Sense & Sensibility Read Along: Motivation

*Note: this is a gif-heavy post, so click through to see it in all its glory!

As mentioned in this year's AIA invite, we're down to our last major Austen book for our yearly Read Along, which if you've been a studious little Janeite and kept track, you'll know is the one and only Sense & Sensibility.  Though this wasn't the first Austen book I ever read, it was my first exposure to Austen (thank you Ang Lee and Emma Thompson), and it did lead to my lifelong love of Alan Rickman, which is maybe a weird crush to have as an 11 year old, but I've made peace with it.

Tomorrow I'll be posting the first set of Read Along questions for us to discuss, and this weekend we'll embark on our expedition of watching and reveling in the most recent adaptation as part of our Austen Movie Weekends (twitter chat party this Saturday at 8pm EST for part 1. Save the date!), but until then, just wanted to pop on and encourage you to join us in this read/watch along! Whether you've read it before or have never even cracked open an Austen book, it's not too late! This is one of Austen's quickest and most relatable books, with all the personality clashes, scandals, star-crossed loves and dastardly scoundrels one could hope for. And best of all, you can READ IT FOR FREE!

Get it free on:

Kindle  |  Project Gutenberg (ebook or PDF versions)  |  Project Gutenberg (read online)  

Or listen to the audiobook, if that's your thing

Actually, new best-of-all: you can read it with ME! And a bunch of other enthusiastic Janeites, who are more than willing to discuss and explain things and take sides (Elinor v. Marianne; Willoughby v. Brandon; Fanny v. Lucy for the title of The Worst. Discuss amongst yaselves. and me. don't forget me. I must have my share in the conversation! That's a little Austen humor there for ya.)

You really can't beat FREE and ME (she says, humbly and in the least gross way possible), but if that's not enough to get you started, let me provide some further motivation with a sampling of what you'll find within its pages. . .

Longing and Loving Looks

Forlorn Looks. . .

... and tears

(Lots of tears. Sometimes in the rain. There's a lot of rain in this book.)

Reckless Disregard of Personal Well-Being

...and seemingly insignificant, VERY IMPORTANT things.

And this:

okay, I'll be honest: these 2 things didn't happen in the book (or if they did, it was offstage).

But (spoiler) happy endings do!

So what are you waiting for? This is definitely something you want to be part of, if you have any sense in you. Eh? See what I did there? Eh?
(But for real. Read this book with us. You won't regret it.)

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