Modern Day Retelling of Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ – https://amzn.to/2EaMJQf.
Hopefully we will see some more soon!
I’ve read Cat and Christina’s books (loved them!) and I read Suzan’s while it was posting but I mean to get that and read it again. I’m currently reading the Dragon series by Maria Grace (I’m part way through the prequel). I have a number of others on my TBR plus others I must re read . I’m also waiting impatiently for Nefarious! (Any updates yet Nicole?)
Again such lovely photos and I loved your setting up camp video! Happy reading Meredith
Hi Glynis!
I’m reading the Dragon Series too (I’m on the third book but I haven’t read the prequel yet). They’re such exciting books! What a good thing you’re enjoying the stories!
I’ve finished the prequel and am now halfway through book 1. Yes I am totally enjoying them, so very different and like Abigail’s faerie book the characters are so believable.
Thank you, dear Glynis! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed those reads and that is great about the Dragon Series – I want to read those too!!
I hope you enjoy a wonderful month!
I have read and enjoyed all of Cat Gardiner’s books and I have A Remedy Against Sin but have yet to find time to read it. I am in the process of tying up my next book, so there is not much time to read more. I love all the pictures as I never get to travel anymore. 🙂 Thanks for taking me along vicariously. 🙂
That is so exciting, Brenda! I can’t wait to learn more about your upcoming release! Best of luck!
Thank you for sharing your pictures! The Great Smoky Mountains is on my bucket list (and my son’s too); looks wonderful. And congrats on your successes! Thanks for sharing about Allie Cresswell’s series as well–I hope to have time to read it soon.
Awesome! We definitely recommend it! Can’t wait to visit other National Parks…we don’t live too close to many, so will have to see if we can work something out soon.
I am adoring that series, I hope you get the chance to read these charming books soon!
Glad you and Mr. Bingley had a great vacation! I love our mountains. They’re just so gorgeous and peaceful.
Us too! It was very much needed!
I agree, it is so different from the part of NC I get to see every day!
I love your travel pictures. You and your Mr. Bingley sure have a lot of fun. [Hello to Mr. Bingley] I appreciate your sharing your pictures. If you enjoy trains, then the next time you are in KY you should try the Big South Fork Scenic Railway over in Stearns KY. I would suggest in the fall [early Oct] for the most breathtaking peak of fall foliage.
Congratulations on the success of your music studio. That is excellent that you get to hire additional teachers. That means the younger generation is still interested in learning music. You must encourage them in their practice in order to reach proficiency. {snicker** shades of Lady Catherine] I couldn’t resist. Thanks for sharing your reading list for the month. It sounds interesting.
Thank you, Jeanne! We try to, we’ve both been working so much, so the fun travels and such have been a little fewer than we’d like…hopefully that might change in the summer!
Thanks so much for the recommendation, I am looking it up right now. 😉
LOL! I really should try quoting her in my lessons and see if I get better results. 😉
Hi Meredith!
First of all, Congrats on your succesful work! . Hiring new teachers are good news! . Although I see it must have been a challenge to deal with everything.
Thanks for the beautiful pics of the Great Smoky Mountains, what a wonderful sights! . And your cousin’s daughter seems so sweet 🙂
Don’t worry for not having time to answer in the blog! We all know the interest and effort you put in the posts and of course we know you read everything we comment!. Enjoy the recital and good luck with it!
Thank you, Teresa! It is good news, but it is a lot of work and sometimes stress, because I am very particular about who I hire.
Aww! Glad you liked them and she definitely is!!
Thanks for your sweet understanding, my friend! I am happy to getting back to being around more!!
I guess that is a great problem to have about being busy at work and having to do new hires. Yay for a fun visit with your family in NYC. A spring break in the Smokies. I did that when I was in college years ago. It looks as lovely as ever. Had no idea about the train. Very cool!
Nice line up of reading there. Oh, and fun guest posts planned, too.
Have a great May, Meredith!
