June reading is gonna keep me busy this time around! In addition to keeping up with the #PemberLittens, I'm really excited to start The Summer Book for #MidsummerSolace and to finally be kicking off the tagged chunkster with the #KLBR. I've never read Undset's classic series but have been eyeing it for years. So LFG!

Northanger May is behind us and Northanger Adaptation June is ahead! I'm going for a re-watch of the 2007 film (they get it so right!), a handful of YA versions (the perfect genre for this one, can't deny it) and a book centered on the flowers and plants in Austen's work. Perfect timing as I get my own garden in gear, and who knows - maybe it'll help me learn to love a hyacinth??

Who else has some adaptations to explore this month?

Nothing like closing out the week with another chapter and some limoncello!

"By waking up to the world, by renouncing certainty and cynicism, by opening herself to new experiences- all of which takes real courage, real strength - [Catherine] turned life into an adventure that would never end. This, Austen told us, is the true heroism. Life, if you live it right, keeps surprising you and the thing that keeps surprising you the most...is yourself."

I might have finished the book, but there are still two days left in Northanger Abbey month with the #PemberLittens, so enjoy a roundup of tweets that made me laugh! #JaneAustenThenAndNow

Oops, got too excited and read ahead again! The General unceremoniously throws Catherine out of the house but Henry quickly comes to check up on her and also propose to her. Henry Tilney, the man that you are! I love the glimpse of Catherine back at home, love Mrs. Morland, love Eleanor becoming a Viscountess, love every single bit of Jane's (non)Gothic romp. A+, no notes for this hilarious, witty genre send-up that has so much heart at its core.

I adore this Reddit user who respects the game so much that they actually have contempt for Isabella, who in their mind should go even harder as a self-serving, social climbing, manipulative grifter. Losing your safety fiancé before securing the rich guy who will actually help you achieve status and wealth? Amateur hour! Anyway, Isabella writes a last-ditch "save me!" letter to Cath who is not buying it one bit and ghosts her former friend. Brava!

No meme because #TomKitten joined in today to inspect the reading and gave a look which exactly sums up my feelings about the General. The man himself arranges a trip to Woodston to show it off for Catherine but is so domineering that she has no idea what to say, lest she risk his wrath. He also puts down the village, the landscape, and the house itself at every turn and she can't politely contradict him, so really, General, just stfu please. 🙄

I was so lucky to see the Broadway run of this play and it absolutely knocked me out, this story of a band making their second album, on the cusp of stardom, and all of the personal and creative tensions that go along with it. The exploration of the millions of tiny decisions, the push and pull of what makes great art, felt so immediate and powerful. If you read the script, I suggest also listening to the cast album for a more complete experience.

Henry is a total mensch about the whole "Catherine suspected his father of murder thing", which is to say he never brings it up, ever, and is also extra kind to her. This guy rules, I swear. Which is something that could never be said about Isabella, who we learn has gone full-out dirtbag and heartlessly dumped James for...Fred Tilney! Its all kinds of awkward and Catherine can't believe Isabella's behavior, but Eleanor and Henry help her process.

Eleanor tries to take Catherine into Mrs. Tilney's rooms, but of course the General interrupts. Later Cath boldly heads off alone to explore Mrs. T's bedchamber and then...Henry catches her in the act! He's astonished and she's ashamed and he launches into his whole, "We live in a CIVILIZED country!" spiel which never fails to make me laugh. I rather enjoyed Sarah Emsley's breakdown referenced above; link in the comments.

Doreen is one of so many children evacuated from London during WWII, staying at a country house with a couple she doesn't know. While part of the story feels very "classic kid-lit" with Doreen discovering her new village, trying to find new friends, and taking a trip to Oxford with her wealthy caretakers, the lives and emotions of Doreen's adults (her actual parents and the couple who grow to love her) quickly become complicated. Beautifully done!

Catherine gets a tour of the abbey's interior and surprise, surprise, her imagination starts to run away with her. To be fair, General Tilney is off-putting as hell, but they doesn't mean he's imprisoned his wife in some secret room like Udolpho's Signor Montoni (or legendary emo drama queen Mr. Rochester). Try telling that to Catherine, though! Who needs proof when there's *vibes*?? #PemberLittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

Catherine awakes in the cold light of day to find that her mysterious manuscript is nothing more than a laundry bill. She feels like a total idiot about it (I mean....yeah) but soldiers on to breakfast where we get the one scene with Henry that I hate, where he talks about how valuable it is for a woman to be "teachable" which, barf. The General inserts himself into the ladies' morning walk and generally acts sus as hell the whole time. ?

