A Plethora of Pride and Prejudice

Someone commented on whether or not I had read this or that JA sequel etc. And here's the thing. I've read so many that they blend together. I was thinking that I might try to blog on each one. Although most I have read recently because persuing them has become a new hobby of mine. So, here's what I've read so far, complete with the Bonnet Rating System.


Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife (read 1/06) & Darcy and Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley (read 6/06 ) by Linda Berdoll. 5 Bonnets. Colin Firth must have been in that book somehow! Ok, they were fun and well written. I wasn't so sure of the Wickham plot in the 2nd one, but it didn't make me not like it. They were a bit steamy at times (notice how the second book lists nights first, not days?), so it was the closest thing to a Danielle Steel novel that I've read. These are also detailed enough and faithful to JA enough that they deserve 5 fully laced Bonnets.



Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer (read 3/07) 4 Bonnets. P&P told from Darcy's perspective. A well-done change of perspective. True to the characters that JA wrote. I read it twice, so it must have been good!




First Impressions by Marilyn Sachs (read 4/07) (Young Adult fiction): 3 Bonnets. A young girl reads P&P in class and finds that she relates to Mary, the unnoticed middle child, more than the other characters



Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange (read 6/07): 3 Bonnets, no lace. Another P&P take, again Darcy's side of the events told in diary format.






Fitzwilliam Darcy Trilogy--1. An Assembly Such As This, 2. Duty and Desire and 3. These Three Remain by Pamela Aiden (read 8-9/07): 3 Bonnets P&P told from Darcy's perspective. Good adaptations and true to the characters. Book 2 deals with the time where Darcy is away and has a character, Lady Sylvanie, that reminds me of Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park. They were entertaining.


Letters From Pemberley: The First Year by Jane Dawkins (read 12/07): 3 Bonnets. Told as letters from Elizabeth to Jane, we learn about the first year of marriage from Lizzy's perspective. Good, nothing too exceptional here. The author said she had fun and played on other Austen characters (using names from other books) and I didn't care for that, but that's just me...

Pemberley Shades by Dorothy Bonavia-Hunt. (BB read this in HS) 3 Bonnets: Ok, I don't really remember this one. But I think this one may have started my adaptation craving obsession, so it was a worthy one.


The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy by Marjoirie Fasman. (BB read in college.) 3 Bonnets: My dad bought me this one when we presented at JASNA in '00. It was fun and again, fed the beginnings of my obsession. I should read it again...




Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston. 0 Bonnets. Ok, I haven't read the books in this series. But Darcy and Elizbeth would never name a daughter Octavia. I'm sorry, but no. I stand on that principal alone and will not read these books.

Ultimate Top 10 Book List

My ultimate top 10 book list, more or less...there are some series here there are more than 10 really, but who's counting?!

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and then after that there really is no order...(note that the book cover I show here is the copy that I've had since HS. The cover is almost off, it has mud on it from a camping trip or two and has traveled Europe.)


2. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling (yes, all 7 count as 1, more or less)

3. His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife & The Amber Spyglass)


4. Feed by MT Anderson

5. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery


6. Pensees (trans: Thoughts) by Blasie Pascal (Ok, so I threw this book across the room in college. Wait,that was something from Socrates...but you get the idea. I hated it. But no other writer has come up more in my adult life (sorry dear JA) when discussing life and beliefs than Pascal. His Wager just keeps popping up!)

7. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audry Niffenegger (Ok, so it was the best cry I've ever had while reading a book. JD had to ask if I was going to be ok when he came into the room. Then I made him read it and he understood...)

RSS Feeds Galore (Thing 3)

Note: This ' library thing' made me thing of a book that is on my "Ultimate Top 10" list. Feed by MT Anderson. It's a must if you want to think about what it might be like to have an Internet feed insdie your brain.

Thing 3 was to learn about RSS aggregators and since I already had a Blogines account, I decided to create a new account for Google Reader. Having gone through the set-up steps in both readers and played with both a bit, I think I like GR more than BL There is something about the simplicity and layout in GR that is just simply more user friendly than in BL.

