Pleasure in a Good Novel, with Reader’s Poll

This month, we will be sharing some scattered posts on the theme The Pleasure of a Good Book, which hearkens back to this quote from Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey:

“The person … who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid. I have read Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again. I remember finishing it in two days, my hair standing on end the whole time.”

Is this Jane Austen’s way of tooting her own horn? Sure, but it’s probably her honest opinion as well. She and her family were enthusiastic novel readers, and, according to one of her preserved letters, “not ashamed of being so.” The idea of being ashamed to admit reading novels sounds absurd to us. In Austen’s day, however, when that literary form was still in it’s infancy, the novel did not yet enjoy wide social acceptance. Plays and poetry were considered more the thing. Shakespeare, probably the most revered English author of all time, never wrote a novel, after all.

Because of the above reference in Northanger Abbey, I became curious about The Mysteries of Udolpho. It’s a real book, one Jane Austen read. Much to my surprise, I discovered it available through my local public library. I checked it out and read it a few years ago. It took me at least a couple of weeks, not two days like Henry Tilney, and I didn’t feel my hair standing on end even once, which was a disappointment. Tame by today’s standards and painfully long-winded. Wordy.

Isn’t it somehow ironic to accuse a book of having too many words? Yet it’s a common criticism of the classics. Even with Jane Austen, who was not as given to exhaustive descriptions as most, you can find enormously long paragraphs and speeches compared to the soundbites we’re used to today.

That older style isn’t inferior; it was appropriate for the time. When books were one of the few sources of entertainment available, I imagine readers wanted their precious novels to last as long as possible. Precise, detailed descriptions were a plus for anyone not able to easily visualize other times, places, and social strata by simply turning on a television. Add the fact that writers (Dickens, for instance, with his serialized works) were sometimes paid by the word, and the phenomenon is explained.

Nowadays, we have a lot to choose from, dozens of different mediums competing for our entertainment time and dollar. But I hope the novel never goes out of style. I say that as a novel reader, not just because I write them.

Obviously, if you subscribe to this blog, you are a fan of novels too, especially Jane Austen’s and her literary descendants. I’m curious about your specific reading habit’s, though, so today I’m taking an unofficial poll. (I have a theory, and I’m wondering how accurate it is.)

Which best describes you?

  1. I read equally from a wide variety of genres.
  2. I read from a wide variety of genres, but with a preference for Regency era novels and Jane Austen inspired fiction.
  3. Jane Austen inspired fiction and other Regency era novels make up the vast majority of what I read.
  4. I love JAFF of every kind. That’s all I read.
  5. I’m a certifiable JAFF addict, but I’m really only interested in Pride and Prejudice stories.
  6. I’m more loyal to an author than to any particular genre. If it’s an author I have especially enjoyed, I will probably read everything they have ever written.

 

You might not fall neatly into only one category. I don’t. I’d have to say I’m a combination of #2 and #6. (For more on my reading habits and book recommendations, see this post: Summer Reading Picks). What about you? Please let me know what you read and why in the comments below. Thanks for participating in this unofficial reader’s poll!

Shannon Winslow

Shannon Winslow claims she was minding her own business – raising two sons and pursuing a very sensible career – when an ordinary trip to Costco about fifteen years ago changed her life. That was the day a copy of the ’95 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice fairly leapt off the shelf and into her oversized shopping cart. After watching the mini-series, Shannon was hopelessly hooked on the story, Colin Firth’s Darcy, and all things Jane Austen. One may guess what followed – compulsive reading, late-night trips to the library and video store, secret rendezvous with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightley. Finally, only one thing remained. Her dedication (or obsession, as it could more rightly be described) ultimately inspired her to begin writing her own stories a la Austen.

Here's what Shannon says about her unique approach to writing JAFF: "Since I’m just sappy enough to believe there’s only one true story for the characters I’ve grown to love (and Jane Austen wrote it), I amuse myself with adding onto rather than varying from canon - expanding on what Jane Austen gave us and filling in the blanks in the record with prequel, sequel, and supplemental views. What was Mr. Darcy doing all the time he’s absent from the page? What happened to Colonel Brandon in India? And how did our favorite couples fare after the wedding? Inquiring minds want to know, and I’m happy to deliver the answers!"

58 comments

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    • Susan S on September 4, 2018 at 12:50 am
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    I am definitely #1, reading nonfiction, biography, classic & literary fiction, mystery, science fiction, paranormal cozies … I read everything! Of course, Jane Austen in my favorite, and I reread her novels every year.

