Finally.....

Ok, I finally finished a Jane Austin book. I say finished because I started one and seriously thought, "This woman is highly over-rated!" I think I only got into 3 chapters and decided to just quit. Do I dare write the title?

Why not, just please don't throw tomatoes at me through our screen (that would be an awful mess)....anyway, it was...."Emma".

What was it about the book I didn't like? I just couldn't get into the language and the descriptions....guess I'm a die-hard MG/YA reader with lots of good plot and not so much description. Also, Emma was just one of those characters I wanted to smack in the face. Lately, I've been wondering if she is one of those characters that after about chapter 20 you begin to like. Kind of like the TV show "The Office" (US version)....Michael Scott was like that. He really annoyed the pants off of me for about the first 10 episodes (and that includes the first season of what 4 episodes or so?). But, then it was strange...I remember watching an episode and thinking...."Awww, poor Michael!" and then thinking, "Poor Michael? What?" But, it happened, I liked him and all his crazy screw ups as a boss." Hmm, should I give "Emma" another chance? Or should I just watch the movie? I'll have to think on that one....

So, why DID I pick up another Jane Austin?

1. We ARE going to Bath, UK for a few weeks this summer AND I just couldn't go there without reading something of hers.

and

2. My good friend and die-hard Jane Austin fan suggested "Pride and Prejudice".

OK, much better. At least I could relate to Lizzy....I actually couldn't put the book down at points in the story. Hard to believe after my "review" of "Emma", huh? But, it is true. Cross my heart and all that.

(Have I redeemed myself for all you Jane Fans? Especially you Ginann?)

So, now what? Start "Emma" again? Pick up another book by Jane? Probably, NOT. I need to be reading books in my writing genre, so maybe at a latter point in time. But, I am headed over to my friend's apartment, the Jane Fan, to check out her Jane Austin DVD library to get more of a feel of this author before our trip in about a month. I don't want to look like a total American idiot walking through her Centre clueless of everything...

So, what is your favorite Jane Austin book and why?

Or for those like me....what book of Jane's have you read and why you didn't like it?

WIP out the door...

OK, this was not a good week for me in the writing sense. I got nothing accomplished....I'm not even sure I opened any files to look at short stories or novels...*sigh*

The only big thing I did was start my Fill in the Gap booklist. This was fun as I need to make a list of 100 books I want to read in the next five years. (Thanks Amy for encouraging me to do this!) I'm not very far in the list, but started to read one of the books already...so yeah for that, I guess.

But, I did think about twists and plots a bit to the novel I've not started. I really need to do a character sketch to get in the mind of this American middle school football player...so that is my "homework" for this week.

Another cool thing happened though...tonight while at our Bible Study on "Esther" by Beth Moore, I thought of another novel...I need to hash out the idea a bit more in my brain to see if it could work. But, it was really exciting to me to get this fun YA novel idea.

Off to read a bit more before I head to bed...btw, I'm reading "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko