Pre-numbered label used for registration.

This is one of my free-for-joining-our-book-club books, which just arrived today. I will probably pass it on once I've finished reading it.

An enjoyable read. Reserving for a bookray. PM me if you're interested.

Mailed the book to Flakes today, in Illinois, the first step on the bookray. Here's the list of participants:

Flakes IL
Legs MO
Sidney1220 VA
Knitwit PA
45Costello PA
Iguana-girl CAN
Tabby-cat-owner AZ
Lucinda CA
Beaner-1 OH
Yourotherleft PA

Enjoy, everyone! Happy holidays and happy birthday to Jane Austen!

Arrived today safe and sound. I'll start reading right away and send it on to Legs soon!

Thanks for sharing this one Hannah-B!:)

This was a fun read. The only problem that I had with the book was that there was a lack of character development. I wanted to know so much more about these people!:)

I really enjoyed the quotes from family and others about Austen at the end of the book. Also enjoyed the summaries of Austen's books, and will definitely catch up on the ones that I haven't read yet.

I'll be mailing this one to Legs tomorrow.

rcvd in mail as part of a book ray, thanks, hannah-b. Also thank you, flakes, for the book mark.
From the inside cover: Five women and one man join together to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens.
12-29-04
I didn't remember Austen's novels as well as I thought I would, but to future readers, there is a synopsis of the novels at the end of the book, which will not affect the unfolding of the plot.
mailed to sidney1220 on12-30-04

Received in the mail today. I have read all of Austen's novels and can't wait to see how the book ties them all together.

This book didn't hold my attention like I thought it would. I didn't find the personal lives of the characters interesting, and the discussions about the various Austen works seem short-changed- just a lot of scattered observations without any kind of insight or conclusion. I finally decided to give up on the book after reading a couple of chapters.

Put in the mailbox today enroute to Knitwit in PA.

The book arrived today and I should be able to start reading by Monday or Tuesday. I plan to pass this along to 45Costello personally since she lives in my town. Hopefully I'll be able to give it to her by next Sunday.

This book just didn't capture my interest the way I thought it would. The characters weren't really developed and I was never interested in their stories or what was happening to them. And the discussions of Austen's novels were so scattershot that they made no sense and I've read most of them!

Giving to 45Costello on 02/24/05 over coffee at Starbuck's in Yardley Borough.

Given to 45Costello on 02/25/05

Received tonight from knitwit. I plan to start reading as soon as I finish a paper due next week for class.

Finished reading tonight on my way home from work. Like many others, this book fell short of expectations. I had heard great things from other Austen fans I know that I was a little disappointed. I did enjoy the book though.

I will mail this out to iguana-girl within the next few days.

mailed off to iguana-girl on my way to work this morning.

Just arrived and I can't wait to get started reading it!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the author's style was very much like Jane Austen's. I like the sharp, witty observations that are made throughout the book. This book remined me how much I loved the Jane Austen that I have read and makes me want to run out and read the ones that I havn't.
Thanks for sharing this book, Hannah-B!

Mailed to Tabby-cat-owner in AZ today.

I didn't realize until today when I sat down to write a journal entry on this book that I had never journaled it. I'm sorry that it took me two months to read it. Although it is not the kind of book that you can't put down, I enjoyed reading this book. I loved the interesting way that book was arranged, basically a chapter on each meeting of the book club with one book being discussed each month. Having read all of Jane Austen's books, I enjoyed the many and varied comments that were made on her books, plus the different opinions that each character had on Austen and her works, each character focusing on what was important to him or her. For example, one woman focused on Jane Austen as a family member, a sister and a daughter. Another woman viewed Austen as a feminist who had more modern attitudes about the place of women in society than was common for her time.

I have family in Northern California and have been there many times. The descriptions of sitting outside on a summer evening discussing Austen and enjoying the warm evening breeze were beautiful to me. The characters in the book were similar. None of the characters were outstanding or memorable, but there were as real and refeshing as a warm summer breeze. I think that is the intent of the author. Her characters are real people similar to Jane Austen's characters. Jane Austen was often criticized for her accurate and realistic descriptions of people and society. The author created a book of disparate people who come together once a month to discuss Jane Austen's books. Each character was changed as a result of this or possibly just concurrently.

Finally, what amused and intrigued me was how the Karen Joy Fowler's characters paralleled characters in Jane Austen's novel, particularly the novel being discussed. I don't want to ruin this for anyone who hasn't read the book yet, but I will give an example here. One character, Sylvia whose husband has left her after more than 30 years for a younger woman has a personality similar to Elinor in Sense and Sensibility. Sylvia's daughter, Allegra, another member of the reading group can be compared to Marianne, all emotion and strong feeling. But in the end, Sylvia's feelings are deeper and more real.

Also, it is funny how the plot line has parallel situations. During the chapter, towards the end of the book, where Persuasion is being discussed, a few members of the group take a trip to the beach for a walk with their dogs. (Similar to the trip to Plymouth in Persuasion). I enjoyed trying to figure what Jane Austen character each Karen Joy Fowler character was parallelling. This is not a cut-and-dry situation. It wasn't easy and I still haven't figured out the chapter on Pride and Prejudice yet, where everything seemed to go out of control.

RELEASE NOTES:

mailing this to lucinda of Santa Barbara, California who is next on the bookray list for this book.

Enjoy!

Just received. Thanks!

I really liked the bits about Jane Austen and the characters' comments on her books, but I found the plotting and characterization to be very lightly sketched. An entertaining way to while away a long summer afternoon.

Sent off to Buganbean today.

received yesterday - thanks! I'll get to it soon.

RELEASE NOTES:

mailing to yourotherleft

This came in the mail today. Thanks!

Donated when I moved.