public service announcement: free audio books starting todaySync is back!

I'm a huge fan of the Sync free-audiobooks-in-summer program, which is administered by AudioFile Magazine and supported by the audiobook publishers¹ who make the selections available free of charge during the weeks in which they are featured.   I promote the program because I like it, as a user. 

The most important thing to note, which is not mentioned below,² is that these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to check in each week to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to reading them right away.


Sync offers free audiobook downloads of Young Adult and Classic titles this summer!
May 20 - August 21, 2013

Teens and other readers of young adult literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required-reading classics this summer. Each week from May 30 to August 15, Sync will offer two free audiobook downloads.

The audiobook pairings will include a popular YA title and a classic that connects with the YA title's theme and is likely to show up on a student's summer reading lists. For example, Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys, the first book in a bestselling series about a group of teenagers search for the supernatural ley lines, will be paired with the Latino classic of magical realism, Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima.

SYNC Schedule:

May 30 - June 5, 2013

• Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
  free audio version read by Rebecca Gibel, courtesy of AudioGo
• The Tempest by William Shakespeare
  free audio version read by a full cast, courtesy of AudioGo

June 6 - June 12, 2013

• The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1) by Maryrose Wood (see post)
  free audio version read by Katherine Kellgren, courtesy of HarperAudio)
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (see post)
  free audio version read by Wanda McCaddon, courtesy of Tantor Audio

June 13 - June 19, 2013

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (see post)
  free audio version read by Will Patton, courtesy of Scholastic Audiobooks
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
  free audio version read by Robert Ramirez, courtesy of Recorded Books

June 20 - June 26, 2013

• Once by Morris Gleitzman
  free audio version read by Morris Gleitzman, courtesy of Bolinda Audio
• Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
  free audio version read by Dion Graham, courtesy of ChristianAudio

June 27 - July 3, 2013

• Rotters by Daniel Kraus
  free audio version read by Kirby Heyborne, courtesy of Listening Library
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  free audio version read by Jim Weiss, courtesy of Listening Library

July 4 - July 10, 2013

• Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford
  free audio version read by Nick Podehl, courtesy of Brilliance Audio
• She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
  free audio version read by a Full Cast, courtesy of L.A. Theatre Works

July 11 - July 17, 2013

• The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann (see post)
  free audio version read by Peter Altschuler, courtesy of HarperAudio
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  free audio version read by Simon Vance, courtesy of Tantor Audio

July 18 - July 24, 2013

• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
  free audio version read by Erin Moon, courtesy of Recorded Books
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
  free audio version read by a full cast, courtesy of L.A. Theatre Works

July 25 - July 31, 2013

• The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
  free audio version read by Charlie McWade, courtesy of Scholastic Audiobooks
• The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
  free audio version read by Steve West, courtesy of Blackstone Audio

Aug 1 - Aug 7, 2013

• Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
  free audio version read by Dan Weyman, courtesy of Macmillan Audio
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  free audio version read by Ralph Cosham, courtesy of Blackstone Audio

Aug 8 - Aug 14, 2013

• Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
  free audio version read by Katherine Kellgren, courtesy of Brilliance Audio
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  free audio version read by Miriam Margolyes, courtesy of Bolinda Audio

Aug 15 - Aug 21, 2013

• Sold by Patricia McCormick
  free audio version read by Justine Eyre, courtesy of Tantor Audio
• Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie
  free audio version read by Tavia Gilbert, courtesy of Blackstone Audio

Visit Sync's Educators, Librarians, Bloggers page for more information about the program.

footnotes:

1. AudioGo, Blackstone Audio, Bolinda Audio, Brilliance Audio, ChristianAudio, HarperAudio, L.A. Theatre Works,  Listening Library, Macmillan Audio, Recorded Books, Scholastic Audiobooks, and Tantor Audio as indicated.
2. An ever so slightly modified version of their press release

sync this week: Daughter of Smoke and Bone & A Tale of Two Cities

Sync's offerings this week (Thursday, August 2 through Wednesday, August 8, 2012) are:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
(highly recommended)

and
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious errands; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
* I listened to the audio version of Daughter of Smoke and Bone last month and loved it (see post).

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of the two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of the guillotine.

Go here to get this week's downloads.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Sync this week: Cleopatra's Moon and Antony & Cleopatra

Sync's offerings this week (Thursday, July 19 through Wednesday, July 25, 2012) are:

Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Shecter

and
Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra

The Luxe meets the ancient world in the extraordinary story of Cleopatra's daughter.
Selene has grown up in a palace on the Nile with her parents, Cleopatra and Mark Antony--the most brilliant, powerful rulers on earth. But the jealous Roman Emperor Octavianus wants Egypt for himself, and when war finally comes, Selene faces the loss of all she's ever loved. Forced to build a new life in Octavianus's household in Rome, she finds herself torn between two young men and two possible destinies--until she reaches out to claim her own.
This stunning novel brings to life the personalities and passions of one of the greatest dramas in history, and offers a wonderful new heroine in Selene.

