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sallyavena's review
3.0
I won this book in a give away contest from the author. It's a gathering of short stories from authors who have written Jane Austen inspired books. They each address the idea of Jane Austen Made Me Do It and come up with a story. Some of the ideas were new and fun and I totally loved. Others, not so much. I think the ones that I loved the most were the ones in which I could see the initial inspiration of the assigned topic. Really a 3.5 because there were some stories that I really wouldn't mind rereading.
lifeand100books's review
4.0
Can you imagine a collection of famous Jane Austen fan fiction writers’ works all bound together in one glorious volume? Well imagine no further, as Jane Austen Made Me Do It does just this. Compiled and edited by good friend and contributor to the blog Laurel Ann Nattress (also a famous blogger herself, of course), this book intertwines multiple short stories that all deal with either Austen’s novels or Austen herself. Smart, witty, and tons of fun, this work is a wonderful homage to Austen and the fan fiction scene that she spawned with her wonderful works. It’s only regrettable that Austen herself could not see this great collaboration in action!
Since a normal summary would be odd, I figured I’d give you a short description of my favorite five!
Jane Austen’s Nightmare by Syrie James – In this short story, Jane has a nightmare in which all of her characters come to her in a dream and tell her what they “really” think of how she created them!
When Only A Darcy Will Do by Beth Pattillo – Elizabeth is trying to make extra money by giving tours of Jane Austen’s London. One tour day a man shows up dressed as Mr. Darcy and shows her that chivalry isn’t dead. Will she ever figure out who this mysterious man really is?
Heard of You by Margaret C Sullivan – Sullivan treats us to the back story of how Admiral and Mrs. Croft met and married with the help of a certain someone.
Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss by Jo Beverley - Elinor and her daughters live in the town of Chawton due to the charity of a distant family member. The girls decide to pick holly and mistletoe to decorate their home for the Christmas holiday after a strange meeting with Miss Jane Austen. Deciding to pick the mistletoe just might change their lives forever…
Janeites everywhere will be enthusiastic to know that this anthology is an eclectic mix of short stories aimed at pleasing all Jane Austen fans. Whether your favorite Jane novel is Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park, there is a short story in here somewhere for you. Every genre within the spectrum of Jane Austen fan fiction is covered: paranormal, contemporary, sequels, just everything. Not only are all the genres covered, but so are all of Jane’s novels, as well as stories inspired by Jane herself. It is one of these stories that was my favorite: Jane Austen’s Nightmare by Syrie James.
My favorite thing about an anthology is that it affords an opportunity for the reader to be introduced to a slew of authors that he or she might not have previously read. Even though I’m a huge fan of JAFF and have read an enormous amount in the genre, I was still wowed by new writers. I’ve eagerly started adding their full works to my to-read piles so that I can experience their fantastic storytelling abilities in a fuller form.
So, if you find yourself in want of a fun and new twist on the JAFF experience, definitely give Jane Austen Made Me Do It a try. Perfect for a quick read between errands or a few short stories on a lazy day, this work will make you think of the time you first read something that was Austen-inspired. I guarantee that you’ll find something that you enjoy!
Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)
http://wp.me/p18lIL-DL
Since a normal summary would be odd, I figured I’d give you a short description of my favorite five!
Jane Austen’s Nightmare by Syrie James – In this short story, Jane has a nightmare in which all of her characters come to her in a dream and tell her what they “really” think of how she created them!
When Only A Darcy Will Do by Beth Pattillo – Elizabeth is trying to make extra money by giving tours of Jane Austen’s London. One tour day a man shows up dressed as Mr. Darcy and shows her that chivalry isn’t dead. Will she ever figure out who this mysterious man really is?
Heard of You by Margaret C Sullivan – Sullivan treats us to the back story of how Admiral and Mrs. Croft met and married with the help of a certain someone.
Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss by Jo Beverley - Elinor and her daughters live in the town of Chawton due to the charity of a distant family member. The girls decide to pick holly and mistletoe to decorate their home for the Christmas holiday after a strange meeting with Miss Jane Austen. Deciding to pick the mistletoe just might change their lives forever…
Janeites everywhere will be enthusiastic to know that this anthology is an eclectic mix of short stories aimed at pleasing all Jane Austen fans. Whether your favorite Jane novel is Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park, there is a short story in here somewhere for you. Every genre within the spectrum of Jane Austen fan fiction is covered: paranormal, contemporary, sequels, just everything. Not only are all the genres covered, but so are all of Jane’s novels, as well as stories inspired by Jane herself. It is one of these stories that was my favorite: Jane Austen’s Nightmare by Syrie James.
My favorite thing about an anthology is that it affords an opportunity for the reader to be introduced to a slew of authors that he or she might not have previously read. Even though I’m a huge fan of JAFF and have read an enormous amount in the genre, I was still wowed by new writers. I’ve eagerly started adding their full works to my to-read piles so that I can experience their fantastic storytelling abilities in a fuller form.
So, if you find yourself in want of a fun and new twist on the JAFF experience, definitely give Jane Austen Made Me Do It a try. Perfect for a quick read between errands or a few short stories on a lazy day, this work will make you think of the time you first read something that was Austen-inspired. I guarantee that you’ll find something that you enjoy!
Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)
http://wp.me/p18lIL-DL
spinstah's review
4.0
This was very entertaining, although if you're not a big Jane Austen fan already I'm not sure how much you'd like it. The editor has solicited short stories from a range of writers, with the only caveat being that the story must somehow be inspired by Austen and her works. Some of the stories pick up where her novels left off with particular characters, and others are set in the modern day and feature "Janeites." There's also one that focuses on Austen's brother, though, who commanded a ship in the Royal Navy, and describes a battle that he fought.
Overall it's a quick and amusing read, and if you like Jane Austen you'll like this.
Overall it's a quick and amusing read, and if you like Jane Austen you'll like this.
chocolatequeen's review
5.0
The world of Austenesque fiction is filled with talented authors. With such an embarrassment of riches, the only logical thing to do is develop a project to involve as many of them as possible. Edited by Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose.com, Jane Austen Made Me Do It is just that. Twenty-two authors, all telling stories with one theme: their tales must be "inspired by literatures most astute observer of the human heart."
I was absolutely delighted with the entire book. There's a short story in Jane Austen Made Me Do It for every kind of Austenesque lover. Sequels, retellings, modernizations; Jane Austen Made Me Do It has them all. There's even a ghost story or two--all written in a very tasteful, Jane-like manner of course.
As a brand-new author myself, I was most anxious to read Brenna Aubrey's "The Love Letter." As you may know, Brenna won a contest last year to be included in this volume. This is her first publication credit, and I have to say, it was an excellent way to begin her career. "The Love Letter" is a fresh, modern take on Persuasion which I absolutely loved, and I cannot wait to read her next work--perhaps a longer piece of fiction?
Overall, this volume delivers exactly what it promises: a respite from today's busy world into the heart of Jane Austen. Five stars.
FTC disclaimer: Review copy provided by publisher.
I was absolutely delighted with the entire book. There's a short story in Jane Austen Made Me Do It for every kind of Austenesque lover. Sequels, retellings, modernizations; Jane Austen Made Me Do It has them all. There's even a ghost story or two--all written in a very tasteful, Jane-like manner of course.
As a brand-new author myself, I was most anxious to read Brenna Aubrey's "The Love Letter." As you may know, Brenna won a contest last year to be included in this volume. This is her first publication credit, and I have to say, it was an excellent way to begin her career. "The Love Letter" is a fresh, modern take on Persuasion which I absolutely loved, and I cannot wait to read her next work--perhaps a longer piece of fiction?
Overall, this volume delivers exactly what it promises: a respite from today's busy world into the heart of Jane Austen. Five stars.
