Fairy Tale Survey

Mel over at The Daily Prophecy created this survey based on fairy tales, and I thought I'd join in.  Thanks to Mel for creating the survey and to Deb over at Debz Bookshelf for pointing it out to me.  

PART 1. CLASSIC Tales.

Pinocchio – The boy whose nose grows when he lies.
Is there are book you lie about, because you feel ashamed for liking it?
Jane Austen novels.  I don't lie about them, but since people tend to assume that Austen novels are just fluffy romance, I sometimes feel a little silly calling them my favorites.  But they're not just fluff; there's a lot of biting social commentary in there.

Beauty and the Beast – The girl who fell in love with personality.
Which book do you love that has a hideous cover?

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.  I don't care for high fantasy covers.  They weird me out.  Luckily, Words of Radiance has a better cover.

Snow White – Hunted down for her beauty.
Do you ever buy a book based on the cover alone and if so, what is the last one?

No, I'm too judicious with my book buying, and even if the cover is gorgeous, I won't try a book if the jacket blurb doesn't sound interesting, I won't try it.  But the last cover beauty I was drawn to was The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.  I love scroll work.

Sleeping beauty – Cursed to sleep, awakened by true loves kiss.
 What is your favorite book couple?

Anne and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables.  No competition.  They're intellectual equals and best friends.  They make sacrifices for each other and make each other better people.  And it's just fun to read their interactions.

Little Mermaid – Gave up on her old life for love.
Do you ever branch out to new genres or do you like to stick with the ones you know and love? If you try new things out, what is the latest book?

I like to try new genres both because I eventually get tired of fantasy and because I'd otherwise miss out on the gems in other genres.  And because I need to be able to recommend all sorts of books to my students. Friends with Boys is my latest favorite atypical-for-me-book.  It's a contemporary graphic novel with a dash of the supernatural.

Cinderella – Who lost her shoe after midnight.

What is the last book that made you stay up all night?
I don't pull all nighters.  I value sleep and my ability to function the next day too much.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the only book I've pulled an all nighter for, and really, that was a special circumstance.  However, I will often stay up reading into the wee hours of the morning.  Sometimes I regret it, but it's usually worth it.  The last book I stayed up late for was Words of Radiance.

Rapunzel – locked up in a tower.
What is  the worst books you read last month?
It took me all of last month to read just one book (in my defense it was over 1000 pages long and I had a lot of teacher stuff to do), so I'll go back further and choose Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen.  I could easily lock it in a tower and leave it there to rot for all eternity.  I know a lot of people about the blogosphere love it, but I had some major, major issues with it.

PART 2. MIX-MATCH.

Aladdin – The poor boy who found a genie.
What is the latest book treasure/gem you found?

The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.  I wanted to use it in my book groups unit, but another teacher is already using it.  Curses!

Alice in Wonderland – The girl who fell through a rabbit’s hole. 
Which book made you really feel like you landed in another world?
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatake.  I could spend a very long time looking at the illustrations and noticing every little thing going on in the crowd shots with all the bizarre space creatures.  The alien planet is such a fun world to explore.

East of the sun and west of the moon – where a girl embarks on a journey to save her love.
Who is one of your favorite kick-butt heroines?
Lo from Fathomless.  She can't exactly be described as kick-butt, but she's one of the most fascinating female characters I've read about recently.  She's strong in a way that doesn't involve beating people up.

The Frog Prince – where an enchanted prince becomes human again.
What is a book you thought you would hate, but end up loving?
Crash by Jerry Spinelli.  I fully expected to get nothing out of a skinny little book about a middle school bully football player, but it was actually quite good.

Hansel and Gretel – left alone in the woods and captured by a witch.
Which duo (sister/sister, brother/sister) is your favorite and why?
Cinder and Iko from Cress and the rest of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.  They're technically not sisters, but they're close enough, and their relationship is too fun to leave out.

