Category: Books of Eyre

WWW…Wednesday #1: What is a girl to do? Except continue onward!

Posted Wednesday, 28 August, 2013 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

WWW Wednesday badge by Jorie in Canva

I loved the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity that it gives the reader! :) Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read which would provide a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! :) Love the concept! Therefore, this weekly meme is hosted by Should Be Reading. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:

  • What are you currently reading!?
  • What did you recently finish reading!?
  • What do you think you’ll read next!?

Afterwhich, your meant to click over to Should Be Reading to share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! :) Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!

What are you currently reading!? Such a question, this week! :) I must confess, this is my first day past my migraine, and even I am a bit surprised at how well I am doing! I had to let go of Bout of Books, 8.0 whose postings are still a bit run amuck as I haven’t had the proper chance to go back and flesh out what needs to be completed! I’ll get to it, just not today! Which is why I am still in-progress with my first Austen in August selection: “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, of which I am hoping to conclude either tonight or on the morrow! I want to post my review of this lovely novel before September whips into view!! I have plans for how I want to read through my other selections, but those plans will be revealed at a later time! :)

I am going to forego attempting to read my first Annie’s Attic mystery, until Bout of Books, 9.0 in January! However, I may or may not dig into “The Crimson Petal and the White” by Michael Faber at some point between now and then! The reason I’m holding off on Annie’s Attic’s series, is because that is what my focus for Bout 9.0 will be! Ha! I’m going COSY!! :)

Meanwhile, I have seven! lovely books in progress at different stages of absorption:

  1. Larkrise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
  2. Bluebird or the Invention of Happiness by Sheila Kohler
  3. The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti by Annie Vanderbilt
  4. The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
  5. Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs
  6. Murder on Monday by Ann Purser
  7. & Thyme of Death by Susan Wittig Albert

If you choose to click over on each title, you will be drawn back into the days of the Bout, and see what first motivated me to read each book and the progression of reading them as each day lulled forward!! I must say, it’s a remarkable chronicle of one week out of my life, of how unwellness and rollicking thunderstorms can swerve in and out of your reading hours, and cause quite a bit of havoc on your overall outcomes!! 1 out of 10 books consumed isn’t quite so bad, when you think on it!

What did you recently finish reading!? “Haunted” by Heather Graham was the 1 out of 10 books I consumed during the Bout, and “The Prayer Box” by Lisa Wingate is the book I read for review whilst taking part in my first book blog tour for JKS Communications Publicity Firm!! I had such a profound personal attachment to the book, that I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to direct my review of it, but after putting the finishing touches on that post this afternoon and evening, I must say, I am happy with where it led me to go!! :) My review of Haunted will be clustered closer to when I can finish more of my Bout books!!

What do you think you’ll read next!? A far easier answer to provide! :) You see, after I read “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker, I wrote a very cheeky note about what I wanted to read next!! Which is why, dear hearts, as soon as I get my tail caught up with all these lovely books I am reading, I will be digging into Mistress of my Fate. However, short of that, I will be picking up my copy of Jane Eyre, as I am participating in Books of Eyre 2013 + Septemb-Eyre 2013! Evenso, there are a few books that came into my hands via the library, which I’ll be outlining in my next post, “Library Loot #1“, which surely will curtail my reading of Mistress of my Fate, a wee bit more due to the fact the books will need to be returned forthwit! And, there is the issue of Lucid Stars finally making its way to me, as there was a bit of a glitch in my ILL’ing recently, to where, I received the two books AFTER this first one! Oy! Time shall reveal!

{SOURCE: The WWW Wednesday badge created by Jorie in Canva as a way to
promote the weekly meme for those who want to take part in it.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Wednesday, 28 August, 2013 by jorielov in Austen in August, Books of Eyre, Bout of Books, Septemb-Eyre, WWW Wednesdays

I, honestly admit, I have a slight confession,…

Posted Saturday, 17 August, 2013 by jorielov 2 Comments

I, honestly admit, I have a slight confession,… I am hereby addicted to reading challenges, Reading Challenge Addict badge created by Jorie in Canvaread-a-thons, read-a-longs, and other blogsphere community reading events! Yes. I, Jorie, of Jorie Loves A Story, have an addiction to reading! And, of daring myself to tackle one more ‘challenge’, despite already being committed to another already in-progress! I have discovered today, that I am NOT alone.  Nor am I the only one PROUD of this affliction. Look for our ‘badge of honour’ to find us! OR, click to join, if you find your afflicted too!

