I Was Asked to Be a Guest on the Podcast What the Austen? + My Review of Her Episode Disney Villains x Northanger Abbey with Ann from Paper.Hearts.Library

November of last year I was sent a message by Izzy Meakin asking if I wanted to be a part of her podcast; What the Austen?. I was honored to be asked and agreed.

Izzy had offered a few different podcast topics on Lydia Bennet, Louisa Musgrove, or Lucy Steele. I thought they were all great choices but settled on the best of the bad girls; “L is for Liability: Lucy Steele.” She’s a total mean girl.

We planned to record in January at 10AM PST. I plugged the time into my calendar and looked forward to it.

—Being a Guest on the Podcast—

Now I had been a guest on a podcast before; on P. S. I Love Rom-Coms, so I was slightly nervous but hoping I would do well and not lose my train of thought or repeat myself.

My calendar notified me a few days before the recording date, reminding me that the time was coming up, that Saturday at 12 PM. That day I woke up at 9:45 and started to get ready, when I looked at my calendar notification and started to think was that the right time? Luckily, I had screenshoted our appointment and saw I had imputed the time wrong time in my calendar!

That’s not good.

I had to hurry to get everything set up, with of course my electronics not wanting to work right!

Sigh!

But we were able to work it out, Izzy was understanding and such a delight to record with. In the beginning I struggled a bit with expressing my thoughts, you can hear the pauses in my speech:

From Clueless

But otherwise I had a wonderful time. I enjoyed the format a lot as we delved into the text; along with sharing our own views and thoughts. Izzy has the format very well structured to follow the character from introduction to final interaction, but she also leaves room to let the conversation flow naturally. All together it was a wonderful experience and I loved every moment of it.

—Review of Podcast Episode Disney Villains x Northanger Abbey with Ann from Paper.Hearts.Library

A while back I had planned to post a review of a What the Austen?’s post of comparing Jane Austen to Disney villains but haven’t had a chance to do so. I decided there is no better time than now in this post.

I had seen the posts about the comparing Disney villains with Austen villains. There are several different episodes but I decided to review this specific one as you know I love Northanger Abbey.

I had done something similar in a previous post where I tried to find a Disney story that matched up the closest with the Austen books. However, in this episode Izzy and Ann choose the best Disney Villains that matched up to the Austen villains, regardless of the whether or not the other Disney film characters correlated to the Austen story.

For General Tilney the ladies choose the closest villains to be the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective, Frollo from The Hunchback of Norte Dame, Clayton from Tarzan, and Jafar from Aladdin. I can see the similarities to all these characters; and I liked all the reasoning behind the choices but I really loved the connection to The Great Mouse Detective. I thought Izzy laid out excellent points out the connection to gothic literature and how Professor Ratigan is so larger than life as a villain, just how Catherine would see General Tilney. I also see Northanger Abbey as a mystery so the it was a great idea to compare her to Basil.

For John and Isabella Thorpe we have Honest John and Gideon from Pinocchio; along with Tweedledee and Tweedledum. I really liked the comparisons, especially Honest John and Gideon as both Thorpe’s take advantage of Catherine and her brother’s naivety to try. The other villain I would add would be the Siamese cats from The Aristocats as Isabella and John also work in tandem to get what they want and only think of themselves. Also like the Siamese cats they don’t have any real skills but rely on cheap tricks.

Also for John is LeFou from Beauty and the Beast. I do agree to that as I see him similar to the cartoon version; bumbling and not quite as high as they would like to be, but also not afraid to name drop. Izzy also chose Sir Hiss, from The Adventures of Robin Hood. I understood her reasoning, but I would disagree as Sir Hiss was very intelligent and good at what he did, he just was never listened to.

The other choices for Isabella Thorpe were Madame Medusa from The Rescuers, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Assistant Mayor Bellwether from Zootopia, and Mother Gothel from Tangled. The one I thought she was most similar to was Mother Gothel with the gaslighting and manipulation.

For Captain Tilney they had the Coachman from Pinocchio, I really liked how Izzy said both the Coachman and Captain Tilney had the characters think they were taking them to Pleasure Island, but instead making a donkey out of them. The other villain I thought he had some similarity to was Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco. Both Ernesto and Captain Tilney are suave and charismatic; and they also don’t care for other people, only thinking of themselves and what is good for them; or caring who they crush in going after what they want.

