Very enjoyable. A different twist on mixing up Jane Austen and chick lit. This was a fun read that kept me interested to the end. ( )

Have you ever gotten giddy from reading a book, just because you felt it was written for you? I treasure that experience, because it doesn’t come along very often---and indeed, it has been a very long time since it last happened to me. Finally, Marilyn Brant’s debut novel, According to Jane, showed up on my doorstep, jumped into my eager hands and fulfilled all my expectations. I love this book. I can’t quite put it into words, but it struck me on so many levels that I’m still not able to get the characters out of my head. Ellie is engaging, despite wanting to kick her in the behind a couple of times after watching her make some um…questionable decisions. The boyfriends (I’ll just lump them all together shall I?), well…I can see how she ended where she did with them. Argh…could you not have seen that coming (repeat statement as needed)? As for Di, the funky sister, I was quite pleased with her story and relieved where it ended (wiping brow motion). I loved Sam. I would have jumped Sam in the first scene. Can I ask why Ellie didn’t jump Sam? Yes, we wouldn’t have had a story, but seriously…she should have jumped him. And finally, Miss Austen…I must admit, at the first “tsk” I seriously rolled my eyes and shuddered. Uh, oh, where in the world was this going? In fact, it did take me a while to warm up to the insertion of the ever wonderful Jane Austen into this story. I get the point/purpose and how it was necessary for the plot and all, but there were times when I got a little frustrated with Miss Jane’s quips. Mm, pride and prejudice rears its head once again (and I’m not meaning the title).Being a woman of…well, someone who can remember the 80’s…I was delighted with this as the setting for most of the book. The nostalgia hit me over and over with each song mentioned in the story. Many memories evoked there. A special note on the dance scenes...thank you, thank you, Ms. Bryant for the way you wrote them together (read the book and you’ll see what I mean).Finally, the sum of all things considered, what hooked me the most in this book was the dialogue. Wordy, even pretentious, novels can be interesting to read--sometimes. They wow you with how much they know and how complicated they can tie the characters up. But my favorite, and Bryant hit the mark for me, is where rather than simply reading a story, you begin to feel like you’re curled up on a sofa with a nice drink, listening to a long lost friend catch you up on the story of their life. Suddenly, you feel compelled to identify and compare your own experiences, drawing the two of you together in a special bond of familiarity. So now, after having finished According to Jane, Ellie has become my friend. We have shared our lives together, both the good and the bad, much like she shared hers with Miss Austen. Only without the insufferableness… ( )

Have you ever gotten giddy from reading a book, just because you felt it was written for you? I treasure that experience, because it doesn’t come along very often---and indeed, it has been a very long time since it last happened to me. Finally, Marilyn Brant’s debut novel, According to Jane, showed up on my doorstep, jumped into my eager hands and fulfilled all my expectations. I love this book. I can’t quite put it into words, but it struck me on so many levels that I’m still not able to get the characters out of my head. Ellie is engaging, despite wanting to kick her in the behind a couple of times after watching her make some um…questionable decisions. The boyfriends (I’ll just lump them all together shall I?), well…I can see how she ended where she did with them. Argh…could you not have seen that coming (repeat statement as needed)? As for Di, the funky sister, I was quite pleased with her story and relieved where it ended (wiping brow motion). I loved Sam. I would have jumped Sam in the first scene. Can I ask why Ellie didn’t jump Sam? Yes, we wouldn’t have had a story, but seriously…she should have jumped him. And finally, Miss Austen…I must admit, at the first “tsk” I seriously rolled my eyes and shuddered. Uh, oh, where in the world was this going? In fact, it did take me a while to warm up to the insertion of the ever wonderful Jane Austen into this story. I get the point/purpose and how it was necessary for the plot and all, but there were times when I got a little frustrated with Miss Jane’s quips. Mm, pride and prejudice rears its head once again (and I’m not meaning the title).Being a woman of…well, someone who can remember the 80’s…I was delighted with this as the setting for most of the book. The nostalgia hit me over and over with each song mentioned in the story. Many memories evoked there. A special note on the dance scenes...thank you, thank you, Ms. Bryant for the way you wrote them together (read the book and you’ll see what I mean).Finally, the sum of all things considered, what hooked me the most in this book was the dialogue. Wordy, even pretentious, novels can be interesting to read--sometimes. They wow you with how much they know and how complicated they can tie the characters up. But my favorite, and Bryant hit the mark for me, is where rather than simply reading a story, you begin to feel like you’re curled up on a sofa with a nice drink, listening to a long lost friend catch you up on the story of their life. Suddenly, you feel compelled to identify and compare your own experiences, drawing the two of you together in a special bond of familiarity. So now, after having finished According to Jane, Ellie has become my friend. We have shared our lives together, both the good and the bad, much like she shared hers with Miss Austen. Only without the insufferableness… ( )

