Review | The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

The Jane Austen Book Club

by Karen Joy Fowler

My Rating:

Six people - five women and a man - meet once a month in California's Central Valley to discuss Jane Austen's novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but each of them is wounded in different ways, they are all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable - under the guiding eye of Jane Austen a couple of them even fall in love...

The Jane Austen Book Club was the very first read for the book club a friend of mine set up, and I'm glad it was; I've owned my copy for a while now after finding it on a secondhand book stall, and I was glad to finally get the kick up the arse I needed to read it.

Before I say anything I think it's worth mentioning that I'm not the biggest fan of Austen. HOWEVER, I didn't let that affect how I felt about this book.

As you can probably tell from my rating I wasn't the biggest fan of this one, and to be honest that was mainly because, more than anything, it frustrated me. While I was reading it I was enjoying it; it's a very easy read, it didn't take me a long time to finish at all, and I did find myself wanting to get to the end. But I had a lot of problems with it, too, one of them being that I initially found it very difficult to tell the six main characters apart, which is bizarre given how different they are and how none of them have names that sound even remotely similar. I kept having to check the blurb to figure out which character was which, and that's not something I want to be doing when I'm trying to become engrossed in a story.

My biggest problem with the book, however, was that it was told, and never really shown. 'Show, don't tell' is one of the earliest lessons hammered into a writer's brain, but evidently Karen Joy Fowler was absent from school that day. Because of this constant telling - by a narrator, a seventh character, who is never revealed but who I assumed was Austen herself - there was also a constant distance between myself and the characters. I didn't feel particularly close to any of them, not even when they were revealing some of their deepest, darkest secrets.

I didn't completely hate the story, though. Parts of it were charming, and there were times when the narration was quite funny, but for the most part I was rather disappointed in it because I felt as though the story had so much potential. If it had just been fleshed out a little more, if the characters had been treated more importantly than the narration, then I think I'd be giving this book a much higher rating. The only real positive is that I wasn't really expecting much from it in the first place, if I were a huge Austen fan I have a feeling my rating would be even lower.

Top Ten Tuesday | Authors I Wish I Could Meet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Authors I REALLY Want to Meet'. I decided to change this week's just a little, because some of the authors I really wish I could meet are dead.

Daphne du Maurier: I finally started reading du Maurier last year and absolutely fell in love with her. I think she was a genius, and I'd love to meet her in Menabilly, the house that inspired Manderley, and go for a stroll around the gardens with her.

Shirley Jackson: Yet another modern classic genius. I don't read much horror because not only do I scare easily (seriously I can't even watch Shaun of the Dead on my own, that's how pathetic I am) but I never find many stories in the genre that interesting. Jackson is the exception. I've loved everything of hers I've read so far, and all of it has given me the creeps. Her power isn't in what she says, but in what she doesn't say.

Anne Brontë: To be honest I'd quite happily meet all of the Brontës, but I'd love to meet Anne in particular. I love her writing, and as I've so often said she's been the forgotten Brontë too long. I'd love to tell her there are plenty of people, myself included, who think she was fantastic.

Mary Shelley: I mean the woman was only 18 when she basically created sci-fi as we now know it. Frankenstein is one of my favourite books of all time, and I'd love to meet this lady. I imagine she'd have a lot of fascinating stories to tell.

Aphra Behn: I haven't actually read any of Behn's work yet, but as well as being a 17th century woman writer, who wrote everything from plays to poetry to fiction, she was also employed as a spy in Antwerp by Charles II. She's just cool.

J. K. Rowling: Yeah, I know this is probably a really unoriginal answer, but this woman was a huge part of my childhood, and I'd love the chance to thank her for that.

Seanan McGuire: Will I ever stop talking about this lady? Probably not. I love her, and I'd love to meet her, even though I'd probably just gush like a huge idiot.

Marissa Meyer: I adore The Lunar Chronicles, and I'd love to meet this lady to tell her just that. Her retellings are so original, and I can't wait to get my hands on Winter later this year! Feel free to check out my reviews of Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Fairest!

G. Willow Wilson: I love what she's done with the Ms. Marvel comics (I've reviewed the first two volumes here and here!), and I'd love the chance to thank her for writing Kamala Khan so beautifully. She's one of the best characters to come out of Marvel in years, in my opinion, and I'm looking forward to reading Volume 3.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia: This lady wrote Signal to Noise (reviewed here!), which is probably my favourite book of the year so far, so I'd absolutely love to meet her. I just want to hug her, really, and thank her for writing such a brilliant book.