I still have some issues with both. Meaning that both do things in ways that I don't like or wish it would do or display in another manner. I don't like that BL makes all feeds "read" if I mistakenly click on that RSS feed or folder. I keep thinking I can change this setting, but even after playing around with the settings, it still does this. I don't like that some feeds don't display the full entry and the only way to read the whole entry is to click on the Blog (or whatever) name and go directly to the cite. (Joyce V's SLJ blog is an example. It must be SLJ's plot to get us to their website.) If I'm going to have something aggregated for me and all in one spot, let's really make it that easy to do and not just tease people with the feed.

My husband also tried to add me as a friend in his GR account and share a feed with me to see how easy that was to do. It was relatively easy, but had it's flaws. You basically end up sending someone an email of your "shared" entries and then I ended up clicking the link in the email. The link took me to a HTML web page where I just copied the URL from the address window and added it to my subscriptions in GR. We were actually just hoping to share an entire feed link for one of our favorite blogs, but it only shares entries he marks as "shared." Although, this in itself is cool, because he can mark things he wants me to see or read about to talk about later and then I'll see them in GR. Of course, then I'd have to check my GR account frequently....But right now this is not a problem. Ask me in 2 months. :)

I also had 26 items that I was collecting feeds from in BL. For GR, right now I have about 5 and need to limit it to no more than 10. Anything more than 10 and it is just too much information for me. I have enough problems keeping up with LM-Net Digest emails, personal emails and blogging that I'm not sure how much more I can take. Although, with my old bloglines account, I was desperately trying to keep up with the professional world of libraries--be it school libraries, tech trends, book news and research updates. But I just stopped because when the number of feeds to read passes 1000 (because I haven't logged into my account for several months because I already don't have enough time, when will I read a book for crying out loud?

And with that, I run to my cup of hot chocolate and my book. Love the technology, but love the printed word and tactile feeling of turning the pages.

Mansfield Park on PBS

I have had a chance to to the newest version of Mansfield Park (Masterpiece on PBS) twice this week. At first watch, I was a bit put off by it. It seemed that the story was just not done justice in its hour and a half time slot. The plot felt scattered and I was left trying to fill in some of the missing plot pieces. If I felt this confused and I know the story, those viewers that did not know the story must have been truly lost.

After watching it again this afternoon, this version left me with a better taste. It is a better version than the TV mini-series 1983 version. (Can anything be worse than Mrs. Bertram and Pug? There are such painful moments of complete silence in that version.) However, the 1999 Mansfield, while unfaithful to Austen's work, is the best version. It is entertaining and beautiful in its scenery. It combines some of Austen's life and the book and while this a bit silly, it is fun.

This new version makes me wonder if the screenwriter really read the book. There were bits left out and characters much changed. Henry and Mary Crawford were just as despicable as ever. They were a bit more presumptuous in their actions than I imagined. Billie Piper and Blake Ritson as Fanny and Edmond were reasonably good. They were good, and I think the fault lies in the writing not the acting. Was Fanny that playful in the book? (Although, one could argue that the 1999 version was similar.)

Overall, this version recieves 3 Bonnets. It is certainly a trip to Meryton, full of delight, but lacking in officers or those that make it memorable.

(As Masterpiece Classics continue on PBS, I will have to re-evaluate the Bonnets previously given in my rating system. It was pointed out to me that nothing but the '95 P&P could receive 5 Bonnets because of the Firth Factor. Also, some versions make others move in the Bonnet Continuum.)

33 Reasons

Someone or other forwarded the link to this article to me…Are Librarians Totally Obsolete: 33 Reasons Libraries & Librarians Are Still Extremely Important. It’s worth a read because it’s not only about libraries and librarians, it’s about information and the way we use and find information today. The article points out:

• Not everything is on the internet
• There is a difference between online collections vs. internet or web sources
• It’s going to take a long time to digitize–everything
• The internet is pretty unorganized and more or less a free for all
• Contrary to popular belief, not everyone has internet access

We live in a time of information overload and most folks don’t even have a clue what’s out there to access. In any given day, I try to share one site or database to a staff member that might find what I’m suggesting useful. There’s so much more out there and it’s our job to know about resources–good, realiable, useful resources–to help folks find the kind of information they want.

And so the great search for information continues…One small search for the librarian, one small step in the abyss of information for the patron.