2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

Pages: 260.

Length: 1 Month (January).

Participants: Lorraine, Caterina, Lynn.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

I would love to join!

Samantha wrote: "I would love to join!"

Please do! I should start this book next week.

This one has been on my list for a while, so this is just the motivation I need to get started.

I just started the book. I don't have much to share yet, except that I just love her writing!

Will start this weekend or Monday! To many books this month!

Lorraine wrote: "Will start this weekend or Monday! To many books this month!"

Lorraine- I think we're in four of the same buddy reads this month 😅

Caterina wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "Will start this weekend or Monday! To many books this month!"

Lorraine- I think we're in four of the same buddy reads this month 😅"

yes! I think I went a bit crazy this month :-)

I’m going to start reading this weekend!

I read the first five chapters.

Catherine Moreland - (view spoiler)[I think her and Mr. Tilney are adorable. She's young and naive and he's young and a little full of himself, but they're pretty cute together. (hide spoiler)]

John Thorpe - (view spoiler)[I feel like everyone has had a date with a Mr. Thorpe, where your only contributions to the conversation are "oh wow," "yeah," "mhmm," etc. I can also understand the wonder until Catherine realizes he's rather awful. (hide spoiler)]

These were some of my favorite quotes so far:

- "Do you understand muslin sir?"

- "Where youth and diffidence are united, it requires uncommon steadiness of reason to resist the attraction of being called the most charming girl in the world."

- “[Mrs. Allen was] never satisfied with the day unless she spent the chief of it by the side of Mrs. Thorpe, in what they called conversation, but in which there was scarcely ever any exchange of opinion, and not often any resemblance of subject, for Mrs. Thorpe talked chiefly of her children, and Mrs. Allen of her gowns.”

I also loved the impassioned case Austen makes for novels. Here she is, in her own book, making the case for the importance of her work and addressing her critics head on. I love this kind of energy. I also think her argument still stands a couple of centuries later, because we're still having discussions around which books count or are "worthy" enough to read.

Oh, my! I still need to dig this one out! I'll try to read it asap! :)

Up to chapter 20.

I think this is the funniest Jane Austen book. How else are we supposed to interpret lines like this ones? “She was all impatience to see the house, and had scarcely any curiosity about the grounds. If Henry had been with them indeed! But now she should not know what was picturesque when she saw it.”

Henry - (view spoiler)[ I said this I the previous post, but Henry Tilney is so full of himself! I can let it go on account of his young age, but let’s hope he grows out of it. (hide spoiler)]

Isabella - (view spoiler)[ Isabella and James are engaged, but Isabella does not seem happy about it. She says it’s not about the money but it sounds like it’s about the money. And her flirting with Frederick Tilney does not bode well for the engagement. When she says “There are more ways than one of our being sisters,” she might mean as Mrs. Tilneys.

Isabella is incredibly manipulative and Catherine is too naive to notice. Isabella is trying to keep Catherine away from Henry and steer her towards her brother. (hide spoiler)]

John - (view spoiler)[John Thorpe is something else as well. He is pretending that he had an arrangement with Catherine when that’s absolutely not what happened. (hide spoiler)]

Sorry for not posting for so long. I was away up north Quebec, somewhere nice but with very limited Internet and no TV, so a lot of reading done!
I am about at 3/4 of this book which I find easy to read. (Chapter 24th) I just love this story. I agree with you Catherina that this is the funniest Jane Austen book (but it is only my 4th from her). I love the way she talks to us, the reader, and her irony.

Catherine: (view spoiler)[ Can someone be that naive? I hope she will grow out of this stage and realize that a few people around her are not what they say they are. Especially Isabella and John Thorpe. (hide spoiler)]

Isabella: (view spoiler)[ Will she gets the one with the money or will she become another proof of “He that hunts two hares catches neither”? And what about her way of saying one thing but meaning another thing? I am surprised Catherine cannot see that! (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "Sorry for not posting for so long. I was away up north Quebec, somewhere nice but with very limited Internet and no TV, so a lot of reading done!
I am about at 3/4 of this book which I find easy to..."

