"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." It is with those simple words that we begin one of my favorite books- Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. I reread that classic this year and was still enamored by the beauty and wit that Jane Austen displays on the page. And today, my friends, is Jane Austen's birthday!Happy Birthday Jane! The beloved English author who gave us the dark and brooding Mr. Darcy turns 235 today! Though Jane Austen only published 4 books in her lifetime, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma (Persuasion & Northanger Abbey were published after her death), she remains a highly regarded and popular author. Her books are filled with wonderful memorable characters and her writing is equally wonderful and definitely insightful. She is celebrated by legions of fans who belong to The Jane Austen Society of North America, and the characters in her books have inspired numerous Austen-inspired novels as well.
To celebrate Jane, open up one of her books! Meet Elizabeth Bennett, the strong willed heroine of Pride & Prejudice, or the precocious Emma Woodhouse of Emma. Visit Mansfield Park and meet poor Fanny who was sent away to live with her Aunt & Uncle. Do you have a favorite Jane Austen novel? All of Jane Austen's novels are available to read free online at Jane Austen.org. All the novels are also available for free on Kindle (These of course are the public domain versions).
Yesterday, I received an email from Beth at Sourcebooks, who wanted to let me know that Sourcebooks would be celebrating Jane Austen's birthday today by offering for free, TODAY ONLY, ten bestselling Austen-inspired books in eBook format. What a nice treat for ebook readers! Thanks Sourebooks! The ebooks are suppose to be available wherever ebooks are available, (but as of early this morning I was only able to find them available for free at Barnes & Noble, for the Nook, but we should check Sourcebook's , Amazon.com and other ebook sites later to see if they become available free there too.) Even if you don't have an eReader, you can download the free Nook App at Barnes & Noble and read Nook books on five different device.
Here are the free titles from Barnes & Noble: (Click on the title. Remember to get downloading, they are only available today & tomorrow!)
Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds
Here are the free titles from Amazon.com (Click on the title. The prices are now updated)
Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds
PLUS, Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free for one day only. These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.
Here are the links to the Kindle Books:
Here are the links to the Nookbooks:
**UPDATE... Beth from Sourcebooks apologized for all the confusion. She wrote, "It takes a lot of cooperation from different parties to make the offer happen and unfortunately it took some extra time to iron out the kinks." The pricing is now corrected on Amazon.com, as well as Sony Reader Store, Google books, Sourcebooks and iBooks. As a thank you for being patient Sourcebooks is extending the free ebook downloads for these particular titles until tomorrow.
To read Austen is to be swept back in time, and yet her stories feel current. Her characters are filled with the wishes and desires that we all have deep in our souls, and the imperfect qualities that make us human. Join me in wishing Jane a happy birthday today, and tell me which Jane novel is your fav! Is there a novel you just couldn't get into? Read any good Austen-inspired novels? Share it all here! I'd love to hear!
**The Free eBook Promotion is over. I Hope Everyone who wanted to download these was able! Thanks Sourcebooks for a great promotion! And a fun way to celebrate Jane Austen's birthday!
Happy reading... Suzanne
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