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)

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

Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers: Anna and the Duke

Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers is something I started a while back for fans of Jane Austen who after reading all her works are looking for something new to read.

There are numerous variations of Jane Austen’s works, but while those adaptations are fun, sometimes you don’t always want to read the same story. Sometimes you want Austen-like works, but not exactly the same as Austen’s works. But what can you read instead?

That’s why I started this series. I will be reviewing books that have components of what we love about the Austen novels, but are not just another retelling, but their own unique story.

Anna and the Duke (An Avon True Romance #4) + (The MacLaughlins #1) by Kathryn Smith

I first encountered this Avon True Romance series for young adults with the book Victoria and the Rogue.

The Avon True Romance for Teens was written by different authors and is a collection of clean, historical romances-written specifically for the teen/YA market. Every book has romantic scenes but nothing that goes farther than light kissing.

Anna and the Duke (An Avon True Romance #4) + (The MacLaughlins #1) by Kathryn Smith

The story begins with Ewan MacLaughlin in Scotland. He is a man of many titles; the Earl of Keir, Viscount Dunkirk, Baron Kyne, a laird in Scotland; but also the first son of the English Duke of Brahm.

Ewan is of English and Scottish descent, but has spent his whole life in Scotland. After his father and mother married, his father left with all his mother’s money and went back to England, only returning when Ewan’s mother died. The Duke left after the funeral to England, remarried, and was never seen in Scotland again.

Ewan has continued to live his life taking care of the land; but all that changes when his father dies and he inherits the title Duke of Brahm, and is invited to his family home.

The last thing Ewan wants to do is go to England and meet his father’s “other family”, but he heads to England. When he arrives in England he is pleasantly surprised to meet a lovely woman in a bookstore who not only enjoys poetry but recommends a copy of Byron for him. He is interested in her but tells himself to focus on the will reading; basically take the money inherited and fix up the land in Scotland.

Anna is a beautiful young lady, who on her first season managed to snag the soon-to-be Duke of Brahm, Richard Fitzgerald. Anna is the daughter of a wealthy merchant who’s social climbing mother desperately wanted her to marry a titled lord and with the dowry Anna has there is no doubt she would be able to win over the “right” man.

Anna is more concerned with love, and is blown away when the sweet and charming soon-to-be Duke, Richard Fitzgerald, pays her attention and asks for her hand. Everything was fine until the Duke died and it was discovered that Richard will not inherit the Dukedom after all, it turns out that he has a secret older brother who will inherit the title and property. This doesn’t matter to Anna, but ever since the news dropped Richard has been acting odd. At first Anna writes it off as grief, but then begins to wonder did she ever know her fiancé?

She meets a handsome Scottish man in the bookstore and gives over the copy of Byron she was planning on purchasing. She finds him very attractive and interesting, but ignores this interest as she is an engaged woman. That evening all meet at the Fitzgerald’s home and Anna discovers that the handsome man she meet in the bookstore is Ewan, Richard’s brother.

Hester, the Duke’s second wife, and Emily (her daughter and the boys’ sister) both eagerly welcome Ewan into their home and he equally enjoys spending time with them. Ewan gets along with everyone, he and Anna having quite a lot in common…the only dark clouds being Richard and Anna’s mother (who is upset that her daughter won’t marry a Duke after all).

Ewan discovers that there is more to his father than he thought, learning from Hester and Emily about the type of father he was and also reading the letter left for him. He becomes thankful that he came to England as it was able to help him finally come to terms with the baggage he was carrying and because he enjoys being with Anna.

Yes, ouch he fell for his brother’s girl; but tries hard to not show it as he doesn’t want to steal something else from his newfound brother. However, Anna has also fallen for Ewan, although she knows that she shouldn’t try to be with him as she is engaged and doesn’t want to hurt Richard. That is, until Richard starts acting terrible and Anna realizes that she knows nothing about the man she is engaged to, she only know of the “pretend” version he played to get her dowry, a sizable fortune and part of her father’s company.