The twin empires of Egypt and Rome mingle and clash in this towering tragedy. Impulsiveness, passion, mistaken identity and dark humor all color the fascinating dalliance between Antony and Cleopatra, the larger-than-life pair at the center of this play.
A BBC Radio 3 full cast production.

Go here to get this week's downloads.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Sync: Immortal + Wuthering Heights

We're nearing the end of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Immortal by Gillian Shields and
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Welcome to Wyldcliffe, the place that haunts my present, my past, and my future.
Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn from her home near the sea to become the newest scholarship student, strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave her drowning in loneliness.
Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a mysterious and attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian blaze with each secret meeting, she begins to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. As the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.

Wuthering Heights, first published in 1847, the year before the author's death at the age of thirty, endures today as perhaps the most powerful and intensely original novel in the English language. The epic story of Catherine and Heathcliff plays out against the dramatic backdrop of the wild English moors, and presents an astonishing metaphysical vision of fate and obsession, passion and revenge. "Only Emily Brontë," V. S. Pritchett said, "exposes her imagination to the dark spirit." And Virginia Woolf wrote, "Hers...is the rarest of all powers. She could free life from its dependence on facts...by speaking of the moor make the wind blow and the thunder roar."

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Sync: Chanda's Secrets + Tess of the D'Ubervilles

The fifth week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza started yesterday.

The offerings this week are
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton and
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

Sixteen-year-old Chanda Kabelo has secrets. Her mother is acting strangely, her little sister is out of control, and her best friend is in serious trouble. To make matters worse, people are dying around her. Everyone is afraid to say why, but Chanda knows: it’s because of AIDS. Chanda's Secrets is a suspense-filled novel about a teenager who fights to rescue the people she loves. Through his dramatic story-telling, Allan Stratton captures the love of family, the loyalty of friends, the pain of bereavement, and a fearlessness that is powered by the heart. Above all, this is a story about the courage of living with truth

A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Sync: Revenge of the Witch + Beowulf

I hope you all don't mind these reminder posts. I have to admit that doing them is a bit self-serving as it has helped me to remember to download the books.

Today's the beginning of the fourth week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney and
Beowulf, translated by Francis B. Gummere.

Revenge of the Witch is the first book in Delaney's Wardstone Chronicles / Last Apprentice series. It has also been published under the title The Spook's Apprentice.
For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried — some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.
Only Thomas Ward is left. He's the last hope — the last apprentice.
Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook's warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county?

The first true masterpiece of English literature, Beowulf depicts the thrilling adventures of a Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. Part history and part mythology, Beowulf begins in the court of the Danish king, where a demon named Grendel devours men in their sleep. The mighty warrior Beowulf kills the monster, but rejoicing turns to terror when Grendel's mother attacks the hall to avenge the death of her child. After slaying the mighty beast, Beowulf becomes king, ruling peacefully for fifty years. But the day comes when he must confront a foe more powerful than any he has yet faced--an ancient dragon who guards a horde of treasure. Once again Beowulf must gather his strength and courage to defeat the monster, but this time victory exacts a terrible price.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Sync: Where the Streets Had a Name + Passage to India

Today's the beginning of the third week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah and
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster.

Thirteen year old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is that Hayaat and her family live behind the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, and they're on the wrong side of check points, curfews, and the travel permit system. Plus, Hayaat's best friend Samy always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on the pair's side as they undertake the journey to Jerusalem from the Palestinian Territories when Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel.
But while their journey may only be a few kilometers long, it could take a lifetime to complete. . . .
Humorous and heartfelt, Where the Streets Had a Name deals with the Israel-Palestinian conflict with sensitivity and grace and will open a window on this timely subject.

Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, A Passage to India tells of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century. In exquisite prose, Forster reveals the menace that lurks just beneath the surface of ordinary life, as a common misunderstanding erupts into a devastating affair.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Sync is back! free audiobooks this summer

Just one week until the start if Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza. I found out about it late last year, but the program is what finally got me to read The Hunger Games (which they paired with The Lottery by Shirley Jackson).

The most important thing to note, which is not mentioned below,¹ is that these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to check in each week to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to reading them right away.

Sync offers free audiobook downloads of Young Adult and Classic titles this summer!
June 23 - August 17, 2011

Teens and other readers of young adult literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer. Each week from June 23 to August 17, 2011, Sync will offer two free audiobook downloads.

The audiobook pairings will include a popular YA title and a classic that connects with the YA title's theme and is likely to show up on a student's summer reading lists. For example, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, the first book in a popular series with strong allusions to Romeo & Juliet, will be paired with Shakespeare's classic.