FTC disclaimer: Review copy provided by publisher.
blodeuedd's review
3.0
As always like with all stories, some I liked some not so much. Some I wanted to read more of because they were good, and some I thought also needed to be longer because I was just confused when they were so short. All in all this was a nice collection of different variations, modern version and a few ghosts.
Jane Austen's Nightmare Syrie James
JA meets her characters, it was such a delightful and short story :D Must read more by this author.
Waiting: A story inspires by Jane Austen's Persuasion by Jane Odiwe
Anne and Wenthworth. A little but about the past and the proposal now. Sweet.
A Night at Northanger by Lauren Willig
Ghost Trekkers at Northanger. Not my favorite story. It was good, but to me it did not feel very Jane Austen like.
Jane and the Gentleman Rogue: Being a fragment of a Jane Austen mystery by Stephanie Barron
Jane Austen and spies. I do not know about this one, it was ok, but I just do not know why she cared for something.
Faux Jane by Diane Meier and Frank Delaney writing as F. J. Meier
I do admit to feeling confused during the whole story. Not for me.
Nothing Less Than Fairy-land by Monica Fairview
Emma and Knightley after the honeymoon. Another sweet one. Poor Emma, her dad sure is troublesome. Very enjoyable and I must read more by this author.
Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane by Adriana Trigiani
A letter and I was bored, that is it.
Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss by Jo Beverley
A lovely story about a widow with 3 daughters and a HEA. A short story that worked well and would surely have made a great book too.
When Only a Darcy Will Do by Beth Pattillo
I was worried that the modern stories would not work for me, but this one was nice. A woman holds JA tours and meets a guy. And what a guy.
Heard of You by Margaret C. Sullivan
Admiral Croft and the story how he met his wife. Awww young Frederick Wentworth, I always did like stories set at sea.
The Ghostwriter by Elizabeth Aston
JA helps an author write a book. I liked how JA was portrayed here, not as you would imagine her at all.
Mr. Bennet Meets His Match by Amanda Grange
How he met his wife. Yes he fell for a pretty face, and I liked how it showed that he was still happy with his choice.
Jane Austen, yeah, yeah, yeah by Janet Mullany
A teacher talks about Sense and Sensibility during detention and compares them to the Beatles to get the girls interested. I liked this discussion as it does show you can do anything with JA.
Letters to Lydia by Maya Slater
Maria Lucas is watching and writing letters about how she thinks Lizzy and Darcy are up to something. Delightful letters, and it seems Maria could have played a crucial par behind the scenes.
The mysterious Closet: A tale by Myretta Roberts
Honestly again I was just confused. i think the story was good, but needed to be fleshed out cos now confusion took over.
Jane Austen's Cat by Diana Birchall
An ok story. Not much going on in it.
Me and Mr Darcy, Again.... by Alexandra Potter
4 years after book 1 and I do have that book...I might just have to read it and see the woman who met Mr Darcy
What would Mr Darcy do? by Jane Rubino and Caitleen Rubino-Bradway
A YA story, very nice and I liked this one where a young boy learns to dance and meets a girl
The Riding Habit by Pamela Aidan
Not much happened in this one where Lizzy learns to ride but it was still good.
The Love letter by Brenna Aubrey
A twist on Persuasion, an ok story but not much happening.
The Chase by Carrie Bebris
A story about JA's brother. Sea chases and so on, something I would rather see on tv than read.
Intolerable stupidity by Laurie Viera Rigler
First I was all confused because it was really strange, but after a while I started to enjoy it. A very weird story that should just be read.
Jane Austen's Nightmare Syrie James
JA meets her characters, it was such a delightful and short story :D Must read more by this author.
Waiting: A story inspires by Jane Austen's Persuasion by Jane Odiwe
Anne and Wenthworth. A little but about the past and the proposal now. Sweet.
A Night at Northanger by Lauren Willig
Ghost Trekkers at Northanger. Not my favorite story. It was good, but to me it did not feel very Jane Austen like.
