Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Farewell, Jane! (#AustenInAugustRBR)
My-oh-my, how time does fly! August has come and gone, which means our Austen in August event is in its final hours.
I want to thank all of the participants for making this event such an incredible success! I read more Jane Austen this month than I have in my entire life, which is saying something, considering I am currently working on my third degree in Literature!
Ironically, the first text that has been assigned by the Professor of my Narratology class is Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. You better believe I had a little chuckle at the coincidence of this, when I found out about it on Wednesday. I had read P&P (1 ½ times) already, so I didn’t read it for the event – too bad, I could’ve been ahead of the game!
To wrap things up, I just want to point out some of the things that have taken place this month:
Texts I Read: 4 ½
Mansfield Park (50% complete)
My favorite of the bunch was probably Sense & Sensibility, though my thoughts continue to return to The Watsons. I have not been enjoying Mansfield Park much, but I have also been very busy with starting school again (currently reading 5 books simultaneously!), so that distraction/multi-tasking is probably having some impact on my ability to really sink-in and enjoy it.
Linked Posts: 107!
The event is technically not over, yet (here in the midwest we still have about 19 hours to go before the clock and calendar roll over to September 1st) so this number could go even higher. I am still stunned by the level and quality of participation! You can find all the posts Here.
Guest Posts: 6
The Jane Austen Society of North America
The Jane Austen Centre: Bath, England
Author Amanda Grange, Mr. Darcy’s Diary
Author C. Marie Moseley (Pride & Prejudice)
Jane Austen for the Aspiring Writer
Giveaways: 6+
There were many giveaways hosted via the initial sign-up process (announced throughout the event on my blog) and others which popped-up randomly, as people felt the urge to get more involved.
So, a big, big thank you to ALL who committed your time, money, energy, etc. to hosting giveaways, reading texts, writing up reviews/thoughts, writing guest posts and especially bouncing around to other blogs and commenting/interacting – that is really what made this event such a success (and so much fun!).
I would love to hear all of your thoughts on this event, on your reading and experiences with Jane Austen or the “prequel/sequel” works you may have encountered along this journey. Was the event fun? Helpful? If I do something like this again in the future (I will be, so why say “if?”) what kinds of things would you like to see? Do you wish I had done anything different?
Thanks again, everyone – see you next time!
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” — Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)
Roof Beam Reader 
I posted a link to our wrap-up post. I’m so happy I stumbled across your blog and this reading event. Can’t wait until next year!
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Ditto! It was great to have you & thanks again for your guest post. Looking forward to another event next August (maybe I’ll save Emma and Persuasion for next year… that will bring me to 100% completion of all Austen’s primary texts!).
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I thought everything was great! I wouldn’t change anything. That is ironic after all the Austen you read this month…
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Thank you for your awesome level of participation! It was inspiring!
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Thank you so much for hosting this challenge. I did enjoy reading Jane Austen’s works I’d not read before. I just posted a review of Northanger Abbey. At first I was not enjoying this story, but it grew on me. I am 1/2 way finished with a Pemberley Chronicle story, My Cousin Caroline by Rebecca Ann Collins. I won’t finish in time before midnight tonight. I will probably finish in a couple of days.
Annette
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Thanks for participating! I’ll be finishing Mansfield Park in the next week or so, but that’s okay – I’ll still come back and count it! Lol
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Aww, Adam, I really can’t believe August is already almost over 😦 It’s been a whirlwind of a month, and I have truly fallen for Jane Austen. I wish I could’ve written a few more reviews in time (Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park – just finished – and the Penguin edition of Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon). I don’t have any regrets about reading three (!) biographies though. I feel that I’ve gotten to know Jane Austen a little bit better through these books.
As for your event: I really liked the very different guest posts and the many giveaways. I’ve gotten to know wonderful bloggers that were new to me.
It was a blast, you helped me get to know Jane Austen and no there isn’t anything I would have wanted to see done differently 🙂
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Cheers, Adam! on a job well done “)
totally enjoyed this meetup for all things JA and def look fwd to nxt year 🙂 !
enjoy your courses and completing your JA reads ~
you’ve created some great memories in the process…
Congrats to all the participants on your reading successes & wish you many more HaPpy Jane filled hours…
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It was awesome having you on board! Your enthusiasm, positivity, and participation were inspiring!
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Wonderful read-along, Adam! I’m so glad I decided (last minute) to join in. I managed to read all of the Austen novels I’ve been putting off for years, and I had a lot of fun. I’ll have final post up sometime later tonight. Cheers!
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You were an AWESOME participant! So glad you joined!
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Was a great experience thinking you should make it an annual event 😀
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I’ll think about it! I’m not sure if I want to read Austen every year, but I do still have Emma, Persuasion, and a couple of her juvenilia pieces to read. I guess I could save ’em for next year!
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This was a great event Adam…even though I completely failed at getting anything posted. I did finish Mansfield Park, but I have been so stressed out with school that it just fell to the wayside.
Please do another event! I love them so! 🙂
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Oh, man – I hear ya. Do you see all the “currently reading” books listed on my Goodreads right now? It’s just week one and I’m already ..well.. yeah. It’s going to be interesting.
I wasn’t able to finish Mansfield Park. Still working away at it, slowly.
I’ll definitely be another one soon – maybe in December.
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As always, I accomplished nothing. 😆 But it was inspiring seeing so many reading Austen all at the same time!! And I’m super-excited you mist liked the very greatest Austen novel ever written — Sense & Sensibility. (Though I know your very favorite is not S & S, but Northanger Abbey, yes?)
Meanwhile, this event inspired me to be currently reading Emma. So better late than never! 😛
The event was incredible. I wouldn’t suggest any changes. (How hilarious that you got assigned P & P!)
Best wishes for your classes!!
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I still can’t believe how much reading got done in August – how much participation there was, in general. Even those who didn’t read much (or anything) Austen related still popped-in to join the discussion, talked on Twitter, etc. Definitely can’t wait to do another event like this, soon.
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mist = most 😦
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Hah! I almost replied right away on that, but assumed you would be correcting yourself shortly. 😉 Lol
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I’ve enjoyed every post… Thank you!
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