We had a small but pleasant turnout for April's meeting: Jenny, Catherine and myself. So a consensus wasn't difficult: We all liked "Persuasion." It was the second time reading the book for me. The last time was in high school, I think, and I didn't really appreciate it then. We talked about reading books too young -- before you have the life experience to understand or fully empathize with characters. Can you really feel the emotion of such a romantic story if you've never been in love? All I know is I was super-swoony at the end of "Persuasion," and I don't recall feeling the same the first go-round.If you're a Jane Austen virgin, "Pride and Prejudice" is probably the best place to start. But this one is right up there -- short and very romantic.
Speaking of swooning: For a while there, it was threatening to become the James McAvoy Fan Club instead of Lazy Woman's Book Club. Jenny and Catherine both enjoyed the movie "Becoming Jane," the fictionalized imagining of Jane Austen's romantic life that James starred in. I'm adding it to my Netflix queue! We're also looking forward to his upcoming decidedly un-Austen-esque role in the summer action flick "Wanted," with Angelina Jolie.
Anyhoo, back to books. Catherine brought up Goodreads, the book-centered social networking site Doris recommended a while back. Yeah, I begged off at the time, citing laziness. I sucked it up tonight and created a profile, adding a paltry 18 books to my "have read these" virtual bookshelf. (Seven of those are Harry Potter!) Catherine has 119 books. Doris has a shelf-busting 259! Look us up if you join!No time to read? Would you rather be read to? Jenny mentioned the Web site LibriVox, which has free audiobook downloads of titles in the public domain. The catalogue was down when I checked, but Jenny has Austen books on her iPod. Fun!
Hope to see you all next month! Hosting slot and book choice are open for May, so if you're up for it or have a book idea, let us know. I'll also send an e-mail about it soon.
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