The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young - heard on Libby app - 12 hours

 I don't recall who recommended this book to me, but I had to wait months for it on Libby. At first it was intriguing, but I got tired of the constant hysterical stress that this woman was under. Practically the whole story is stress-ridden and frantic. The characters are interesting, but rather mysterious. I was hoping for a mystery, which it is, but it was a weird, thriller kind of mystery that had so many time travel complications that I couldn't really follow it that well. Still, I persevered, because the descriptions of the land and the flowers were beautiful, and I kept hoping it would all make sense. It kind of came together, but it was not particularly satisfying...

Still, it gave me an interesting diversion as I walked the miles around our neighborhood this beautiful fall. Once I'm into a story, it's hard for me to stop. I know I dislike sci-fi, and this is similar. I should have known better and given up sooner. Oh well...the reader had a lovely southern accent...

The Jane Austen Project bu Kathleen A. Flynn - on Libby audio - 11 hours

 This author, Kathleen A. Flynn, was chosen by Natalie Jenner, the author of The Jane Austen Society, to interview Natalie for an endpiece to her audio book. Jenner mentions in the interview that she chose Flynn because she so admired what she had accomplished in this book on Austen. That intrigued me, because I really enjoyed Jenner's book, and value her opinion. I'm not fond of fantasy or sci fi, so this was a stretch, but because it came so highly-recommended, I went for it.

It was a fascinating listen on many levels! The story begins in the future when two people are chosen and trained to travel back to Jane Austen's time. The few aspects of the future that are revealed are interesting and believable. The tension that's created with wondering if they'll be able to return to their own time after their research keeps the story lively. And the philosophical and ethical dilemmas abound! Like, how much are they interfering in the "probability field" that will change the outcome of history? Is it too much to help a poor chimney sweep's boy? Or to give medical care to Jane to prolong her life and thus enable her to write more?

In addition to these dilemmas, of course there is sexual tension between the two researchers, a man and a woman from the future, trying to fit in to Jane Austen's world and win her confidence. Those struggles are fascinating too. It's just fascinating in every regard, though it also felt a bit dark at times. I liked how Jane Austen and her brothers were portrayed, and it was fun to hear the researchers and Jane discuss some of her characters. There' is an abundance of information and dates about what was going on in Jane's life when, much more than I was aware of. It made me want to go walk the countryside around Chawton and see the places that feel almost familiar to me now. 

There are some rather graphic sex scenes, but not too much...And Flynn did an excellent job in capturing the tone of conversations from that time period. It was an expecially fun listen for 11 hours! It helped me prolong my walks around our new Monterey Drive neighborhood!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

 I met a new friend at our Ridgeview Ward, Shirla Snow. We immediately discovered that we have much in common: born two days apart, love to read, love Dickens, Austen, and the classics, for example. When she mentioned her favorites, she cited one by this author, Lost in a Good Book. When I went to her home to borrow it, she offered this one first, having forgotten that her favorite wasn't the first in a series. So she warned me it's a little different, and recommended I only take the first two, and to return for more if I like these. So, this is the first in the series. She also mentioned that it had been twenty years since she's read either one of them, and doesn't know if she'd still feel the same way about them. With all of this history, I was excited to give them a try.

I was swept away right at the beginning by the intelligent, witty, and literary allusion-filled text. As I read on, though, I realized this story involved fantasy and time travel and all sorts of other things that had me going, "Huh!" Lots of unexpected developments, too many characters to keep track of, but still, a witty and intelligent read. So I kept on. I learned to really like the heroine, Thursday Next. Every name is a hoot and is used for different puns and purposes all the time! There's a even a character named Braxton Hicks!!! At times I felt a little ignorant, knowing I was missing MANY of the obscure allusions. This is an author with lots of connections he wants his reader to make. It's almost a game with him; much of it tongue-in-cheek. Also lost on me were some of the British cultural references. 

The author's cleverness is amazing. Throughout the book, he alludes to the unsatisfying ending to Jane Eyre. And I kept thinking, do I remember it wrong? Finally, as all of the pieces come together, I realized the author was fooling me, and that his interpretation of how it all came together was the crux of the novel. He plays with the characters and gives some far-fetched sceenarios about how it all REALLY came togehter, which was the way I remembered.

It is a very fun romp! However, there were times and scenes that got a little redundant... It's a romp, a tumble, with lots of twists and turns. I'm curious about the next installment, because Thursday marries her long-time love at the end of this one, and I'm sure the marriage will be a rocky one! She's a great character who I will enjoy following for at least one more installment. I think there are two more; we'll see how long I last!