Jane Austen July 2025 discussion

What are you thinking of reading this year?

Hello, Katie! I'm so excited for this year's Jane Austen July.

Do you think we can have a Recommendations thread? It might be helpful especially for recommending book retellings and movie/TV/Radio Drama adaptations.

Here is my tentative Emma-inspired TBR:

1. Read one of Jane Austen’s six novels
Emma is my favorite. I'm excited to read and compare two annotated editions I own (Shapard & Tandon).

2. Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels
Not Emma-related, but still my favorite shorter work by Austen.

3. Read a non-fiction work about Jane Austen or her time
This year I will probably skip non-fiction focused on history and delve into literary criticism. Both of the books below have chapters dedicated to Emma. I also plan to read a bunch of articles on Emma published in the JASNA journal Persuasions.

Persuasions Online: https://jasna.org/publications-2/pers...
4. Read a retelling of a Jane Austen book OR a work of historical fiction set in Jane Austen’s time
I'd love to read two or three of the Emma-inspired books.
(view spoiler)[
(hide spoiler)]
5. Read a book by a contemporary of Jane Austen
I'd like to read one of these three books mentioned in Emma. The first two are Harriet's favorites and the last one - a book read by Robert Martin.

6. Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book
This is the only direct screen adaptation of Emma I haven't watched before. So I will delve into this one for sure. I will also watch a bunch of other Emmas as I own all of the newer ones on DVDs.
Emma (1967) – Spanish TV Series
- Director: Manuel Aguado
- Cast: Lola Cardona, Arturo López

7. Watch a modern screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book
Web-series is not a genre I particularly enjoy, but I recently watched The Emma Agenda (2018) and it was okay. So I think it's time to give Emma Approved another try.
Emma Approved (2014) – Web Series (Modern Adaptation)
- Writer/Director: Bernie Su
- Cast: Joanna Sotomura, Brent Bailey


additional activities:
⭐️ jigsaw puzzle:
The World of Jane Austen Puzzle

⭐️YouTube videos:
⭐️Regency music:
⭐️Austenesque movie soundtracks:
⭐️Austenesque podcasts:
(view spoiler)[The Thing About Austen Podcast - Emma Episodes:
Ep3: The Thing About Regency Scrabble
Ep10: The Thing About Box Hill
Ep14: The Thing About Emma's Unfinished Artwork with guest Georgie Castilla
Ep16: The Thing About Harriet's Riddle Book with guest Dr. Lynn Festa
Ep19: The Thing About London Air with guest Dr. Rena Jones
Ep32: The Thing About Jane's Irish Melodies
Ep41: The Thing About Harriet's Treasure Box with guest Damianne Scott
Ep47: The Thing About Depictions of Roma in Emma with guest Amanda-Rae Prescott
Ep60: The Thing About Frank's Haircut
Ep70: The Thing About the Irish Car Party
Ep71: The Thing About Cramer with guest Dr. Karali Hunter
Ep76: The Thing About Harriet's Sore Throat with guest Dr. Rena Jones
Ep87: The Thing About Emma's Portrait of Harriet with guest Georgie Castilla
Ep92: The Thing About Mr. Knightley's Strawberries
Ep103: The Thing About Elegant Extracts (hide spoiler)]

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. volume 1 of her Juvenilia

1. Emma
2. Lady Susan
3. What matters in Jane Austen?
4. Jane Fairfax
5. The secret diaries of miss Anne Lister
6. Emma 2020
7. Clueless

I only plan to do #3 in July and read Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen by Rory Muir

The non-fiction book about Jane Austen is the only prompt that I have not recently completed as part of our year-long 250th anniversary challenge in another GR group.

I will list what I have read so far, in addition to the novels, in case someone needs ideas:
2. The Letters of Jane Austen
4. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
5. Zofloya, or The Moor by Charlotte Dacre
6. Emma 2020

Lindenblatt wrote: "I only plan to do #3 in July and read Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen by Rory Muir

The non-fiction book about Jane Austen is the only prompt that I have..."

Which group is doing that year-long challenge?

Hello Katie and everyone,

For Jane Austen July, my main reads will be Mansfield Park and Emma.
The Emma group readathon sounds like such a blast, and I'm really looking forward to that!

If the reading gods are with me and I have extra time, I'd love to pick up Miss Austen by Gill Hornby.
I'm so intrigued by the idea of experiencing Jane's world through Cassandra's eyes, especially after Jane's death.
Knowing how devoted they were to each other from a children's biography I read, I have a feeling this book will be quite special.

