My Jane Austen Collection

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My Jane Austen CollectionThe first classic novel I ever truly fell in love with was Pride and Prejudice. I needed a book for my tenth grade English class for our reading time (don't ask me why 16-year-olds had reading time in an honors English class). My friend Jessica offered her copy of Pride and Prejudice, and I took it thinking, "in desperate times..." While I didn't get very far in the 42 minutes I had to read it, I was immediately intrigued by the book. After borrowing friends and family's copies a couple of times, I bought my own. Now, as you can see, I am the proud owner of four Jane Austen books: two copies of Pride and Prejudice, one copy of Emma, and a collection of four books (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion). Why Jane Austen, you ask? I really love Austen's writing. Her way of story telling involves me in the story (and allows me to forgive her for unnecessary long descriptions ;)). Plus, her history has always intrigued me, and I can't help but wish she wrote an autobiography.

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  • First up is The Works of Jane Austen. My dad got this for me when Borders was going out of business with my Christmas copy of Pride and Prejudice (below). I was excited to get this, because I wanted to read more of Austen's work and this way I didn't have to buy her entire collection. I started reading Emma in this book and loved it so much I went out and bought a copy of just that novel at Half Price Books. I'm hoping to start reading Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion next summer when I can carry this around.
  • Next is my "beautiful" copy of Pride and Prejudice. I wanted a pretty copy not just for my high school senior pictures, but also since my first copy was a cheap version with a sickly looking woman on the front. I haven't read this yet, mostly because I can't quite bare to break the spine. I know it's not a really expensive copy or anything; but I like knowing I have this pristine copy on my shelf I can always just look at, if I wanted to.
  • And then we have the "much-loved" copy of Pride and Prejudice (you know you like a book when you own two copies of it- three counting The Works). I read this for school, so it's filled with my annotations and underlining. One day, I might do a whole post on the things I've written in those margins (I tend to talk to the characters and I can get very sassy). As the spine shows, I've poured through this a lot. I also read this twice, which is saying a lot for me.
  • Finally, we have Emma. I read this last summer as my second Austen novel, and I really liked it. Yes, Emma can get on your nerves. But that's why I like it, and that was Austen's intention. This book is not quite as beat up since I didn't need to re-read, write in, and dog-ear it like I did  Pride and Prejudice. With the YouTube series Emma Approved almost coming to an end, however, I am thinking about rereading this. In all my spare time ;)

My Jane Austen CollectionI'm hoping to grow this collection once I have more time to actually read (that time will come, right? Right?). Austen is an amazing author and has every right to have her novels named as classics.

What is your favorite Jane Austen book? What authors are taking up extra space on your bookshelves?

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Below the Line:

  • Happy August! Summer has gone by so fast...
  • I learned how to can this week! Of course, I was most excited about the pickles :) But I was also really fascinated how the lids suction to the jars when they hit the cold air after cooking in the hot water.
  • You think fruits and vegetables taste one way; and then you eat locally grown fruits and veggies and your entire worldview changes (this applies to pork and beef, too).