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27 August 2012

Jane Austen Made Me Do It

Because I'm thoroughly in love with all fan fiction relating to Jane Austen and free stuff rocks, I was ecstatic when I won Jane Austen Made Me Do It from the editor Laurel Ann Nattress (signed too!) after winning a drawing at Barbara Tiller Cole's Darcyholic Diversions blog back in mid-July. 


And rightly so. 

Jane Austen Made Me Do It is a compilation of 22 short JAFF stories written by some of this literary community's prime authors, as well as one story by the winner of a JAFF writing contest.  The various adaptations range from Regent fiction to supernatural fiction, as well as stories starring Jane herself. Some are letters or journal entries while others involve humor and romance.

Not only is this book worth a read, but I'm thrilled to add JAMMDI to my collection because whenever I have a hankering to read JAFF but can't commit to a book, I can pop open a short story and get my "Austen Addict" fix.

Now, I must be honest-- I didn't love all the stories. Believe it or not, this is part of the charm. Jane Austen Made Me Do It will be loved by JAFF fans like myself yet is an even better resource for new readers of this genre because it offers a great variety of styles & authors to choose from as a way to learn one's JAFF preferences. 
In fact, I discovered that I tend to favor Regent stories like Monica Fairview's "Nothing Less Than Fairy Land" starring my favorite Austen characters over more modern adaptations, and even found a few more authors--like Jo Beverly's "Mistletoe Kiss" which is a wonderful Sense and Sensibility-esque Christmas story-- whose books I'd love to read.

Overall, a must read for any fan of Jane Austen and her fan fiction.

Rating 5 out of 5 stars




9 comments:

  1. YEAH!! I can't wait to read that! Thanks for reviewing it. Now I'm super excited.

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    1. You're welcome! Can't wait to read your review :)

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  2. Thanks for sharing this review with us. Got me excited!


    LA By Diana Live Magazine

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    1. You're welcome--I'm glad you like the review!!!

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  3. Congratulations on your win! I totally agree, free stuff rocks!

    I think you make an excellent point about getting a sampling of different writing styles to find what you like best and JAMMDI is a great place to start! :)

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    1. Thanks! I had a heck of a time wondering what kind of review to write, whether I should review each story and how to look at the book as a whole. Then it occurred to me that such a book is like a JAFF buffet-- something for everyone! And that makes it wonderful.

      Are there other JAFF books you recommend for starters?

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  4. awesome, it's always great to win something! I'm the same as you;

    "because whenever I have a hankering to read JAFF but can't commit to a book, I can pop open a short story and get my "Austen Addict" fix."

    But I turn to short stories by Stephen King or Dean Koontz. It`s probably time to try something different, so I think I should give this book a try!

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    1. Let me know if you do! King & Koontz are great writers though but definitely a different vibe from JA :)

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  5. This is amazing...I am going to add it to my library request list stat (as long as I can get it there!)

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