Little Red Riding Hood – almost eaten by a wolf dressed as her grandmother.
What book disappointed you after falling in love with the cover and blurb?  
Ironskin.  I wanted so much more out of a fey Jane Eyre adaptation.  The cover was really interesting, the premise was intriguing, the beginning of the book was good, and then the rest of the book didn't follow through.  I had to watch episodes of The Autobiography of Jane Eyre to console myself, not that rewatching AoJE is ever a bad thing.

Rumpelstilskin – nobody knows his name.
Which book do you love that doesn't get enough attention?
Okay for Now.  Just go read it.

A to Z Bookish Survey

Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner created the survey a while ago, but I just found it thanks to Misty at The Book Rat.  I had some time on my hands (yay, no school!), so I put together my answers.

Author you've read the most books from:

Brian Jaques.  I read all of the Redwall books in middle school.  All of them.  I still have a secret desire to be a squirrel.  Or an otter.  Or a hare.  Really any Redwall creature would do.
(Want an easy way to figure this out if you have Goodreads and keep good track of your stuff? Go to your account, hit “my books”and on the left hand side under your shelves you will see “most read authors”)

Best Sequel Ever:

The Hero of Ages.  Prepare to have your mind blown.  This book does require the investment of 1000+ pages to get through the first two books.  Sanderson's books are amazing, but they are slow starters.

Currently Reading:

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen.  I'm a sucker for a good first line:  "I had arrived early for my own assassination."  I quite liked The False Prince.  And book three, The Shadow Throne, comes out in February.

Drink of Choice While Reading:
Apple cider or hot chocolate.

E-reader or Physical Book?
Both.  Both is good.  With a Kindle I can get books for cheap that I never, ever have to pack (I hate moving).  But there's just something about browsing through a bookshelf, brushing my fingers against my favorites and flipping through physical pages.  So both.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:
Gilbert Blythe.  Gilbert is real, real as in realistic and flawed.  He and Anne are intellectual equals; I love how they pushed each other in school--first out of spite, then in friendly competition..  He made some stupid mistakes (Carrots), but he always wanted the best for her.  He gave up the Avonlea School for her!  What could be more romantic?

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.  I read this partially because of a recommendation from a professor and partially because my school district banned it about 10 years ago (crazy, I know).  It ended up being both funnier and deeper than I expected.

Hidden Gem Book:
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.  More people need to read this book.

Important Moment in your Reading Life:
Getting permission to go to the library on my own.  Looking back on it, I'm surprised my mom let me ride my bike that far alone.

Just Finished:

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.  So good.  And the cover.  Silhouette plus scroll-work.  Swoon.

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:
Paperback romances/bodice rippers--the ones with Fabio and his abs and a woman in a falling-off satin dress.  Just not interested.

Longest Book You’ve Read:
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

** easy way to find this out. Go to your Goodreads “read” list, don’t scroll down but where you are on the screen there will be this little tab on the bottom that lets you choose how you want to scroll or how many books you want display. There is also a sort option with a drop down and you can sort by page.

Major book hangover because of:
Seraphina.  The sequel is taking way too long to come out.

Number of Bookcases You Own:
One at home, three at school.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:
Anne of Green Gables.

Preferred Place To Read:
Curled up on the couch, often with a throw.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read:
Although I do love a good set of feels, I actually prefer spunk, so here's my favorite quote from Jane Eyre as she's being interrogated by Mr. Brockelhurst:

"No sight so sad as that of a naughty child," he began, "especially a naughty little girl.  Do you know where the wicked go after death?"

"They go to hell," was my ready and orthodox answer.

"And what is hell?  Can you tell me that?"

"A pit full of fire."

"And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?"

"No, sir."

"What must you do to avoid it?"

I deliberated a moment:  my answer, when it did come was objectionable:  "I must keep in good health and not die."

Reading Regret:

Ummmm, I was anti graphic novel for a little while.

Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series): Matched.  I really liked the first book, but I don't feel strongly compelled to pick up Crossed, even though I do want to read it...one of these days.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:

Persuasion
Anne of Green Gables
Ella Enchanted

Unapologetic Fangirl For:
Fairy tale retellings.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:

CRESS!!!  Just a couple more weeks.

Worst Bookish Habit:
Acquiring cheap Kindle books and then not reading them for a long time or ever.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:
Between Shades of Gray.

Your latest book purchase:

Goblin Secrets.

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):

Across a Star-Swept Sea.

Feel free to fill out the survey yourself or just let me know what you think in the comments. 

Why Sandition Was Not as Good as LBD

I loved the Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  Like many of you, I sat in eager anticipation for each new episode and then watched the episode multiple times, squeeing and over-analyzing each move the characters made.  I supported the crew in the Kickstarter and was super excited when they announced they would run a miniseries of Austen's Sanditon this summer.  I hadn't read Sanditon, but I trusted the team to do as good a job with it as they did with LBD.

And then they didn't.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Pemberly Digital, I am watching Emma Approved, and Sanditon wasn't awful.  It just wasn't as good as LBD was.  And here are the two main ways where Sanditon went wrong.

1.  They chose an unknown, unfinished Austen novel as their source material.

I know that a lot of people who hadn't read Pride and Prejudice or seen the movies watched and loved LBD.  However, there is a wide cultural understanding of the general plot of Pride and Prejudice.  Even if you have never read the book or seen the movies, you know it's about guy and girl who hate each other and then fall in love.

Sanditon does not have that same cultural presence.  Because Austen died before she completed the novel, most people have not read it.  Even after seeing Welcome to Sanditon and reading the summary of the novel on Wikipedia, I still don't know what the story is about.  With LBD you knew Lizzie and Darcy would get together in the end; the question was how.  With Sanditon, I couldn't figure out what was supposed to be happening, and I'm still not entirely sure.  What was our end-goal supposed to be beyond Clara and Edward getting together?  Were we ever supposed to resolve Tom's hijacking and re-branding of the town's businesses in a false sense of progress?  Was Clara supposed to have a story arc?  She didn't change like Elizabeth, Anne, Emma, and Elinor did throughout their novels.

And what was with the the spin gym side story?  It was introduced during the last third of the series and then didn't go anywhere.  You don't introduce things that late in the game.  Or if you do, it better be important.  But it wasn't.  It created a negligible amount of romantic tension and then...nothing. 

2.  They sacrificed core content for filler content, specifically the fan videos.

Don't get me wrong, I love the community that sprung up around LBD.  I love that we swapped theories in the comments and created gifs and wrote reaction posts and experienced LBD together.  However, these fan reactions should never take prescient over the professionally written content.  I don't subscribe to see four minutes of fan videos every week.  These videos didn't move the plot along at all.  At least in LBD when we had filler episodes, we got to know the characters better.  The Sanditon fan videos, not so much.  

A better way to do "filler" episodes was Clara's ice cream videos.  Even though they didn't move the plot forward much, we got to know Clara.  

I don't know if Pemberly Digital was just trying to stretch out the series to make it last longer because Emma Approved got delayed or what, but I would have preferred a shorter, fan-video-less series.  I think the community is great and the fans are great, but we are not the central content.  The story is.

I did like Tom and Ed and Clara.  I loved the late night conversation between Clara and Ed.  I loved seeing more of Gigi and her growth as a character beyond her brother's expectations.  Pemberly Digital made some big mistakes with Sanditon, but I think they learned from those mistakes and will avoid them with Emma Approved.  I'm excited to see where this new series will go.

Vlog Adaptations of Classics

As you can probably tell from some of my posts this spring (1, 2, 3), I love the Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  I'm a huge Austen-ite.  I've read her books and seen the movie adaptations more times than is probably healthy.  I thought I knew the story of Pride and Prejudice, but The Lizzie Bennet Diaries took the story in a whole-new-while-still-true-to-the-book direction.  The writers brought a depth to Lydia's character that I didn't know was there.  It is a fantastic adaptation that totally deserves the Emmy it won, and I'm sad that it's over.  However, while LBD may have reached an end, it has inspired a bunch of new vlog adaptations of other classic novels.  I prove my English nerdiness by freaking out every time a new episode comes up in my subscription feed, which is pretty much every day considering how many adaptations I'm following.  Today I am sharing these adaptations with you.  

