On January 13th, 10 members of the JABC and 4 of their guests met up at the belltown bar, Mr. Darcy's, to enjoy some games and social time. After obtaining various beverages and doing some warm up Pride and Prejudice trivia, we broke up into teams of 3 (with McLean and myself taking over official speaker duties) and had a full blown pub trivia style game. Luck would be on the side of The Pemberly Posse (Angie, Rachel and Alex H) who won the first game and The Bathinettes (Lisa, Elizabeth and Sharon) took home the second game. Prizes were given, fun was had, and a new Regency beverage was enjoyed. All in all, it was a great night! 

On Sunday, August 20th, three members of the Jane Austen Book Club drove down the I-5 corridor, over the Narrow's Bridge and into the quaint area of the Key Peninsula to present a short presentation on our beloved author. Topics included an overview of her life, a breakdown of key writings, and a look at her success and adaptions. In addition, we got to visit with one of the founding members of our club who helped to put the event together. 

For your viewing pleasure, I have uploaded the pdf version of our presentation. For questions, please contact us through the website.

​- Kendal

As the old saying goes...better late than never! In November, the Jane Austen Book Club met in a lovely room at the tennis club to hash out the 2016 calendar. One would think this would be an easy task. But when your club is over 25 people and is run like a democracy (a real one where everyone's thoughts are listened to respectfully and are voted on - with ideas for the next year written down for the 2017 meeting), well, it takes a bit of time. Our club is made up of amazing, intelligent and creative individuals so it's very hard to choose just 10 themes. Here are some images to prove it.

Awwwww Washington! You treat us to a hotter than normal summer, surprise us with rain and chills in early September, and then come back with a giant present of 2 solid weekends of sunshine. The autumn colors and cool weather could not have been more perfect for the annual JABC apple picking excursion. We have an amazing member (I'm winking at you, Rachel), whose family owns a lovely property on Vashon Island and opens it up to us to pick their apples and make fresh cider. It is such a wonderful experience that we keep coming back year after year (and had our best turn out so far!).

Check out our gallery of photos below as the JABC members picked, climbed, washed, mushed, and enjoyed our way through a few hours of simple merriment. Take that Box Hill!

'My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.'  Words of wisdom from Jane Austen herself. We were actually 13 strong at tonight's viewing of "Learning to Drive" (thank you Jane Wainwright Public Relations!), but this is the group of us - including Todd who is taking the picture - who met at the bar beforehand for food, beverages and fun discussion.

The movie itself was entertaining. Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley did heartbreakingly amazing in their roles and brought a lot to a story that needed to reach to fill 90 minutes. Our club enjoyed it and laughed at all the right parts. At least this writer has more to say than "the costumes were lovely" (the go to period drama "nice thing to say" line. I'd be out of luck here anyways as this movie takes place in present day. But I digress...).

All in all, tonight was a successful social outing of the JABC and we're looking forward to apple picking at the end of the month.

Cheers!

~ Kendal

Being part of the Jane Austen community allows us to receive information that we find thrilling! Goucher College, home of the largest Jane Austen collection in the USA, is planning to digitize a first edition of Emma from 1816. This will allow all Austen fans a chance to see and read from the original print...WOOT!

Though are raising funds to do this through a crowd sourcing campaign (which you can find here). Donate as little as $25 (which equals 1 page) or up to $1000 (to be an Emma Woodhouse!). Of course, there is an option to donate what you can - and every dollar counts!

To read the full press release, go here!

This post was sent to me by the JASNA Puget Sound and I believe it's the PR from the high school! Go check it out if you get a chance and let us know know what you thought! Break a leg Tahoma Jr. High Drama Club! 

Tahoma Jr. High Presents Pride and Prejudice Beginning Nov. 14

Travel to a simpler time when manners ruled the day and marriage was the
topic of the season.

On November 14, 15, 21 and 22, Tahoma Jr. High School Drama Club presents Jon Jory's adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice at Tahoma Middle School. Two casts will perform three shows each during the run of the show. Tickets can be purchased at the door - $7 general admission; $5 for students with ASB. Children 5 and under are free. Friday and Saturday night shows start at 7 p.m.; Saturday matinees begin at 2 p.m.

address: 25600 SE Summit Landsburg Rd.
Ravensdale, WA 98051 (Maple Valley)

Jane Austen's rich characters are brought to life on the stage as student
actors reveal how people lived in 19th Century England through dance, dress, manners and customs. Joel Thompson (9th grade), who played the part of the Tin Man in The Wiz two seasons ago, returns to Tahoma Drama in the role of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Veteran Tahoma actresses Sadie Christensen (9thgrade) and Esther Oosterhout (8th grade) share the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet. Other actors include Tyler Bocock/Kallen Patterson, as Charles Bingley; Tracy Anderson/Allie Palmer as Mrs. Bennet; and Bennett Campbell as Mr. Bennet. 8th grader, Will Chadek, provides comic relief to the show in the role of Mr. Collins.