It is a good problem, but it is a long process sometimes…and sometimes hard to make a decision!
That’s awesome that you went to the Smokies, Spring is a great time to go.
I hope you are enjoy a lovely month!
Congratulations are order indeed! I’m so proud for you. Your trip to the mountains looked awesome, all the pictures were great, but some of the distance vistas, wow. You always look like you’re having a great time, love your happy faces.
Great agenda. I will be super-duper impressed if you manage the entire list. I just recently started The Lost Season, after having finished book 2 shortly before that. The I hit kind of a wall, (not because of that book!!) and had to back away and read some shorter things plus attack my ‘other TBR pile’ the non-JAFF one. The stories started to all blur in my head, I was reading like 3 books at a time, more online, and listening to a one on audio. Had to remind myself I was too old for that. 😉 Just because I could, didn’t mean I should.
So looking forward to the reviews and the guests this month. I’m excited about Suzan Lauder’s and Beau North’s books. And I love Sophie Turner’s series. Really eager to read Allie Cresswell’s series. I know it’s nuts, but I haven’t read Christina Morland’s, or Victoria Kincaid’s books yet. Sigh….those dratted book piles. All the titles above look really interesting for different reasons, and I will be pleased to be introduced to new (to me) authors. Best of luck with May, with everything going on for you away from the blog, (yes, we can be quite patient, like Teresa said.)
P.S. I am wishing 2cellos could tour closer to me, I’ve seen Hauser on Youtube and love watching him..but this was a very recent discovery. I didn’t know he was part of this two-man team. And what a team! What hunks. 😀 The music is incredible.
Thank you, my friend! I love the person I’m with no matter what we are doing…I am smiling! 😉
It is looking like my reading might be staying on track so far this month…but not so much with the blog comments!!
I’m greatly impressed that you were reading/listening so many books at once! That is very ambitious too!
LOL! Yes 2Cellos are awesome and they are some hunks, right?! 😉 Loved the concert. So much fun! Hopefully next year they will tour more places.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures. My goal is to read at least three books a month. Busy with my kids and elderly parents. Thank you for your blog.
That’s a great plan! I hope you are able to meet your goal!! I can understand how great it feels to have a few spare minutes to read a chapter here and there!
What a lovely April!
I love 2 Cellos, and the Great Smoky National Park is gorgeous! My daughter and I are looking forward to our brief visit to Brevard and Asheville in mid-June (more Blue Ridge Parkway than Great Smoky NP, but I’m just thrilled we’ll be in the mountains!).
And I’m honored that A Remedy Against Sin is among such company in terms of books to read in the near future. All the other books look great; I’m especially excited to read Cat Gardiner’s work, as I love time travel stories.
Happy May the Fourth to you, and hope the recital goes well!
That sounds like a fantastic trip!! We’ve only started exploring the western part of NC this past year. I love seeing the mountains…can’t get enough!! I’m so excited for your trip, I’ve not been to Brevard yet, but I know there is a lot to see there.
I just started your book yesterday….I’m so happy to finally reading it…pretty sure I will finish it today!
Your photos are always so gorgeous! Thank you for sharing them. Congratulations on the success of your business. “The only thing worse than being too busy is being not busy at all.” Good luck with your reading. I am presently reading a long non-published one by KC Kahler who wrote Boots and Backpacks, which was recommended to me by Anji. I, too, am waiting for the release of Nefarious. I also want to read Beau North’s and Suzan Lauder’s new books. I read Cat’s as separate releases and read A Remedy Against Sin and enjoyed it.
Thank you, Sheila! They are become more and more my favorite type of souvenir!
That is a wise saying…and a good outlook to have while I feel myself becoming overwhelmed!
Oooh! That is so exciting that you are reading a book by KC Kahler!! I was thinking of her book so much lately and wishing I was reading it when we were in the Great Smoky Mountains!
Hope you are enjoying a wonderful reading month!
Meredith