Jane Austen July Tag

[@tortoisedreams6369]

Exactly the correct & perfect amount of quality Austen videos: "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire your Jane Austen content."

[@SpinstersLibrary]

"I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."

[@BlatantlyBookish]

There is never too much Jane Austen content! I'm so glad that you made this video! Katie is on vacation and will be posting her tag before the month is done. I also must say how much I've enjoyed reading Jane Austen while listening to your carefully curated playlist. I like how you added the challenge of finding a book you loved that you think Austen would hate. There is a certain morality, reality, and truthfulness to Austen's characters, but Oscar Wilde (and many other authors for that matter) do write caricatures that would not exist in real life, but mirror reality in some form. Sorry for selecting E.M. Forster already. I Capture the Castle is an excellent choice as well for all of the reasons that you mention! :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the music playlist! And thanks for creating this fantastic tag :)

[@BookishTexan]

I was going to say Mrs. Bates as well and I agree that E.M. Forester's _Howard's End_ does feel very much like Jane Austen's work.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Yes, especially with there being two sisters at the centre of it

[@BookishTexan]

@@SpinstersLibrary Exactly

[@cherylclough4309]

I love your Jane Austen content. I subbed to your channel b/c I so enjoy your Austen comments. I’ve read Emma for the first time for Jane Austen July. I chose that one b/c my granddaughter’s name is Emma. I loved the book, but I must say I loved to hate Emma’s father! He drove me crazy! For the prompt, a book contemporaneous w/ Austen, I just finished Frankenstein. First time for that as well. I have a Norton edition with lots and lots of critical info. I’m dipping into that as the mood strikes. Half way through Bridget Jones diary for the prompt of a retelling. This is such fun! Thank you for all the good content.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I'm so glad you enjoyed Emma! Yes, Mr Woodhouse is an annoying character, but a very interesting one, since he's not a villain but still gets on your nerves. Much like Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Also glad you enjoyed Frankenstein, I read that book for the first time last year and loved it too! Thank you for your comment, and I hope you enjoy the rest of Jane Austen July!

[@aleksandradavidovic2456]

I love Jane Austen and I love all the videos you made this month, they are all so entertaining and they create some special atmosphere which makes me feel that it really is Jane Austen July. I wish this tag had more questions and I really loved your answer to the fourth question, I know you're right abut Dorian Gray! Oh, and I hope this July brings you two thousand subscribers :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you! I've been positively surprised with all the love for my Jane Austen videos, I'm so glad people enjoy them

[@sarahel19]

Hurray for Mrs Elton!! She is probably my favorite Jane Austen minor character and so deliciously hateful. She is hilarious and I love how she expects everything to be about her and everyone to like her while in fact she manages to get on everybody's nerves in very little time! And I also have a strong weakness for her wonderful dialogue, her "Mr E" and "Caro sposo".

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Hahaha I had forgotten about "caro sposo" - she is the worst. I'm starting my reread of Emma today and can't wait to get to the bits with her.

[@mcrbus94]

Never get bored of Jane Austen content! I listened to the audiobook of Pride and Prejudice for the first time this month and it was sooo good. Your argument for Austen disliking Dorian Gray was really interesting, I definitely agree. Great video :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the audiobook - I've just finished listening to Rosamund Pike reading Sense and Sensibility and she did an amazing job there too

[@meghanthestorygirl4581]

I for one am very happy with all your Jane Austen July content! I loved all your answers so much!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you, there's plenty more silly Jane Austen content coming up :)

[@meghanthestorygirl4581]

Yaaassss!

[@laurawhichello]

Loving the Jane Austen content, I've had the Spotify playlist you made on at work, thanks for putting it together! Poor Miss Bates, that scene in Emma always breaks my heart! But it certainly works to show how worthy a person is Mr Knightley. My vote for best minor characters goes to Admiral and Mrs Croft in Persuasion (they're such good, intelligent people) and John Middleton and Mrs Jennings in S&S. I know they're meant to be a little cringe-worthy, but I always laugh at how jovial and nosy they are, they're such happy, kind people. The dynamic between Sir John and Mrs Jennings is hilarious 😜

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you, glad you're enjoying the playlist! The Crofts are one of my favourite Austen couples (as are the Gardiners in P&P). Agree about Mrs Jennings and John Middleton, though I would find them really annoying neighbours (same with Lady Middleton, I'm not that keen on children, especially rude undisciplined children, so we wouldn't get on).

