Planned Reading for July 2014

I did pretty well on June’s reading, reading nearly everything I planned including a book I started all the way back in March. July’s reading is brought to you while I am still under the shocking influence or seeing how much I’ve bought lately and still have unread! So I’m going to try and use up some of the things I’ve already bought.

My Mansfield-inspired read this month will be Finding Favor by Lana Long. This is another young adult version of Mansfield Park that I picked up as a freebie last year. It has pretty good reviews from amazon.com, but hardly any on amazon.co.uk. 

My Austenesque planned read is Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell. This is a story inspired by Pride & Prejudice but set in the midst of the American Civil War, which is something I know very little about. In fact I think most of my knowledge of this conflict has been culled from ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, the US version.

I may have mentioned this before but I am a huge fan of Georgette Heyer. I first read her books after I read the main works of Jane Austen and wanted to read more set in that period. I started reading this author a long time ago, and those of her books that captured me on the first read I’ve re-read, many times, while others I almost skim read the first time and haven’t picked up since. Sprig Muslin is one of those books for me, but I am told that it’s worth giving another chance.

If you are a fan of Jane Austen’s work I’d highly recommend North and South by the Victorian writer Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell. It’s an absolutely wonderful story, kind of like Pride and Prejudice but with a social conscience agenda going on.  There was a four part adaptation of this book made 10 years ago starring the delicious Richard Armitage as Mr Thornton, so if you haven’t read it, you may have watched it, although the ending is a bit different (book is better in my opinion, most other people seem to prefer the series!). Similar to Austenesque fiction there are also a number of books inspired by North and South, and I plan to read one of those, In Consequence by Trudy Brasure.

These are my planned reads for this month, however, I usually read more than this. I don’t know if you saw it, but Meredith over at Austenesque Reviews recently did a Top 10 Summer Austenesque Reads, so I thought I might choose something from there. I have pretty much all of these books, but only read half. Here is the list, with links to my reviews where possible. I'll try and remember to link them back up from here when I post reviews.

Still to Read
All Roads Lead to Austen – Amy Elizabeth Smith
At the Edge of the Sea – Karen M Cox
Austenland – Shannon Hale
Austentatious – Alyssa Goodnight
Echoes of Pemberley – Cynthia Ingram Hensley

Have Read
Find Wonder in All Things – Karen M Cox - 4 star read
Morning Light – Abigail Reynolds - 4 star read
Pirates and Prejudice – Kara Lousie - 5 star read
The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice – Abigail Reynolds - 4 star read
When They Fall in Love – Mary Lydon Simonsen – not yet blogged.

I hope you have some good reads lined up for this month. Happy reading!