The Autobiography of Jane Eyre--episodes on Wednesdays and Saturdays

This is probably my favorite adaption.  The actress is Jane.  She totally channels Jane's contemplative seriousness without being gloomy about it.  This Wednesday's episode was the best so far.  Meanwhile, Rochester is a rude, inconsiderate, jerk.  This is more a problem with the source material than the adaptation.  Rochester is supposed to be that way, but it's more problematic in a modern setting than it was in the 1800s.  So far the writers have kept him true to character without making him too easy to hate.  However, I don't see how they're going to deal with some of the issues later in the book.  

For example:  Bertha.  Today's mental health care is words better than what was available in the 1800s.  Back then, it was merciful for Rochester to keep Bertha in his attic where she would be well cared for and comfortable rather than banishing her to an asylum where she would be, at best, horribly neglected.  But modern Rochester could easily find quality care for a crazy wife.  This makes me think that Bertha's not going to be crazy, but then what will the insurmountable Bertha problem be? 

An even bigger adaptation challenge is Jane's flight from Thornfeild.  People can't disappear anymore, not in our internet-saturated world.  But she has to do so without losing viewers.  Jane can't go internet silent, because viewers would get bored and we'd miss all the St. John story and we can't miss that.  If she changed to a new channel, she'd lose the viewers who would miss the memo and Rochester could still track her down.  I can't figure out how they're going to make this work, but I can't wait to see how they do it.

Nick Carroway Chronicles--episodes on Mondays 

I think The Great Gatsby is one of the classic novels that most naturally translates to vlog form since the book is basically Nick telling us what happens to other people.  He's a built in narrator.  Since there is only one episode per week, we're still at the very beginning of the story and have hardly seen Gatsby, but I'm liking it so far.  Also,I love Jordan.  She's hilarious.  I don't even know how to describe her.  She's not goofy, just funny.  This series deserves way more attention than it's gotten.  

Emma Approved--episodes on Mondays and Thursdays

This series comes from the same team that made The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Sanditon (Sanditon has its own post here).  Emma Approved just premiered on Monday, so it's way too early to judge whether this will be as good an adaptation as LBD, but so far it looks promising.  Emma's characterization is perfect.  She's confident to a fault.  She thinks she reads people better than she does.  She's self centered and falsely concerned about other people.  She's so Emma Woodhousey.  I was unduly excited about this when it premiered on Monday.  

Also, does anyone else think Alex Knightly is very Edward Denhem-like?  His voice and personality seem very similar.

The Emma Project--episodes on Tuesdays and Saturdays

I discovered this one just the other day.  It will be interesting to watch this series and Emma Approved at the same time.  They've done a good job of setting up the class distinction with the college seniority and Emma would totally be a psychology major.  I love that Robbie Martin is a farmer going to to community college; we totally get why Emma would think Harriet is above marrying someone like that as well as why Emma a jerk for thinking that.  And we've started seeing more of Emma influencing Harriet in her decisions.

However, The Emma Project doesn't have the same professional feeling that the other adaptations have.  I'm not talking about lighting and sound.  I can ignore that.  I mean that instead of coming across as Emma the character telling us about her life, it feels like an actress reciting memorized lines, so it doesn't feel as real.  They also seem to be rushing through the story rather than taking time to establish the characters.  I'm still interested in it, but it's not the best adaptation I've found.