Jane and the Gentleman Rogue: Being a fragment of a Jane Austen mystery by Stephanie Barron
Jane Austen and spies. I do not know about this one, it was ok, but I just do not know why she cared for something.
Faux Jane by Diane Meier and Frank Delaney writing as F. J. Meier
I do admit to feeling confused during the whole story. Not for me.
Nothing Less Than Fairy-land by Monica Fairview
Emma and Knightley after the honeymoon. Another sweet one. Poor Emma, her dad sure is troublesome. Very enjoyable and I must read more by this author.
Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane by Adriana Trigiani
A letter and I was bored, that is it.
Jane Austen and the Mistletoe Kiss by Jo Beverley
A lovely story about a widow with 3 daughters and a HEA. A short story that worked well and would surely have made a great book too.
When Only a Darcy Will Do by Beth Pattillo
I was worried that the modern stories would not work for me, but this one was nice. A woman holds JA tours and meets a guy. And what a guy.
Heard of You by Margaret C. Sullivan
Admiral Croft and the story how he met his wife. Awww young Frederick Wentworth, I always did like stories set at sea.
The Ghostwriter by Elizabeth Aston
JA helps an author write a book. I liked how JA was portrayed here, not as you would imagine her at all.
Mr. Bennet Meets His Match by Amanda Grange
How he met his wife. Yes he fell for a pretty face, and I liked how it showed that he was still happy with his choice.
Jane Austen, yeah, yeah, yeah by Janet Mullany
A teacher talks about Sense and Sensibility during detention and compares them to the Beatles to get the girls interested. I liked this discussion as it does show you can do anything with JA.
Letters to Lydia by Maya Slater
Maria Lucas is watching and writing letters about how she thinks Lizzy and Darcy are up to something. Delightful letters, and it seems Maria could have played a crucial par behind the scenes.
The mysterious Closet: A tale by Myretta Roberts
Honestly again I was just confused. i think the story was good, but needed to be fleshed out cos now confusion took over.
Jane Austen's Cat by Diana Birchall
An ok story. Not much going on in it.
Me and Mr Darcy, Again.... by Alexandra Potter
4 years after book 1 and I do have that book...I might just have to read it and see the woman who met Mr Darcy
What would Mr Darcy do? by Jane Rubino and Caitleen Rubino-Bradway
A YA story, very nice and I liked this one where a young boy learns to dance and meets a girl
The Riding Habit by Pamela Aidan
Not much happened in this one where Lizzy learns to ride but it was still good.
The Love letter by Brenna Aubrey
A twist on Persuasion, an ok story but not much happening.
The Chase by Carrie Bebris
A story about JA's brother. Sea chases and so on, something I would rather see on tv than read.
Intolerable stupidity by Laurie Viera Rigler
First I was all confused because it was really strange, but after a while I started to enjoy it. A very weird story that should just be read.
mnboyer's review
2.0
I never do this but...
... I did not finish this book. I tried, and I tried, and I really thought that it was going to be something that I enjoyed. But alas I've spent several months trying to get from chapter to chapter and it is time for me to admit that the book has won.
Two stars for the stories that I did enjoy though. Although some of the stories were also duds, imho. Clearly this just isn't for me.
... I did not finish this book. I tried, and I tried, and I really thought that it was going to be something that I enjoyed. But alas I've spent several months trying to get from chapter to chapter and it is time for me to admit that the book has won.
Two stars for the stories that I did enjoy though. Although some of the stories were also duds, imho. Clearly this just isn't for me.
cris136's review
4.0
Short stories based on Jane Austen's life and/or novels. Some stories were funny/cute, some were boring, some really made me want to read more by those authors.
tracey_stewart's review
2.0
I won this from LibraryThing's Member Giveaway – Many thanks.
