Well, my darling Janeites, August is here and our yearly Jane Austen event is just a few short weeks away from beginning - which means it's time to make this year's Read Along all official-like!
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| Click here to find out more about Austen in August! Fab button art c/o The Antique Fashionista! |
I know a number of you have already expressed your interest in taking part in the read-along this year (and some of you have already started!); I also know that some of you have read this year's pick, Mansfield Park, before, and have struggled with it - which is what makes a read-along so lovely! I - and other read along participants - will be here, reading MP with you through all its ups and downs, ready to give a word of encouragement when you get stuck, or lend a sympathetic ear when you need to vent about just how awful Mrs Norris is, will someone just slap her already?!
Ahem.
As I was saying, if you'd like to take part, sign up on the linky below! This will help me keep track of everyone, notify participants when discussion questions go up or a twitter chat is about to take place, etc. It will also help you find each other, and see what everyone thinks.
Now, a few things to answer any questions you may have:
- You don't have to be a blogger to sign up. Or even on twitter. All you need to sign up is your email address, and a readiness to give Mansfield Park a try!
- You don't have to respond to discussion prompts, though they will be posted. The prompts will be posted at the beginning of AIA, and are meant to generate conversation and get you thinking about different aspects of the book - but if you want to ignore the prompts and just talk about the things you took from the book, or that stood out to you, that's fine. If you want to skip responding altogether and JUST read the book, that's fine too!
- Don't have a copy of Mansfield Park? Gotcha covered. You can get FREE digital copies from Amazon, Project Gutenberg, The Republic of Pemberley, and many other places. Or if you like audiobooks, there are plenty of places to get MP on audio for free, too.
- There will be fun stuff related to Mansfield Park sprinkled throughout Austen In August for you to check out or participate in, if you choose, including (hopefully) a Twitter chat and a movie adaptation "watch-along." =D
- Feel free to snag the Read Along button and display it on your sidebar, tumblog, or in your response posts!
The first set of discussion questions can be found here!
The second set can be found here!
The final set can be found here!
The second set can be found here!
The final set can be found here!
It's been so long since I read Mansfield Park! I only read it once, when I was a teenager and I only thought it was ok. So it'll be interesting to see if I like it any more now I'm older and I'm looking forward to see what others think of it too, so thanks for running a group read Misty!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any Jane Austen. I tried to read Pride and Prejudice but just couldn't get into it. Hopefully I fall in love with Jane's writing with Mansfield Park.
ReplyDeleteUh oh... I hate to break it to ya, BooksAreDiamonds, but MP is pretty much universally considered Austen's hardest and most complex.
ReplyDeleteBUT I will be right here every step of the way, trying to encourage you! =D
Misty- My link won't go live until Saturday. My days are completely booked until then! I love Mansfield Park, but then I had the opportunity to read it in a class dedicated to reading Jane Austen in college with a grad student for a teacher. He was so passionate about her books that it was infectious. I start chuckling almost from the first pages.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Can't wait to see what you have to say about it then, Heather! And you'll have to make sure to stop by and leave encouragement for people who are struggling, 'cause it's a tough one for people. There's so much to discuss in it, though!!
ReplyDeleteLate, I know, but I knew I'd get back to the interwebs about the time you were starting to dig into this one. I'm going to attempt it and start today!
ReplyDelete