My JAJ 2025 TBR:
1. Emma Norton Critical edition

2. “Jack and Alice”

3. *Jane Austen and Crime Susannah Fullerton

*“The Girls Who Don’t Say ‘Whoo!’” Amy Heckerling, “Jane Austen at Sixty” Virginia Woolf, and “Beautiful Minds” Jay McInerney From A Truth Universally Acknowledged

4. “The Edification of Lady Susan” From Rational Creatures: Stirrings of Feminism

5. *Patronage Maria Edgeworth 1814

*“A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest” Mary Astell 1701 Vol I and II edition nonfiction

6. Emma 1996 and perhaps Emma 2020 group watch

7. Emma Approved Web series perhaps

I plan to do #4 and read Unequal Affections. If I have more time, I will do #2 and read Lady Susan, Sanditon, the Watsons and Juvenilia. I may also do #3 but I haven’t decided which one to read.

I will list some of my favourite books I have read as recommendation:
1. Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey
3. Jane Austen At Home by Lucy Worsley
4. The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
6. Pride and Prejudice (1995), Northanger Abbey (2007), Sense and Sensitivity (1995)

Rachel Joy wrote: "Which group is doing that year-long challenge?..."

Hi Rachel Joy, it is the Never too Late to Read Classics group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Its Jane Austen Celebration discussion here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

I am both an avid reader and a fiber artist, so my JAJ 2025 list will include books and crafts:

1️⃣ Read one of Jane Austen’s six novels
Emma 📚 5 stars
Northanger Abbey 📚 5+ stars
Persuasion 📚 5 stars

2️⃣ Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels
The History of England 📚 5 stars

3️⃣ Read a non-fiction work about Jane Austen or her time
A Jane Austen Year 📚 5 stars
A beautifully put together book about Chawton house and Jane's time there.

Tea with Jane Austen 📚 5 stars
A wonderful and short history of tea and how it influenced Jane Austen's time.

4️⃣ Read a retelling of a Jane Austen book OR a work of historical fiction set in Jane Austen’s time
The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin 📚 5 stars
Mystery and lots of fun.

Ghosted 📚 3 stars
Just okay, would not recommend.

Duels & Deception 📚 5+ stars
Another wonderful, witty Regency mystery romance.

The Rushworth Family Plot 📚 5 stars
Another wonderful book in the series by Claudia Gray.

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance 📚 5 stars
Great read, a bit of a thriller.

Dancing with Mr. Darcy: Stories Inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House 📚 2 stars
Only a couple of the stories in this collection are worth reading, would not recommend.

Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature's Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart 📚 5 stars A wonderful collection of stories.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen 📚 5 stars A sweet and sad possibility of Jane's lost love.

The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh 📚 4 stars A very interesting and poetic idea of who Anne de Bourgh could have been.

By the Book

In Want of a Suspect 📚 4 stars
Another fun installment in Tirzah Price's JA books.

5️⃣ Read a book by a contemporary of Jane Austen
The Italian
The Last Man

The Female Quixote 📚 5 stars
Absolutely hilarious! If you want to know where Catherine Morland or Marianne Dashwood came from, read this.

6️⃣ Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book:
Sense and Sensibility, BBC series 2008 🍿
Northanger Abbey, 2007 movie 🍿
Pride and Prejudice, BBC series 1980 🍿
Mansfield Park, 1999 movie 🍿
Pride and Prejudice, 2005 movie 🍿

7️⃣ Watch a modern screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book

8️⃣ Make a piece of Regency inspired embroidery
Jane Austen Embroidery: Regency Patterns Reimagined for Modern Stitchers

9️⃣ Make something from the Jane Austen Knits magazine
The Best Of Jane Austen Knits: 27 Regency-Inspired Designs

Rachel Joy wrote: "I am both an avid reader and a fiber artist, so my JAJ 2025 list will include books and crafts:

Love your crafting angle. Have you read Jane Austen's Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson? Fascinating look at every day garments and how they were made and used in JA's time, with color photos and illustrations of fashion items. Each item is linked to an excerpt from her letters.

I second the recommendation of Jane Austen's Wardrobe and also Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion

Kathy wrote: "Rachel Joy wrote: "I am both an avid reader and a fiber artist, so my JAJ 2025 list will include books and crafts:

Love your crafting angle. Have you read Jane Austen's Wardrobe by..."