I created a running list of all the particulars of each challenge or reading event that I take on under my *RALs & Challenges* page!! However, for the sake of declaring just how much of an addict I am in this regard, I shall list them in order of participation:

70 Authors Challenge: A Personal Challenge I created for myself to read 70 Authors in 24 months time; focusing on 1-5 books per author! Technically, this won’t count until the 2015 Tally, as it concludes in August 2015! Originally scheduled to be a challenge in 12 months, but I have re-considered this and extended it to two full years!

  1. Austen in August: declaration of intent & Walking in Miss Elizabeth Bennett’s shoes,…
  2. Bout of Books, 8.0: declaration of participation; personal goals & motivations; day one; day two; day three; day four; day five; day six; day seven; wrap-up!
  3. Books of Eyre: declaration of participation; Jane Eyre;
  4. Septemb-Eyre: declaration of participation; Chapters I-XI; wrap-up!
  5. The Reading Hour: 3am; 5pm
  6. Classics Re-Told: [focus on] 19th Century & Gothic Classics: introduction: spotlight on: pride & prejudice; Walking in Miss Elizabeth Bennett’s shoes,…;
  7. Finnikin of the Rock: declaration of participation;
  8. SFN Bingo Reading Challenge: declaration of participation; Collaborative blogosphere event, merging book bloggers, authors, publishers, and sci-fi enthusiasts together, for a month long celebration of science-fiction! Each blogger will have a set schedule of posts, topics to explore, books to focus on, tv series to gush about, and certain bloggers will be hosting giveaways as well! Event begins 1 November & Concludes 30 November!
  9. Holiday Readathon: sign-up page; Christmas Romance Reading List;
  • Wonderfully Wicked: coming in October Due to circumstances changing, my amount of free time is reduced.
  • Banned Books Week: late September / early October Due to circumstances changing, my amount of free time is reduced.
  • Author of the Month: september, october, november, & december Due to circumstances changing, my amount of free time is reduced.

Unless I am mistaken this will be the full list for the year! :) Ahh, alas! A Bingo Challenge steps through the ether! :)

Reflections After the Fact: {work in progress!}

Austen in August: Aside from the fact that I nearly considered this a failure in the regards of being able to accomplish what I originally set out to do, in the end, I felt confident in my ability to actually ‘read’ a work of Austen during the month of the event! My review of the book did not post until September, which I regrettably could not avoid but I felt badly that my review’s link had to be threaded in the commentary section rather than the official Austen in August linky! :( Next year, if Roof Beam Reader hosts this lovely event again I would like to wisely choose 3 Austen novels to read so that I can not only reflect on her grace of story-telling but also participate in the Romance Reading Challenge that helps to promote the romance genre! I think if I could spilt the difference and read six books total I’d be plumb happy! I did complete the challenge even if I only read “Pride” due to the fact that the challenge had no direct rules or obligations! :) In this, I drew a bit of repose,…

Bout of Books, 8.0: You could say this challenge is continuously ongoing as I have not yet resolved the posts for the event itself as right after the event closed, I was ‘up and at ’em’  as the saying goes on my blog! I was focusing on everything that was happening in my personal life as much as attempting to keep a pace on where my blog was taking me next! Somehow in those short hours of September’s opening door, I lost my footing with Bout of Books, 8.0 despite the fact that I did finish reading one of the chosen books (“Haunted”), as much as finished nearly a quarter of another (“Lark Rise to Candleford”), and a bit less than that for the rest of my selections as I purposely focused on the first twenty pages per novel which was left-over to read save two (“The Crimson Petal & the White” & “The Lady in the Attic”). In this way, despite my challenges during the event, I succeeded in not only pushing forward and keeping with the event but for proving to myself that an isolated read-a-thon has its benefits even if you fall a bit short in your accomplishments! For instance, it opened my mind and heart to authors I never had the chance to fully grasp beforehand, and it opened up the door to the bookish blogosphere in a way where I could become acquainted with new bookish bloggers & hosted events where without JLAS I was blind to knowing existed previously! I consider this a strong lesson in perhaps being overly ambitious in my reading selections but having the heart of a reader who was determined to prove something to herself even if she fell a bit wayside of the intentions of conceiving the goals originally! 

I am working towards having all the posts reading for reading and viewing by the close of the year!! I would love to even attempt to finish reading the books I had started and post the reviews to coincide with Bout 8.0! As even if they run on my blog in December, its a project that meant something to me and if I complete it even four months after the fact, the point is dear hearts, I completed it in a time frame that worked for me! :) And  isn’t that the true merit of why we join these challenges!? To endeavour to accomplish something we first feel we cannot and to rise above our doubts and take our reading lives to new heights!?