I found this episode and her podcast extremely enjoyable. I definitely recommend it for Jane Austen fans.

For more on Sense and Sensibility, go to Incense and Sensibility

For more on Northanger Abbey, go to Pup Fiction: Wishbone (1997) or How I’m Trying to Brainwash My Six Year Old Niece Into Liking Jane Austen (and Wishbone)

For more podcast episodes, go to I Was Asked to Be a Guest on the Podcast P.S. I Love Rom Coms + My Review of their Bridget Jones’ Diary Episode

For more Jane Austen meets Disney, go to Waiter, There’s Some Disney in My Jane Austen

For more Disney, go to A Carefree Holiday Suddenly Plunged Into Danger: The Moon-Spinners (1964)

Emma Spanish Language Audiobook Translated by José María Valverde and Narrated by Nuria Mediavilla

My book club is reading Emma, my pick, and I was hoping to get a copy of the audiobook from the Libby app to listen to.

I enjoy listening to audiobooks and sometimes when I hear the book instead of reading it, I pick up on something that I hadn’t noticed before. Plus it is so easy to play it when cleaning, cooking, driving, etc.

However, when searching for audiobooks Libby only has two Emma copies. One has an extremely long waitlist while the other was currently available. The first I had been on the waitlist forever and a day and had no illusions of it getting to me before we had our book club meeting. I did think it was odd that one audiobook should have so many holds and a six month waitlist and the other none, but I reasoned it as I must have just been lucky to spot a new addition to the app before all the others. I borrowed it and downloaded it immediately.

Oh well…

However, when I began listening to it I realized that it was in Spanish, not English.

From Clueless

As I have mentioned before I am Mexican but I am not fluent in Spanish (although I wish I was!). When it comes to understanding Spanish and translating it to English I do a lot better with the written word than hearing it. I think another reason why I struggled with this audiobook is that Austen is using words that aren’t as commonly used today, translated into Spanish, and I’m trying to retranslate it back into English. Although some lines I had memorized I could still follow along with, for instance the opening line.

So while I decided to give the audiobook a try it was a struggle. That is no reflection to the actual piece as I did think it was a good adaption as felt Nuria Mediavilla did very well in narrating. The only thing I had an issue with so that some of the pronunciation of the words follow the “Spanish” Spanish dialect which means that some of the words have the “th” sound; for example diez, diez y ocho, etc. are pronounced dieth, dieth y ocho, etc.

I would recommend it to those who are fluent in Spanish and looking for a Jane Austen audiobook to give it a listen. Although the Spanish “th” might be hard to hear if that’s not the type of Spanish you are used to hearing.

For more on Emma, go to Clueless Party Game: Ugh As If! Edition

For more audiobooks, go to The Real Jane Austen Audiobook Narrated by Kate Reading

Which Austen Characters are Kindred Spirits to Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe?

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1) by L. M. Montgomery

I know I have already written a post on my love of Anne of Green Gables, but after my book club had reread Anne of Green Gables i wanted to write a post on why I recommend it as a Non-Austen Read for Austen Readers. I just realized we read the book about two years ago and I never got around to posting (you know me, I have 100s of drafts of posts I need to complete.)

From The Iron Giant

I was looking for said draft when I discovered two older Anne of Green Gables drafts. I decided let’s clean house and combine all three.

Or class. Or lunch. Or anything!

Older owners of Green Gables, Matthew and Marilla Cutbert, have decided that in order to continue running their farm they need extra help. They decide to adopt an orphan boy, sending the message through the daughter of a friend. When Matthew goes to the station to pick him up, it turns out there was a serious miscommunication and they have a girl waiting.

Matthew takes her home, where Marilla is upset and determined to send her back. When she meets the woman who will take Anne instead, and sees how horrible she is, Marilla decides she will do her best to raise her.

Sigh!

Anne has had a hard life, her parents dying at a young age in poverty, then being shipped from family to family; mostly being used as a free baby-sitter than treated as a member of the family. She has spent a lot of her time alone or with children much younger than her, and has created habits that some, at that time, find strange. She has an extensive imagination, creates imaginary playmates, and when she does get with people just talks and talks and talks.

Marilla has no idea how to raise children, let alone this girl; so at first she tries to stop this behavior, but eventually it grows on her. Anne gets into all kinds of troubles, making mistakes as she transition from unwanted, uneducated, accident prone girl; to a confident, loved, intelligent, and wonderful woman.

