Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman

Summary

Jane Austen didn’t conquer fame during her lifetime like many female writers of her time didn’t even publish her books with her real named attached. So how did Jane Austen finally conquer the world? Harman answers this question by detailing the popularity of the author from her lifetime to present day. Not only is Jane’s fame studied but also the book gives a well rounded summary of her life and family. Harman creates a polished and studied detail of Jane’s fame that will give any Janeite satisfaction.

My Opinion

I can’t deny Harman’s hard work she really created a massive compendium to the study of Jane Austen fame and popularity. I did find myself very intrigued by many of the sections in the book; especially the last chapter entitled Jane Austen™, where Harman discusses Jane’s more modern fame which I could connect with because I knew the references. For example how one pivotal lake scene involving Colin Firth changed the world of Jane Austen for many. Also Harman shows her more comical side with references to the more scandalous side of Jane Austen. She points out the many scenes where Jane’s characters find themselves in rather “wet” situations. My only complaint was other sections were slower because the writing is very dense and academic. Overall Jane’s Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World is very interesting and unique take on the world of Jane Austen.

I checked this book out at my local library Lafayette Public Library

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Summary
Jem has an unwanted gift of seeing people’s death date! The first number she saw was her mother’s, who died of an overdose when Jem was only 6 years old. Jem has never really forgiven her mother for abandoning her to wander from one foster family to the next. She has a rule don’t create a lasting relationship with anyone because let’s be honest how do you make a connection when you know they will be dead in a month, 5 years, or 50 years. This is until she makes an exception for a boy named Spider who has a death date approaching in a few weeks. Will she continue on her adventure with Spider or runaway from another relationship to live an isolated life?


My Opinion
I was intrigued by the main character of Numbers with her “gift/curse” and was hoping to have a more complicated layered character. Instead Jem turns out to be your typical teenager with mountains of drama and angst. Jem had a little too much whine in her conversations for me to really be intrigued by her story. I understand she has to deal with a lot for her age but instead of finding solutions she just gets herself into more trouble. Maybe I need to be more sympathetic but I do tend to enjoy stronger characters that find solutions to their problems or try to make their lives better even when it means being a rebel! Numbers overall was a mediocre story Ward could have really played up Jem’s unique talent but just made it secondary to the main plot (teenage romance), which didn’t hold my interest.

Numbers 2: The Chaos Due out March 1 2011

Numbers 3: Infinity Due June 2011 Future Publication dates are not always exact

I checked this book out at my local library Lafayette Public Library