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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
* Proceeds to add about +10 books into her tbr in 3, 2, 1... *
Thank you for the book, John!!
Thank you for the book, John!!
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf was like a time traveling peak into literature, English culture, and society highlighting the eras surrounding Jane Austen’s own. Learning about the authors whose books she read that influenced her writing, and norms of the time, such reasons for publishing anonymously and how perceptions of writers changed in the decades and centuries after their lives, was fascinating.
Rebecca Romney is a gifted writer. She wove the life and literary history of nine 18th and 19th century female writers together with her own story of being a rare books collector. The elements of her life that she shared bridged the time periods together in the understanding of what we are surrounded by impacts us. Additionally and importantly, and she writes in a very entertaining way.
This book quite literally had me thinking beyond Jane Austen while simultaneously going back to revisit my favorites of hers. My TBR list is now a bit longer with both more Jane Austen titles and several of those she surely read.
Simon Element provided with a copy of this book; the opinions shared are my unbiased review.
informative
medium-paced
I loved the personal journey Rebecca Romeny goes on most here as she vaguely explores the idea of gender past and present. Her relationship to the books and authors mentioned here is what really drives the narrative home, and it was fun to learn about so many other women writing around the same period.
This was a very good look at the authors who influenced Austen. Some of them I'd heard of before--either because Austen mentioned them in her books (such as Ann Radcliffe and Elizabeth Inchfield) or because they were tangentially associated with the Regency era (such as Maria Edgeworth and Frances Burney). But others I hadn't heard of, such as Charlotte Lennox. And sadly, I hadn't read any of them. That's an error I plan to correct soon, because from Romney's description of their works, they deserve just as much of the spotlight as Austen has earned over the years, and it's a shame that they've been dismissed as being lesser than for one reason or another. I also enjoyed learning more about the antique book business--such as why a first edition might not always be the definitive version of the book to own given how things were often revised in later editions. It makes me long to be able to own antique books--but alas, where would I put them? (And how would I pay for them, ha ha.) Very enjoyable book, and highly recommended for those who want to know more about what Jane Austen read!
informative
inspiring
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Well written, researched, and considered. A delight.