While Ewan and Anna are trying to keep their relationship at friendship level only, someone is after Ewan. Someone is trying to prove him illegitimate, and one night he is attacked by some ruffians. Thoughts turn to Richard being the one behind this, but could it be Anna’s mother?

Hmm…

Eventually Anna and Ewan cannot hold back their feelings any longer and both confess their attraction to each other. They plan to run away to Gretna Greene, but on the night of their elopement Ewan is captured.

Will Ewan make it out alright or be killed? Will Anna find her love? Will everything end happily ever after?

This is a fun and sweet read with some light suspense as we try to discover if Ewan will make it out okay and run away with his love.

I recommend it for Jane Austen fans as it is a regency romance that has a main character who loves to read poetry and has had it influence her ideas of love like Marianne Dashwood and Catherine Morland.

Our main character also has a social climbing mother obsessed with marrying her off and often embarrass her in front of people; along with a physically present father but one who is absent emotionally; just like Elizabeth Bennet.

I definitely recommend it.

For more Avon True Romances, go to Victoria and the Rogue

For more Non-Austen Reads for Austen Readers, go to A Match Made in Mehendi

The Real Jane Austen Audiobook Narrated by Kate Reading

The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things Audiobook by Paula Byrne, Narrated by Kate Reading

Back in 2013 I was adding different books to my endless to-read list on Goodreads.

When I saw this book and added it to my list and then forgot all about it.

Fast forward to 2023 and I was scrolling the audiobooks on the Libby app looking for something new to listen to when I spotted this book, The Real Jane Austen, and decided to give it a listen.

I really enjoyed this book a lot, my only regret is that I didn’t have the print version which would have been easier for me to take notes; as I really, really loved this biography. It was so good!

However, the audiobook was still extremely enjoyable and I strongly recommend this to any Jane Austen fan.

The Real Jane Austen is a biography in a completely different format. Most biographies start with Jane Austen’s life and follow a timeline from birth to death. In The Real Jane Austen each chapter starts with an object in Jane Austen’s world-vellum notebook, a barouche, a simple gold chain, a bathing machine, etc.; and discusses it significance to her and it’s role in her novels.

One of my favorite chapters was the one on The Barouhe. I always knew transportation was important, but I never really thought about how important it was, and how not having your own carriages, barouches, or other modes of transportation left you at the mercy of others schedules and plans. Bryne talks about how without your own vehicle, especially as a woman, one would have to wait for elder brothers to come and get them; sometimes having to leave earlier then they wished or stay much longer than they liked.

Also having your own barouche or other vehicle meant you “arrived in society”; and if you drove your own vehicle you were both glamorous and dangerous.

It also gave new meaning to me about John Thorpe’s bragging about his vehicle.

“What do you think of my gig, Miss Morland? A neat one, is not it? Well hung; town-built; I have not had it a month. It was built for a Christchurch man, a friend of mine, a very good sort of fellow…Curricle-hung, you see; seat, trunk, sword-case, splashing-board, lamps, silver moulding, all you see complete; the iron-work as good as new, or better. He asked fifty guineas; I closed with him directly, threw down the money, and the carriage was mine.”

John Thorpe in Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

He’s really trying to impress Catherine. I mean he is really trying to show her how glamorous, dangerous, and flourishing he is.

Another part I really enjoyed was hearing about how Jane Austen used to write on the back of the novels she owned (by other authors) what she thought happened to the characters. That made me think she would be happy to hear that her readers do the same with her characters.

Or at least most of them. 😆

But happy to see all the variations out there

Another point I found very interesting was how Bryne points out that Jane Austen heroines are never described really as attractive physically, typically being average, and it’s their internal qualities and intelligence that are more beautiful and draw people to them. Catherine is not a great beauty, Emma is handsome not beautiful, Elizabeth has fine eyes but the rest of her features are average, etc. I like that their brain, intelligence, and personality is what first strikes people’s attention; their beauty growing the more they spend time together.

