The Pride and Prejudice role-playing game

We have just seven days to help this project, and I’m thinking it’s worth it! With 1,219 Janeites currently behind it, the Kickstarter project ‘Ever, Jane’ also quickly becoming known as “that Jane Austen game” will not see the light of day without you.

Unfortunately, wordpress won’t let me embed the Kickstarter video (you can see that on their fundraising page), so I’ll show you what you can do via this hilarious youtube video instead.

Currently, $64,903 has been pledged, and there’s a minimum $100,000 goal. So why should you care? Here’s why. It’s an online Jane Austen role playing game, where”it is not about kill or be killed, but invite and be invited with gossip our weapon of choice.”

Best Pride and Prejudice book covers… continued

When I first started sharing some of my favourite Pride and Prejudice book covers, I thought I’d get to a list of 10, and leave it at that. However, after my Top Ten Pride and Prejudice Book Covers, I got to Top Ten Foreign Pride and Prejudice Book Covers and the Top Ten Borders covers (sadly the images are no longer available as, obviously, Borders has ceased to exist). And yet, I still come across a huge number of covers I love, and that I want to share with you – particularly as online portals continue to grow and our access to a number of editions, re-issues and brand swanking new copies grows with it.

Which ties into this constant conversation at my workplace, and with my friends – is print dead? Is there ever going to be a role for it again? I was discussing with my girlfriend my want for a Jane Austen-themed book shop in Australia, and how I wanted to start one. Perhaps in retirement (anything more typical?). I really believe that when it comes to books there’s still something romantic about the feel of the paper, the material of the cover (I have certain types ofpaper stock I can’t help but touch when I see them on a book) and, when secondhand, the discovery of someone else’s notations halfway through the story. In saying that, it’s the story that matters and no matter how pretty the binding, if the content is crap, we’ll never want it. For this reason, I’ve never been against eReaders (I have a Kindle… somewhere… and an iPad, which is now my constant companion for all things reading related), and I understand why they’re a practical consideration. But I do think the design of eBooks needs to be stepped up – just because you don’t see the ‘cover’ of the eBook as often, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be gorgeous! I’m happy to say that in the list below, some of the versions are eReader covers – it’s good to see nice design in the digital format picking up a bit more.

But enough of my rambling… on with the list!

BOOK REVIEW: Jane Austen The Complete Novels In One Sitting by Jennifer Kasius

“So pour yourself some tea (in a real teacup and saucer, of course), bring the settee near the fireplace, and settle in to delight in Jane Austen’s world – in just one sitting.” – (Page 12)

Let’s be clear about one point first and foremost – I am not a big fan of “summarised” versions of Pride and Prejudice. And yet, for some reason, I love this teeny tiny handbag-sized volume that was published in 2012. It’s the perfect little gift, published by America’s ‘Running Press’, and is more than just a quick recount of the novels events, including gorgeous little illustrations and details about Jane Austen’s life and times.

Even though the picture here is quite an awful blue, the hardback is actually a slightly more muted pastel baby blue, and design credits go to Amanda Richmond, and to editor Cindy De La Hoz. ISBN: 978-0-7624-4755-8