Fun Reads

Looking for a quick and fun read?  I've got 3 goods ones for you. 

First up, Austenland, by Shannon Hale.  I read this book awhile back...maybe last summer (not that it matters when I actually read it), but it is a good one.  It's about a 30-something girl named Jane who is obsessed with all things Jane Austen.  Her great-aunt dies and leaves her an all-expense paid vacation to Pembrook Park, a resort in which the guests spend 2 weeks living as if it were still the Regency era...corsets & all.  The guests interact with actors who represent the people of that time.  Jane is determined to have her vacation, then leave her fantasy of the perfect, "Mr. Darcy" behind her.  It's pretty amusing reading about a modern woman trying to live in an era of old and finding love in the midst of it all.

Next up - the reason I remembered Austenland...because I got Shannon Hale's new novel, Midnight in Austenland at the library and read it this week!  I wondered how the author would create a new novel out of the same scenario, but I enjoyed this one as much, and possibly more than the original.  In this novel, we return to Pembrook Park with a new heroine, Charlotte.  She's recently divorced by a husband who left her to marry another woman, and she's just wanting to get away from it all.  After her divorce, she discovers Jane Austen books and then hears of Pembrook Park and decides to spend a couple weeks there while the kids are staying with their dad over the summer.  She solves a mystery and falls in love and everything works out just swell for her.  A few of the characters from the original Austenland return, and it's just a fun, feel-good, easy read.

Finally, I also read Mindy Kaling's, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) this week.  Another short, easy, and very entertaining read.  If you're a fan of The Office, you'll enjoy Ms. Kaling's memoir of life growing up as an "androgynous" nerd and how she became a writer and producer on The Office.  She's very entertaining and this book is laugh out loud funny in several parts. 

So, there you have it.  It's been nice to actually have time to do some reading this week.  The snow day helped!  I'm hoping for lots more good reading time over the 3-day weekend!  Happy reading, friends!