These are just a few of the thoughts I had after reading this biography, I do have a few more percolating into becoming the possibility of a full blown post.

Again, I recommend this book to any Jane Austen fan. It was extremely interesting, and I really enjoyed every part. I do think that it would be best to read a traditional biography first to have a sense of Jane Austen’s life; but if you already have read one, or several, then definitely check this book out.

For more Jane Austen biographies, go to Jane Austen (Little People, BIG DREAMS)

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

For more audiobook reviews, go to Recipe for Persuasion Audiobook Narrated by Soneela Nankani

Non-Austen Films for Austen Fans: A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)

So after you watch every single version of Jane Austen movies, what do you have to watch next?

Hmm…I don’t know!

That’s why I started this list, to have non-Austen films that Austen fans can enjoy.

I can’t stop watching!

And since it is Christmas Eve, why not a Christmas Non-Austen Film for Austen Fans?

Eve (Lana McKissack) and Lacey (Kimberly Daugherty) are sisters; Eve loves Christmas and Christmas films, while Lacey is not a fan of either. Both of them aren’t having a wonderful Christmas as Lacey was ghosted by another jerk, Eve’s boss doesn’t know her name and won’t consider her for graphic design, and the heat is broken in their apartment.

This Christmas Eve, Eve tries to add more Christmas spirit in the apartment to the chagrin of her older sister, and it accidentally blows the lights. With a cold and dark apartment the two sisters decide to instead go out and look at the Christmas lights. As they do, they run into a Santa with a red kettle and Eve makes a wish that she could have a Christmas movie Christmas.

The next day the girls wake up in a strange picturesque town, a cute little cottage, with an adorable elderly woman who claims to be their grandmother. Yes, they are now in a Christmas Movie!

Eve immediately takes to this and loves it, with three possible “Christmas movie” plots to choose from. Lacey, on the other hand, doesn’t like the silly town and all the free stuff she is getting (why? I’m not sure).

Eve ends up choosing move plotline number three, the ruined Christmas Festival. She teams up with the local innkeeper Dustin (played by the handsome Ryan Merriman). The two grow closer as they plot a way to fix everything on a budget, while Eve also discovers that she is dating the international pop star by none other than Eve’s favorite actor Chad Matthew Munroe (Randy Wayne).

How sweet!

Everything is going great until Dustin’s ex Noelle, comes to town and tries to win him back; along with her messing up all their plans for the festival. Will Eve be able to fix everything in time? Will she be able to choose her perfect leading man or end up with no one?

Hmm…?

Meanwhile, the realistic Lacey is having a hard time living in a “picture perfect movie” town. While Eve blossoms, doing well at everything and experiencing the “Christmas movie Christmas”; Lacey does not. She visits a bakery one day and meets the baker Paul (Brant Daugherty), who’s cute and wants to be her friend-or boyfriend if he’ll let her. He makes her cute cards, and tries to bring her into the “Christmas movie Christmas” fun. Will Lacey try something different and join the Christmas fun, or will she remain a Christmas scrinch (Scrooge + Grinch)?

I really enjoyed this film and it reminded me a lot of Sense and Sensibility. Both have sisters where the elder one (Lacey and Elinor) are realistic and sensible, while the younger sister (Eve and Marianne) are romantic and pulled into things by their feelings.

Like Marianne, Eve also has two men interested in her. One of them is very romantic, shallow, and seems like her dream guy; while the other love interest is deep, makes his interest known from the beginning, and also is a romantic character.

How sweet!

Besides that this film is fun and full of Holiday cheer. It laughingly uses all the different Christmas movie tropes and is enjoyable from beginning to end. I strongly recommend it.

If interested, this film is on tubi and YouTube.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

For more Non-Austen Films for Austen Fans, go to You Have Thirteen Hours in Which to Solve the Labyrinth, Before Your Baby Brother Becomes One of Us…Forever.: Labyrinth (1986)

For more Christmas movies, go to Christmas at Pemberley Manor (2018)