Thank you, Kathy! That is a lovely recommendation for the non-fiction book. I do always have a hard time finding something for that one.

Here goes my TBR - as usual NF heavy, but this list is much shorter than usually - teaching a new topic this year for the Summer School (Jul-Aug) which may need more focus.
1.
Canon:
Emma group read (umpteenth re-read; first read at around 12 years of age for the OLs / grade 9)
2.
Non Canon:
Love and Friendship (those being Emma themes)
3.
Non-Fiction:
•Jane Austen’s Emma: a landmark in English Literature
by DW Jefferson 1977 https://archive.org/details/janeauste...
•Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen
by Rory Muir 2024
•Romance Pedagogy and Power: JA Rewrites Mme. de Genlis. (Adelaide and Theodore influence on Emma) https://www.jasna.org/persuasion/prin...
4.
Fiction: Regency historical or a JA retelling.
Not decided yet.
Have all 3 Gill Hornby, but her work is such a let down compared to her brilliant husband Richard Harris’s, and also her brother Nick Hornby’s work.
Maybe I’ll find a good Emma re-telling suggestion here.
5.
JA contemporary work/s:
Adelaide and Theodore, or Letters on Education
by Madame de Genlis 1783
Emma refers to this book when visiting Randalls on the birth of baby Anne Weston
6.
Direct film:
Emma 2020 group watch -
sceptical still, but will give another go - am interested in its reception by the others
7.
Modern adaptation:
Clueless
Re-watch. Great take. Enjoyable too.

I'll be reading "Miss Austen" by Gil Hornby, "Memoir of Jane Austen" by James-Edward Austen-Leigh and possibly "How Jane Austen conquered the world" by Claire Harman. For the rest... I'll improvise and let you know :)

Can anyone explain the Emma book Volumes? My book ends on chapter 19.

Here are my goals:
1. Austen novel: Persuasion, the next book up in my Bay Area Jane Austen group (August read).
2. Other Austen work: I am steeping myself in The Watsons right now, so that’s my secondary Austen pick.
3. Nonfiction: again, my Bay Area Jane Austen calendar is useful: A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen (July read).
4. Retelling: I’ve been meaning to reread Pamela Aidan’s Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series for a while so maybe that. I don’t think I have any other retellings in the house right now.
5. Book by a contemporary: Starting Mary and the Wrongs of Woman   MARY & THE WRONGS OF WOM-REV/E Paperback later this month; if I finish it before the end of June, I’ll move on to Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark: The 1796 Travel Literature Classic, both by Mary Wollstonecraft.
6 and 7, film adaptations—to come.

Liz wrote: "Can anyone explain the Emma book Volumes? My book ends on chapter 19."

In Austen’s day, a novel was generally divided into several volumes, with 3 volumes being the standard. The original editions of Emma were in 3 volumes. It sounds as if what you have is a reproduction of volume 1 only. You could look for the other two or read it online on a service like Gutenberg.

Modern editions vary in how they number the chapters. Some preserve the 3-volume structure (vol. 2 would begin with a new chapter 1, for example) and others number them consecutively from beginning to end.

A recommendation for those fishing around for something written by a contemporary: last week I read what’s supposed to have been Jane Austen’s favorite poem: “The Task” by William Cowper. It’s longish but full of intriguing echoes of the novels, from direct quotes to ideas debated by characters.

Liz wrote: "Can anyone explain the Emma book Volumes? My book ends on chapter 19."

Hi, I know a few other people have explained the volumes, but just to add that the schedule in the main group description for this Goodreads group has a readalong schedule with matches the volume chapter numbers to the regular chapter numbers, if that makes sense.

My TBR for JAJuly is still in progress, but I did start a book that came in from the library: Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney.

Romney profiles 8 women writers who influenced Austen; I've read a book by 5 of these writers, had heard of 2 and 1 is completely new to me. She weaves her own story as an antiquarian bookseller into the stories of these women and their books that Austen read. I'm about half-way through and finding it mostly interesting. I need to wrap it up soon, as there's a long list of people waiting for the book....

This is what I have planned for my Jane Austen July this year:

1. Emma

2. Sanditon: & Other Stories I will be reading Lady Susan (love it) Last year I watched Love and Friendship with Kate Beckinsale and loved it!)

