Happy New Year Janeites. 2011 promises to be a joyous year for Jane Austen fans. The bicentenary of Sense and Sensibility should keep Jane Austen in the limelight and publishers keen to feed our need to read more Austen inspired fare.
There are many books in the queue that we are looking forward to reading: Jane Goes Batty: A Novel, by Michael Thomas Ford, the second in the series arrives in February, My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park, Cindy S. Jones’ debut novel arrives in late March and the highly anticipated Wickham’s Dairy, by Amanda Grange arrives in April. We shall also be immodest and mention our own short story anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It, premiering in October. *blush*
2010 was another stellar year for Jane Austen inspired sequels et all. Mysteries dominated the field with Stephanie Barron triumphant return, Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron, her tenth novel in the Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Carrie Bebris kept me on edge and laughing out loud in The Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma’s Match, her fifth novel in the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy series, Tracy Kiely presented Murder on the Bride’s Side, the second novel to her contemporary Elizabeth Bennet detective series, and an incredible debut mystery from Lynn Shepherd, Murder at Mansfield Park blew me away!
There were dozens of new Jane Austen inspired novels and nonfiction books published this year. Our top choices of the year represent selections that we read and reviewed here on Austenprose. So, if your favorite is not represented, please don’t be miffed. Amazingly, we did not read everything Janeish that was published in 2010.
Sequels, prequels, retellings or contemporary inspired:
♥ Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, by Beth Pattillo
♥ The Darcy Cousins, by Monica Fairview
♥ Pemberley Ranch, by Jack Caldwell
♥ Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister, C. Allyn Pierson
♥ Dancing with Mr. Darcy: Stories Inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House, edited by Sarah Waters
Regency inspired:
♥ The Mischief of the Mistletoe, by Lauren Willig
♥ Venetia (Naxos AudioBooks), by Georgette Heyer & read by Richard Armitage
♥ Betrayal of the Blood Lilly, by Lauren Willig
♥ The Convenient Marriage (Naxos AudioBooks), by Georgette Heyer & read by Richard Armitage
Mysteries:
♥ Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron, by Stephanie Barron
♥ Murder at Mansfield Park, by Lynn Shepherd
♥ The Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma’s Match, by Carrie Bebris
♥ Murder on the Bride’s Side, by Tracy Kiely
Paranormal:
♥ Jane and the Damned, by Janet Mullany
Nonfiction:
♥ Fashion in Jane Austen’s Time, by Sarah Jane Downing
♥ Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition, by Jane Austen and edited by Patricia Meyer Spacks
♥ The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Erin Blakemore
Randomly not Jane:
♥ Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson
♥ Season of Second Chances, by Diane Meier
Debut author:
♥ Murder at Mansfield Park, by Lynn Shepherd
Many thanks to the authors for offering up another great reading year. 2011 already promises to be quite engaging.
Happy reading,
Laurel Ann
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© 2007 – 2010 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose
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I am looking forward to Jane Goes Batty especially! And I still have to read Murder at Mansfield Park, I guess I had better hurry up and read it.
Have a good 2011, Laurel Ann!
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Happy New Year to you Laurel Ann! Great list you have offered up from 2010, and 2011 looks like another fabulous year of Austen goodies…
Best to you,
Deb
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2011 promises to be an excellent year! Happy New Year! I enjoyed your list!
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Happy New Year right back at you Meredith. Lots of great JA reading for us this year.
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Murder on the Bride’s Side and Murder at Mansfield Park are both on my tbr list for early 2011.
>Amazingly, we did not read everything Janeish that was published in 2010.
I am amazed–it seems to me you read just about everything Austen-related, which bowls me over.
Great job with this wonderful site–keep up the good work, it is much appreciated!
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Thanks Jane. I appreciate your blog too.
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What a cool image! I admire your ability to design images on your site.
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Hi Dana, this Warholish pop art Jane was created using free online software at Big Blue Labs. Glad you liked it. Many of the other images are created by others, so I can not take the all the credit.
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I am thrilled to see My Jane Austen Summer in your reading queue for 2011, and can’t wait for Jane Austen Made Me Do It!
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I’m happy to see my book on your list! Thanks for all you do to keep Jane’s name alive in the world of literature!
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Happy New Year LA! Looking forward to a Jane filled 2011! Have a wonderful day.
Blessings,
Janeen
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Happy New Year to you too Janeen. I hope to see you here in the coming year. Lots of giveaways in the queue.
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Thanks for the roundup! You’ll be pleased to hear I received two B&N gift cards for Christmas! I already having Dancing with Mr. Darcy in my shopping cart and now I can decide what else to get.
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Have fun with those gift cards!
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I just wanted to stop by and say Happy New Year, Laurel Ann, and to thank you for the enormous support you give the authors of Jane inspired fiction! I am so thrilled to be a part of your short story anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It, and can’t wait for its publication.
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Happy New Year to you too Jane. It is a pleasure to support talented authors. Can’t wait to read your next novel. Mr. Darcy’s Secret. Too fun.
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Wickham’s diary! I want to hear what he has to say…
Fire and Cross
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A weekend with Mr. Darcy…not sure if it’s because it’s the last one I read in 2010…but I found it so pink, so lovely…
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Thanks, Laurel Ann, for including Jane and the Damned on the round up!
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You’ve just given me a wonderful list to look into! I loved Major Pettigrew too… great writing.
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Honored to be on your list, Laurel Ann! It’s always a pleasure reading your reviews.
Have a great New Year, and I can’t wait for Jane Austen Made Me Do It to come out!
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I’ve only read a few of the ones you listed. I completely agree about Pemberley Ranch!
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