Emma Readalong: Announcement & Invitation

One of my goals for this year is to participate in a couple of buddy reads. I haven’t done many since joining the community, but I find having someone to read with can be a great motivator when it comes to tackling those books you’ve been putting off. I’m a huge Jane Austen fan. I have far too many editions of her books and literally (okay, not literally) thrive off of adaptations. But strangely enough, I have never actually read her novel Emma. I’ve seen a number of adaptations and feel like I know the story quite well, but it is the only novel by her that I haven’t read.

Earlier this year I reached out to Jolien @ The Fictional Reader to see if she’d be interested in doing a buddy read and she said yes. Beginning March 10th, we’ll be reading Emma, but we’d also like to invite you to join us! If you’re a fan of Jane Austen like I am and would like to buddy read with us, we’d love to have you! If you haven’t read anything by her or are just trying to pick up more classics, you’d be a great addition to our buddy read as well!

The Details:

• Readalong will run from March 10th-March 31st
• Emma is divided into three volumes, so we’ll be tackling a volume a week
• Use the hastag #EmmaRAL to track your progress while you read
• We’ll be forming a DM group to have more in depth discussions regarding the book

If you are interested in joining us, you can leave a comment on this post or Jolien’s. Just leave us your Twitter handle, so we can add it to the group DM. You can also reach out to us on Twitter: Jolien @fictionalreader and Alicia @booknonsense. We look forward to you joining us for this readalong!

Book Haul: December Delights

There’s something kind of sad about the final book haul of the year or maybe I’m just sad the year is ending. I was lucky enough to received two boxed sets as Christmas gifts this year. I also bought myself an early Christmas gift and couldn’t stop myself from staying away from a couple of Holiday deals. I also won a giveaway on Tumblr. Click to enlarge any image below.
1. Jane Austen Boxed Set (The Heirloom Collection)

This was my major splurge of the month. I could not resist these gorgeous books and when I saw the price, I just had to give in. I’ve already made a separate post for this box set (I couldn’t wait to share them), so if you’re interested in taking a closer look, click here. Prepare yourself for a whole lot of pretty.

2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set by Rick Riordan

I haven’t read the Percy Jackson series yet! I know, how is this possible? I finally read The Lightning Thief earlier this year and absolutely loved it. I’m so glad that I received this boxed set for Christmas, so I can finally read the entire series. I cannot wait to get started!

 

3. Hogwarts Library Boxed Set

How is it that I don’t already own this? I almost bought myself this earlier this month because apparently Decembers bring out the spender in me (never good). I’m super happy that I got this from a friend this Christmas because the odds are I probably would have given in at some point.

4. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Why do I find it so hard to resist 30% off coupons? I’m telling ya, this time of year is dangerous for my wallet. But look, I got a copy of Uprooted, an amazing fantasy read!

5. Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Another book I got with a coupon, the final book in the Starbound series. I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, but I will soon.

6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Of course after I finished taking all these picture, I remembered that I had won a giveaway. I won this little book from Hannah @ The Literary Elephant on Tumblr. If you’re on Tumblr, you should definitely follow her. Beside the book, she also included a few goodies including these absolutely charming literary tree decorations. So cute!

 

How was your December book haul? Get any awesome book gifts this Christmas? Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Book Haul: Favorite Book Purchase of 2015

Oh, I know it isn’t quite the end of the month yet, but I just had to share my most recent book purchase. Typically I like to get myself a little something at Christmas time. Well I had already gotten myself something earlier this month (you’ll have to wait for my official book haul post for that), while I was trying to figure out another book to get my niece, for some reason I ended up looking at the Jane Austen box set (The Heirloom Collection).

(Click any image below to enlarge)

Now I’ve been lusting for this set for the past year, ever since I saw someone post pictures of it on tumblr. But it’s not cheap and I could never justify spending $50+ on it. But then here it was, only $40. It was so tempting and then I remembered the promo code I had a friend tell me about that morning which I hadn’t decided whether or not I was going to use. After much indecision (and a couple of desperate texts and tweets), I went ahead and bought it.

And now I am in love, these are the most gorgeous books I’ve ever seen. You should have seen me before I even received these books in the mail, I was showing pictures to everyone, telling them what I bought for myself. You’d think I just had a child and was showing her off to all my friends and relatives.

Now typically I’d wait to share these with you, but I thought this collection deserved it’s own book haul post. These hardcover books are my favorite book purchase this year. Just take a closer look at how lovely they are (I dare you to tell me they aren’t gorgeous):

Are you a fan of Jane Austen? Thinking about buying these? What was your favorite book purchase this year? Let me hear from you in the comments!

The Friday 56, #57: Emma

The Friday 56 is a weekly blog meme hosted by Freda’s Voice. Join in every Friday, the rules are simple.

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence (or a few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It’s that simple.

 

‘Oh, to be sure,’ cried Emma, ‘it is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body to ask her.’

Emma is the only Jane Austen novel I haven’t read yet and I’ve been contemplating giving it a go very soon. Despite this, I feel like I know the story, having watched numerous adaptations.

Have you read Emma? Let me know what you thought and be sure to leave a link to your own Friday 56 post if you’ve participated this week.