ARC, Books

Book 441: The Madwoman Upstairs – Catherine Lowell

Back-to-back Brontë fan-fictions you say? Hell yes, I say! I honestly didn’t plan it this way, but both books were burning holes on my TBR pile and I wanted to read them before I headed out to China.

I really do need to up my game though, I had no idea this (or Jane Steele) were coming out this year. Unlike Jane Steele, this one doesn’t seem to be making as big of a splash. It could be because it’s a debut novel, or it could be because it’s by a smaller publisher, but I couldn’t tell you for sure what it is.

I know I stumbled across The Madwoman Upstairs after I finally got around to reading an article from The Daily Beast titled Life Lessons From the Brontë Sisters (article link). So of course I reached out to the publisher and they kindly sent a review copy*, which once I started reading I blazed through.

Continue reading “Book 441: The Madwoman Upstairs – Catherine Lowell”

ARC, Books

Book 434: Eligible (The Austen Project #4) – Curtis Sittenfeld

I really should’ve read Trollope’s Sense and Sensibility and McCall Smith’s Emma before I read this, but getting my hands on a galley/uncorrected proof copy from Random House* sort of made that a moot point. Perhaps I’ll read the other two soon as I loved this one so much. Needless to say, I’m proud I saved it for as long as I did. I always get a bit nervous when an uncorrected proof has in big bold letters “DO NOT PUBLISH YOUR RESPONSE BEFORE X DATE.”

I mean I get it, but it’s still like you want me to read this book and then keep mum on it. How is that possible!? It’s 1) Jane Austen, 2) ADORABLE and 3) hilariously modern in a way only Jane Austen can be made so. I’ll go ahead and warn you that this response isn’t all sunshine and roses though. I will say I was hesitant of the name-change from the original, but as I read it I was convinced with the okay-ness of it. There is a tangent later that is not a reflection of the book, but of some of the stupid comments I’ve seen recently of The Austen Project adaptations.

Continue reading “Book 434: Eligible (The Austen Project #4) – Curtis Sittenfeld”

CRWMPodcast

CRWM #09: Dr Mütter’s Marvels

CRWM09For episode nine of Come Read With Me, my friend Jess joined me to discuss Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’ Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine. As usual, there were plenty of tangents including a five-minute tangent (you’re welcome, I edited it from 20) about Jane Austen fan fiction. Maybe I should just turn this into a Come Read Jane Austen with me podcast! (Don’t worry, I won’t.)

I was apparently super fidgety during the recording so I’m super sorry about all the background noise!

Download it here: CRWM #09 (Right Click and “save as.”) Or, better yet, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher!

Continue reading “CRWM #09: Dr Mütter’s Marvels”

Books

Book 410: First Among Sequels (Thursday Next #5) – Jasper Fforde

This series has finally slowed down. This isn’t a detraction, just a statement. Picking up more than 14 years after the end of Something RottenFirst Among Sequels just didn’t feel quite the same. Don’t get me wrong, there was absurdity, Fforde’s genius pushes the boundaries and Thursday Next is still a great character, but it just wasn’t the same.

As I mentioned in my post about Something Rotten I found out after I’d started this novel that the last three of the published novels in the Thursday Next series are actually a second series and not the same. It’s a little misleading as websites like Goodreads and Amazon group them together. There’s even a compendium of the first five: A Thursday Next Digital Collection: Novels 1-5. If I would’ve known about the time gap and the “separate series” portion I would’ve paused after book four instead of five, but oh well.

Continue reading “Book 410: First Among Sequels (Thursday Next #5) – Jasper Fforde”

Books

Book 408: The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next #3) – Jasper Fforde

I think this series is just going to get better and better! Although book three took a lot longer to read that the first two, it was because of my own travels, being sick and once again sinking into the sandbox world of Minecraft, this time on PS4. Either way, it’s my first book of 2016 and what a great way to transition to a new year.

This book picks up right after Lost in a Good Book and takes place almost exclusively in the Book World! I loved learning even more about Jurisfiction, the Council of Genres, Text Grand Central and the internal politics of them all. I cannot wait to see where the series goes over the next few books. I think I’m going to finish out those I have left on my shelf, Something Rotten and First Among Sequels and then take a break from Thursday Next, but I will finish the series, it’s too good not to! I already want to check out Fforde’s other series, Nursery Crime, a companion Book World series which he sets up in this novel (see the last quote under additional quotes)!

Continue reading “Book 408: The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next #3) – Jasper Fforde”