Notes by Christine--episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays

I found Notes by Christine just today.  I like it so far, but I haven't had time to see how well I like it.  They're taking a risk by having episodes that are just Christine singing opera music.  It's true to character and the story of Phantom of the Opera (book not musical), but it doesn't move the plot forward at all.  So it'll be interesting to see whether or not Youtube audiences latch onto it.  Also, the opera ghost has his own channel where he, without showing his face, offers Christine private lessons.  So that's creepy.  It'll be interesting to see where they take this story.  They could really play up the creepy stalker aspect by making him an internet predator.  We'll see. 

Anyways, go check out these series for yourself and let me know what you think.    Also, are there more vlog adaptations of classic novels out there that I missed?  I must find them all!  

Review: For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows the Stars--Diana Peterfreund
June 2012 Balzer + Bray
402 pages--Goodreads

It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

---

For Darkness Shows the Stars does a good job of both drawing on Persuasion while also standing as its own story.  The problem was I wouldn't let it be it's own story.  I could not stop comparing For Darkness to Persuasion and finding all the places it fell short.  I just couldn't let things go, and that kept me from enjoying the book as much as I could have.

The romance was neither tense nor tragic.  Seriously, Elliot.  Kai left when you were 14.  I had four concurrent crushes when I was 14 and none of those ever came close to panning out.  Move on.  I do like that Peterfreund built up their relationship as close childhood friends.  Then as adults Elliot and Kai talk to each other all the time, killing all the tension that is supposed to be there.  Anne and Wentworth never know what the other is thinking.  That's what makes the letter so satisfying: they finally, FINALLY express what we've been hoping they felt this whole time.  That tension just isn't there in For Darkness, even with Elliot and Kai's melodramatic fights.  

The letter itself was a disappointment   Nothing will ever be as swoon-worthy as Austen's original, and since Peterfreund hadn't been using Austenesque language, it would have been out of place to cut and paste it in.  But the rewritten letter is just so bland in comparison.  It honestly felt like a Sparknotes version of the original, and it was so much less than what I knew it could be.

I am impressed with how well Peterfreund translated Regency England's social structure to her post-apocalyptic world.  The classes are broken out just as rigidly and unsurmountably.  The Posts (rising middle class) are the new unknown middle ground threat.  The Reduced are just how the aristocracy and gentry would have viewed the peasant class, people who need to be watched over because they're not capable of caring for themselves.  Peterfreund also does an excellent job of making it clear why Elliot had to stay.  We can get a bit over-romantic while reading Persuasion and become convinced that Anne and Wentworth could have been happy as we overlook the fact that a war had just begun and he had no prospects and could have very easily died and left Anne a penniless widow cut off forever from her family.  It was the right choice for her to stay.  With Elliot we realize it would have been selfish of her to leave.  Had she left, the estate would have fallen apart from ill management and hundreds of people would have suffered.  

Peterfreund took a huge risk in reworking such beloved source material as Austen's Persuasion, and that risk didn't quite pan out for me, which is partly my own fault.  By the end of the novel I had finally allowed For Darkness to be its own novel and started to enjoy it more.  For Darkness Shows the Stars is not Persuasion by any measure, but it is good.  

Side note:  There was far too little of the Crofts/Innovations.  The Crofts are my absolute favorite Austen couple ever.  We see less of them in the movies, but in the books they are adorable.  The Innovations hardly spend two scenes together.  We see a lot of Felicia, and that's good, but I missed the Sophie going along with the Admiral's crazy driving and always sailing with him and the Admiral talking about how much he loved his wife, how he is used to having a woman (his wife) on his arm, and asking why all women can't be named Sophie. 

Sigh.  I should just go and reread Persuasion.

Review: Austenland by Shannon Hale

Austenland--Shannon Hale
May 2007 by Bloomsbury
197 pages--Goodreads

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined. 

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen;or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

---

I usually don't care much for adult books.  Maybe I'm still a kid at heart.  Maybe you can just do more interesting things in whimsical middle grade/young adult books than reasonable adult books.  Maybe I just don't care about a mid-thirties woman whose life isn't going anywhere.  For whatever reason, I couldn't lose myself to Austenland.