Who made your list this week?

Bout of Books 13 | Bookish Survey Challenge!

It's the first day of Bout of Books 13, and Lori @ Writing My Own Fairy Tale is hosting the very first challenge, complete with a giveaway! I've never taken part in any of the Bout of Books challenges before, but this survey seemed like too much fun to pass up - I love getting the chance to talk about books I love and recommend them to people!

Thanks, Lori, for hosting this challenge!

The Questions

1) How do you organise your shelves?

I don't, really. I try to have some semblance of organisation, but as I'm pretty much entirely out of room I stick my books where there's room for them, although I do have spaces of organisation. I have one shelf dedicated entirely to my classics, and I always keep my series together, and, if I can, I'll keep books written by the same author together, too. One day I'd love to have a big house with a huge library room where I can organise them to my heart's content, either alphabetically or by genre.

2) What is one of your favourite books that's not in one of your favourite genres?

This is a great question. I think I'll have to go with Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble, which I really, really enjoyed when I read it a couple of years ago. I don't dislike contemporary, but it's certainly not a genre I tend to read a lot of.

3) What is the last 5 star book you read?

Well-Read Women: Portraits of Fiction's Most Beloved Heroines by Samantha Hahn. It's a beautiful book, and I'm really glad to have it on my shelf.

4) What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

Probably Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, which is a modern classic from the mid '2os about a spinster who dabbles in witchcraft.

5) What book do you recommend the most?

It has to be my favourite book of 2015 so far, and one of my all-time favourites now, Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It's exquisite and you should read it. You can check out my review here!

Happy reading!

Food from History | Bookies Become Foodies Week!

This week it's Bookies Become Foodies Week over at A Flurry of Ponderings, a week where us book lovers are encouraged to share our favourite books with foods, posts with recipes or show off our cooking/baking skills!

I think you guys know by now that I love me some historical fiction, and as it's a genre that I often write as well as read I've found myself learning a little about various foods people often ate back in 'the good ol' days'. So today I thought I'd share with you a couple of recipes for some historical foods and concoctions - just know that this stuff isn't necessarily yummy...

Sweet Frumenty

Sweet Frumenty is a simple dish that's centuries old, and eventually became a festival dish served at Twelfth Night. It was a wintery dish, but a sign that spring would soon come!

Ingredients

* 140g (5oz) cracked wheat
* 1 pint ale (you can use stock if you prefer)
* 1 large or 2 small eggs
* 1-2 handfuls of currants
* Half a teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
* 3-4 tablespoons of single cream
* A jug of water or stock
* Optional: a generous pinch of saffron

Method

1) Soak the wheat in the ale until it begins to swell, this takes a few hours. (Or boil for 15 minutes and then leave to stand for 15 minutes) Most of the liquid will be absorbed. Add more liquid if the frumenty begins to dry out when cooking.
2) Add the spices, then boil for a few minutes until the wheat is soft.
3) Remove the heat.
4) Add the currants and allow to cool a little.
5) Stir in the beaten egg(s) and the cream.
6) Cook on a low heat, do not allow it to boil.

Plague Drink

Back in the day plague was a big worry. In the 14th century The Black Death killed 60% of Europe's population, and in 1665-1666 100,000 people were killed by The Great Plague. Oddly enough it was another disaster - The Great Fire of London - that helped rid England of the disease. Many people tried to concoct cures for the plague, turning to Mother Nature for their medicines; this is one of them.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT pick and cook plants unless you or someone you are with can detect a poisonous plant from a safe one. Many safe plants have poisonous lookalikes!

Ingredients
* Feverfew, for fever and headaches
* Scabious, for scabs and itching
* Mugwort, for protection from plague
* Dog Rose, to purge the body and protect the lungs
* Mallow, for aches and pains
* Yarrow, for driving away sickness and evil
* Sage, for joint pains
* Grape Juice (can be substituted for ale, wine, or the urine of the victim - yummy!)

Method
1) Take a few of the leaves of each plant.
2) Crush the leaves together with a pestle and mortar until the juices start to be released.
3) Place in a container, pour over the grape juice/ale/wine/urine and stir.
4) Strain the mixture through a suitable weave cloth.
5) Give to the plague victim to drink.

Mmm! So, will you be giving either of these recipes a try? ;)

Bout of Books 13!

