Ranking Jane Austen's Novels

Let’s talk about my soft spots for Emma & Fanny & Anne!
#JaneAustenJuly #classics #amreading
#JaneAustenJuly:
Announcement video by Katie @BooksAndThings: • Jane Austen July 2024 ...
Co-hosts:
Marissa @BlatantlyBookish: / @blatantlybookish
Claudia @Spinster‘sLibrary: / @spinsterslibrary
Goodreadsgroup: / jane-austen-july-2020
My other Jane Austen-videos:
(1) In defense of Emma: • In Defense of Emma
(2) Review of Lady Susan: • 12 Classics: Jane Aust...
(3) Discussing Pride & Prejudice: • Discussion: Reviewing ...
Jane Austen-novels in order of pub date:
Sense & Sensibility (1811): / 14935.sense_and_sensib...
Pride & Prejudice (1813): / pride-and-prejudice
Mansfield Park (1814): / 45032.mansfield_park
Emma (1815): / 6969.emma
Persuasion (1817): / 2156.persuasion
Northanger Abbey (1818): / 50398.northanger_abbey
Lady Susan (posth. in 1871 / written around 1794): / 91582.lady_susan
And I forgot to mention that I always rewatch this movie in July:
The Jane Austen Bookclub / movie (2007) / trailer: • The Jane Austen Book C...
Read along with me!
1. Three classics I want to read in the second half of 2024
July / August: Emilia Pardo Bazán, The House of Ulloa, transl. from the Spanish by Paul O’Prey (1886): / the-house-of-ulloa
September / October: George Sand, Indiana, transl. from the French by Sylvia Raphael (2001 / 1832): / 104260.indiana
November / December: Mitchitsuna no Haha, The Gossamer Years, transl. from the Japanese by Edward Seidensticker (1989 / 974): / 186608.the_gossamer_years
2. Sandy’s 1001 Books Bookclub
January - No book
February - The Princess of Cleves by Madame Lafayette (192 pages)
March - The Well Of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (448 pages)
April - Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud (192 pages)
May - The Waves by Virginia Woolf (304 pages)
June - Love’s Work by Gillian Rose (170 pages)
July - The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner (383 pages)
September - The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen (320 pages)
October - The Real Charlotte by Edith Somerville and Martin Ross (415 pages)
November - Anagrams by Lorrie Moore (240 Pages)
December - Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair (86 pages)
Name of my KZbin channel:
I stole name ‘The Second Shelf’ from the title of Meg Wolitzer’s article in the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/boo...
Find me elsewhere:
website: www.brittaboehler.com (hasn’t been updated in a while, sorry…)
goodreads: / 5497508.britta_b_hler
Instagram: / brittaboehler
X, formerly twitter: / britta_boehler
I also wrote some books:
Fiction:
- De juiste houding (2021): www.uitgeverijcossee.nl/De%20...
available in Dutch
- The Decision (2015): hauspublishing.com/fiction/the...
or in the German original: Der Brief des Zauberers (2014): www.aufbau-verlag.de/index.php...
also available in Dutch, French, Italian, Greek, Danish, Hebrew and Turkish
Non-fiction (available only in Dutch):
- De goede advocaat (2017): www.uitgeverijcossee.nl/boek/D...
- Crisis in de rechtstaat (2004): www.singeluitgeverijen.nl/de-...
- De zwerftocht van een leider (2000): www.singeluitgeverijen.nl/de-...
Crime novels under the pen name Britta Bolt (together with writer Rodney Bolt)
The Posthumus Mysteries:
- Lonely Graves (2014)
- Lives Lost (2015)
- Deadly Secrets (June 2016)
www.hodder.co.uk/authors/deta...
and for German readers:
- Das Büro der einsamen Toten (2015)
- Das Haus der verlorenen Seelen (2016)
- Der Tote im fremden Mantel (February 2017)
www.hoffmann-und-campe.de/auto...

[@myreadinglife8816]

Controversial! Putting P&P in the middle of the pack! 😂

You know me, Controversial is my middle name. 😂

[@penelopegough6050]

My favourite remains Persuasion. I love to reread it and find something new each time I do. First read it when in hospital having a baby. That baby is now 50 and have reread it every couple of years since then . So a few times 🤭. Yes Lady Susan is just brilliant. So good. Was rearranging some books yesterday for shelf space and lady Susan was in the pile. I’ve left it out to read again. This JAJ I’m reading Sense and Sensibility as haven’t read it for ages. Will also watch the Emma Thompson film which I love.

Wow, what wonderful memories for the first read of Persuasion! ❤️ Enjoy your re-read of Lady Susan!

