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Jane Actually: Or, Jane Austen's Book Tour | Modern Mrs Darcy

Despite this blog taking its name from a Jane Austen book, we don’t actually talk all that much about dear Jane around here. That’s by design, but I did want to share a bit of the Jane Austen goodness I’ve stumbled upon lately.

1. A web series.

Emma Approved | Modern Mrs Darcy

I loved the Lizzie Bennet Diaries (though I never really got into Sanditon–is it just me?) and I was thrilled to read that Hank Green Bernie Su will be taking on Emma next in a new web series called Emma Approved. Emma might just be my favorite Jane Austen book (unless it’s Pride and Prejudice, or maybe Persuasion…) so I can’t wait to watch!

(If you’ve never read Emma, grab yourself a free copy here and get reading!)

2. The Austenite Prayer.

The Austenite Prayer | Modern Mrs Darcy

The Austenite Prayer: Lord, grant me the good sense of Elinor, the patience of Anne, and the wit of Elizabeth. But mostly, please grant me Mr. Darcy. 

Many thanks to Brenna for passing this along.

3. Call Me Maybe meets Sense and Sensibility.

Sense and Sensibility Meets Call Me Maybe | Modern Mrs Darcy

I just met you, and this is crazy, but time alone does not determine intimacy, so here’s a lock of my hair. 

Thanks to The Evangelista for this one.

4. Pride and Prejudice, quilted.

Pride and Prejudice quilt | Modern Mrs Darcy

Comma Workshop combines modern quilts, and typography in gorgeous hand-sewn items like this Pride and Prejudice quilt. Swoon. (Fund their Kickstarter here for three more days.)

5. Sci-Fi Jane Austen.

Jane Actually: Or, Jane Austen's Book Tour | Modern Mrs Darcy

I know I say reading fanfiction is almost always a bad idea, but I’m still interested in Jennifer Petkus’ new book Jane, Actually: or, Jane Austen’s Book Tour, which puts a sci-fi spin on Jane Austen.

6. A giveaway.

Jane Austen Festival | Modern Mrs Darcy

I’m framing my poster from the Jane Austen Festival, but I have an extra for one of you. It’s 11×18 inches. To enter, just leave a comment. Must be 18 or older, continental U.S. only (I can’t afford to ship farther), giveaway ends Friday at midnight EST. Good luck!

Seen any good Austen stuff around lately? Tell us in comments. (If you don’t want to be entered in the giveaway, just say so after your comment. Thanks!)

61 comments

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  1. Shana Norris says:

    I’m reading Persuasion right now. So far, so great!

    LOVE the Austenite prayer. I go back and forth on my favorite female Austen character, but the male is unchanging. Mr. Darcy forevah!

    I just saw Sanditon mentioned a few days ago for the first time. I’m really confused. Was it an unfinished work that is finally being published?

  2. Sarah says:

    I just finished reading Austenland(the movie version is coming out soon) and was pleasantly surprised by it. For fan fiction, it was pretty good.

  3. Erica says:

    I’m super-excited about the Emma adaptation! (And I agree-WTS just didn’t quite cut it. I personally think they were merely showing off Domino’s matchmaking capabilities to foreshadow the new project.)

    I would love to have that quilt. Can’t sleep at night? Sit up and read the blanket!

  4. I read Pride and Prejudice (twice), and saw the movie with Kiera Knightley (um, a bunch of times), .. also saw Emma ( a bunch of times) and just watched Sense and Sensibility for the first time, with my teenage duaghter. I haven’t yet read Emma or Sense and Sensibility though, (and I know, I need to add those to my ‘to read list’.) (My daughter and I) are in LOVE with books and movies from this time period). Do you have other book suggestions? Thank you!

  5. Tim says:

    Good round-up, Anne. I’m looking forward to seeing what the LBD crew do with Emma as well. It’s sure to be discussed to no end at the Republic of Pemberley as it unfolds.

    On the Austenite prayer, the male version would be to have the good humor of Henry Tilney, the good sense of George Knightley and the good heart of Colonel Brandon.

    That said, though, I know I’m more like John Knightley than any other Austen character. For those who have read Emma, you’ll know that this is both a blessing and a curse.

