Books, Books & More Books

Shawn and I are both starting to feel the strain of the writers' strike as some of our favorite TV shows have stopped producing new episodes. However, the good news is we’ve both been reading like crazy. I am on a Jane Austen kick. In the last few months I’ve read all six of her novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. Once all those were completed, I moved onto some Jane Austen biographies and even some of her lesser-known works such as Sanditon (which is an uncompleted novel) and Lady Susan (which she wrote when she was twenty but never published).

I think everyone has recognized that I’ve gone Jane Austen crazy. Shawn’s sister, Jeanette, just bought me this awesome action figure (thanks, Jeanette!)...

I’m also in the process of collecting any and all movies having to with Jane Austen works. I already own the 1996 BBC mini-series version of Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility, and Clueless (which is a modern adaptation of Emma – who knew?!). I’d also love to get my hands on the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice starring Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennett and Sir Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy. Some others I’d love:

Becoming Jane
Bride and Prejudice
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Emma
Mansfield Park

Masterpiece Theatre will also be airing The Complete Jane Austen TV marathon in January with brand new adaptations of Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion. I am swooning as we speak.

Shawn has been reading Artemis Fowl, a book series about wealthy criminal masterminds and the fairies that love them. I’m purposely being vague about the contents because I have yet to read the books and don’t want to spoil any of the details for myself.

We are also listening to Stephen Colbert’s new audio book (since The Colbert Report is one of the shows which has gone into hiatus during the strike). We have also found out that our library book borrowing ways are wrong. He says, “this book is for America's heroes. And who are the heroes? The people who bought this book. That bears repeating. People who borrow this book are not heroes. They are no better then welfare queens mooching off the system like card-carrying library card-carriers.” I wish I had known before I ordered our copy from the library. Oops!

-- Lisa