3. Jane Austen, the Secret Radical by Helena Kelly

4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (I have never read this before)

5. Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald (I will be listening to this on the Librivox App)

6. I will be watching Emma from 1996 and 2020

7. I will be watching Bridget Jones's Diary

I will be also taking part in the group readalong of Emma. :)

Maybe this year I will actually start an embroidery kit that has 12 Regency designs inspired by Jane Austen. It's called Embroider the World of Jane Austen (nevermind I have never done embroidery before! :) I bought it I think the first year I did Jane Austen July.

I am going to re-read Emma along with the group read. When I first read Emma I was a teenager and to be honest (unpopular opinion here) I did not like it. It remains to this day the only Jane Austen novel that I've only read once. All the others I re-read relatively frequently.
However, I am glad it is the group read this year because I'm looking forward to reading it again and (I hope) having my opinion of it improved!

Abigail wrote: "Other Austen work: I am steeping myself in The Watsons right now, so that’s my secondary Austen pick."

I have enjoyed followed your steeping quite a lot! I didn't read any of Austen unfinished novels yet, so seeing you review all the different endings/variations has been very useful!

Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark: The 1796 Travel Literature Classic, both by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Yey! Fingers crossed you like it! I really do want to re-read that one, but I don't think I get to it soon.

Kathy wrote: "My TBR for JAJuly is still in progress, but I did start a book that came in from the library: [book:Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Leg..."

I heard so many good things about that book! I'm usually able to do only one non-fiction book a month but maybe I could try to squeeze in two.


Janice wrote: "5. Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald (I will be listening to this on the Librivox App)"

I read this for my first JAJ and had so much fun with it. Hope you enjoy!

1. Read one of Jane Austen’s six novels

Joining the Emma readalong. This is my favourite Jane Austen but I only read it once so far, so I am really eager to re-read. Really hope it is just as good as I remember it!

2. Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels

I didn't have good luck with this prompt in earlier years. I do have a very nice edition of Jane Austen's Manuscript Works, but I don't think I'll get to it. I might listen to a selection of her letters. We shall see.

3. Read a non-fiction work about Jane Austen or her time

I finally read all of Jane Austen novels at least once so I think it's finally time to read What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved by John Mullan. It has been on my TBR for quite a while!

Would love to also read Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend if I can find the time.

4. Read a retelling of a Jane Austen book OR a work of historical fiction set in Jane Austen’s time

I usually read most books for this prompt, but this year I don't really feel a spark of joy for any of my options, so I am a bit unsure.

I might read Confounding Oaths just because I could use an added push to continue with the series. The first book was a bit Austenesque but I didn't love it as much as I wanted so I am a little hesitant about this second one. But at the same time it's Alexis Hall book so I really do want to read it.

I also wanted to read The Year in Between: A Sense and Sensibility Variation last year and I didn't get to it, so I might read that. It's actually the one I'm most interested in right now, but it's pretty long and it's hard to say if I will be in the mood for it when the time comes.

Also putting If I Loved You Less down, the rating of this one is concerningly low, but sapphic Emma does sound good to me, so I'm not going to look at the reviews in advance.

I will probably read some other books too, once that I don't see coming right now 😂

5. Read a book by a contemporary of Jane Austen

I do have a copy of Zofloya, or The Moor so I might read that one. (Thanks @Linda for reminding me that I want to read it!)

I'm also reading Mary, A Fiction and The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria this month, which I'm kind of counting because I usually do start my JAJ in June and continue well into August, just because one month usually isn't enough for me.

I would also love to read Valperga, or, The life and adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca in August but we'll see if I can make it happen. It is pretty ambitious.

6. Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book

We'll see what I'm in a mood for. I'm pretty sure I will watch something.

7. Watch a modern screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book

I wasn't really able to fulfil this prompt in any of my previous JAJ years. I'm just usually not in mood for it. I do put Fire Island down each year, because I really do want to see it. I just never seem to be in mood for it.

I also might watch Austenland it has been a while since I saw that and I really quite enjoyed myself previously, so I might want a repeat experience of that. It's just so silly and funny...

Jassmine wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Other Austen work: I am steeping myself in The Watsons right now, so that’s my secondary Austen pick."

I have enjoyed followed your steeping quite a lot! I didn't read any of Auste..."

Glad you’re enjoying the Watsons reviews! After a pause to read the assigned book for my real-world book group, I’m back at it. Right now I’m in the midst of The Watsons By Jane Austen And Another Lady (the other lady being Helen Baker), but it’s basically a plagiarism of The Younger Sister (she acknowledges her source but not the extent of her word-for-word copying).

Jassmine wrote: "
1. Read one of Jane Austen’s six novels


Joining the Emma readalong. This is my favourite Jane Austen but I only read it once so far, so I am really eager t..."

John Mullan’s book is the best work of popular scholarship on Jane Austen that I’ve read! I expect you’ll enjoy it. The Year in Between is very good too. Excellent selection!

For the other selection by Jane Austen, you could always read The Watsons! It would take you only an hour. It’s my favorite Austen novel, my obsession for the past half-century.

I'm going to focus my JAJ reading on this year's JASNA reading list.

I've read and enjoyed
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things
Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion

I think I read

The Lost Books of Jane Austen

I need to read
Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved

and some others.

Abigail wrote: "Jassmine wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Other Austen work: I am steeping myself in The Watsons right now, so that’s my secondary Austen pick."

I have enjoyed followed your steeping quite a lot! I didn't ..."

Hi Abigail,

Please do try The Watsons continuation by Rose Servitova. It is very good.

I finally have a list of possibilities, one completed and one in progress:


1. Main novel: I'll be re-reading P&P

2. Minor work: A History of England

FINISHED: ✔️3. Nonfiction: I finished Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney. Had to finish this library book early because of the long list of people waiting. Romney profiles 8 women writers who influenced Austen, but seem to have been lost over time. Romney weaves her own story as an antiquarian bookseller into the stories of these women and their books that Austen read. Interesting take on looking at Austen, but also these lesser-known women & their lives & writings.

4. Retelling: skipping this prompt and may read another nonfiction instead: either Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley or Jane Austen by Tony Tanner.

5. Contemporary writer: CURRENTLY READING The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox

6. Direct screen: probably 1995 P&P and 1995 Persuasion (30 year anniversary for my 2 fave Austen adaptations.

7. Modern screen: skipping this and hope instead to read an additional contemporary book: Evelina by Fanny Burney.

Not a to-be-read, but a to-be-watched-for - a new Sense and Sensibility is coming. I'm so in love with the Emma Thompson/Hugh Grant version that I'm skeptical that anything else can be as good.

https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaki...

WhiteRaven wrote: "Not a to-be-read, but a to-be-watched-for - a new Sense and Sensibility is coming. I'm so in love with the Emma Thompson/Hugh Grant version that I'm skeptical that anything else can be as good.

ht..."

Nothing can be as good as Emma Thompson's screenplay and Ang Lee's beautiful direction. I was just coming to share the news and my dread of yet another remake. There's a Netflix remake of P&P in the works too and I shudder in horror to think of what THAT will be like. They'll bill it as "Perfect for fans of Bridgerton!"

QNPoohBear wrote: "WhiteRaven wrote: "Not a to-be-read, but a to-be-watched-for - a new Sense and Sensibility is coming. I'm so in love with the Emma Thompson/Hugh Grant version that I'm skeptical that anything else ..."

Hear, hear!!!

Sense and sensibility and sea monsters! Looking for something lighthearted to get me through the dreary Australian winter!

Just wrote: "Sense and sensibility and sea monsters! Looking for something lighthearted to get me through the dreary Australian winter!"

Good luck! It's summer here and summer usually means lighthearted reads or "beach reads". I stick with lighthearted all year round.

In another few months or year, I'm going to tackle Pride, Prejudice and Zombies the film version with my nephew. He's into zombies and I'm into Austen. I can help him score points with girls LOL! He can explain zombies to me. He may have seen it.

The original power walkers.

https://theconversation.com/for-jane-...

Michelle Hyland wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Jassmine wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Other Austen work: I am steeping myself in The Watsons right now, so that’s my secondary Austen pick."

I have enjoyed followed your steeping quite ..."

I have read the Servitova one. Am currently working my way through Ann Mychal’s trilogy before braving several self-published ones and a play.

Abigail wrote: "John Mullan’s book is the best work of popular scholarship on Jane Austen that I’ve read! I expect you’ll enjoy it.

I believe I listened to a talk by him as a supplement to Mansfield Park when I read it. It was quite interesting, so I do expect to like it. I meant to read it last year at first, but then I reconsidered.

The Year in Between is very good too. Excellent selection!

I already finished it and it was really great! People have been definitely right about this one :-)

For the other selection by Jane Austen, you could always read The Watsons! It would take you only an hour. It’s my favorite Austen novel, my obsession for the past half-century."

