The Annotated Northanger Abbey

The Annotated Northanger Abbey by David M. Shapard
Although Northanger Abbey is not my favorite novel by Jane Austen reading the annotated version definitely made me like the novel more. Never having studied Austen in any English class and having the parody explained in detail was very helpful to understand where Austen was coming from when writing the novel. Having read the Mysteries of Udolpho and Cecelia both of which are mentioned in Northanger Abbey rereading the novel and the editor's notes on the parody between the heroines of gothic novels and Austen's made better understand the social commentary. The editor's notes on society certainly broadened my understanding of the Regency era and the events of the time.

The only thing I disliked about the annotated version was the definitions of period vocabulary, which I understand as being important when reading Austen for the first time but distracted me from the more interesting historical facts. After reading the annotated version of Northanger Abbey I'm excited to read one of the other annotated Austen novels that the editor has produced.

Grad School, Audio Books, and Terrible Novels

Obviously not much has been posted in the last year, such is the life of a graduate student, although I have managed to listen to a lot of novels. Thank God for Project Gutenberg and their audio recordings through LibriVox.org for making my long drives much easier to bear. Courtesy of LibriVox and Project Gutenberg I've listened to all of Jane Austen's novels; Cecelia by Fanny Burney and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe both of which are mentioned in Northanger Abbey; This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Tarzan of the Apes, Return of Tarzan, Beasts of Tarzan, and currently I'm listening to The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Gossip Girl, You Know You Love Me, All I Want Is Everything by Cecily von Ziegesar
This series follows the lives of upper-East-siders Serena Van Der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass, Nate Archibald, Dan Humphry, Jenny Humphry, Vanessa Abrams, et al. The first novel covers roughly two weeks of all of which is covered in the first episode of the T.V. series. Unfortunately these novels have little to do with the T.V. series which is actually much more involved and intriguing than the books. I hadn't expected the novels to be gripping but I had hoped to be at least mildly entertained. For being published as young adult novels there is an absurd amount to cussing and blunt wording of sex, drugs, abortions, and catty girl drama.

Alphas, Movers and Fakers, Belle of the Brawl, Top of the Feud Chain by Lisi Harrison
Is another catty young adult book series but has more of a twist than most. The books follow a group of 100 girls at an elite school for talented girls as they compete to be the alpha bitch. I thought the books were fairly standard but filled with enough unexpected twists to make them very entertaining, although not thought provoking.