  6. Kerry Kenney says:

    Love the post, going to check out the fan fiction that is probably a mistake, wish for the blanket embroidered with copy and officially entering contest where poster would look marvelous in my school library 😉

  7. I’m glad you liked the Austenite prayer 🙂 We visited her home when we were living in London….I have a picture with her wax likeness somewhere…….Emma is my favorite! Although we watched Sense and Sensibility in the hospital when I was in labor with Lucy. We thought it was good prep for bringing our third daughter in the world. When the movie ended I pushed her out! 🙂

  8. Rebecca says:

    Ever seen Lost In Austen??? One of my favorite Austen movies! I am going to Bath for the jane Austen festival in Sept…should be fun!

  9. Sara says:

    I think my Anglophilia began w/Charlotte Bronte & moved on to include Austen, Trollope, Hardy, Churchill, and Downton Abbey:-) Glad to know (though not really surprised) that there’s a Jane Austen Society of North America.

  10. Rachael says:

    Sci-fi Austen — Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Seth Grahame-Smith does an excellent job matching Austen’s writing style and adds this totally new twist. Its quite tasteful. Elizabeth and sisters are excellent zombie hunters and are defenders of mankind. I LOVED the book.

  11. Lisa says:

    I finally got my daughter to read Pride and Prejudice this summer and now she is hooked! She would love the poster – as would I!

  12. So much fun!
    I too am so excited about Emma! I have been waiting to finish Lizzie Bennet until something else started to happen 🙂

    Thought for your consideration: do you think that a person is either an Austen person or a Bronte person? I have yet to meet someone who truly loves both.

      • Sara says:

        I do not think that one has to choose between one or more of the Brontes and Jane Austen. IMO, Jane Austen is a far greater novelist than any of the Brontes, but I do like Jane Eyre about as much as I like any single Austen novel. But then again I am a brooder. 🙂

          • I certainly don’t think you have to choose. I am impressed to find people who enjoy both, it’s just been rare for me. I think that the wit and biting acerbity of Jane can sometimes grate on the sensibilities of the Bronte fans. And the broody tension and, at times, darkness, of Jane Eyre, or Wuthering Heights, for all of their good points, can be difficult for a Jane fan. Love the conversation, thank you!

      • Rachel says:

        I love both Jane Austen and Jane Eyre. I agree about Wuthering Heights though–can’t stand it. I have not met anyone who likes both JE and WH. I think of Jane Austen as more mannered and romantic and Jane Eyre as more passionate with a darker edge to it.

    • Courtney says:

      I discovered Austen first, but I genuinely love the Brontes as well. When I gave away nearly all my books a couple years back, I kept Wuthering Heights along with all my Austen novels. I also really enjoyed (and would happily re-read) Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I’m a shameless, equal opportunity lover of pretty much everything I come across from that period, though, so perhaps my taste is less discerning than some other folks. 😉

  13. Kate says:

    After I saw your post I told my husband that my wish for next year is to go to the Jane Austen festival. I just recently went to the Jane Austen Museum in Bath, England. It reawakened my love of all things Austen 🙂

  14. I agree on Sanditon. I loved The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and I’m looking forward to Emma Approved, but I cannot get into Sanditon for some reason. Also, I thought that they (Hank and Bernie) were going to do Northanger Abbey for some reason. It could work well in the vlog format.

  15. I’m with you on Sanditon. I subscribed and everything, but I just haven’t felt the tug to watch like I did with LBD. Emma should be interesting, especially in light of just reading A Jane Austen Education. I loved that book. Thanks for recommending it. He brought out so many of the things I’ve always felt about Jane Austen but have a hard time describing. I’m also a huge fan of the BBC Emma mini-series.

    Oh, and I would love a copy of the Jane poster.

  16. Tracy S. says:

    My coworker and I were just discussing why the Austen novels seem to work so well in the blog format (this is what librarians do when no one else is around). I think it is her likeable, yet flawed protagonists that make her characters feel so modern.

  17. Karianna says:

    I first fell in love with Austen in high school when we read Pride and Prejudice. I think it was Darcy’s line of how he was in the middle of loving Lizzie before he realized he loved her. Swoon.

  18. Ronna says:

    I love Jane Austen! And, Emma is also one of my top favorites. It was the first Jane Austen book I read (although, I hear it is actually one of the most difficult ones to read), therefore it is my favorite.

  19. I love all things Jane! I’m in a very small book group that just finished “Emma” and we loved it–the first time for the others, and my umpteenth time reading it. So excited to see the LBD team tackling “Emma.” That quilt is so delicious!

  20. Jenn @ A Simple Haven says:

    Ooh, I know just were I’d put that poster! 🙂

    Love Emma, especially the 2009 BBC version. I’ve got my 3 year old loving it too. And Daddy even watches when he thinks no one’s looking :).

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