Checking out some of my favorite Jane Austen Facebook pages, an article out of the UK came across my screen. A note Jane had written in 1814 that had faded has been restored! Most likely a continuation of a sermon (she used to write them out for her brother, James), critics/researchers believe it may have a link/connection to Mansfield Park, one of the more controversial texts Austen had written (due to it's extreme moral stance and rather wimpy heroine...some think).  

Read the full article here and let us know what you think!

~ Kendal

In our Jane Austen book club, we realize that we need to go above and beyond sometimes to keep the magic alive. Our relationship has been going on for years (7 to be exact), and if our sparks are still going to fly, we need to bring out all the stops. 

Our group member, Angie, not only has a lovely home and a beautiful piano, but three AMAZING and TALENTED children who were willing to not only learn a few pieces, but play them for us as well. Here are the compositions they played (feel free to check them out on youtube!): 

Haydn (1732-1809): Concerto in F Major
Mozart (1756-1791): Sonata in A Major, K. 331 (someone thought they recognized this as a piece that Elizabeth Bennet played in the BBC P&P)
Beethoven (1770-1827): Bonn Sonata in E-flat Major
 
Jane Austen (1775-1813)
Brahms (1833-1897): Rhapsody in g-minor Op. 79, No. 2
Here’s one link that describes Beethoven’s dedication to Napoleon for the Eroica symphony and subsequent un-dedication after Napoleon crowned himself Emperor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._3_(Beethoven)

Here’s another link, more scholarly about Beethoven, Napoleon and Byron, all major influences in the life of Jane Austen: http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/clubbe_beethoven_byron.asp

A big Thank You to Angie and her family for taking on such a big task and providing amazing information and entertainment for the evening! 

Every year for the past 5 years, our book club has come together in December to celebrate Jane Austen's birthday. We eat, we drink, we play games (with one heck of a white elephant game...I think they banned me from next year's game, though, as I got a wee bit overzealous). We have an amazing time saluting one of our most beloved authors. This year, mostly in part of my completion of my MA and the fact my thesis was on Jane Austen - I was asked to make the traditional toast. I didn't have much time to prepare (as it was insane at work), but I created what I hope was an ode to Jane that even she might have smirked at:

A Letter to Jane Austen on her 238th birthday:

Dear Miss Austen,

First off, let me congratulate you on looking remarkably well for hitting your 238th birthday. Rarely does anyone make it to this one so in tact. But you, you keep getting lovelier with age.

We, the Jane Austen Book Club of Puget Sound, are excited to be celebrating your day and plan to do the following in your honor:
* eat tasty treats
* drink fun beverages
* play wonderful games
* open, admire, steal, and steal back presents
   - I truly think you would love this game - though I feel it's poorly named.

You, our dear Jane Austen, continue to provide our club with joy, friendship, intellectual conversation and discussion. The feminists, the satirists, the traditionalists, the romantics - they all find reasons to read your stories. Articles, reviews, blogs, re-imaginings, full bodied research studies - they are nonstop.

And Hollywood can't get enough of you (your central themes continue to reverberate with audiences even if the directors take liberties with overtly romantic aspects). You have your critics, of course, whom we purposefully and successfully overthrow with our knowledge and intelligence - but that's what makes you so great. Even in the face of the haters, both past and present, you continue to outsmart us all.

We appreciate your advice:
On playing dumb: " A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can" (northanger abbey)
On the ideal guy: "All I want in a man is someone you rides bravely, dances beautifully, sings with vigor, reads passionately and whose taste agrees in every point with my own (Sense + Sensibility)

We appreciate your wit:
on prejudice: "Where there is a disposition to dislike, a motive will never be wanting" (Lady Susan)
"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal" (letter)

We love that so many people can relate to your stories and that your characters are still so relevant today. We wish we could invent a time machine to jump back a few hundred years and stop your sister from burning all the letters that would probably show a different side of you. But we understand, and even get to witness, your snarkier personality. Some of the quips you make aren't the nicest and no one wants to unintentionally embarrass someone else.

Intentionally, however....we'd love to know which characters are actual people in your life...but I digress.

So a toast, to you Miss Austen, and your continued success as an author and heroine in our time. May we continue enjoying your wit and humor, and find new ways to explore your writings and works.

Cheers!

To another 238 years of Jane Austen! May you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! and we hope you'll join us at the next meeting! Please use the "contact us" page above to receive mo