Catherine is shown to her bedroom and finds it comfortable and relatively cheerful. But then she catches sight of an old trunk and is immediately more suspicious of an inanimate object than any person in history. She immediately opens it and starts to snoop but then has to go to dinner. Afterward it's the quintessential dark and stormy night and she catches sight of a spooky cabinet and pretty much loses her mind. Oh, Catherine.

Northanger Abbey Day has officially arrived for Catherine! TBH its a little weird because the General is stressing her OUT with all his attention toward her, but at least Cath gets to travel some of the way with Henry! As they drive, he takes the piss and spins her the best Gothic tale of what the Abbey will be like, which she of course takes fully at face value. But then she arrives and is surprised and disappointed to find it all very modern. 😂

LOL, shout out to this blogger from 2103 with the most straightforward take on the matter. While I normally don't love a slut-shamer, I deeply love a hot take on an Austen novel so this one's kind of a wash. 😂 Anyway, Catherine is very concerned about Isabella and the Captain and shakes Henry down for the dirt. He reminds Cath that every couple draws their own boundaries of acceptable behavior. We know this will backfire but still - a king!

The Onion was practically my religion in high school and college. My friends and I awaited a new edition every week and went over them again and again searching out every single joke, from the filthy and puerile to the dark and twisted, and pored over every single sobering, clever, or flat-out unhinged line in between. Wenc's history was a great walk down memory lane, but more importantly... 👇👇👇

Another chapter full of Thorpe nonsense. Catherine and Isabella hang at the Pump Room and there's big news: John wants to marry Catherine! Cath is astonished and appalled to hear this (so real) and reiterates that she's never had feelings for him. Isabella doesn't believe her but rationalizes it to herself saying, "What one means one day, you know, one may not mean the next." HMMM, YOU DON'T SAY ALSO HERE COMES CAPT TILNEY TO SHAMELESSLY FLIRT. ?

This poor Old Man has had a rough day healthwise, and while he doesn't feel up to being cuddled outright, he's happy to have me near. 🥹 Closing out the night with this wonderful (so far) read and a little extra love for my #ColeCat. #CatsOfLitsy #CurrentlyReading

Chapter 17 is short but incredible, if only because it's probably Jane's horniest, most suggestive writing (with apologies to Mary Crawford). She doesn't even veil the fact that Catherine's wild fantasies of exploration relate to both Henry and the abbey. Damp passages, indeed. To Northanger, therefore, they are to go. #PemberLittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

I really enjoyed this R&J retelling, which centers Rosaline's POV. Sure, it takes a bunch of liberties and they may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was a great new viewpoint to read Romeo as a Very Bad Man. I didn't love Tybalt's characterization but seeing the Friar in a new light was fascinating and chilling. Now I need to go search for every Rosaline-centric work out there! #BooksAndBlooms

There's a new Tilney man in town and while he may be fashionable and slightly more handsome than his brother, he's also a total dick about the fact that Henry enjoys dancing so Catherine and I both know not to trust him. Later, James writes to Isabella with the details of his living which she and her mom find underwhelming, to say the least. She makes some excuse for her low spirits but we all know the deal (even if Catherine doesn't).

Isabella summons Cath right away and drops the news that she and James are engaged! Catherine is delighted and thinks that Isabella must be in love *fr fr* 'cuz let's face it, James is not handsome. John Thorpe suddenly corners Catherine in the parlor and starts weirdly spouting off about marriage. She is totally uncomfortable (relatable) and tries like hell to leave. She manages to escape but still never cottons on to his meaning. Come on, girl!

Man, I LOVE today's chapter. Just some cool people (and Catherine) enjoying the gorgeous countryside and geeking out about books. Henry is delightfully silly and teasing and when he finds himself starting to mansplain a bit about drawing, he holds back and allows for some blessed silence. Catherine gets in a great bit about history books being a total sausage-fest, putting me in mind of a classic Flight of the Conchords number (link in comments).

Isabella, James, and John the Jagoff try desperately to get Catherine to cancel her walk with the Tilneys but girl sticks to her guns and won't fold. John goes behind her back like an absolute twatopotamus and *shows up at the Tilneys house* to cancel, but C hauls ass over there herself to set the record straight. The General sees Cath out with a compliment to her style of walk, which immediately gets our girl STRUTTING back to Pulteney Street. 🤣

Catherine busts ass to the Tilney's to apologize for skipping out on their date but is told Ms. Tilney is not in...only to see her walk straight out the front door two minutes later. DAMN, that's a cold shoulder! At the theatre, she can't apologize to Henry enough for the mishap and he sets her mind at ease and even secures a new date to hang. Catherine is relieved but she still can't shake John Thorpe, and like all of us, she's sick of his shit.