SYNC Schedule:

June 23-29
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

June 30- July 6
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Trial by Franz Kafka

July 7-13
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

July 14-20
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Beowulf by Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]

July 21-27
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

July 28-August 3
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea by Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]

August 4-10
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

August 11-17
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
The Cay by Theodore Taylor

More details if you want 'em!

1. An ever so slightly modified version of their press release

Jules Verne

Apparently today is Jules Verne's 183rd birthday. I have to say that I wouldn't have known, if I hadn't seen the cool Verne-inspired interactive doodle on Google's homepage this morning. This PC Magazine article discusses the doodle. I have to admit that I spent some time finagling the controls in order to grab a screenshot that included the little hot air balloon (the above was the best I could do).

In any case, the doodle serves as a reminder that I've been wanting to read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Some readers will know that I am a bit of an ichthyophobic, but I always enjoyed the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride a Disneyland as a child and between Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Sarah Brightman's Dive album I've developed a fascination with Captain Nemo.

Persuasion

My online book club is discussing Persuasion this month. It was great to have an excuse to reread it.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

First of all I should say that I have read Persuasion before, but not for at least ten years. It was so nice to rediscover it because I’d forgotten how much I liked it. Other Austen novels like Pride & Prejudice and Emma pop up so much in popular culture that I feel like they are never far from my mind, Persuasion, though, was a dim memory.

My copy of Persuasion is in a box in the attic of my parents’ house so I listened to one of the versions available through Librivox (version 5, read by Madame Tusk), which I quite enjoyed.

Ok, let’s begin with Anne. I’m sure there is some inaccurate Facebook quiz that will determine which Austen heroine you are, but I think I can easily cast myself as Anne. I am often overlooked even (and especially) when I am the voice of reason. And like with Anne, those who do recognize my worth, appreciate my good judgment and abilities. I am often overpowered by my sister and her strong personality. I dislike (and am not particularly good at) confrontation and (especially at work) often find myself being the person tasked with calming the waves and keeping the place from falling apart when others can’t seem to get along with each other.

One of the discussion questions centered around the fact that Austen once described Anne Elliot as "almost too good for me." I don't find Anne to be too good to be true (of course I've just admitted that I relate to Anne). Yes, I think she is a good person, but she is by no means perfect in her goodness. While she is outwardly good to most everyone, her inner thoughts about certain people are not always charitable. She is at least a bit selfish and occasionally disgruntled about being overlooked and taken for granted. So, perfect she is not, though she may be more "good" than Austen's other heroines.

I was also taken by some of the questions regarding Captain Benwick and his role in Persuasion. Why is Benwick in the story? Well obviously Louisa needed someone to get her unstuck on Captain Wentworth. Even if I hadn't read Persuasion before I wouldn't have been expecting things to progress far with Benwick because Anne was so clearly destined for Captain Wentworth. I think Benwick and Anne were drawn together because of mutual sadness over love lost (and the commonality of being misunderstood by others). I suppose Anne's role was to draw Benwick out enough that he was able to make a connection with Louisa. It also didn't hurt for Wentworth to see Anne giving attention to and getting attention from another man. I think it is telling that Anne suggests to Benwick that he read more prose. Reading the kind of poetry Benwick is drawn to allows him to dwell in and nurture his melancholy rather than begin to get over the death his fiancée and get on with his life.

Of additional interest is Lady Russell and how she was able to persuade Anne to give up Wentworth. The fact that Lady Russell was able to influence Anne shows passivity on Anne's part. I'm not sure whether we can definitely say it was good judgment or not. At least Anne is persuaded by advice from someone worthy of her trust.

At the end of the novel, Anne says that despite the fact that Lady Russell's advice caused her to be separated from Wentworth, she (Anne) was right to have taken it. I'm not sure if Anne would have felt the same way with Wentworth had married someone else though. Hindsight through rose-colored glasses? Though there is also that whole argument against long engagements to help Anne in feeling like she made the right decision at the time.

This all gets to the central question of persuasion. Louisa obviously suffered from her inability to be dissuaded from recklessness so I can't say that anyone could hold her dedication as a model. Early in the novel persuadability seems to be a character flaw, but as it progresses it becomes something that is quite important in moderation.

book club voting lists (1 of 4)

This post explains what the lists are all about...

Biographies & Memoirs:

1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff
3. Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster
4. Buffalo Gal by Laura Pedersen
5. The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah
6. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
7. Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties, from Kansas City to Cuzco by Calvin Trillin
8. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
9. Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
10. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
11. Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

Classics and Contemporary Classics:

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. Beloved by Toni Morrison
3. The Book of Salt by Monique Truong
4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
5. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
6. Hamlet
7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
8. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
9. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
10. Wings of the Dove by Henry James

General Fiction (non-genre):

1. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
2. Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson
3. The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
4. Buffalo Lockjaw by Greg Ames
5. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
6. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
7. Eureka by Jim Lehrer
8. The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
10. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
11. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
12. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
13. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
14. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
15. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
16. Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
17. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
18. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
19. Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
20. The Various Flavors of Coffee by Anthony Capella
21. We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

book clubbing in August

I'd been looking forward to this month's book club discussion for quite some time. Pride and Prejudice was our August selection, but we also decided to allow any of the many P&P spin-offs to add to our discussion.