I might, I do have it in my copy of Manuscrip Works. I think that the reason why I always struggle with this prompt is that I focus on the main novel and don't make time for this. I'm definitely looking forward to your verdict on the best completion of the Watsons!

Just wrote: "Sense and sensibility and sea monsters! Looking for something lighthearted to get me through the dreary Australian winter!"

Looking forward to your thoughts! I did enjoy the zombie version but it has been so many years since I read it that I'm uncertain what I would think about it now.

Okay I don’t know that I’ll have time to do the whole challenge but I am going to do the Emma group read because that’s what I was planning to read anyway! I am also going to read Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding for an adaption. And to keep the theme going I’ll be watching the 2020 Emma film! I’m also casually going through Jane Austen’s Garden A Botanical Tour of the Classic Novels by Molly Williams.

Side Note Rec: I just finished Elizabeth of East Hampton by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding and it was like Jane Austen meets Emily Henry for those looking for a modern Pride and Prejudice retelling. It was really cute- Emma comes first in their series of standalones- but I read Elizabeth first, and the characters seem to cameo. Their Persuasion retelling is coming out in October and I’m looking forward to that since Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen book!

Northhanger Abbey
Lady Susan
Eavesdropping on Jane Austin’s England
A weekend with name Darcey
Evelina

Hello everyone :)
It's the second year I participate to JAJ. I will complete few prompts, because I will probably read few books for 1 topic instead ...

1. Read one of Jane Austen’s six novels: I will re-read Pride and Prejudice but in French this time. I wish this translation by Sophie Chiori is good as I really enjoyed her work on "Emma".
FYI, Jane Austen novels were sadly, poorly translated into French, some parts removed and other "crimes" (last century, though)...
2. Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels. Not this year
3. Read a non-fiction work about Jane Austen or her time. Very tempted by Jane Austen's England, as well as A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter
4. Read a retelling of a Jane Austen book OR a work of historical fiction set in Jane Austen’s time Godmersham Park and/or Arabella or Frederica
5. Read a book by a contemporary of Jane Austen. Need to find something here...Will surely find inspiration in your suggestions.
6. Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book TBC
7. Watch a modern screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book TBC
Voila! Ready to start !

I have read Pride and Prejudice 4 times. I gave it 5 stars but on the last reread couldn't complete the book. Maybe Austen fatigue had set in.

I have read only P&P. Emma, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility from Austen canon.

Will read Mansfield Park for this month. And if my interest in Austen survives (because I know a spoiler for MP) then I will read Northanger Abbey, the gothic homage and satire that everyone has been talking since I set foot on Goodreads.

1) Northanger Abbey - I took a Gothic Literature mod as an undergrad almost 3 years ago and I remember my class mostly found The Mysteries of Udolpho to be hilarious! It's a wonderful gateway to the gothic literature genre though. I don't recall us talking about Northanger Abbey so I was pleasantly surprised to read that Ann Radcliffe's parody work is a huge inspiration here.
3) Jane on the Brain: Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen - Found this at my local library
4) Manga Classics: Emma & Manga Classics: Sense and Sensibility

That's all for me so far!

"Jane on the Brain" that Luffy Sempai suggested sounds interesting, I'll have to see if I can find it. In the meantime, I'll be reading Emma (of course), and also (hopefully, if I can fit them all in) watching every version of Emma that I have (currently four, but I've ordered some others that haven't come in yet - should all be here this week. Those will also cover the screen adaptation prompt). I also just got "The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain" by Ian Mortimer, which will be my prompt 3 read. (Although it was a tough choice between that one and "Jane Austen's Bookshelf." I may skip one of the other prompts and read them both. 😃) I'm still deciding on the other prompts, but it's only the first day, so I've got time. Happy reading, everybody! 😎

WhiteRaven wrote: "I also just got "The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain" by Ian Mortimer, which will be my prompt 3 read."

I read that one for my first JAJ and it's really worth it, although I would warn you that the beginning is quite tough - it's focusing on cities and countryside and layouts and it is just a lot of descriptions right from the start.

1. Emma
2. Lady Susan (if I can find it)
3. What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved
4. Wuthering Heights
5. Pride and Premeditation
6. Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
7. Clueless!

For 1, I'll start with Sense and Sensibility
3, I thought High Society in the Regency Period by Venetia Murray looks like fun.
4. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
5. Walter Scott Waverley which I'll be amazed if I finish, but I need a challenge to make me read it.