Books of Eyre:

Septemb-Eyre:

The Reading Hour: I thoroughly enjoyed my reading of “Charlotte’s Web” even a bit moreso than I originally felt that I might, as I knew the story was intrinsically sorrowful and yet, held within it a life lesson worth reading even as a thirty-something as I am now rather than the young girl I was originally! :) I followed true to the “The Reading Hour”‘s principle in reading at an hour that coincided with their main event in Australia. The only disheartening experience for me during this event is that when I attempted to contact the event hosts I did not fetch a reply by email despite how enthused I was to share my own ‘reading hour’ observation! :( I followed up reading the book by ILL’ing a copy of the live-action motion picture of the same name which starred Dakota Fanning! The ILL arrived roughly a month shy of when the event occurred but I didn’t mind the wait as the reward was too sweet to worry about the gap of time which had elapsed! I considered this one of my favourite reading challenges of the year as I tipped my hat back into my childhood and drew a breath forward into my adult years at the very same time! How oft are we able to do this?! The full effect of ‘the reading hour’ was not lost on me, and I look forward to when I have children to inspire the joy of reading to nestle into their hearts as my own Mum and Da did for me so many moons ago! :) 

Finnikin of the Rock:

SFN Bingo Reading Challenge:

Reading Challenge Addict is hosted by Bev of My Readers Block. Originally inspired into being by Cheryl of CMash Loves to Read & Gina of Hott Books! You have until 30 November 2013 to add your declaration post to count in the tally for the year! The way in which you know your such a reader is by noting the following:

  • Easy as Pie: {1-5 Challenges, entered + completed}
  • On the Roof: {6-10 Challenges, entered + completed}
  • In Flight: {11-15 Challenges, entered + completed}
  • Out of This World: 16+ Challenges, entered + completed}

By looking over the specifics of this listing, I am on the cusp of On the Roof/In Flight!! We’ll have to wait and see what befalls my interest between now and New Year’s Eve!! Laughs whilst smiling. Not bad, eh!? For a blogger whose only been ‘live’ for 10 days!! I am itching with curiosity what everyone else put on their posts of declaration, so as I’m able too I will be visiting their blogs!

What about you!? Are you addicted and afflicted by reading, too!!??!

2014 Advance Planning Sesson {which will I choose!? ooh the intrigue!}

{SOURCE: Reading Challenge Addict badge created by Jorie in Canva.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Saturday, 17 August, 2013 by jorielov in 70 Authors Challenge 2013-19, Austen in August, Author of the Month, Books of Eyre, Finnikin of the Rock, Holiday Readathon, Reading Challenge Addict, Septemb-Eyre, The Reading Hour, Wonderfully Wicked

Books of Eyre Challenge 2013: Let us re-discover, Ms. Jane Eyre!

Posted Thursday, 1 August, 2013 by jorielov , 4 Comments

Books of Eyre Reading Challenge badge created by Jorie in Canva Photo Credit: Daniel Ruswick (Public Domain : Unsplash) I have been a supporter of Jane Eyre since I first learnt of her story! To uncover a self-directed / self-motivating reading challenge to consume not only the original “Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte” but to be encouraged to read sequel authors as well, is quite a smashing idea! One that I dare not pass up on the ability to undertake, as “Books of Eyre Challenge 2013” hosted by The Musings of ALMYBNENR, began on 1 January and concludes 31 December! Plenty o’ time for me to dig into this wicked sweet reading challenge and make a bit of headway!
Level Three: Governess {Read 15 Books} Ideally this is my goal!

My Declaration of Participation is thus: To start off by reading *Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Bronte, by which, I have yet to actually do! I have always had the very best of intentions, without a lot of positive results! After I conclude her original masterpiece, I will move onwards forward through the list I have populated below as the books that appeal to my literary wanderings,… seeking out books whose stories not only pay homage to the canon left behind by Ms. Bronte but take on a unique charted course of their own, delving into the same structure of characters and story. I have set my goal to read Eyre books lower than the number of Eyre books I have sought out. I did this as a calming balm not to worry if my intentions at the on-set differ towards the ending hours of 2013!

PERSONAL GOALS & MOTIVATIONS: for Books of Eyre 2013: To consume one Eyre book at a time, opine my impressions afterwards, and link my post to the Books of Eyre monthly list To seek out other participants entries as the months slide forward To seek out other book bloggers that might not realise this Challenge is underway, and to encourage their participation To attempt to listen to the musical versions of Jane Eyre To attempt to watch each motion picture adaptation of Jane Eyre

 

The Appealment of an “Eyre” Reading Challenge: I always had a sense of knowing that Jane Eyre would not only become a story and a {classic} novel that I would be wholly endeared too, but it would spark a curiosity to seek out stories and novels that were inspired into being due to Ms. Bronte’s canon! In this way, stumbling across a reading challenge to uncover and absorb into re-tellings, spin-offs, and sequels of the enduring Ms. Eyre was rather happenstance! There is such a breadth of heart woven into her story, bold determination, and a survival instinct to make do and make good no matter how your circumstances try to define you. It’s a powerful story of overcoming and never surrending who you are whilst defining how you will live and how you will thrive.