    1. Thanks, Susan!

    • Buturot on September 4, 2018 at 1:01 am
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    I’m not much a reader. Pretty much only books that interest me or catch my curiosity (which is only a handful) until I saw a P & P ovie then I am hooked. Assd long as E & D are in the story I borrow/buy/read the book. I initially liked the regency versions but lately the modern P & P had been good stories so I got hooked into it too. Definitely a P & P addict. I guess once I read all P & P variations, that might be the only time I start reading other stories.

    1. Okay, I putting you down as a definite #5!

    • Lena on September 4, 2018 at 2:19 am
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    Both #1 and #5 apply to me. I like to read the classics and see what all the fuss is about – sometimes I like them, sometimes I don’t. I also read contemporary fiction (drama, fantasy, horror, romance, adventure, plays, short stories, poetry, etc.) I have read (and enjoyed!) all of Jane Austen’s novels, but Pride and Prejudice is far and away my favorite. I recently had to choose ten novels I would take with me to a deserted island, with these restrictions: no plays, no short stories, no nonfiction, no compilation books, no poetry books, and nothing that is part of a series *unless* it is a stand-alone novel as far as you are concerned (i.e. you haven’t read the rest of the series, or didn’t like it, etc.) It was extremely difficult to decide, but Pride and Prejudice was my first (and most obvious) choice!

    These were my selections:
    -Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
    -The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien (this counts as one book!)
    -Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
    -The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel
    -I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
    -A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
    -The Storyteller, by Jodi Picoult
    -Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
    -The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
    -The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

    1. Interesting list, Lena. That’s a difficult task, paring down to ten novels. Thanks for your comments.

  4. I’m a combination of #3 and #5. Actually strictly P&P variations and clean Regency romance.

    1. Thanks, Gianna.

    • karen on September 4, 2018 at 3:24 am
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    currently i am a 5, but lifelong i am a 2. i assume my current craving for P&P based stories will wane. in previous times i have been slavishly devoted, for a year or three at a time, to dragon fantasy, cozy mysteries, common man biographies/diaries or a few other genres.

    1. Interesting – binge on one thing until you eventually tire of it and then move on. Thanks, Karen.

    • tiggy on September 4, 2018 at 3:38 am
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    #5 definitley

    1. Thanks! 🙂

    • Anji on September 4, 2018 at 4:18 am
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    Like you Shannon, I’m more of a combination of 2 and 6 (you’re one of my authors for 6, by the way!). A lot of what I currently read is Austenesque fiction (both Regency and other eras) but I do intersperse it with other genres. I’ve been a sci-fi geek for even longer than I’ve been a Janeite and I’m particularly fond of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series (because….dragons!) and the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and the like.

    My Regency-era reading also includes Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series – a look at a rather different side of things from that era. Fiction intertwined with real historical events, when done well, is another genre I like, such as the works of Philippa Gregory. That sort of thing always sends me off on a research binge afterwards about the events of the time. One of the things I like about Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels is that he always wrote notes, explaining the historical background and where and why he altered things to suit his narrative.

    Then there’s the fantasy genre, such as the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and George R. R. Martin and I’ve been waiting anxiously for The Winds of Winter (book 6 in A Song of Ice and Fire) for seven years now. Hope he manages to finish it soon and get on with the last book in the series. Still, we may find out the fate of some of his characters when the final series of Game of Thrones airs next year, as he’s told the producers what the eventual outcomes will be. They might be getting there by a different route, though!

    1. Thanks, Anji! I’m going to look up Bernard C. Sharpe and give him a try.

    • Nan on September 4, 2018 at 6:32 am
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    I’m a 2 and 6. Have always loved Jane A. and re-read her every couple of years. The last time I did my re-read, discovered the variations and have been reading mostly regency novels for a few months. Like Karen, I expect my obsession will end, and I’ll go back to contemporary novels and detective stories, but for now, I’m just going with it.

    Have always been constant reader. Can’t stand tv, and read fast (‘devour’ books generally applies) so always searching for material to read.

    1. Thank for you comments, Nan!

    • Stephanie Carrico on September 4, 2018 at 8:07 am
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    While many labels apply, I think I’m a #2 and #6…..I love reading….I read any time I have a free period. My genres vary from moment to moment, with JAFF being a big chunk of my choices. I will read any thing and everything by a favorite author, from Jane Austen to Louis L’Amour with a strong sci-fi section, my library continues to grow.