My biggest hang up with this novel is the premise.  As fun as Austenland is as an idea and as much as I liked exploring the world, immersing yourself in Austen is not the way to get over an Austen fetish.  You wouldn't send an alcoholic on a bunch of winery/brewery tours to kick the habit.  It just won't work.  In the same light, deliberately putting yourself in a position to fall for a Mr. Darcy won't kill your Darcy obsession. I hoped for more from Jane: that she would learn to embrace reality and make it her own. Instead she is rewarded with the idyllic rom-com ending.  I'm not a cynic, but come on.  Darcy is not real, and you will waste your life if you wait for him.  

I love the narrator and her personality.  Hale perfectly captures the gently satirical tone of Austen's narrators and their commentary.  I would have liked to see more of her.  I also like when Hale's plot is reminiscent of Austen's novels.  It is often just close enough to realize "Hey, this is Mansfield Park," but not so similar that Hale's plot loses originality.

Austenland is a light, fluffy book, but that is all it was meant to be.  Austenland is written to fulfill that romantic fantasy in all our Austenite hearts.  The romance just isn't to my taste.  I mean, describing men as "yummy"?  No.  So on the whole, not my favorite Hale novel, but still a fun read.

Abuse and the LDB

Okay, I have to discuss the latest development of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries with someone.  First, watch today's episode of Lydia Bennet's video blogs.  And all the rest of the series, but especially these last two episodes.

I am convinced that the big scandal of Wickham-Lydia is emotional abuse.  There may be some some legal trouble too, but George is very subtly manipulating Lydia, and I see this turning into an abusive relationship.  Lydia may not disappear as in the book, but she will be trapped.

Here are the warning signs of abuse that I see:

• Change in Lydia's personality--Lydia has been significantly more subdued in recent episodes
• George makes her feel indebted to her--the mysterious something in Vegas, letting her come over all the time even thought it's not convenient for him
• Along with that, he makes her feel guilty about whatever it is he's done for her
• Lydia is isolated from her friends and family--maybe she's isolating herself or maybe George is mainpulating her away from them.  Either way, no one else is there to see the changes in her personality, and George becomes the only source of recognition and affection
• George expresses jealosy at her having relationships with others
• George makes accusations--stealing drugs while babysitting, seeingsomeone else/cheating on him
• George forces her to do things she doesn't want--even if it's as small as admitting they're dating, and their exclusive status goes one step further into isolating her
• **Updates since episode 28
• George continues to make Lydia feel bad about herself.
• George actively keeps her from seeing her family.  He makes the choice between him and her family an ultimatum and makes it seem like her family has always been against her. 
• George threatens to leave.  He's made Lydia dependent on him so his leaving would break her heart.
• George uses "I love you" as leverage for his apology
• George guilts Lydia "I've done everything for you" "It would kill me to leave you."

I'm fascinated by this down-spiral, half knowing what's coming but not knowing how it will be adapted.  If I'm right and it turns out to be abuse, kudos to the writers for coming up with such an apt modern adaptation.  And holy cow, the actors are phenomenal.  George is not an obvious jerk; he's charming and seemingly protective.  Lydia has been hurt before and based on her fight with Lizzie and the reputation she's established, she may feel like she doesn't deserve anything better, or she may need to prove that she can handle herself.  She may not see what George is doing as a problem.

What do you think, fellow LDB fans?  Am I overreacting and reading something into nothing?  Did you notice any warning signs I missed?  Where do you see Lydia and George's relationship going?  

Jane Austen's Guide to Getting a Man

In light of the skweeeee-worthy episode of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries that came out on Thursday, I thought I would share some more of my thoughts on Pride and Prejudice and Austen's other work.  I am a bit of an obsessive Austen-ite, but I realized recently that any woman who actually tried to do what Austen’s heroines did to snag a husband needs a major intervention by loving yet concerned friends and family.  

So here for your entertainment are six pieces of relationship advice from the women who know best just how to reach that happy ending.