Getting caught up today after a busy weekend! In a nutshell: John Thorpe is lying, mainsplaining twat, Isabella is an insincere manipulator, and James Morland is...pretty lame. Henry and Eleanor Tilney, however, remain solid and ask Catherine to take a pleasant walk together. She's psyched about it but then John Thorpe totally lies about them standing her up, leading to a quick, awkward face-off between Cath and Ms. Tilney on the street.

Tonight's dance is a total let-down since the Thorpe siblings prove they're the absolute worst, abandoning and ignoring Catherine. On the plus side, Henry Tilney is back! He's with a young lady but instead of flying into a jealous rage about it, Catherine sensibly, and correctly, assumes the girl is his sister. Sadly, Cath has to turn down Henry's invitation to dance because she's stupidly promised herself to John Thorpe, resident dirtbag.

Welp, it's a recycled meme but it's the best I've got to sum up what it's probably like to spend even 10 minutes with John Thorpe, one of Austen's most boorish and contemptible men. Within moments of meeting Catherine he's droning on and on about his ride, and then swiftly moves to judging the looks of random women in the street and being an utter ass to his mother and sisters. Can someone kick this man in the balls with extreme haste, please?!

New Smith & Taylor edition of North and South just dropped *and* the lilacs are blooming?! What more could anybody ask for??

Today's chapter shows us Catherine being the most YA paranormal romance BookTok-obsessed teenager who ever lived, and I'm loving it. Even though she's still got an eye out for Tilney, he really can't compete with her current favorite novel (so relatable). Isabella keeps trying to turn the talk to men but Catherine doesn't want to stray from the mystery of the black veil and Laurentina's skeleton - and honestly, can you blame her??

This chapter is a true classic! Jane breaks the fourth wall pretty consistently in Northanger, but never with so much fervor as in her absolute harangue about novels. She's not wrong, though, and novels written for women are still seen as "less than". Screw that bullshit, and brava to Jane for her impassioned defense and for making her heroines novel-readers! Catherine and Isabella reading together on rainy days should be an inspiration to us all!

Catherine hopes to meet Mr. Tilney again but suddenly he's nowhere to be found?! She's not disappointed for long, though, because an old acquaintance of Mrs. Allen's comes over to introduce herself and her beautiful daughter Isabella (and there's other daughters, too, but nobody cares). Catherine is delighted to have a friend in Bath, and I'm delighted by the last paragraph where the author snarkily relays how Mrs. Thorpe talks too damn much. 😆

Days go by and still Catherine and the Allens don't actually meet or speak with anyone at all. And then at last, a Master of Ceremonies takes pity on Catherine and introduces her to, not just Some Man, but THE Man. The witty, kind, utterly divine stone-cold fox (well, "near handsome", anyway) Mr. Henry Tilney. He is funny and charming and oozes respect for the ladies and damn if I wouldn't let him distress me with his nonsense any day of the week!

Absolutely nothing exciting happens as Catherine and the Allens make their way to Bath, and then absolutely nothing happens when they arrive, save for Mrs. A's 4-day search for the perfect gown. Finally, finally, they make their way to the Upper Rooms and it's...not great. They suffer through a long, hot, and utterly boring evening until Catherine happens to overhear the mildest compliment ever. And suddenly the whole night has been a success!

And we're off! I've been so excited to read this book again, and found myself laughing out loud as we got the full backstory on our heroine. Meet Catherine Morland: her dad's not a tyrant and her mom isn't dead; she's never nursed a dormouse and she can't play piano; she's never been in love and her neighborhood is boring as shit. But - but! - she loves books (brava!) and she's about to have an adventure. Look out, Bath, here comes our girl!

Happy last day of April to all the #PemberLittens! As we move away from Pride and Prejudice and its adaptations, let us celebrate by remembering one of the all-time great P&P posts. This lives entirely rent-free in my head. I think of this post easily every day. Hopefully now it'll be stuck in your head, too- enjoy! 😭😂 #JaneAustenThenAndNow

I didn't enjoy it as much as the Sense and Sensibility adaptation in the same series, but it was still a fun takeoff on the source material. Here we meet Lizzy trying to solve a murder, and the way the characters are developed in this new world is a lot of fun. Special shout-out to this particular version of Lady Catherine, who was hilariously perfect. The action ebbed and flowed for me somewhat, but I'm still eager to read the next one!