    1. Cool. Thanks for registering your reading preferences. 🙂

    • J. W. Garrett on September 4, 2018 at 8:11 am
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    I’m also a #2 & #6. I love JAFF and the Regency era. I will read modern but am selective. My family is Scottish so I can’t resist a good Scottish Highlander story. My mother was a ravenous reader as was her sister. Since I’ve retired, I am understanding more and more the simple pleasures in reading a good book. I read to escape and to enjoy another time.

    1. I appreciate your comments. Thanks!

    • Vesper Meikle on September 4, 2018 at 9:13 am
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    I read equally from a wide variety of genres – mainly histroical mysteries and modern crime. Within JAFF I prefer non Elizabeth/Darcy stories i.e. my favourite are Colonel and Mary ones plus any other variations from the other books

    1. I guess that makes you a #1. You’re definitely in the minority, preferring NON-D&E stories, but maybe that means I can count on at least one person being interested in other things I write! 😀

    • Carole in Canada on September 4, 2018 at 10:34 am
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    Well, I’m a mixture of #2 and #6 with a side order of #1. I do like to change up my reading of Jane Austen variations with Victorian murder/mystery, WWI and WWII stories, cozy mysteries, the odd non-fiction, generally historical. It always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to come back and read the wonderful variations out there…angst and all!

    1. Thanks for your comments, Carole. Sounds like our tastes are pretty similar. 🙂

    • Sarah P on September 4, 2018 at 10:39 am
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    Previously I would have rated myself as #2, with special emphasis on mystery / crimd stories. But based on my more recent reading habits I appear to be more #5 than anything else

    1. Haha! You’re on a P&P binge, it seems. Thanks, Sarah.

    • Sarah on September 4, 2018 at 11:01 am
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    I am definitely a 6, but go through phases of focusing on a particular genre and will branch out with new authors in that genre.

    1. That makes sense. I do that too, Sarah.

    • Maureen C on September 4, 2018 at 11:35 am
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    I am somewhere between 2 and 3. Much of what I read is sweet Regency or JAFF, but I also like other historical fiction, some fantasy, and some contemporary clean romance or suspense.

    1. Sounds good, Maureen. I like to keep it sweet and clean too, but gotta have romance!

    • Lily on September 4, 2018 at 11:58 am
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    I’m basically 1, with a touch of 6.

    1. Thaks, Lily!

  17. I’m an avid reader; it’s not unusual for me to gobble up two or three novels a week. I’d have to say I’m part #2 and part #6, but I mostly read from two genres: JAFF (not just P&P–I actually prefer JAFF of other works by Austen) and mysteries.

    I’ve read all of Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight series (set in turn-of-the-20th century New York) as well as all of Anne Perry’s Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries. I’m a devoted fan of Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey series, including the new ones penned with permission of the Sayers estate by Jill Paton Walsh. I’ll read the occasional cozy or paranormal mystery, but I love a great series that I can really sink my teeth into and really fall in love with the characters long term.

    With a degree in English lit, I do tend back toward the classics, especially since I teach Shakespeare in online classes for homeschoolers. And I do read religious nonfiction from time to time, especially the “classics” and more modern writers such as Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Anne Lamott, Eugene Peterson, and Ann Voskamp, especially where they converge with my love of mysticism and liturgy. If I were ever to return to school to earn my Ph.D., it would be in medieval lit, specifically Saint Julian of Norwich.

    My favorite JAFF authors are all right here: Abigail Reynolds (my first foray into JAFF), Maria Grace, Nicole Clarkston, Amy D’Orazio, Jack Caldwell, LL. Diamond, Shannon Winslow–yeah. basically everyone here. I also love Syrie James and Jeanna Ellsworth.

    I also tend to re-read books. I’ve re-read all of my JAFF books at least once, and Maria Grace’s dragon series I’ve re-read more often than I can count. (Seriously, like over a dozen times.) I find myself re-reading JAFF for comfort. I don’t tend to go for comfort food; I need comfort books. And when life becomes challenging and chaotic (as it can when I and two of our kids have genetic autoimmune illnesses and another child is autistic), there’s nothing like re-reading an old friend to settle my spirit and restore my equanimity. That, and the Book of Common Prayer as I’m a confirmed Anglican (despite living in Southern California my whole life).

