BOOK REVIEW: Austenland by Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale's newest book, Austenland, is a fun take on Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. The main character, named Jane (of course), is a young woman with a Mr. Darcy obsession; most particularly a Mr. Darcy obsession that closely matches the Darcy of Colin Firth fame. [Pause for a collective dreamy sigh.] Jane is continually disappointed in the men she meets because they never measure up to her Mr. Darcy expectations.

Jane must confront her Darcy obsession when an elderly aunt dies and leaves her an inheritance that is quite specific -- a three week trip to an English resort that caters to Austen lovers. After a brief "should I stay or should I go," Jane decides to take the trip and indulge her Darcy obsession one last time before putting it to rest for good.

While at Pembrook Park, the guests mingle with actors who represent Austen characters. Each guest is assigned a name and a role to play. The characters must maintain the charade wearing only Regency attire and following Regency etiquette right down to the bows, curtsies, and class divisions. Reality and fiction blur for Jane while at Pembrook Park and this creates more confusion for her as she finds herself simultaneously attracted to the gardener and Mr. Nobley (aka Darcy). While Jane is looking for love, she realizes that the gentlemen at Pembrook Park are merely actors. Or are they? Who is the cad and who is the gentleman? Just like Austen's Pride & Prejudice, Ms. Hale keeps the tension high until the end.

Overall I had a lot of fun reading Austenland. While I think Ms. Hale's young adult books (The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, etc.) are better and deal with deeper issues such as the nature of friendship, Austenland serves as an amusing diversion filled with Austenisms and wit. Definitely for Austen lovers.

Author Signing
I met the author at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. By the way, if you're ever in the Phoenix area, you really must visit this bookstore. It is a marvelous blend of new and used books that are interfiled on the shelves. The store is quite a bit larger than I anticipated and features a bakery that opens right off of the store. Anyway, back to the signing .... I found Shannon to be a delightful person who entertained us with a few stories and insights before the signing. One of the stories she shared with us was a conversation she had with her husband after he read Austenland. Apparently, her novel reminded him of a movie that she had never seen ... Westworld. Westworld is a kind of high-tech Disneyland where visitors can act out their wild west fantasies. While Pembrook Park has real people acting alongside the guests, Westworld uses human looking robots. Apparently, said husband couldn't get the Westworld connection out of his head and thought it would be a good idea if Shannon included a robot in her story. She told the audience to "look for the robot suit" in her novel.

Getting to hear the stories behind the writing are what makes author signings so much fun. Oh, and getting your picture taken with:



Also reviewed at:
A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore
The Written Word
Maw Books Blog

8 Random Facts

I was tagged by Mary at Life, the Universe and Everything to give you 8 random facts about myself. I think I can come up with 8. The rules for this meme are:

• Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their random facts at their own blog and include these rules at the head of the post.
• Choose people to get tagged and list their names at the end of the post.
• Don't forget to leave those you've tagged a comment telling them they are tagged and to check your blog for the rules.

8 Random Facts About Terri B.

1. I love to people watch.
2. I also love to appear to be reading while actually eavesdropping on conversations.
3. I read a lot. I average about a book a week.
4. I'm a librarian and I'm on the faculty of a private university.
5. I do not get nervous when speaking to an audience.
6. I have an inordinate fear of getting lost. The only time I've ever been lost was at age 3. I have a great sense of direction and the fear of getting lost means that I'm always hyper-prepared with maps and directions. When I've occasionally not had maps and directions, I've proven to be incredibly resourceful and always found my way. I should really not have this fear.
7. I really like to eat cake; if cake is not available I'll eat pecan pie. Either sweet must be accompanied by a cup of strong black coffee.
8. I do not like sweet stuff in my coffee. Milk is OK (as in latte or capuccino), but no sweeteners or flavorings.

OK, I tag .......... anyone who read this and wants to be tagged. If you are tagging yourself, please leave a comment advising me and other readers and let us know where to find your 8 Random Facts!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

Feeding Trough

"Bull" revisited

Mr. Distortion: "Hey ... T ... I just read your post about bull riding."

Terri B.: "You're just getting to that?? That post is old!"

Mr. D.: [ignoring my commentary on his failure to keep up with my brilliant posts] "I know why you like to watch bull riding."

Terri B.: "What?? Tell me! I have no idea why I like to watch insane men ride crazed bulls."

Mr. D.: "The bulls. You like the bulls. You're always cheering for the bulls."

Thank you to Hubby for solving the mystery of "Bull" ... I think.

Language Barrier

Thursday I did one of my one day commutes from L.A. to San Francisco for a meeting. Except for the getting up at 3 or 4am thing in order to make a 6 or 7am flight, I really don't mind ... especially if I'm going to San Francisco. I love that city.

This trip I needed to take a taxi from the airport in order to make it to my meeting on time. So I went out to the taxi stand, hopped into a cab and told the driver I needed to get to Front Street and Broadway. He had a very heavy Asian accent and kept chattering something at me that I couldn't quite understand. Eventually I determined that he was telling me what route he was going to take to get me to Fourth Street. So I dutifully corrected him saying that I needed to go to Front Street, not Fourth Street. His reply? "Yes, taking you to Fot Street." OK. Was that Fot as in Fourth or Fot as in Front? Hmmm. I was pretty sure that he still thought I needed to go to Fourth Street. So I tried again. "You are taking me to Front Street aren't you? FronT not FourTH." I tried to articulate the "T" as clearly as I could. Again I got, "Yes, taking you to Fot Street." Fighting back imminent panic, I started digging through my bag for the handy plastic-coated-folding San Francisco street map I'd brought along. I hovered over the cabbie's shoulder and pointed at the spot on the map where Front Street and Broadway meet. I held my breath as he glanced at my map. Had I broken the language barrier? "Ahhhh ... you want FOT Street not Fot Street." Success.

Mizpah

A few of you have noticed that I haven't been blogging lately. I've left a few comments on various blogs, but I haven't been posting at my own. So I thought I'd break my blog silence and update you.

It was a long summer between work and four separate out of state trips. I'd like to say that we had a lot of vacation fun, but our trips out of state didn't have much to do with fun. Let's just say they were purposeful and unforgettable. The main reason you haven't seen me "blogging about" is my inability to find words to say much of anything. I've had a lot of emotional processing and the emotions and words have gotten so tangled up that ... well ... it's better to just wait until things have sorted themselves out a bit.

In June we went to Arizona to see my Grandmother for her 90th birthday. (I've written about my Grandma here in the past ... after reading through her diaries from the 30s and 40s.) It was a bittersweet visit since she was in the end stages of Alzheimer's, but it was so good to just hold her hand and give her hugs and kisses. In July we had just arrived in Colorado when I received a phone call that my Grandmother had passed away. I could do nothing by dropping everything and running back to Arizona, so we remained where we were for the week and tried to stay focused on our reasons for being in Colorado. After a quick trip home to wash clothes and re-pack, we headed back to Arizona for my Grandmother's funeral. It was a beautiful service that paid tribute to a beautiful woman who was loved and lived a long life.

One of my many memories of Grandma is a word that she would write at the bottom of every letter and at the top of every card ... Mizpah. The writing of this word was shorthand for a verse from the Bible: "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another" Genesis 31:49. I believe the original biblical meaning was meant more as a warning to "behave," but many have viewed this verse as a blessing. My Grandmother saw this verse as a blessing and used it as such in all of her notes to family and friends. You see, she hated being separated from those she loved. Now that she is gone, and we are separated for an unknown period of time, I hold that blessing close to my heart.

Mizpah.