[@laurawhichello]

@@SpinstersLibrary And you hate people arriving unannounced, so the Middleton's are definitely out 🤔😜

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Oh yeah, I'd totally be hiding behind the curtains when they knock :P

[@izabelbrekilien9658]

Poor Miss Bates ! But it's true it's really hard to choose in one way or another, Jane Austen's secondary characters are simply excellent, they're one of the highlights of her novels :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Absolutely, they are usually hilarious!

[@lifefullofwords]

I love Charlotte Lucas! I think she challenges both Elizabeth and the reader in some very interesting ways. She’s a great foil for Elizabeth but also a great character in her own right.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Yes, she is a fantastic and underrated character.

[@BookishPrincess]

"If you have not read Pride & Prejudice then what are you even doing with your life." 😂 Love this & that is a beautiful P&P edition!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you!

[@RaineyDayReads]

Aw Miss Bates! I had forgotten about her. I agree that Jane Austen wouldn’t really like Oscar Wilde’s work, although I think she could write him into one of her novels as a rake!

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Haha, she totally would have!

[@SPginger]

and you´ve got new plants! I love plants :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Let's see how long they survive, since both cats have been constantly nibbling at them :P

[@SPginger]

@@SpinstersLibrary oh yeah, those are pretty attractive to cats. fortunately they´re not poisonous.

[@Nyledam89]

I think you are spot-on with The Picture of Dorian Gray even though it's one of my favorites too. ☺ I think the Bennet's actually want the same for their daughters - the best. They just have very different ideas what that means. 😂

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Yes, definitely! Mrs Bennet, wild as she is, actually has the more practical plans for her daughters, since she knows they have to be married to wealthy enough men by the time her husband dies. Mr Bennet wants his daughters ti be happy but doesn't think of the practical implications of them staying unmarried.

[@cuppa.books.]

I feel about Northanger Abbey the way you do about P&P - although for some reason I've ended up with a really nice illustrated, reader's digest edition, of P&P even though it's not my favourite but I suppose I always feel like I have to rescue pretty editions of books from the charity shops 😅

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Charity shops are full of Austen books, so I can't blame you :P

[@AlexBlackReads]

Honestly, all this Jane Austen content is really making me want to give her another try lol

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I think you should :D

[@WildeBookGarden]

YES Elinor is wonderful! she's one of my favorites as well Love your analysis of The Picture of Dorian Gray. That's exactly how I felt about those characters. Hmmm I wonder if that's why it's my least favorite of his works that I've read so far? (still great of course). I just feel like his characters are so much fuller developed in his plays. Oh man, the Miss Bates scene always breaks my heart. My mom and sister and I would always skip over it if we were watching one of the film adaptations! I don't even remember the last time I actually watched that part Ooooh Mrs. Elton is a great answer. I think the reason I slightly prefer Caroline for the Bitchiest Rich Girl crown is that I sort of get where Caroline is coming from??? SORT OF. I mean we as the readers know Elizabeth Bennet is wonderful and her and Mr. Darcy are perfect together, but who can blame Caroline for having a crush on him?? We all do 😂

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I agree, Wilde's plays have much more human characters. Aw yes, that scene with Miss Bates is probably the most heartbreaking in all of Austen's books for me. Just shows the genius of her writing, she is introduced as this comic relief character we all laugh about and then we feel just as guilty about it as Emma does. Haha, I like your justification for Caroline Bingley - you're right, if I was her I'd be annoyed at some wild country girl with no money getting all the attention from my Mr Darcy :D

[@evemllehar2614]

That's the set I have!

[@tillysshelf]

You know, I would have to disagree with you about Oscar Wilde. They have a lot in common in terms of the kind of humour in their writing, and the idea of a character that is beautiful and innocent on the exterior but internally very bad is very familiar from Austen, it was a favourite trope of hers. Her characters are also caricatures quite often. Given Dorian Grey over the Mysteries of Udolpho I bet she would prefer Dorian Grey.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Interesting, I think she would fine every character in Dorian Gray repulsive - shame we'll never know :)

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

Well obviously the best Austen is Persuasion, but we can agree to disagree. More importantly, my 7 year old came to me and said he requires a "banana bed" for our cat and I remember you have something like that. Would you recommend/where did you get it? :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Ah yes, the banana bed :D I got mine on Amazon, you can find it by just searching for "banana cat bed". It comes in different sizes, I got the size large and it's big enough for a pretty chonky cat like my Beedle to fit in it. However, both my cats have just ignored the bed since I got it (Beedle veeery occasionally takes a nap in it), but if your cat is less picky, go for it! Even if it gets ignores by the cat, I'm sure your son can find some use for it :)