Have you ever gotten giddy from reading a book, just because you felt it was written for you? I treasure that experience, because it doesn’t come along very often---and indeed, it has been a very long time since it last happened to me. Finally, Marilyn Brant’s debut novel, According to Jane, showed up on my doorstep, jumped into my eager hands and fulfilled all my expectations. I love this book. I can’t quite put it into words, but it struck me on so many levels that I’m still not able to get the characters out of my head. Ellie is engaging, despite wanting to kick her in the behind a couple of times after watching her make some um…questionable decisions. The boyfriends (I’ll just lump them all together shall I?), well…I can see how she ended where she did with them. Argh…could you not have seen that coming (repeat statement as needed)? As for Di, the funky sister, I was quite pleased with her story and relieved where it ended (wiping brow motion). I loved Sam. I would have jumped Sam in the first scene. Can I ask why Ellie didn’t jump Sam? Yes, we wouldn’t have had a story, but seriously…she should have jumped him. And finally, Miss Austen…I must admit, at the first “tsk” I seriously rolled my eyes and shuddered. Uh, oh, where in the world was this going? In fact, it did take me a while to warm up to the insertion of the ever wonderful Jane Austen into this story. I get the point/purpose and how it was necessary for the plot and all, but there were times when I got a little frustrated with Miss Jane’s quips. Mm, pride and prejudice rears its head once again (and I’m not meaning the title).Being a woman of…well, someone who can remember the 80’s…I was delighted with this as the setting for most of the book. The nostalgia hit me over and over with each song mentioned in the story. Many memories evoked there. A special note on the dance scenes...thank you, thank you, Ms. Bryant for the way you wrote them together (read the book and you’ll see what I mean).Finally, the sum of all things considered, what hooked me the most in this book was the dialogue. Wordy, even pretentious, novels can be interesting to read--sometimes. They wow you with how much they know and how complicated they can tie the characters up. But my favorite, and Bryant hit the mark for me, is where rather than simply reading a story, you begin to feel like you’re curled up on a sofa with a nice drink, listening to a long lost friend catch you up on the story of their life. Suddenly, you feel compelled to identify and compare your own experiences, drawing the two of you together in a special bond of familiarity. So now, after having finished According to Jane, Ellie has become my friend. We have shared our lives together, both the good and the bad, much like she shared hers with Miss Austen. Only without the insufferableness… ( )

Have you ever gotten giddy from reading a book, just because you felt it was written for you? I treasure that experience, because it doesn’t come along very often---and indeed, it has been a very long time since it last happened to me. Finally, Marilyn Brant’s debut novel, According to Jane, showed up on my doorstep, jumped into my eager hands and fulfilled all my expectations. I love this book. I can’t quite put it into words, but it struck me on so many levels that I’m still not able to get the characters out of my head. Ellie is engaging, despite wanting to kick her in the behind a couple of times after watching her make some um…questionable decisions. The boyfriends (I’ll just lump them all together shall I?), well…I can see how she ended where she did with them. Argh…could you not have seen that coming (repeat statement as needed)? As for Di, the funky sister, I was quite pleased with her story and relieved where it ended (wiping brow motion). I loved Sam. I would have jumped Sam in the first scene. Can I ask why Ellie didn’t jump Sam? Yes, we wouldn’t have had a story, but seriously…she should have jumped him. And finally, Miss Austen…I must admit, at the first “tsk” I seriously rolled my eyes and shuddered. Uh, oh, where in the world was this going? In fact, it did take me a while to warm up to the insertion of the ever wonderful Jane Austen into this story. I get the point/purpose and how it was necessary for the plot and all, but there were times when I got a little frustrated with Miss Jane’s quips. Mm, pride and prejudice rears its head once again (and I’m not meaning the title).Being a woman of…well, someone who can remember the 80’s…I was delighted with this as the setting for most of the book. The nostalgia hit me over and over with each song mentioned in the story. Many memories evoked there. A special note on the dance scenes...thank you, thank you, Ms. Bryant for the way you wrote them together (read the book and you’ll see what I mean).Finally, the sum of all things considered, what hooked me the most in this book was the dialogue. Wordy, even pretentious, novels can be interesting to read--sometimes. They wow you with how much they know and how complicated they can tie the characters up. But my favorite, and Bryant hit the mark for me, is where rather than simply reading a story, you begin to feel like you’re curled up on a sofa with a nice drink, listening to a long lost friend catch you up on the story of their life. Suddenly, you feel compelled to identify and compare your own experiences, drawing the two of you together in a special bond of familiarity. So now, after having finished According to Jane, Ellie has become my friend. We have shared our lives together, both the good and the bad, much like she shared hers with Miss Austen. Only without the insufferableness… ( )