I recommend this book for Austen fans as Anne Shirley is very similar to Fanny Price, Marianne Dashwood, Catherine Morland, and a little of Mr. Darcy. Like Fanny, Anne didn’t grow up as a member of the household in a regular way, often both girls were treated as higher than a servant but not a “real daughter”; that is until Fanny’s aunt and uncle see how much she means to them and is a part of their family; along with Anne finally finding a home in Green Gables.

Like Marianne and Catherine, Anne is a huge fan of reading and a romantic with an overactive imagination. She, like Marianne and Catherine, often has these romantic impulses get in the way of her common sense. Anne does many things, but her most “romantic impulse” is pretending to be The Lady of Shallot and almost drowning in a boat. Marianne also participated in many romantic notions and Catherine’s overactive imagination caused her to suspect Mr. Tilney’s father, General Tilney, of killing Mrs Tilney.

I know a lot of people compare Anne to Elizabeth because both have their pride wounded when they receive an insult about their appearance but to me I think Anne is more similar to Mr. Darcy as both’s temper would be described as:

“My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.”

-Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice

A lot of people use the interaction between Anne and Gilbert, (him cracking a joke calling her carrots and she smacking him over the head with her slate and from that moment on thinking of him as an enemy)-to compare Anne and Elizabeth Bennet; and while I can see why they would do so I think you could use that same interaction to compare Anne to Marianne. Anne dreams of a romantic hero who is tall, dark, and handsome; Gilbert fits the bill but while it is obvious to us Anne can’t see it as all she has is her wounded pride. Marianne is just as prideful, choosing to dislike Colonel Brandon because Mrs. Jennings wanted to pair them up; and she is insulted that Mrs. Jennings would dare think to do such a thing for Marianne with someone so “old”. Even though Colonel Brandon fits Marianne’s idea of what a man should be, she can’t see past her own wounded pride.

One of my original posts was to share my view on a Bookriot article which compared Jane Austen characters to L. M Montgomery’s, as I disagree with the author. In the article it compared Gilbert to Mr. Knightley, but I don’t see Gilbert and Mr. Knightley being the most similar characters as Gilbert never tried to “help” improve Anne because no one else cared about her moral state. Unlike Emma, Anne had many adults ( Miss Stacy, Mrs. Lynda, Marilla, the pastor’s wife, Matthew, the Barrys, etc) who cared about encourahing her but also helping her grow into a fully developed person; so Anne’s love interest wouldn’t be one who would take on that role. Instead to me, Gilbert is more similar to a Jane Austen character that loves the girl and accepts her, and enjoys her silly qualities and romantic notions. I think a better comparison of Gilbert can be made to Mr. Darcy, (in the way he keeps loving her and tries his best to improve his character and hoping she will see it); but I would say Gilbert is much closer to Mr. Tilney or Colonel Brandon. Both Mr. Tilney and Gilbert have joking sides and are willing to be imaginative but not quite as much as Anne or Catherine. Both, while having these vibrant personalities also choose professions were they have to be a bit more serious; Gilbert with becoming a doctor and Tilney a minister. Both men encourage imagination to a point, realizing there has to be a cap such as Gilbert telling Anne that her boat ride as Eleanor wasn’t the best thought out plan; and Tilney warning Catherine to be wary of letting her thoughts run away with her as they could have serious consequences. Both men never try and change the woman they love but embrace her romantic side.

Gilbert and Colonel Brandon both have had great tragedies in their lives that caused their dreams to not come to fruition. Both are older than the women they fall for, but also encourage them and don’t want to crush their fantastical and imaginative sides; instead loving that about them.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know below.

Either way I strongly recommend this book and the other novels in the Anne of Green Gables series for Jane Austen fans.

For more on Anne of Green Gables, go to I’m the Happiest Girl on Prince Edward Island: Anne of Green Gables

For more Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers, go to Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers: Anna and the Duke

Clueless Party Game: Ugh As If! Edition

My friend had a birthday party as month and pulled out this totally awesome and fun game: Clueless Party Game: Ugh As If! Edition.

As Clueless is an adaption of Emma and a Jane Austen item you know I had to review it.

After all:

Or watch it!

So in the game you pick out a Jeep and are given a report card. Your goal for the game is to be like Cher and turn her less than stellar grades into all As!