Catherine - (view spoiler)[She is incredibly naive. It feels believable to me, because she is young and kind-hearted, and this is her time in the company of people like Isabella and John. She has spent her entire life around nice people like her family members and other people in her village, so she stills believes the absolute best about anyone she meets. I liked the way Austen describes her initial interactions with John Thorpe. She believed him to be a good person because of Isabella and James' endorsements, but as she spends more time in his presence, she starts to second guess that assertion. I feel like the same thing will happen with Isabella, but it will take her more time. (hide spoiler)]

Isabella - (view spoiler)[I have a feeling you're right about this. (hide spoiler)]

I finished reading this last night and have to say I really enjoyed it! I do agree that of the few books I’ve read of hers it was quiet funny, not such a serious tone to it.

My two favorite quotes I took from the book,

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

“I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”

I also finished the book and I really liked it. It was the funniest book I've read from Austen. Looking forward reading the other two.

I did not take note so do not have a favorite quote to share with you but will do next time.

Samantha: Like your choice!
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

This is one of my favourites by Jane Austen (the 5 star one is Pride and Prejudice), but I don't love all of her novels.

I'm about 3/4 through this book, and I just love it. It has a light feel to it that makes you like the characters, sometimes in spite of themselves.

Catherine is very naive but not in a stupid ditzy way, she is so honest and has been surrounded by honest people all her life so she doesn't know that people can be intentionally manipulative. Hence she can veiw Isabella's behavior and her assumtion is that she is just as innocent as Catherine, and just doesn't know any better. Usually a character like Catherine would drive me bonkers, so that's a testament to Austen that I actually like her.

My biggest complaint about this book so far is that Henry Tilney is pretty boring. I don't dislike him, but he isn't very interesting and there isn't a lot of chemistry between him and Catherine. But I haven't finished so maybe I'll change my mind.

Oh, and the Thorpe's are the worst.

I am done as well and I loooved it.

I liked Catherine Morland as a character and I think it was smart of Jane Austen to use Catherine's naivete to show us the idiosyncrasies of the society she lives in. The relationships in this book felt very relatable (despite the different time period) and I loved the writing. I think Austen had a lot of fun writing this and it shows!

Sheila from NC sneaking in to enjoy Northanger Abbey with goodreads buddies. It’s been way to long since I read this one, but I enjoyed Catherine Moreland and the way she can get so involved in her books.

Welcome, Sheila!

After slogging through North and South on the January group read, this one is an absolute delight. It’s so funny, I think I’m going to use it with my humor books (Q1).

Sheila wrote: "After slogging through North and South on the January group read, this one is an absolute delight. It’s so funny, I think I’m going to use it with my humor books (Q1)."

I also thought it was an absolute joy to read. I'm glad you were able to join us!

We are continuing on with Sense and Sensibility in February and Emma in March. I don't think they'll be as funny as this one, but if you want to join our Jane Austen book club, you are more than welcome!

I enjoyed every bit of this book. I was reminded of why I have had very few really close female friends throughout the years. Really not until adulthood when I was exposed to more than just the "junior high drama queens"!

I could rather relate to Catherine's naivete since I was much that way. I just avoided anyone who didn't appear sincere and didn't play mind games, gossip, etc. Hence, most of my close friends were males and I still enjoy many males as friends and acquaintances moreso than females. After we had been living together about 6 months my current husband asked me in a middle of a conversation one day, "But what do you really mean by that?" And I was, "What do you mean what do I really mean by that? Haven't you learned by now that I rarely ever say something I don't mean or don't mean something I say?" He kinda sputtered and admitted I was the first female he had encountered who communicated directly requiring no further translation or interpretation. He stated it's like living with his best friend to which I replied that it should be! :) Anyhow. Sorry for the soliloquy!

I was rather surprised that Catherine's parents (view spoiler)[would require them to wait until the old rich white guy agreed to their marriage. At least he was able to marry off his daughter to someone with a title and money and that made him happy. I just hope the girl was happy with that marriage! While this was a happy ending I was glad the book wasn't as "Pollyanna-ish" as I feared it might be... (hide spoiler)]

I plan to join you for Emma as I've already read Sense and Sensibility!

Glad you enjoyed the book, L Y N N! We'll see you in March for Emma.