Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Challenge 2024 discussion

April's group challenge is going to focus on Jane Austen herself. Here's your chance to visit a good biography about her or delve into the fictional stories that feature Jane Austen as a character.

Your choice can be from any media type (ebook, audio, published, unpublished) and any publishing time. Your choice does not have to come from your current shelves, but can be a new release or library borrow.

But, Jane must definitely be at the center of your pick.

If you are All About Jane, simply leave a comment with your book pick by April 1st and then start reading. Feel free to share your follow up thoughts on your book pick.

I haven’t yet read Jane and the Year Without a Summer, so I’ll read that in April. I’m overdue for a pleasure read!

I'm definitely in!

To help everyone (and myself) out, here's a list of books or series ideas that qualify:

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen
Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor **first in series
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist—the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England
The World of Jane Austen
Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer
Jane Austen: In Style
The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen** first in series
Jane Austen at Home
Jane Bites Back** first in series
The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen
Jane Austen's First Love
The Man Who Loved Jane Austen
According to Jane
Behind Jane Austen's Door
The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen
The Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders
Jane by the Sea: Jane Austen's Love Story
A Jane Austen Christmas: Regency Christmas Traditions
A Jane Austen Christmas: Celebrating the Season of Romance, Ribbons and Mistletoe
A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England
Jane Austen's England
Secrets in the Snow
Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters: A Family Record
Jane and Dorothy: A True Tale of Sense and Sensibility: The Lives of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth
Jane in Love
Jane Austen's Cousin: The Outlandish Countess de Feuillide
Jane Austen's 'Outlandish Cousin': The Life and Letters of Eliza de Feuillide
Dearest Cousin Jane: A Jane Austen Novel
I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend
Jane Austen's Best Friend: The Life and Influence of Martha Lloyd
The Hapless Milliner ** first in series
Jane Austen's Letters
Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels
The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen
Only a Novel: The Double Life of Jane Austen
Cassandra and Jane
Miss Austen
The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen
The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen: Volume I ** first in series
The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen
Just Jane
My Head Upon the £10 Note: Time-travel Jane
A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball
My Dear Cassandra : Selections from the Letters of Jane Austen
Jane Austen: Daddy’s Girl: The Life and Influence of The Revd George Austen
The Hidden Jane Austen
Jane Austen, the Secret Radical
Jane Was Here: An Illustrated Guide to Jane Austen's England
The Joy of Jane: Thoughts on the First 200 Years of Austen's Legacy
The Life and Works of Jane Austen
The Making of Jane Austen
The Austens of Steventon
Jane Austen and the Archangel
First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen
The Jane Austen Project
Jane Austen: A Life
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things
Jane Austen: A Life
Jane Austen: A Life From Beginning to End
A Jane Austen Daydream
In the Garden with Jane Austen
Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden: A Novel with Pictures
Tea with Jane Austen
Fashions in the Era of Jane Austen
Jane Austen and Food
Miss Austen's Vampire by Monica Knightley
Jane Austen Lives Again
Walking Jane Austen’s London
Memoir of Jane Austen
Jane & Me: My Austen Heritage
Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery **first in series
Jane Austen and Names

Abigail wrote: "I haven’t yet read Jane and the Year Without a Summer, so I’ll read that in April. I’m overdue for a pleasure read!"

Yay, good pick, Abigail!

Wow, that’s quite a list, Sophia!

Abigail wrote: "Wow, that’s quite a list, Sophia!"

I culled my GoodReads shelves and found these, but this doesn't even scratch the surface of what others can add, I'm sure. I've got too many choices to choose from. Haha!

Oh, yay! I had just received an order from amazon with a few books. Recommended by the group and Lucy's (Mom is reading that one right now)
Perfect!

Ooh, I’ve got a book that’ll do nicely for this. I picked it up at a local secondhand bookshop before Covid, so it’s quite a while ago! It’s been in my “Currently reading” list ever since but life happened and it got put away. Will retrieve it from my study and restart it once April comes around. It’s A Little Bit of Ivory: A Life of Jane Austen by Elfrida Vipont. I’ve also got a copy of A Portrait of Jane Austen (Biography & Memoirs) by David Cecil that I picked up at the same time. Maybe I’ll read that, too!

If anyone wants an additional recommendation in addition to your amazing list, there’s also Jane, Actually: or Jane Austen's Book Tour by Ms Jennifer Petkus.

I have picked up a second hand copy of Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor so it might be time to dust it off and do a bit of old school pager turning instead of scrolling!

Lol, reread. I might have another one by the end of the month.

Kirk wrote: "

Lol, reread. I might have another one by the end of the month."

Looks like a good one. I'm a sucker for illustrations and pictures in biographies.

Sophia wrote: "Kirk wrote: "

Lol, reread. I might have another one by the end of the month."

Looks like a good one. I'm a sucker for illustrations and p..."
Indeed! Cute and short :)

Finished my book for this challenge, Jane and the Year Without a Summer. I’m afraid I was quite disappointed by this entry in a series I have come to love. My review—with numerous (marked) spoilers—here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

Abigail wrote: "Finished my book for this challenge, Jane and the Year Without a Summer. I’m afraid I was quite disappointed by this entry in a series I have come to love. My review—with numerous (..."