You don’t have any specific order to “negotiate” your classes but can start anywhere on the board.

You have six mini games that need to be completed.

Game 1: Fashion/Mis-Match (All Play)

In fashion, the player deals out Mis-Match cards with each card featuring six items that might be found in Cher’s closet (and were in the movie). Everyone plays and has to find two that match to get their A. If the person who’s turn it is finds them first, they get the A. If someone who’s turn it isn’t spots it first then no one gets the A.

This game is pretty easy and fun, you just need to be “quick eyed.”

Game 2: Friends/Life or Death (One Person Plays)

From Clueless

For friends, one player draws a Life or Death card, which offers two “would I rather” options and has to figure out which one the player’s who’s turn it is would pick.

This one was a lot of fun and easy if you know your friends.

Game 3: School/Debate Class (Two Play)

In debate class you pull out a card which has a prompt on it. You then pick one of the other players to be your opponent and flip the Clueless coin to see if you are for or against. You two then have to debate, with the other player going first and the player who’s turn it is going second. All remaining players vote on who they think debated better. If it is your turn and you win you get the A, if the other person wins no one gets the A.

This game was hard as you actually had to debate. Also if you have an even number of judges you may find yourself having to break the tie again and again. This was the most difficult part of the game and I had to do it so many times. It was exhausting.

Game 4: Driving/Driver’s Test (One Play)

This one asked real CA driving questions that you had to answer correctly to get an A.

This wasn’t too difficult if you have your license, but if you haven’t had to take the test in a while you might struggle on this one.

Game 5: Social/Party Questions (All Play)

For this one you pull a party card and read it aloud. All have to share a story and you vote on who has the best one. If it is the current player, they get the A. If another person has a better story then no one gets an A.

This one was a lot of fun as well, and we all always answered and learned even more about each other.

Game 6: Giving Back/Can I Donate This? (All Play)

For this game one player is the host and reads the card. The card will have three items and the other players have to try and figure out what their connection is. They can only guess items and the host will say yes or no if they match it. The first person to name three things in a row with the right connection win. If it is the current player they get the A, if not the current player no A.

Example: “I’m donating a crate, date, and plate” Connection: ends in ate. People will guess“blender“, no. Eventually someone will figure it out and guess words like “fate, late, rate” and win the game .

This one was interesting and I did really well at it; although a couple of times I guessed right but the connection I thought they had was wrong.

This game was a ton of fun and so cute. Each card had little quotes from the film on it as well. Perfect for fans of Clueless, Emma, and Jane Austen.

For more games, go to Marrying Mr. Darcy Card Game Undead Expansion Pack Review

For more board games, go to Pride and Prejudice: The Game

For more Jane Austen products review, go to Jane Austen Witty and Wise Coloring Book

For more Emma, go to The Emma Project

Bewitched, Body and Soul

Bewitched, Body and Soul by P. O. Dixon

I received this book for free quite a few years ago and just never got around to reading it. This year I have decided to read everything in my kindle and decide to whether to keep or delete it.

So this book is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, taking place after Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, Caroline, and the Hursts have left Netherfield to return to London. Jane is heartbroken:

Elizabeth is furious and doesn’t quite know what to do to help her sister feel better. When the Gardiners invite Jane to London, Jane refuses and Elizabeth decides to take her place. Her mission? Find Mr. Bingley and makes things right. And if she can’t find Bingley, she’ll appeal to Mr. Darcy.

However, when she meets with Caroline Bingley, Caroline is polite but tells Elizabeth that Mr. Bingley is out of town. This doesn’t deter Elizabeth who decides she will head over to Darcy’s house and show up unexpectedly-forgetting about proprietary for her mission.

But Mr. Darcy’s sister should be there, right? It should all be fine.

Meanwhile at the Darcy townhouse none of Darcy’s servants are there, his sister is also not there, and Darcy is trying to set things right as his house did not expect him so early. Elizabeth arrives on his doorstep, the very person he did not want to see as he ran away from his attraction to her.

He doesn’t want to receive her alone for fear it will damage her reputation, but with her sopping wet he doesn’t see any other options. Elizabeth begs Darcy to tell Mr. Bingley that Jane cares for him but Mr. Darcy has decided to stay out of the matter and tells her he refuses to be an intermediary but also will not do anything to stop her plans. This isn’t good enough for Elizabeth and she plans to storm off, but the rain and her missing carriage force her to stay in Darcy’s home. Darcy makes her some tea and plans to send her in his carriage after it returns from its errands. However, before that happens she collapses from fever.