Partly in celebration, I take it, of the bicentenary of Sense and Sensibility comes this collection of Austenabilia. There are twenty-two stories commissioned for this book which center on Jane Austen or her characters in some way – a wide variety of ways, from what has to be admitted to be fan fiction to insertion of Jane or her ghost as a player in the cast to largely unrelated stories that barely brush the subject at hand. The general premise makes me a little uneasy; would Miss Austen have approved of impertinent strangers jumping her characters through new hoops, much less using her as a character? Perhaps she would. But given that a big part of the little I know about her involves her desire for privacy, I seriously tend to doubt it. It's a matter of respect for the author, for the person. (I seem to be one of the only people bothered by this… which is nothing new.)
One note to writers who may one day be included in future Jane Austen-themed anthologies: please, for the love of God or whatever else you love best, do not - ***do not*** - make your first line any form of play on "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." I'm begging you. It's for your own good as well as the reader's – please. There are half a dozen stories in this collection that use it - all right, two, but it seemed like half a dozen - and … really. Refrain.
The cover, I feel, is not a great design. What is close-to obviously meant to be a French memo board (French!?) with cartes de visites tucked into the ribbons just reads from a distance as two deep pink X's crossing out the female face and the cover itself, cluttered with off-white rectangles. Even though only nine of the contributing writers (23, including the editor) were given a place on the cover, it makes for a crowded image.
I admit to being a little perturbed that the book's official website mentions an enhanced eBook edition; I feel a bit slighted. I can't find detail about what the enhancements might be, though.
Putting all of that aside, taking the stories individually as stories … well, as is usual for an anthology, there's a little bit of everything, good and bad and indifferent.
Reviews of the stories are on my blog - https://agoldoffish.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/jane-austen-made-me-do-it-story-collection-lter/
On the whole, the lesson I take away from this collection is multi-leveled. Be very judicious (and respectful) in using a real historical personage as a character, and the same goes for another person's fictional creations. If you do so you must take off from very solid ground: apart from the obvious, don't make random crap up, because it will only make you look foolish. And don't under any circumstances begin with any "truth universally acknowledged".
Partly in celebration, I take it, of the bicentenary of Sense and Sensibility comes this collection of Austenabilia. There are twenty-two stories commissioned for this book which center on Jane Austen or her characters in some way – a wide variety of ways, from what has to be admitted to be fan fiction to insertion of Jane or her ghost as a player in the cast to largely unrelated stories that barely brush the subject at hand. The general premise makes me a little uneasy; would Miss Austen have approved of impertinent strangers jumping her characters through new hoops, much less using her as a character? Perhaps she would. But given that a big part of the little I know about her involves her desire for privacy, I seriously tend to doubt it. It's a matter of respect for the author, for the person. (I seem to be one of the only people bothered by this… which is nothing new.)
One note to writers who may one day be included in future Jane Austen-themed anthologies: please, for the love of God or whatever else you love best, do not - ***do not*** - make your first line any form of play on "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." I'm begging you. It's for your own good as well as the reader's – please. There are half a dozen stories in this collection that use it - all right, two, but it seemed like half a dozen - and … really. Refrain.
The cover, I feel, is not a great design. What is close-to obviously meant to be a French memo board (French!?) with cartes de visites tucked into the ribbons just reads from a distance as two deep pink X's crossing out the female face and the cover itself, cluttered with off-white rectangles. Even though only nine of the contributing writers (23, including the editor) were given a place on the cover, it makes for a crowded image.
I admit to being a little perturbed that the book's official website mentions an enhanced eBook edition; I feel a bit slighted. I can't find detail about what the enhancements might be, though.
Putting all of that aside, taking the stories individually as stories … well, as is usual for an anthology, there's a little bit of everything, good and bad and indifferent.
Reviews of the stories are on my blog - https://agoldoffish.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/jane-austen-made-me-do-it-story-collection-lter/
On the whole, the lesson I take away from this collection is multi-leveled. Be very judicious (and respectful) in using a real historical personage as a character, and the same goes for another person's fictional creations. If you do so you must take off from very solid ground: apart from the obvious, don't make random crap up, because it will only make you look foolish. And don't under any circumstances begin with any "truth universally acknowledged".