Oh no... its triple disappointing since you anticipated it so much as a treat. :(

Well, but now I can read the last book in the series, which I’ve been wanting to do!

Abigail wrote: "Well, but now I can read the last book in the series, which I’ve been wanting to do!"

You found the bright side. I had a hazy memory about the 'Without Summer' one, but I thought that last one was poignant b/c it was last and even cute because she had her young nephew with her.

Kirk wrote: "Sophia wrote: "Kirk wrote: "

Lol, reread. I might have another one by the end of the month."

Looks like a good one. I'm a sucker for illu..."

I'm a very late arriver at this series. They are not very available n the UK but I managed to get the first 3 as second hand paperback copies. I am hoping to start them this month.

Craftyhj wrote: "Kirk wrote: "Sophia wrote: "Kirk wrote: "

Lol, reread. I might have another one by the end of the month."

Looks like a good one. I'm a su..."

Yeah!

And a 2nd one...The Story of Jane Austen's Life 3.75-4 1891!!!

Sophia wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Well, but now I can read the last book in the series, which I’ve been wanting to do!"

You found the bright side. I had a hazy memory about the 'Without Summer' one, but I thought t..."

Yes!!! And ending of the last one was far far better than what I feared!

Kirk wrote: "And a 2nd one...The Story of Jane Austen's Life 3.75-4 1891!!!
"

Wow, jealous for your find!

Kirk wrote: "Sophia wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Well, but now I can read the last book in the series, which I’ve been wanting to do!"

You found the bright side. I had a hazy memory about the 'Without Summer' one, ..."

Yeah, same here. I was in dread until I finished. :)

I've been antsy for the gardening season to begin around here so I was glad to slip In the Garden With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson off the stack and read it for the April challenge.

So lovely with all the glossy colorful pictures of restored gardens across England that are associated with Austen's life, novels, or film adaptions. Lots of interesting connections made, helps and tips along with some garden recipes. Definitely hit the spot.

If I have time, I might go onto Kim Wilson's other title on my shelf, Tea with Jane Austen

The gardening book sounds fun - I shall have to look on the shelves of the second hand shops to see if I can find one. The National Trust sites often have good second hand bookshops to raise extra funds for the sites.

Sophia wrote: "I've been antsy for the gardening season to begin around here so I was glad to slip In the Garden With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson off the stack and read it for the April challenge.

So..."
Yeah!

Craftyhj wrote: "The gardening book sounds fun - I shall have to look on the shelves of the second hand shops to see if I can find one. The National Trust sites often have good second hand bookshops to raise extra ..."

This lists so many historical sites that you really are likely to find it at one of the second hand shops associated. Happy hunting, Heather! :)

Just finished A Little Bit of Ivory: A Life of Jane Austen by Elfrida Vipont. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about Jane’s life but it was written in an engaging and enjoyable style. It doesn’t appear to be available as an ebook, so anyone who wanted to read it would have to track down a secondhand copy. It was published in 1977, so maybe not many copies are circulating about.

Anji wrote: "Just finished A Little Bit of Ivory: A Life of Jane Austen by Elfrida Vipont. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about Jane’s life but it was written in..."

I'll keep my eyes out for it. Glad it was enjoyable, Anji!

I finished my first bio.
I am not a history reader and find reading bios kind of dry.
I have two more to get through. And I will... eventually.

Well dne Sam! I find I don't read a non-fiction book without stopping in the way I do with a novel. I tend to have one on the go in the background which I dip into from time to time.

Sam wrote: "I finished my first bio.
I am not a history reader and find reading bios kind of dry.
I have two more to get through. And I will... eventually."

Double kudos, Sam, for tackling something not in your usual line. I'm more fiction than non-fic lover, too.

Thanks Crafty and Sophie.
I will read the others. It makes me wonder what more she might have offered the world, if she had lived a healthy and long life.

The book I read surmised it was a cancer, but my Mom is reading the Lucy one and in it they say maybe arsenic poisoning?

Sam wrote: "Thanks Crafty and Sophie.
I will read the others. It makes me wonder what more she might have offered the world, if she had lived a healthy and long life.

The book I read surmised it was a cancer,..."

Yeah, lots of speculation over the years about just what kind of illness finally took her. Someone even wrote a murder mystery about it though I haven't read that one yet.

I have heard suggestions of Addison's disease, Leukaemia and Lymphoma.

The reality is that all sorts of things were fatal in the early 19th century. Poor dental hygiene was a major killer as it causes plaque build up in the heart.

She could have had any of those and still poisoned herself with arsenic, if it was a potion she was given by an apothecary.

very true Sam! The cure was often as bad as the condition.

Enjoyed The Jane Austen Rules: A Classic Guide to Modern Love, an elibrary find that admirably fit this challenge.

writer... wrote: "Enjoyed The Jane Austen Rules: A Classic Guide to Modern Love, an elibrary find that admirably fit this ch..."

Ha, love that title, writer! I can get sucked into reading a book from the title alone many times. Glad it was a good one for you.

Sophia wrote: "writer... wrote: "Enjoyed The Jane Austen Rules: A Classic Guide to Modern Love, an elibrary find that adm..."

So true! And glad right along with you ;))