The Trajectory of Today’s Topics

• Hot off the press, Jane Austen would be 250 this year.

• NOS4A2 Is a thriller with all the feels.

• Would you like to visit a themed bookshop?

• The original Harlequin Romance? I don’t see it.

Hot Off The Press

Celebrating Jane Austen’s Semiquincentennial

A fancy word that means a 250-year celebration. America will celebrate its 250th next year, but this year is all about one of the most famous writers in English literature. Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, making this year her semi-quin… you get the picture. 

How does one celebrate such an auspicious occasion? By listening to a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, or watching Jane Austen Ruined My Life, or catching the fresh, British series of Sense and Sensibility. Of course, you could just read her classic books too, but since we’re all about new and sparkly, let me fill you in on all the new and sparkly details!

Audible is crafting a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. This will not be an exact copy of Austen’s book, but a fresh take that features an interior perspective from Elizabeth Bennet, voiced by Marisa Abela (her most recent credit, the role of Amy Winehouse in the biopic, Back to Black). Others on the bill include Harris Dickinson, Will Poulter, Jessie Buckley, and Glenn Close. It is scheduled to premiere on Sept 9 in the US, UK, Canada, India, and Australia. 

More Jane Austen goodies coming. If that doesn’t satisfy your Jane Austen appetite, you can buy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life from Prime, YouTube, Google TV, or Apple. It’s about a bookseller who takes a trip to a Jane Austen writing residency, and ends up in a love triangle between Felix, her best friend, and Oliver, a descendant of the late author. The movie just released in May and has received high praise and a warm reception from Rotten Tomatoes. Also in the works is a Pride and Prejudice miniseries by Netflix coming late 2025 or early 2026, and a rework of Sense and Sensibility. No word yet on when that will be available.

The TBR Files

NOS4A2: A Morally Gray Villain You Kind of Cheer For

“Already, though, she understood the difference between being a child and being an adult. The difference is when someone says he can keep the bad things away, a child believes him.”

Christmasland sounds wonderful, but it’s literally a nightmare. Vic McQueen can find any missing item and go anywhere she wants to. Using her little bicycle, she traverses the “shorter way bridge” and can instantly access anywhere her little heart desires. Charlie Manx can do the same thing, but he uses his mysterious 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith to get where he’s going. He rescues children from “bad parents” and takes them to the fantastic Christmasland, where they can live forever. The problem is, this isn’t a fun Peter Pan and the Lost Boys situation. 

Charlie Manx thinks he’s helping abused and forgotten children. Vic, tired of her parents’ fighting, decides to take a trip through the shorter way bridge, where she meets a young boy in Manx’s Wraith. She tries to rescue him, but Manx stops her. She barely escapes, and is the only child ever to do so. Vic, now an adult, has all but forgotten that fateful day, but Manx has not, and he won’t rest until he has her. 

The problems only get worse. Years later, Vic is grown up and has a kid of her own, and plenty of problems in her personal life. Soon, Charlie Manx snatches her young son, Bruce up and begins the trek to Christmasland, and thus begins the boy’s frightening transformation. Vic has no choice but to rescue her child. If she does, her mind will likely shatter, but if she doesn’t she’ll never see her son again, and his soul will be damned for eternity.

Sent goosebumps down my back and arms. What makes this book so great isn't just the chill-inducing, supernatural horror aspects, but the way the characters come to life. Everyone has believable flaws, and you tend to feel bad for the villains, (Charles Manx has a helper, and he’s just a creepy, if not more so than Manx!) as they truly believe they are doing something wonderful. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill features morally gray characters, villains you tend to cheer for, and heart-wrenching heroes who get thwarted time and time again. It will have you not wanting to put this book down. ☕☕☕☕☕ A real five out of five! It kept me up late at night as I didn’t want to put this book down, and indeed, I’ve read the physical book and listened to the audio version, and still want to revisit it again. 

…And Then This Happened

The Harlequin Romance That Wasn’t

I get myself in trouble sometimes. During one of my rabbit hole moments, I read an article about an old book titled The Manatee. It’s a maritime, seafaring book considered by many to be the very first Harlequin Romance book. Being that it was published in 1945, a time known to be a little prudish on the surface, and the fact that it was rare and hard to find, I had to check it out. (Cue troublesome music.)

I have read a few romance books, I don’t hate them. For a little context, I’ve never been one to willingly sit down and read many romance books. Go ahead and say it, “typical guy mentality.” That’s not to say that I haven’t tried, or that I haven’t enjoyed a book or two where romance was in the book, just not front and center. I read Clan of the Cave Bear, just to see what it was about, because it seemed like every girl I knew in junior and high school was talking about it. That was a wild ride. I’ve read several Nora Roberts books. Most of those had a romantic subplot on top of murder or mystery, and they were interesting. And during high school, I had friends who showed me some “spicy” passages in some romance books. That’s about the extent of my personal foray into romance reading. 

This book definitely didn’t follow the formula. From what I understand, the Harlequin genre focuses on the heroine of the story. There is usually a trope, such as the idolized hero, rags to riches, enemies to lovers, and they tend to have a happy ending. This book didn’t live up to any of that hype. It followed a hateful, murderous sea captain named Jabez Folger. The main female character was a Puritan girl named Piety—she took a back seat to the two children once they were born—there was no romance at all, and I’m certain there was no happy ending. I couldn’t finish the book, it was so bad…

The summary of the book. It was set in the 1800s in a little whaling town, and Jabez was the owner of The Manatee, the ship. It’s the only thing he has ever loved. In a one time show of gentleness and compassion, he fooled Piety into thinking he was a good, loving man. She married him, and he soon changed back to the hateful, awful monster he was destined to be. Jabez set Piety up in his house, got her pregnant, and then took off on a long whaling trip. All his trips were fraught with peril. His beloved ship either sank, the crew mutinied, or in a fit of rage, he murdered someone, and then the crew turned on him again. Wonderful, romantic, charismatic man there. 🙄

Everything about The Manatee was odd. In amongst this, we see glimpses into the lives of his two children. Both have such strange personalities that I was left scratching my head whenever I read their scenes. I kept thinking that maybe Jabez would turn himself around, or he himself would sink to the bottom of the sea, but like an incurable rash, he kept rising to the surface and became maddeningly annoying. It got to the point I dreaded reading a single page. The book is only 250 pages, and I got to 187. I thought it would be something fun to read and report on. I like odd books, different covers, and other anomalies, but The Manatee, I don’t know if I can finish the last 63 pages. It feels like willingly walking barefoot across hot coals and broken glass.