    I know the HEA is coming in these beloved books, and that helps. So much. 🙂

    So thank you, authors of Austen Variations, for being both my therapy and my friends. <3

    Warmly,
    Susanne, who is also an avid writer, as one can see from my long posts, LOL! 😉

    1. Thanks for your “long” and throrough answer, Susanne. 😀 I made note of some of your favorite authors and will check them out. I don’t know how you find time to read 2-3 novels a week, though!

    • Munteanu Christina on September 4, 2018 at 2:28 pm
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    I’m basically a mix between 1 and 5,being a P&P addict ….My only sorrow is that i can’y buy all the book that I want to read (my hubby will kill me) but I use to reread all the P&P sequel and discover new meanings and nuances . Thanks to Abigail Reynolds,Kara Louise ,Jack Caldwell and Linda Wells I keep sane for my reinforced immobility,so there you are.

    1. Thanks for you comments! Glad some of us have helped you stay sane. 🙂 Good to know we authors provide a valuable service!

    • Sabrina on September 4, 2018 at 4:52 pm
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    I‘ve always been a 6: I read a lot of Jane Austen (my favourites by far are P&P, Emma, Persuasion), liked Ken Follet, Minette Walters, Georgette Heyer, Patricia Cornwell, Elizabeth Gaskell, Joanne K. Rowling, …

    But for some time it seems I‘m completely addicted to Darcy and Elizabeth, so it’s 5 now (my favourite story is darcy‘s voyage by Kara Louise). I love a little angst and adventure in my p&p-stories.

    1. I appreciate the #6s, Sabrina! I like to think that once I win a reader over, s/he will want to read the other things I’ve written too. 😀

    • Suzanne on September 4, 2018 at 7:04 pm
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    I use to love JAFF but lately have been finding a lot of books are basically variations of the same themes (forced marriage being done to death) and misunderstandings non-stop to the point of ridiculousness – so I stopped reading so many. I don’t like JAFF that is so far from the books that JA wrote that they are practically unrecognizable. For example, a bad Jane.

    1. I can imagine how that can happen, Suzanne. With more and more people writing JAFF all the time, particularly D&E stories, they can’t all be works of originality and genius. I don’t read much JAFF myself, not wanting to be influenced by other authors’ story lines. If any of mine come out similar to anybody elses, it’s purely coincidental. I also think we’d have more variety if we (readers and writers) expanded our horizons a bit to JA’s other novels. Unfortunately (as I know from personal experience), non-P&P books just don’t sell very well. If you read today’s comments, we have a lot of # 5s: only interested in P&P stories.

    • Kirk on September 4, 2018 at 9:01 pm
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    I would like to put in a good word for #4…first sentence. JAFF(and Jane Austen non-fiction) is about 70% of my 2018 Goodreads total….more if you include the vast number of unpublished one shots/short ones(including a slightly bad Jane, lol! Team Jane Bennet!!!). In the past two or three years JAFF has been around 30%. The American Civil War is 2nd(I’m a member of a Civil War book club) and a small variety of nature/travel/history(US) books.

    1. I’m glad you read “all kinds” of JAFF, Kirk, not only P&P stories. Much as I love the guy, I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life writing “Mr. Darcy This” and “Mr. Darcy That.” Austen’s other heros and heroines deserve stories too. IMO, variety is a good thing!

  22. 4 and 6

    1. Thanks, Patty!

    • Chelsea on September 5, 2018 at 10:37 am
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    I guess I would say I am a number 1 because I enjoy a few different genres including paranormal romance, historical romance (usually Regency Period but not always), science fiction (like time travel), fantasy (I loved Harry Potter), Manga (type of graphic novels), and the occasional contemporary romance novel. I tend to go on reading kicks were I read several of one genre in a row before moving on to another genre but JAFF is probably one of the types I go on the longest kicks for.

    1. Seems to be a common theme here, Chelsea – kicks / binges for one kind of novel and then moving on to something else. Thanks so much for your input!

    • Sheila L. Majczan on September 6, 2018 at 3:30 pm
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    5. I’m a certifiable JAFF addict, but I’m really only interested in Pride and Prejudice stories. – This is mostly me but I have read the eight books of the Outlander series, only finishing last year and I am also a fan of North and South and its variations. I like the Regency as well as the modern versions but don’t read most of those with “intimate” or “sensual” in the title. I have had more variety in the past but since retiring in 2012 it is mostly P&P variations. I have also read some of the paranormal variations of P&P and enjoyed.