Bout of Books 13 is on its way, which is great because I've been in the mood for a readathon!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I have a tentative TBR. I'm rubbish at sticking to TBRs, but I always like to make them - just in case! I know I won't read all of these, but if I could get through one or two of them I'll be a happy bunny, and if I don't I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever else it is I read.

Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner: This is a relatively new find - I saw Lesley @ Words of a Reader talking about this book on her channel and I was immediately intrigued. Ever since I started reading Daphne du Maurier and Shirley Jackson I've been getting into modern classics more and more, especially modern classics written by women, and this one sounds right up my alley!

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton: I own three of Jo Walton's books now - Tooth and Claw, Among Others and My Real Children - and I've heard such great things about her writing that it's about time I read something of hers. This sounds bizarre but brilliant, and I'd like to cross it off my TBR soon!

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: I really want to finish this. I haven't picked it up for a couple of weeks, not because I wasn't enjoying it but simply because it surprised me so much I've needed time to recuperate. I think I'm ready to return to it now!

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I always like to toss a short, contemporary read into my TBRs whenever I take part in a readathon - sometimes they can be just what I need to stop me from falling into a slump. I really enjoyed If I Stay, so it's about time I read this one.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: There's a teeny tiny chance I might use this readathon to give Austen another try. Maybe.

Are you taking part in Bout of Books? What are you planning to read?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I'll Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Books I Will Probably Never Read'. This was a difficult category for me, because as the saying goes, 'never say never'. In a few years I might have read one or two of these books, but I have a feeling I probably won't. When I first started thinking about this category it made me quite sad to acknowledge that there are some books I'll never read - that probably sounds ridiculous, but I think as voracious readers we sometimes worry about never having enough time to read everything we want to - but then I thought, y'know what, I'd much rather spend my time reading something I think I'm going to enjoy than forcing myself through something I have no interest in!

So, without further ado, here's my list...

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: Ugh, it's just too big, and honestly I have no real interest in reading it. The musical is beautiful, but I don't like being depressed!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: I also have no interest in the Shadowhunters. I know this series has a huge fanbase, but it's just not for me.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: I'm not the biggest fan of Austen, which I know is basically a crime in the book blogging world as everyone seems to adore her, but I would like to give her another try. The one book of hers I'm really not interested in, however, is Sense and Sensibility. I recently watched the 1995 adaptation with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, and while it was a nice enough film I still thought the story was really quite boring compared to some of Austen's other work, and I think Elinor and Marianne both deserved better.

IT by Stephen King: I'm also not the biggest fan of Stephen King - I swear I'm not the kind of person who hates something just because it's popular, I just don't get on with King's writing style - and I'm not the biggest fan of clowns either, so I think it's safe to say I'll be keeping away from it.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James: I have nothing against erotica, I just have no interest in reading something that promotes abuse in the way this book does. Christian Grey isn't sexy, he's scary.

Divergent by Veronica Roth: I tried reading this once and just couldn't get into it. Sorry Tris, you and I just didn't get along.

The Selection by Kiera Cass: Honestly I've lost all interest in YA dystopia, and this one in particular just sounds ridiculous.

Looking for Alaska by John Green: Sorry, I'm not interested in Manic Pixie Dream Girls.

Angel by James Patterson: And Nevermore. And Maximum Ride Forever. I loved the Maximum Ride series during my early teens, and then the books just got more and more silly. How Patterson has managed to write a ninth one I don't know, because I gave up after Fang. Just leave it alone, James, the series is dead.

The Merciless by Danielle Vega: This is probably the book I'm most disappointed to have on this list, because not only does it have a gorgeous cover but it's also a really interesting premise. This book is not for the squeamish - it includes torture - but the premise is basically that a group of 'preppy' and religious girls begin to torture another girl at school when they believe she's possessed by a demon. Basically it's a really interesting idea of using religion as a cover for bullying. However, a friend of mine read this and told me the ending (don't worry she didn't spoil me, I asked to know when I realised how much she'd hated it) and to me the ending just shits all over the rest of the book. I won't say anything more than that for anyone who doesn't want to be spoiled, but I know I won't bother reading it!

Which books made your list?

Monthly Wrap-Up | April 2015

Is it just me or did April fly by? It went so quickly! It's actually a little scary how quickly 2015 seems to be going, so I try not to think about it too much. Things at work got a lot busier last month, but I still managed to read quite a bit and have a pretty good month!

Ms. Marvel, Vol.2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona and Jacob Wyatt (4 Stars)

Reviewed here!

