Ranking Jane Austen's Books & Baking Scones 🍞🍓

[@KM-yy6fm]

Very intriguing list-fully agree with Pride and Prejudice, it’s absolutely perfect. It gets a lot harder after that. Emma is delightfully funny, so great for when I’m in that mood, but I’m very partial to Persuasion so I switch back and forth between those two. I love the quiet and dignified strength of Anne Elliot, but her sisters are hilarious, each in their own way. Northanger Abbey is fourth, then Sense and Sensibility. I have that down on the list because there’s a darkness to it that keeps me from wanting to reread it as often as the ones ranked higher. Mansfield Park is next. Fanny is not my favorite heroine; contrary to what JA would say, I really like her Emma. Lady Susan is last because much as I like the story, I’m just not a fan of the epistolary style, so not inclined to go back for a read the way I do the others. My movie rankings might be quite different! I’m also a big fan of a trilogy by Pamela Aiden which tells the P&P story from Darcy’s point of view. The books are “An Assembly Such as This,” “Duty and Desire,” and “These Three Remain.” Lots of fan fiction out there, some of it pretty awful, but I do like this set. What do you think of the Sanditon series?

[@ArnellaHobler]

You are quite right in that the list can change depending on the mood! As much as I adore S&S, there is definitely a kind of darkness about it that makes it heavier than most of the others. As I always say, there is no right or wrong ranking, it's all personal and anyone's opinion is valid :) I haven't seen all of Sanditon yet, only the first season back when it first came out. I have planned on re-watching it though before watching the rest!

[@yon8378]

One of my main reasons for ranking P&P first is that it contains the three great set pieces thar are the funniest episodes in literature: Mr. Collins's proposal, Darcy's first proposal, and Lady De Bourgh's visit to Elizabeth.

[@ArnellaHobler]

Those are definitely some golden moments from the book!

[@mrsstrople]

Currently reading Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley. So informative as to the time and her life 😊

[@ArnellaHobler]

Oh I adore Lucy Worsley! Didn't know there was a book but I've seen her documentary on Jane Austen many times, it's just wonderful. 😊

[@TomBrzezicki]

Back in September (2024), Ms. Worsley announced on her Instagram site that she is releasing--or has released by now--a revised and updated edition of her "Jane Austen at Home" to coincide with this year's 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth.

[@LenD1955]

Girl with a healthy appetite. You're after my heart. Jane Austin & The Scones ... great name for a new band. Cooking shows are popular here in the states. You may pick up some new fans. Those Scones turned out perfect. Here, our most popular pastry is Cinnebon. Sticky, but delicious. Make a video of your favorie dish. That would be nice. 5 star video ... thanks. ☕

[@ArnellaHobler]

I enjoy watching cooking shows! I would love to make more baking videos but we'll see 😅 glad you liked it!

[@mrsstrople]

Thanks for the video! Persuasion is the only one I'm yet to finish, despite trying three times.. Also, Sense and Sensibility is funny, but I too found it hard to see through to the end. Pride & Prejudice is my favourite, then Emma.

[@ArnellaHobler]

Persuasion is the only one that took 2 attempts for me to finish actually, so I can't judge! I know I'm in the minority for ranking S&S so high, so can't really judge that either 😅 thanks for sharing!

[@i.h.3034]

Persuasion-lover here, but not offended at all! 😅 It's more interesting to me than anything to see how different tastes and opinions can vary. My ranking: 1.Pride and Prejudice, 2. Emma and Persuasion (can't decide), 3. Northanger Abbey, 4. All the rest of them. This was a fun video. Thank you!❤

[@ArnellaHobler]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Exactly, I think it's perfectly fine to disagree as long as we're all respectful about it. 🥰 I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@TomBrzezicki]

As of this particular bright and frosty morning here in Upper Canada, my own ranking of Jane Austen’s novels would be as follows: 1. “Pride and Prejudice” - If there’s such a thing as the perfect novel, “Pride and Prejudice” is it; ‘nuff said! 2. “Persuasion” -- The Napoleonic Wars is one of my favourite periods in history and I view “Persuasion” as Jane Austen’s tribute to her seafaring brothers, Charles and Francis, who served in the Royal Navy and helped thwart Napoleon’s plans for European domination. As an older reader, I also enjoy the more mellow and autumnal feel of the romance between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, even though they’re both quite young by our standards. 3. “Emma” -- I like the village setting of the story and the variety of characters who inhabit the novel, from Mr. Woodhouse and the Knightley brothers down to the sweetly charming Miss Harriet Smith and humble farmer Mitchell, who just happens to have a couple of spare umbrellas on hand one day. By the standards of Jane Austen’s time, Emma finds a good catch in Mr. George Knightley, but I can’t help but feel uneasy at the idea of 21-year-old Emma becoming wife to a 37-year-old man who fell in love with her when she was all of 13 years (!?!), and from whom she can have no secrets because he’s known her all his life. 4. “Sense and Sensibility” -- I enjoy the relationship between the three Dashwood sisters (my youngest daughter played Margaret in a local amateur theatre production years ago), just as I do the one between the five Bennet girls. I also enjoy the scene shifts from the country to London and back to the country again. The British postal service must have been phenomenally efficient at the time. Marianne arrives in London at 3:00 pm with her sister, Elinor, mails a note to Mr. Willoughby, and expects an answer that same evening! My only reservation about this novel is the same one I have for “Emma”; 19-year-old Marianne becomes married to Colonel Brandon, who is in his late 30s, and whom Marianne once correctly described as being old enough to be her father. 5. “Northanger Abbey” -- I like the fact that Catherine Morland has a nice, big welcoming family to come home to at the end of the story. Unlike other Austen heroines, she doesn’t seem to be under any pressure to get married, though she does quite well for herself by attracting Henry Tilney. I also enjoy the way Jane Austen describes Catherine’s schoolgirl fantasies about being kidnapped by highwaymen, or how she suspects that General Tilney may have murdered his wife, and later has to confess as much to his son Henry. 6. “Mansfield Park” -- Fanny Price comes across as the most insipid and uninteresting of Jane Austen’s heroines, while at the same time, Henry Crawford is a stalker and the most sinister bad guy to appear in an Austen novel. What's more, poor Fanny is left totally on her own in trying to fend him off. The whole tone of the story is gray and depressing, and Mansfield Park itself seems like a prison. The reader may find it strange that Fanny is so dead-set against any amateur theatricals while Sir Thomas Bertram is away, once you recall that Jane and her family loved writing and putting on plays at home in her younger days. I’m afraid I have nothing to say about “Lady Susan” as I haven’t read it yet.

[@ArnellaHobler]

Thanks for sharing your ranking! :)

[@the_bookish_took5348]

Really enjoyed your ranking, even if you did offend me by putting my favorite last 😉 to Marianne's chagrin I will use a hackneyed phrase: variety is the spice of life! my top two are tied with Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. The thing about ranking her novels for me at least, and except for Northanger and Persuasion, the rest of them shift places all the time.

[@ArnellaHobler]

Oh that is typical! 😅 But I fully respect that! And you do make a great point there, depending on my life situation I think they've shifted around for me as well!

[@davidlukin5441]

I can not see your review of the book reading of pride and prejudice.

[@ArnellaHobler]

Oh! Not quite sure what you mean but if you have issues with a link, you can always find a video manually by clicking my channel and then the videos tab!