  25. Yeah, I guess that makes you a #5 with significant exceptions. 😉 Thanks, Sheila!

  26. #2 for me. I started as a youngster sneaking my Moms Harlequin historical romances and had my eyes opened to the world of JAFF by Pamela Aidan’s, Mr. Darcy, Gentleman Trilogy in 2005. I read other genres, but they often seem to end up with a historical setting and a romantic core. (like Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series).

      • Shannon Winslow on September 8, 2018 at 11:08 pm
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      I can read almost any genre as long as there’s romance involved. Although, I don’t want to read anything where one or both of the two lovers dies, which pretty much rules out all Nicholas Sparks novels!

    • MB on September 6, 2018 at 9:30 pm
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    It looks like I’m a 1. Besides the JAFF that I read, my Goodreads lists tell me that I read and enjoy comparable quantities of books in each of the following categories: biography, history, young adult fantasy, sociology, politics, late 19th and early 20th century British fiction, essays and commentaries, and theology.
    I just now realized something. This week, right after I finished reading “A Match for Mary Bennet”, in which Mary becomes quite involved in the music for the local parish church services, I started in on the next book on my bedside pile, a theology tome, which has, it seems, an unexpectedly appropriate title for this particular reading sequence: “Women in the Church: Reclaiming the Ideal”. Hah.

      • Shannon Winslow on September 8, 2018 at 11:15 pm
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      Congratulations, MB. You are far more diversified in your reading habits than most the rest of us!
      Cool that your reading order worked out so serendipitous! I wish my devotional based on JA’s prayers was ready to follow next.

        • MB on September 9, 2018 at 8:35 am
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        That sounds interesting. I will watch for that.

    • Laurie McClain on September 7, 2018 at 11:42 pm
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    I’ve always been a #1, but that was before I found a way to get my hands on a LOT of JAFF. I only read what I could find at the library for many, many years, but since Pam Hunter added me to the JA groups a couple of years ago and I’ve been able to find so many great variations at prices I can actually afford, I’m reading more of that than anything else for sure. Still reading some other classics and mysteries, etc., but more than half has to be JAFF.

      • Shannon Winslow on September 8, 2018 at 11:17 pm
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      Thanks for sharing your answer, Laurie. Glad you discovered that feeding your addiction can be affordable!

    • Ann Dawson on September 18, 2018 at 10:28 am
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    Hope I am not too late to answer – I would say I was a 1 – a mixed diet of reading and rereading books.
    I include Jane Austen or a JAFF as often as I can and also read any number of different authors – I include – Elizabeth Goudge, Rob Bell, Sue Grafton, Lindsay Davis, Dorothy L Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh plus J K Rowling including the Cormoran Strike Series by JKR writing as Robert Galbraith as well as JKR and Harry Potter. I feel very lucky we have loads of book shelves full of books in our house plus a Kindle with a lot of JAFF including Shannon Winslow, Kara Louise, Jack Caldwell and Maria Grace and I go to the library a lot to burrow to first read an author to see if I like the style. Looking up from the computer I can see Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society, Sara Maitland – a book of Silence, Barbara Brown Taylor – Learning to walk in the dark and a huge collected works of Jane Austen and the individual JA novels. . So really truly 1 is my category.
    Yes there is time for life and I read in bed at the end of the day.

      • Shannon Winslow on September 19, 2018 at 11:26 am
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      Hi, Ann! Not too late. Yes, that’s a good mix you’ve got going on, and thanks for including some “Shannon Winslow” in there! I hear “Guernsey” is being made into a movie. It’s been years, but I know I enjoyed that book so will plan to see the movie when it comes around.

    • Suzan Lauder on October 16, 2018 at 7:07 pm
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    I’m a solid 3, a little 5, and a little 6. I rarely read outside of JAFF or Jane Austen non-fiction. If I do, it’s mostly Regency romance, but I do leave space for one or two highly acclaimed literary fiction works a year, or books written by non-JAFF writers who are friends. When I read JAFF, I rarely read outside of P&P Regency variations that offer a greater amount of dramatic tension than the average mushy sequel. If I read a book I like, I’ll read more by that author, but I do snag freebies for unknown to me authors to try them out. The trouble is that my TBR list is so long, the new books by my fave authors are always getting read and the newbies are at the bottom of the list. I’m also influenced by the lists of the JAFF review blogs, though sometimes we do differ on what we think is a great read! I’ve found some ho-hum books on top ten lists! Thanks for this opportunity, Shannon.

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