My initial introduction to Ms. Jane Eyre: Came during the early hours of a morning wretched by the plight of the sickly girl frustrated beyond hilt and despite to do something that could advert her misery! She plucked the remote control up off the nightstand and dared the tv to illuminate a movie that could curtail sleep and cast aside her anguish! She had to flip through several channels before stumbling across a seemingly British teleplay with gothic underpinnings! A few scenes in, she was not only hooked but she had abandoned the remote! A few scenes more and she deduced she was watching an adaptation of Jane Eyre! She felt betwixt with herself for even considering to watch this film knowing full and well that she had intended always to read this particular novel ahead of seeing its adaptation,… her eyes veered back to the discarded remote and her heart leapt out a response to qualm her furrowed brow. Her tired eyes moved back to the screen and she became fully entranced with Thornfield Hall!

Book Choices of Mine: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (original); Thornfield Hall: Adele: Jane Eyre’s Hidden Story by Emma Tennant (sequel); Rochester: A Novel inspired by Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre by J.L. Niemann (sequel); Rochester: Consummation: The Continuing Story Inspired by Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre by J.L. Niemann (sequel); Jane Eyre’s Daughter by Elizabeth Newark (sequel); Death of a School Girl & Death of a Dowager{Jane Eyre Chronicles: 1 & 2} by Joanna Campbell Slan (spin-off); Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler (spin-off); Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (prequel); Adele, Grace, and Celine: The Other Woman of Jane Eyre by Claire Moise (sequel); Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (re-telling); The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart (re-telling); Jeanna Starborn by Sharon Shinn (re-telling); Jane Eyre’s Husband: The Life of Edward Rochester by Tara Bradley (re-telling); The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (spin-off); A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont (sequel); Jane: A Modern Re-Telling of Jane Eyre by April Lindner; Jane Eyre’s Rival: The Real Mrs. Rochester by Clair Holland; Mrs. Rochester by Hilary Bailey (sequel); Jane Rochester by Kimberly A. Bennet (sequel); Wish You Were Eyre by Heather Vogel Frederick (spin-off); Mrs. Rochester: the surprising sequel to Jane Eyre by Warwick Blanchett; The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey (re-telling)  – 23 books found!

Plus, one musical score: Jane Eyre: the Musical: Original Broadway Cast Recording by Paul Gordon (composer); as well as film adaptations for *Jane Eyre* {1943; 1996; A&E, 1997; Masterpiece, 2006; 2011}, *Wide Sargasso Sea* {BBC, 2006; 1993}; an opera directed by Brendan Maher and a song by Stevie Nicks on her ablum “In Your Dreams”, and *Rebecca* {1940; 1997}!
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{*UPDATE: 10 August 2013: According to this list featured over on Bookish Whimsy, as a personal accounting of all novels spun-out of the canon she wishes to read, I daresay, I will be participating next year, if Books of Eyre goes into a third year! I barely broached the surface, apparently! I’m still proud of myself for what I was able to find, but ooh! Look at all the books left to read!!}

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Books of Eyre: by order of reading

  • Book One: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (2013) via Septemb-Eyre! (Chapters I-XI)
  • Book Two: Keeping Kate by Lauren Winder Farnsworth (re-telling) (2015) (review)
  • Book Three: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (prequel) (2016) (review)
  • Book Four: All Hallows at Eyre Hall by Luccia Gray (sequel) (2016) (review)
  • Book Five:  Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall by Luccia Gray (sequel) (2016) (review)

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

This began as a month-long event I was participating, and I decided to expand it to become inclusive of my first Classics Club experience; thus making this a self-directed challenge and not limited to the constraints of it’s original event.

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{SOURCES: Books of Eyre Reading Challenge badge created by Jorie in Canva Photo Credit: Daniel Ruswick (Public Domain : Unsplash). It took me half a second to realise her blog name is really stating her name: ALMYBNENR! And, at a third glance it reads: Amber Lynn I used to know what this is called but forgive me, I have forgotten!  Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Thursday, 1 August, 2013 by jorielov in Bookish Whimsy, Books of Eyre, Inspired by Stories, Re-Told Tales, Reading Challenges, Sequel Authors, Spin-Off Authors