Copperhead, Vol.1: A New A Sheriff in Town by Jay Faerber, Scott Godlewski and Ron Riley (4 Stars)

Reviewed here!

Well-Read Women by Samantha Hahn (5 Stars)

Fables, Vol.1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton and James Jean (2 Stars)

Reviewed here!

Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan (3.5 Stars)

Reviewed here!

American Vampire, Vol.2 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Mateus Santolouco (4 Stars)

Reviewed here!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (4 Stars)

American Vampire, Vol.3 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Sean Murphy (4.5 Stars)

Reviewed here!

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (2 Stars)

As you can see I'm still loving graphic novels - in fact I enjoyed all the ones I read bar one - and I was able to read a bit more work from Shirley Jackson and Jenny Colgan. Very, very different authors, but I enjoy both of their books!

GAME OF THRONES IS BACK AND I AM VERY NERVOUS.

I'm very, very, very worried about Sansa and I want to take her away from all of the creepy men in her life. I want her and Arya to let Brienne take them to Dorne, and then I want the three of them to stay there in the land where they don't hurt little girls.

STOP HURTING HER!

As always I'm tired of the constant female full-frontal nudity. Do we get to see any dicks? Nope. Now I'm not saying I want to see a dick because, sorry boys, they're not particularly attractive, but I think it's only fair we get male full-frontal nudity, too. I'm sick of the way women are treated in this show, and I know a lot of people wonder why I watch it if there are so many issues with it, but the truth is none of these issues are going to be solved if we all just turn a blind eye. If something's wrong we have to acknowledge it and try our hardest to fix it, not just pretend it isn't there.

On the completely opposite end of the scale, I also watched the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility last month. I'm probably never going to get around to reading all of Jane Austen's books because unfortunately I've never really enjoyed her books that much, but I do enjoy the storylines whenever I've watched an adaptation in the past. I love Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, and it was certainly a nice film to sit back and watch, but honestly I found it a little boring and I didn't particularly like the ending. I feel like both Marianne and Elinor deserved better.

I bought myself the season 2 boxset of Orphan Black and I've been watching that again, along with my Dad, in preparation for season 3 which isn't in the UK yet. Boo! It's such a good show, and so far my Dad seems to be enjoying it, too, which is quite something! I think I get my fussiness about TV shows from him...

This has nothing to do with watching Season 2, this is just one of my favourite Felix quotes.

Oh, and my brother-in-law went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I thought it was alright. It was entertaining enough to watch but I'm not a massive superhero fan, although I do love the new Ms. Marvel comics. I'm more of an X-Men girl than an Avenger girl.

I had a great blogging month in April. I took part in the A-Z Blogging Challenge for the very first time and I did it! I was really proud that I actually managed to schedule my posts so I was never typing something up at the last minute, and though I missed a few days (three, I think - I couldn't think of any authors whose surname began with Q, U or X) I wrote something for the majority of them. The only thing I really failed at was regularly looking at other people's posts, which is very naughty of me, but to be honest I just wanted to take part in the challenge to see if I could do it, and I could!

Because I was on such a blogging high I wrote a bunch of other blog posts, too; not only for April, but for this month, too. I have a lot of posts scheduled already, which is good because May's going to be a very busy month at work.

It was Easter last month - hooray! I had a pretty quiet Easter, not that it's a holiday I've ever done anything special for, it was nice to get a few days off work. My sister and her family came to visit and on Easter Sunday we all went to Folly Farm, which is a diabetes-inducing name of a local zoo/farm. There's everything there from pigs to giraffes to lions to owls, and it was a really nice day weather-wise, too!

I found myself in Swansea a couple of times last month, too. For any of you who might not know I live in south Wales, and one of my friends from my MA course recently moved back to Swansea (she did her BA there, but her MA in Lancaster like me!) so it's been nice to have a friend nearby. The two of us went to a book launch together - the launch of New Welsh Short Stories, published by Seren Books where I work! - and then on the last Sunday of the month I travelled through to Swansea to go to a new book club that my friend has started.

There were six of us in total who turned up - which actually worked out really well because we read The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, which just so happens to have six main characters! - and while I knew two of the ladies already, one of them being my aforementioned friend, I also met some really lovely new people. It was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to the next meeting where we'll be discussing Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment!

The book club doesn't have a theme exactly, but those of us who attended the first meeting are all really interested in gender, feminism and sexuality, so if that sounds like your kind of thing and you happen to live in the south Wales area why not join us? You'd be more than welcome! Check out the Facebook and the Twitter.

How was your April?