[@louisep1962]

I love all the "Mr Whatshisface"s 😅 I knew you were going to pick Lady Susan as your favourite. I remember how much you liked it during your classics read. I'm going to have to do a reread of at least one this month.

Haha, I'm bad with names and all those irksome males, I just seem not to be able to remember their names...😂 Happy re-reading!

[@Gagging4Lit]

Pride and Prej is my all time fave of Austen's. I love the wit and the deranged mother, and it's so satisfying seeing how all 5 daughters' lives plan out. Whenever I read another Austen novel they always feel like a reshuffling of the same themes and plots, that to me, are perfectly executed in pride and prej. Will have to pick up Lady Susan.

[@angelaluz405]

Lady Susan is fantastic! I am glad you included it in the rankings. I wish everyone did. Enjoy your Jane Austen July reads! (Also, I am so glad the physiotherapy is helping with your back. I am in physiotherapy for a shoulder injury now and it is working wonders for me.)

Happy to hear your shoulder is getting better! And Lady Susan is such a little treasure. ❤️

[@user-tl7cf6hg3r]

So good to see you back, Britta, and how I love it that you've done a Austen video. Thanks so much.

Thank you so very much!! ❤️

[@susprime7018]

I like Pride and Prejudice best and Persuasion dead last, "just speak, irritating."😂 I read and enjoyed Lady Susan when you recommended it.

Haha, so funny! But we agree on Lady Susan, that's great.

[@marianryan2991]

Solidarity on Anne Elliott and Lady Susan! LS is major hoot.

Yay for Lady Susan and Ann Elliot!

[@HannahsBooks]

So glad to have you back!

Aww, thank you so much, Hannah! ❤️

[@gf-kh4bz]

Lovely video and so glad to hear your praise of Lady Susan! I've bought this book last month and now I am even more eager to read it :)

I hope you enjoy it!

[@cuppa.books.]

My favourite is Northanger Abbey, I just feel like Austen was having a good time poking fun at the gothic literature of the time. Sense & Sensibility is next for me. The rest are all on a level for me. But they are all due a reread at some point.

[@kathleencraine7335]

Yes, not until I read some gothic books did I appreciate the wit of Northanger Abbey, and every time I re-read it, it gets funnier for me.. Also since it was published after Austen died, the title was chosen by someone else. It's hard to criticize the book based on a title not chosen by Austen.

[@karengustafson7666]

I laughed all through Northanger Abbey. It was just a delight.😅

Happy to hear that!!

That is so interesting, wonderful that you're enjoying NA so much!!

You are absolutely right about the title! And also about gothic books, I don't really enjoy the gothic genre which is not the book's fault, either.

[@Magzie01950]

I am so glad you are back. I enjoyed your Jane Austen video. I haven’t read Lady Susan yet, so I ordered it and plan to read it since it’s your favorite. I’m sure I will enjoy it if you did.

Happy to hear you've enjoyed the video! And I hope you will like Lady Susan!

[@RaynorReadsStuff]

Lovely video Britta. Very glad you are back 😊. My favourite Jane Austen is Mansfield Park. Really enjoy Fanny Price.

Thank you very much, Raynor! And yay for Fanny Price!

[@4Zeus20]

So happy you are back with your excellent reviews.

Thank you very much!! ❤️

[@GinaStanyerBooks]

I love those editions! So pretty. Persuasion is my favorite. I love Lady Susan too. I wish it were longer!

Yes, yes, and yes! ❤️

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

So good to see you again, Britta. Loved hearing your thoughts about all of Jane Austen's works. I used to love to teach both Pride and Prejudice and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I'm reading Sense and Sensibility now.

Happy reading, Pat! I will start rereading Frankenstein, soon.

[@melissahouse1296]

Ok i really need to read Lady Susan as you and i seem to have very similar feelings re Austen; im not the biggest romance reader 🤷‍♀(cynical spinster here 🤣🤣) 😂😆 it would have to be somehow subversive / unpredictable but so far Persuasion is my favourite (not read Emma or P&P yet). I also actually enjoy the adaptations more- Persuasion also my fave (quiet & understated). Great pairing F&P enjoy 🤓 Good job with the physio! 😊💕

I feel you re the cynical spinster-vibe 😂 (even though I have been married once, a long time ago...) And yay for Persuasion.

[@BookishTexan]

Lady Susan will feature in one of my upcoming videos!

Oh, really, I will watch!

[@julieg_quebec-julesselivre8641]

Mansfield Park and Emma I haven’t read yet… it’s a life long project! 😅😂 Pride & Prejudice is my favorite. Persuasion I hated and Lady Susan was a fun one!

Haha, I love your approach to Jane Austen, very chill. And it's so interesting how we all differ when it comes to our favorites!

[@alldbooks9165]

Very interesting. I adore Emma. Fanny gets on my last nerve, but I get it. Have never read Susan. Need to get to that one.

Haha, I can totally see that Doris and Fanny don't gel. 😂

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

I enjoyed hearing your ranking and the reasons. I just came across Jane’s brother in a history book - he was an admiral in the navy. (That’s probably as close as I’m getting to Jane Austen this year.)

Hahaha, no Jane Austen for you, then, this year...

[@kevinrussell-jp6om]

It's nice to see you back and still in good health and form. Nor have you lost any of your strong opinions or willingness to stir the pot. I can understand your rankings and reasons for the same, but I do not agree with them. We'll just have to politely disagree. Lady Susan (the character, not the story) is a monster or even a witch. She is no worse than Wickham or Willoughby, of course (she, in fact, plays by their rules), but she is hardly admirable. The young JA clearly had a fun time creating this lovely monster and even making her plausible. Anne Elliot and Fanny Price are cookie-cutter fairy-tale princesses (despite being wonderful and noble), but are not very believable. Anne even arrives in print with ugly sisters, just like Cinderella. Catherine Moreland and Lydia Bennet are more believable than Lizzie or Elinor Dashwood. I love P&P and Persuasion for the skill with which the stories and characters are crafted, but Emma is the most believable creation and that book was written in Jane's wheelhouse. Knightly rightly opines that Miss Smith (natural daughter of who knows who) will be happier with an honest yeoman farmer who loves her than as a strumpet or as Miss Bates 2.0. He correctly assesses Frank Churchill, rightly admires Jane Fairfax, and convinces Emma she would be happier with him (in an environment she is comfortable in) rather than as a meddling spinster, or running off with a black barrister from Bath. How is Knightly un-correct in his views, as would have been common in the better classes of 1813 England? But you're correct. Mr. Knightly is HORRIBLE. How dare he act like a rich, rational member of the Georgian gentry!? Emma needs to apply at an agency that grants her more............feminist agency. Perhaps she and Lady Susan can........."get together"?

Haha, I love your idea of Mr . Knightly and Lady Susan pairing up! And thank you for your ranking, it's so interesting to read about the different views on Jane Austen's work.

[@kevinrussell-jp6om]

You're right, and it's always a nice problem to have when all the items you're ranking have merit.

[@giselaperez6746]

My favorite Jane Austen novel is Persuasion and I enjoyed Lady Susan, yes all that gossip. Like a soap opera in those times😂I have tried to read Pride and Prejudice but I do not why I can’t go through it😳I will try...again...I didn’t like Emma maybe because what you explained. I thought I would enjoy it more. I haven’t try Sense and Sensibility yet😳

Yes, indeed, Lady Susan is a Jane Austen's version of the soap opera. I hope you can finish P&P at some point...

[@emmavd]

Thanks, Britta!🌷My favourite is Persuasion, followed by Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma and Northanger Abbey. I’m afraid I found the character Lady Susan soooo irritating! For Jane Austen July this year I’ll be listening to Persuasion narrated by Juliet Stevenson and reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides in which one of the characters is studying Jane Austen and George Eliot “authors of the great marriage plots” (from the blurb😊).

Yay to Persuasion! I can totally understand that you find Lady Susan irritating, she is quite the character...

[@readandre-read]

My favorite is Persuasion with Pride and Prejudice close on its heels. The only one I disliked was Mansfield Park but I should reread it. Lady Susan is a delight and I might reread this month. Currently rereading Sense and Sensibility. Great video!

Thank you, Angelia! I should reread more of Jane Austen's books as well...

[@scherbenkind4154]

Thank you for your ranking - and I thougt it‘s a typical „Britta‘s choice“ listening to your explanations - of course you like Lady Susan best. I’m a bit sad that „The Watsons“ stayed a fragment because I often wonder how Emma Watson‘s story would have developed, if Jane Austen had finished the book. Hope your back gets better every day.

Haha, I'm nothing if not predictable in what I like. 😂 I agree about The Watsons. And thank you for your well-wishes!

[@Harriett2423]

"Emma" bothers me for the same reason, I disliked the movie adaptation as well.

Yessss!

[@krzysamm7095]

So far have only read Pride and Prejudice will have to check out Lady Susan, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park.

I hope you will enjoy all of them!

[@user-xx6wn2qm2g]

I will look for a copy of Lady Susan. Deep tissue message sounds like it is helping you. Try it again.

I hope you will enjoy Lady Susan. And yes, the deep tissue massage is helping, even though it's very painful...