#1  Be offended when you eavesdrop on a guy after your first encounter and never, ever forgive him.  When he asks you out, turn him down and insult him mercilessly for things he didn't actually do.  Show up  a few months later, without explanation, to creep at his house while he's not home.

#2  Set your best friend up with every semi-eligible young man in the area while ignoring/arguing with the man you secretly love.  Accidently convince said best friend to fall for the same guy.

#3  Watch silently as the one you've loved all your life falls for a complete jerk.  Do nothing.

#4  Fall in love, but reject the young man's proposal when he asks to marry you.  Wait eight years.  You will meet him again, but he will no longer be interested in you.  Arrange for all competition to conveniently fall off of high walls or small cliffs and break their heads.

#5  Accuse your significant other’s father of killing his own wife.  And of being a vampire.

#6  Step One:  Walk in the rain.

Step Two:  Fall and incapacitate yourself.

Step Three:  Lie helplessly in the rain until a dashing hero finds you and carries you back to your abode.

Step Four:   Have your heart broken by the afore said jerk.

Step Five:  Repeat Steps One through Three.  Trust me—this time it will work.

Note:  This method is most effective if you lose the will to live and teeter on the brink of death for a few days.

Do you have any relationship advice from other fictional leading ladies?

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Pride and Prejudice holds a special place in my heart.  It was the first classic novel I actually liked.  It got me started on analyzing and thinking deeply about literature, putting me on the path to becoming a teacher.  It was my introduction to the rest of Austen's works.  It was one of the many movies I watched with my mom growing up.  It was witty and piercing social commentary and a swoon-worthy romance.  I've built the book up a lot , so I am critical of movie adaptations.  They just don't capture everything in my head.  The Collin Firth version is fabulous but oh so long; you can't really watch it in one sitting.  The Keira Knightly version, in my opinion, misses the real flavor and point of the novel.  It made me want to puke into my shoes the first time I watched it.  My opinion of it has since improved, but it still bugs me every time I watch it.

So, when I discovered The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, I was a bit hesitant.  I'm especially wary of modernizations of Austen's works.  Some things work well in 19th century England but not in modern America, like Charlotte and Mr. Collins.  However, I've been really impressed with how they've adapted and in some cases expanded the story.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a Youtube webseries developed by Hank Green (brother of John Green) and Bernie Su.  It's been running since April and has a format different than anything I've seen before. Lizzie posts new video blogs every Monday and Thursday. Aside from the main story in the vlogs, she and the rest of the characters are on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter in character and their interactions on social media are not just for fans--they add to the story.  Caroline and Bing's conversations are not essential to the progression of the plot, but we get to see another dimension to their characters.  And if you tweet them, they respond in-character.  It gets sort of meta-fictiony at times.  Even knowing full well that it's a fictional work from 200 years ago, it's sometimes easy to forget that these are not real people.

I love what they've done with the characters, especially Lydia.  I've never liked Lydia.  She's so flighty and brainless and boy crazy and reckless. In the Diaries, she still comes off that way at the beginning, but as you get later in the series you catch glimpses of Lydia being genuinely hurt by Lizzie calling her a skank.  You see her really care about her sisters.  Especially in some of her recent vlogs (Lydia has her own channel), we see more of her personality from her own point of view, rather than always filtering through Lizzie's commentary.   We are starting to see more about why she is so casual with guys beyond just her party-craze:  every guy in her life has let down or hurt either her or her sisters.  I don't know yet how the Lydia/Wickham situation will work, but I think it will be deeper than just a night in Vegas.  I'm excited to see how it turns out.  She's a deeper character in this adaptation than she usually is, and I find her story very interesting.

Other random thoughts:  Charlotte plays a much bigger role and is awesome.  We see more of Lizzie's flaws through her vlogs; she comes off at times as judgmental and vindictive sometimes.  I tend to idealize Elizabeth in the book and the Colin Firth movie, but she is a real, flawed person in the Diaries.  Mr. Collins is outrageous, as always.  Lizzie's impersonations are hilarious.  Fitz would be an awesome friend to have in real life and needs to be in the series more.  Some of the beginning episodes are a bit meh, but stick with it and they get better.