Those who've read my recent posts will know that I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and First Impressions by Marilyn Sachs in preparation for our meeting. Other spin-offs read by members included The Man Who Loved Jane Austen by Sally Smith O'Rourke,¹ Pamela Aidan's Darcy novels,² the new P&P comics (art by Hugo Petrus).³ Additionally most of us had read Austenland for our discussion last fall (see post).

We had a great discussion about Pride and Prejudice itself (one of our members had never read Austen before, assuming he wouldn't like it, and his reaction to it was wonderful), societal differences and entail,⁴ the collective obsession with P&P (or is it Mr. Darcy?), the inanity of certain spin-offs,⁴ why we think other spin-offs like Bride and Prejudice work so well, what Austen novels the newly converted should read next,⁵ class issues, whether Elizabeth is typical of a woman of her station (she has a modern sensibility for sure, but were many of her contemporaries more like Charlotte), and the reason for the recent obsession with zombies, among other things.

All in all it was an absolutely fantastic meeting with a varied and engaging discussion.

1. I've read this one, but it looks like I never posted about it on the blog. I'll pull together some thoughts and write a post soonish.
2. An Assembly Such As This, Duty and Desire, and These Three Remain. They come highly recommended by the reader.
3. I only flipped through a few issues, but they look fantastic (isn't the image I included in this post compelling?). I can't wait until they are collected in book form.
4. What a perfect word to feature. entail, in the context of Austen's writing, refers to the settlement of the succession of a landed estate, so that it cannot be bequeathed at pleasure by any one possessor. Mr. Bennet as entail of Longbourn (presumably the entail was set up in an ancestor's will) has free use of the estate during his life, but no control over what happens to the estate upon his death.
5. Sense and Sensbility or Emma depending on mood and inclination.

The Illustrated Jane Eyre

The Illustrated Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë’s sweeping Victorian romance is reborn through the striking illustrations of the inimitable Dame Darcy.

This month my book club will be discussing Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. What a perfect excuse to read The Illustrated Jane Eyre, which I've had on Mt. TBR since September 2006, and that's exactly what I did this weekend.

First of all, I should say that I'm pretty sure I'd never read Jane Eyre before. I thought I had, way back in high school, but now I think I'd only read Wuthering Heights (by younger sister Emily).

Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed getting to know this classic properly. Dame Darcy's illustrations are a wonderful addition to this addition. Black and white illustrations are peppered throughout the book (encroaching from the margins, forcing the text to wend its way around them) with the less frequent inclusion of full-page illustrations (you can see images of some of the full-page plates in the book on Dame Darcy's color prints and black and white prints pages). Her style seems like a perfect match for Jane Eyre and as I read the novel I found myself eagerly awaiting Darcy's next addition to the text.

book clubbing in April

This month my book club tackled its first classic,
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

I don't think I'd ever read A Room with a View before (the only Forster I remember reading is A Passage to India). I knew we'd have a good discussion, though, especially after I saw the new film adaption that aired on PBS earlier this month.*

We did indeed have a nice discussion. We talked about the novel as well as the 1985 and 2007 films. We discussed Forster himself, the subtleties and class distinctions in the novel, our feelings about the various characters, the proper pronunciation of "Beebe", and the novel's possible connection to Howards End among other things.

Personally, I enjoyed A Room with a View and I'm thinking of reading more Forster in the relatively near future.


* They changed the ending?! I was shocked and horrified at what they'd do in the name of "modern audiences", but I knew it'd be good discussion fodder.

Jane Eyre... bigger and better

I saw the coolest book at the book store yesterday... an absolute must-have book...


Charlotte Brontë’s sweeping Victorian romance is reborn through the striking illustrations of the inimitable Dame Darcy.

A devoted readership will recognize Dame Darcy as the creator of highly original and off-kilter comic books. Here she uses her lavishly detailed illustrations to bring the best-loved Victorian novel Jane Eyre back into the spotlight. Darkly elegant illustrations draw back the novel’s curtain, revealing the depths of human depravity, despair, and ultimate redemption. Sure to impress traditional fans and newcomers alike, The Illustrated Jane Eyre updates the classic for a new era.

It's time to start your holiday shopping (not to mention Buy a Friend a Book Week) and this is the perfect gift for the lit majors on your list! Also a good choice for teenagers that could use a little motivation to read the classics.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting a copy for my birthday ;)