I saw this show last February, and feverishly pre-ordered this script as soon as it became available. It showed up this afternoon and I tore through it in record time, laughing the whole way through. I know that there are some seriously timely and important plays expected to be nominated for Tonys this year, but I just can't help hoping that Escola's funny, filthy, improbably heartfelt, utterly stupid and capital R Ridiculous show sweeps them all.

I'm so glad I finally made myself read this one! Not only did I fall for all of the below-stairs personalities, I appreciated the great perspective on what it takes to keep the Bennets sisters in clean petticoats and shoe roses. I loved that we got to see glimpses of Lizzy after her marriage, too, and of course some closure for our heroine Sarah. If you've not read it, #PemberLittens, don't wait as long as I did! #JaneAustenThenAndNow

I hopped on the BannedWagon this month with @Jadams89 and crew to revisit one of the most important books in my own personal journey. If I read it for the first time now, I'm sure I'd think it's a perfectly fine coming-of age-story. But I read it as a teenager and so have no objectivity whatsoever; I still find it close to perfect. I'd never read anything at that age which captured in words the feelings I always thought were inexpressible. ⬇️⬇️

The first book from these authors, an adaptation of Emma, was an unexpectedly fun and enjoyable read for me and I'd really been looking forward to this P&P companion. I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint! I loved the characterization of the Bennet sisters here and the Lydia/Wickham twist was a fun play on the original. The potential for both a Persuasion and S&S set in the same world is teased here, and i hope we get them- I'd read eagerly!

Littens! My husband and I are taking a kind of impromptu trip to the Poconos next week and I'd love any recommendations from those who have visited! What can't we miss, and most importantly....what bookstores should we look out for? #TravelTips #TravelisJustReadingInAnotherPlace

This is not book-related (although his musical Falsettos won Best Book at the 1992 Tonys!) but I had to take a moment to mourn William Finn, one of the greatest musical theatre composers to ever do it. If you're a theatre kid, join me in listening to Falsettos, A New Brain, Spelling Bee, and Elegies on repeat today. If you're not a theatre kid, can I interest you in discovering some damn good music and poignant stories? #SeeMoreTheatre

This one is a YA mystery rooted in online fan culture and oh my Lord...! I've only ever dipped my toes into fandom but even with my limited experience, there is so much about this story that rings scarily, hilariously true. I didn't love the resolution but the journey was a quick and wild ride. Recommended in spite of the implausible coincidences and deep need to suspend disbelief; it's a lot of fun anyway, and you'll get just what you came for.

Hello from Deep Valley and Betsy Ray's house! Planning for the #BetsyTacyConvention has kicked into overdrive and your fearless committee has gathered in Mankato to finalize some details for our event this fall. Having attended multiple conventions in the past, I can't stress how incredible it is to be in these spaces and see the real-life inspiration for some of my favorite books. Will I see you in October? Registration link is in the comments!

Childhood dolls coming in clutch for the photo op! 😂 American Girl held a HUGE part of my early years - the stories were so foundational, highlighting common experiences across culture and time. The tagged book is an extension of the authors' podcast and while the humor and reflections translate well enough to the page, I highly recommend that AG fans seek out the real thing. And now the important question - which girl do YOU most identify with?

Keeping it reasonable for my April #PemberLittens reading! I've never read Longbourn (!) so it's time, and I can't wait for Jane Austen's Bookshelf. I loved Price's funny S&S mystery so I'm glad to be reading what came before it and Bellezza/Harding's Emma adaptation was so clever that I bought the tagged book the instant it was released. I waited a long time to read it but now seems like the perfect moment, as a kickoff to a month of adaptations.

Winding down a quiet, rainy Sunday with some low light and the P&P chapter of this book. In it, the author reflects on how Lizzy taught him what it means to grow up- not through advanced degrees or important jobs, but rather reflecting on your own mistakes and putting in the hard work to change for the better: "For [Austen], growing up has nothing to do with knowledge or skills... it has everything to do with character and conduct." Truer words!

Closing out P&P with ch.3 of Kelly's book and Jane's views on "polite society". Much is made of the importance of proper introductions as well as the many clashes of class throughout the novel, but Kelly also points to the presence of the militia and the undercurrent of war and violence lurking beyond our story. But she still needs to throw in an outlandish claim, so brace yourselves- is Wickham actually...Darcy's illegitimate half-brother?! (?)