Austenland

Definitely a light read, Austenland by Shannon Hale is a perfect feel-good novel for the Jane Austen fans among us.

Fictional New Yorker Jane Hayes is obsessed with Mr. Darcy of "Pride and prejudice" fame and has a string of failed relationships to prove it. In an effort to help Jane kick the obsession, a distant relative sends her to the ultimate role playing game - three solid weeks (504 continuous hours) of constantly-in-character Regency re-enactment at an isolated estate in England. Against her better judgment, Jane goes.

While the characters in the re-enactment are based on Austen characters, the novels themselves are not played out exactly. It is up to the participants to interact with each other, always within the boundaries of Austen-style propriety, and establish their own story lines. Paid staff, however, do fill in the basic personalities, albeit with different names.

It doesn't take Jane long to realize the benefits of her own time period, but she makes the best of her three weeks.

This anti-escapist bit of escapism is light and fun. Author, Hale, has written previously for the young adult market including her New York Times bestseller "Princess academy" [worth reading]. Given the current popularity of all things Austen, and Hale's previous successes, this first novel for adults should do well also.

Austenland by Shannon Hale. Published in 2007 by Bloomsbury. ISBN: 978-1-59691-285-4

Get me a book!

I don't sell or distribute books except when I'm working at the library. This blog is not a book distribution forum. If you want to read something that I have recommended, you can borrow it from a friend, borrow it from a library, buy it from your local bookseller, or buy it online.

I can't tell you who your friends are or what books they have, but I can tell you that if you don't see the book you're looking for on the library shelves, and you can't find it in the catalogue, you should ask library staff to get it for you. They might be able to borrow it from another library or, if enough people ask for it, they might decide to buy it themselves. If you don't ask, you won't get it.

If you want your very own copy and can't find it at your local bookstore (assuming you still have one of those wonderful places in your neighbourhood), ask for it. They might have more copies in the back. It might be on back-order. They might special-order it in for you. If you don't ask, you won't get it.

If you don't have a local bookstore, or they can't help you, you can still purchase online and have books delivered right to your doorstep. Here in Canada, our favourite online bookstores are chapters.indigo.ca and amazon.ca They also connect you with more reviews than just mine so you can get a second (or tenth) opinion.

If the book you want is older and hard to locate, try alibris.com - it's like ebay for second-hand books. (I know, very dangerous!) Again, more reviews plus a choice of vendors, prices, etc.

As a last resort, you could try contacting the publisher of a very elusive book to find out which of their distributors has the last copies of that gem. If no copies are available, they might tell you if a re-print is likely. If you don't ask, you won't know.

So get on out there, ask for books, and READ!

Carol

Who cares what Carol reads?

Reading is not generally considered a social activity but I like to read and I like to talk about what I've read so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that much of my social life is centered around books. In fact, much of my life is built around books - I work in a library, I volunteer in a different library, I teach library skills, and I hang out at the library or book store when I have time on my hands. There are books in every room and hallway of my house - on shelves, piled on tables, on the floor, beside the bed, under the bed, on the couch, beside the chair, in the cupboards, but not in the dishwasher...We don't have a dishwasher.

I was 3 years old when I learned to read, and 6 when I first organized my books into a library, complete with spine labels, and a sign-out system. (It was the only part of my room that showed any sign of order or organization.)

I'm a compulsive reader - I read junk mail, cereal boxes, magazine covers in the cashier lines, and the fine print on just about anything, provided it happens to be in front of me. I would rather read than go shopping, talk on the phone, play on the computer, go out for dinner, watch TV, go to a movie, or play sports, which goes a long way toward explaining how I end up reading 300-400 books a year.

The scary part for me isn't the sheer volume of stuff I read - after all, I can't imagine it any other way. What scares me is how much of what I've read and liked or didn't like still rattles around in my head! In my life, most conversations either revolve around or at least refer to books so the data is constantly being reinforced. However, I'm beginning to think that it would be safer to store some of the information in an external file - something accessible to the people who count on me for book recommendations but can't always find me when they need something new to read.

I can't guarantee that we'll always agree on what constitutes a good book, or that your reading tastes are as eclectic as mine. (I tagged one of my all-time favourite books on Library Thing and discovered that no-one else had ever selected it.) I'm not fond of pulp fiction and I have a very low tolerance for violence, horror, or smut but that doesn't mean they will never appear in something I recommend. (I can skim obnoxious paragraphs in the interest of continuing with a good story.)

I read adult books, picture books, and stuff for all ages in between. I read fiction, non-fiction, and reference, (and in my home collection I file biographies under fiction).

Some of the books will get "real" reviews. Others will just get a sentence or two, possibly accompanied by a quote or two. I'll try to include complete information re author, title, publisher, ISBN etc but that might not be available for some of the older books. Please do not try to order books through me. Suggestions for getting your own copies will be in my next posting.

The bottom line for this blog is to encourage you to find and read the good and great books in the vast sea of reading material out there.

Carol