That’s not good.

Mr. Darcy takes her upstairs into the only bed with a fire, the one that just happens to be his own, until he can light the fire in the best room-the lady of the house’s room. He then removes her wet clothes, no impropriety as he makes sure he doesn’t see anything, fetches a doctor, and brings his sister home to protect Elizabeth’s reputation.

Elizabeth wakes up and insists on going to her uncle and aunt’s house. She is determined to continue hating Mr. Darcy although she is upset his sister came to see her but he doesn’t come; he only sends fruit and flowers.

Why you acting like that?

A relation of Elizabeth’s Aunt Gardiner, Lady Susan, offers to sponsor her this London season. Originally Elizabeth had planned to return home as soon as she completed her mission, but decides to take Lady Susan up on her offer as it’s the only way to come into contact with Mr. Bingley (and it’s not like there are a lot of eligible men at home.) If she happens to meet someone, it’s two birds one stone.

But does she run into Mr. Bingley? Nope. Instead she keeps encountering Mr. Darcy.

Lord Latham is a long time friend of Mr. Darcy and his sister, Lady Gwendolyn, is head over heels for Darcy. Lady Gwendolyn is set on winning Darcy this season. She arranges for a house party and invites the usual suspects; along with Mr. Darcy and his friend Mr. Bingley (at Darcy’s request.) She also invites Elizabeth as she met her at a party and enjoyed her company at several others occasions. Unfortunately for her, Darcy doesn’t look at Lady Gwendolyn at all, he only has eyes for one lady.

Lady Gwendolyn gets very jealous and tries to sniff out any dirt around Elizabeth. Her maid had a relation that used to work at the Darcy house and was let go. Before they were fired, they witnessed the night Elizabeth came and shares this with Lady Gwendolyn’s maid, who in turn shares it with Lady Gwendolyn. Lady Gwendolyn tells her brother and hopes it will be the piece de resistance that helps her win her man.

Mr. Bingley arrives after the others but before Elizabeth gets a chance to talk to him she goes for a walk with Lady Gwendolyn who drops a bomb on her: Darcy took Bingley away from Netherfield to keep him from marrying into her family. Lady Gwendolyn doesn’t out and admit it is Elizabeth’s fmaily, but she does drop enough hints that Elizabeth pieces this all together.

In Lord Latham’s study he and Darcy are having a discussion and Lord Lathan shares the rumor he heard about Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy professes his innocence, but is determined to do the right thing in order to save Elizabeth’s reputation. He proposes to Elizabeth “in order to protect her” and not only does she refuse him; but she also throws Wickham’s situation at him. Yep, yikes.

Elizabeth and Lady Susan leave early; along with Darcy and Bingley. This party turned out to be a real downer and not at all what anyone was hoping for.

Georgiana wants to host a party, planning to invite Elizabeth and the Gardiners, but Darcy tells her a little bit of what happened and how poorly Elizabeth thinks of him. Georgina wants to fix this and goes to Elizabeth to tell her the truth about Wickham and his evil ways.

While there, Elizabeth receives a letter from her family and finds out that Lydia has run off with Wickham.

Lydia right now

Elizabeth returns home, but luckily all is fixed. Lydia and Wickham marry, Mr. Bingley returns to Netherfield and all is looking good; except Elizabeth has fallen for Darcy and doesn’t have him.

Will she be able to win his heart again? Or has she lost him forever?

I enjoyed this retelling a lot, except for Elizabeth. I felt her character was rather annoying at times (especially in the beginning) and I still couldn’t believe that someone who would be embarrassed so much at her family’s lack of propriety would completely ignore it herself.

But other than that I found myself caught up in the story and wanting to finish it. I enjoyed the new characters although I did feel Lady Gwendolyn was living in bit of a dream world when the truth was obvious. Although like Charlotte said:

But yes, this was an enjoyable read.

For more Pride and Prejudice, go to Longbourn’s Songbird

For more Pride and Prejudice adaptations, go to Mr. Darcy’s Valentine

For more Jane Austen, go to The Making of Pride and Prejudice (1995)

For more on Jane Austen, go to I Will Try to Find My Place in the Diary of Jane: Jane Austen Biographies