This is Lizzie's YouTube channel.
You can find the whole story in chronological order combining all social media outlets here.
And here is the first video.  A warning:  don't start watching the series unless you either have phenomenal self-restraint or a couple of hours you can dedicate to watching the whole series without guilt.  Once you start watching, it is really, really hard to stop.  Use extreme caution as finals approach.

Review: Jane Austen Made Me Do It by Laurel Ann Nattress

Jane Austen Made Me Do It--Laurel Ann Nattress

October 2011 by Ballantine Books

464 pages--Goodreads

“My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” If you just heaved a contented sigh at Mr. Darcy’s heartfelt words, then you, dear reader, are in good company. Here is a delightful collection of never-before-published stories inspired by Jane Austen—her novels, her life, her wit, her world.

In Lauren Willig’s “A Night at Northanger,” a young woman who doesn’t believe in ghosts meets a familiar specter at the infamous abbey; Jane Odiwe’s “Waiting” captures the exquisite uncertainty of Persuasion’s Wentworth and Anne as they await her family’s approval of their betrothal; Adriana Trigiani’s “Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane” imagines a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice upon her engagement; in Diana Birchall’s “Jane Austen’s Cat,” our beloved Jane tells her nieces “cat tales” based on her novels; Laurie Viera Rigler’s “Intolerable Stupidity” finds Mr. Darcy bringing charges against all the writers ofPride and Prejudice sequels, spin-offs, and retellings; in Janet Mullany’s “Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!” a teacher at an all-girls school invokes the Beatles to help her students understand Sense and Sensibility; and in Jo Beverley’s “Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss,” a widow doesn’t believe she’ll have a second chance at love . . . until a Miss Austen suggests otherwise.

Regency or contemporary, romantic or fantastical, each of these marvelous stories reaffirms the incomparable influence of one of history’s most cherished authors.

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I won this collection from one of Misty's giveaways during Austen in August over at The Book Rat (thanks again, Misty).  I thought it was a collection of essays by authors on how Jane Austen had influenced their lives and their writing, but it turned out to be a collection of Austen spin-offs, continuations, and retellings.  This was my first venture into the world of Austen spin-offs, and for the most part, I liked it.  I didn't enjoy the contemporary stories as much, but that is due just to personal taste; I am rarely interested in contemporary adult stories.  Most of the stories were a fun, new look at Austen's characters.

Writing a review on a collection of short stories is difficult.  I can't really talk about overarching plot, characters, or writing style without going into a long list of every story and how it worked, so I'll just touch on my favorites.  
--In "Jane Austen's Nightmare" by Syrie James, the main characters of each novel come to tell Austen that she portrayed them poorly.  It was fun to see Emma being a busybody, Elinor claiming she is too perfect, and Fanny complain that Austen made her boring.  
--"Nothing Less than Fairyland" by Monica Fairview is a continuation of Emma.  I had never considered Emma and Knightly's married life, but trying to live in the same house as Mr. Woodhouse would be maddening.  I thought Emma's characterization was just a bit off, but it was a good story.
--"Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss" by Jo Beverley gives a widow a second chance at love.  Cute and short with a touch swoon-worthy Regency romance. 
--"What Would Austen Do" by Jane Ruino and Caitlen Rabino Bradway was a lot of fun, mostly due to the main character's voice.  A teenaged boy with an Austen-obsessed mother, he has just a touch of snark, some sarcasm, and the general teenaged 'all the adults in my life are insane' attitude.

Those who enjoy Austen spin-offs will enjoy this collection.  There's a wide variety of stories, from metafiction to mystery to contemporary romance to young adult to Regency romance to sequels to stories about Austen's family and more, so there's something in it for everyone.