Tag: Pride and Prejudice

Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast August Recap

- Brittany Leave a comment

Each month, we release a new episode of Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast. In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our episode!

Nostalgia Reads

We’ve talked a lot about what books we read when we were younger that have stuck with us, but we’re not done with that topic just yet! Below are the titles discussed in the episode!

Stephanie’s Picks:
Amelia’s Notebook by Marissa Moss 
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney 
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka 
Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch 

 

Brittany’s Picks
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
There was an old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae

Beth’s Picks
The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club

Our resource spotlight shines on Gilda’s Club Quad Cities, newly known as Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club. Since 1998, Gilda’s Club has been a pillar of hope and support for cancer patients and their families. From its beginnings at the Mansion with the Red Door on River Drive to its current locations inside the Genesis Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Davenport, and the UnityPoint Health – Trinity Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Moline has continually expanded its services, reaching nearly 4,500 individuals.

Value Line

Value Line is the most trusted and prestigious name in the investment field. For more than 75 years, Value Line has been synonymous with trust, reliability, objectivity, independence, accurate information, and proven performance for investors. Click on the title to learn more about this free resource!

 

Retellings!

Are you a fan of retellings? Here we have gathered a list of classic literature retellings, reimaginings, and remixes. 

Stephanie’s Favorites:
Jane Eyre retelling
   – The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
King Arthur legend retelling
   –Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Pride and Prejudice retellings
   –Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin 
   –Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Romeo & Juliet retelling
   –A Pho Love Story by Loan Le 
Sherlock Holmes retelling
   –A Study in Scarlet Women (book 1 in the Lady Sherlock Series) by Sherry Thomas
Trojan War retelling
   –A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Odyssey retelling
   –Circe by Madeline Miller
The Wizard of Oz retelling
   –Wicked by Gregory Maguire 

Brittany’s Favorites:
Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 comedy with Cary Grant
   –Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Cinderella
   –Cinder by Marissa Meyer
   –The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark
   –An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
Little Red Riding Hood
   –Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Dr. Moreau inspired reads
   –The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Alice and Wonderland
   –The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Historical Retellings
   –My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
Jane Austen
   –Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
   –Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price 

Beth’s Favorites:
Remixes — Classics presented as graphic novels
   –The Alchemist – original by Paulo Coelho; graphic novel by Derek Ruiz
   –Diary of a Young Girl – original by Anne Frank; “Anne Frank’s diary : the graphic adaptation” by Ari Folman
   –The Giver by Lois Lowry ; adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell
   –The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; art and adaptation by Renee Nault
Little House on the Prairie
   –Caroline by Sarah Miller
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
   –The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Bible – Book of Genesis
   –The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 

FRIENDS

August 17th is National Nonprofit Day! Did you know that we have a non-profit group that raises funds and manages an endowment portfolio to support The Library? The FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library is a 501(c)3 organization powered by members and volunteers that advocates, volunteers, and runs used bookstores in all three locations giving money back to the Library for programming and other services! We are so grateful for their support in enriching the lives of our community! To learn more about the FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library, click on the title of this section!

Emotional Reads

With the recent box office success of Inside Out 2 and after being inspired by another library, we showcased titles that gave us all of the feels (good and bad!).

  Brittany  Beth  Stephanie 
Joy  Anything by Emily Henry   Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater 
Sadness  Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls  Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 
Anger  Normal People by Sally Rooney Maus by Art Spegelman   Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez 
Disgust  A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis  Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson 
Fear  Room by Emma Donoghue Devil in the White City by Erik Larson  American Predator by Maureen Callahan 
Envy  The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Anything by Mindy Kaling  Soulmate Equation & The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Embarrassment  The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey  Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 
Ennui  Last One Home by Debbie Macomber Blankets by Craig Thompson  The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Anxiety  Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson  Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter 
Nostalgia  A Nice Place on the North Side by George F. Will Landline by Rainbow Rowell  Throwback by Maurene Goo 

 

What Our Hosts Read In June

Beth’s Reads:
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

Stephanie’s Reads:
Lethal Licorice by (Book 2 in Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series) by Amanda Flower 
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Solomon
The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
The Red Harvest: A Novel of the Terror Famine in Soviet Ukraine by Michael Cherkas

Brittany’s Reads:
Bear with Me Now by Katie Shepard
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

If you would like to listen to our episode, it can be found wherever you get your podcasts. If you prefer listening on the web, it can be found here!

We love hearing from our listeners, please feel free to comment on this blog post, on our socials, or email us at checked.in@davenportlibrary.com.

Davenport’s Favorite Book

- Brenda Leave a comment

The votes are in!

According to the PBS Great American Read, America’s all-time favorite novel is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee!  If you read my first blog post about the Great American Read, you know that To Kill a Mockingbird is also my personal favorite. I was thrilled when I learned the results in the Grand Finale episode. Host Meredith Vieira shared that it started out in the number one spot since the day voting began, and it never wavered.

You may now be wondering what is Davenport’s favorite book?  Ever since PBS kicked off the first episode of The Great American Read on May 22, 2018, we’ve had a display featuring these books at each of our three Davenport Public Libraries. We put out a ballot box, asking for your favorites. I also took votes in the form of responses to my blog posts about the Great American Read.  In all, 124 votes were submitted. The favorite book among Davenport Public Library users is (drumroll, please)…

Harry Potter! Earning just shy of 13% of all votes, the bestselling series by J.K. Rowling was the top pick of voters at Main, Eastern and on the blog. (Fairmount showed no clear favorite, but submitted 26 votes for 23 different books.) Second favorite overall was Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, with almost 9% of the votes. In third place was Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, with a solid 6% of votes. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen took fourth place with almost 5% of votes. We had a four-way tie for 5th place – Anne of Green Gables, Charlotte’s Web, Memoirs of a Geisha and To Kill a Mockingbird.

If you’re wondering about any titles from the Great American Read list that was not mentioned here, I have tagged to this blog each book title that received at least one vote from our wonderful Davenport Public Library patrons.

Thanks for voting and keep reading through the list!

 

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

- Rachel Leave a comment

eligible2Eligible is Iowa Writer’s Workshop graduate Curtis Sittenfeld’s fifth novel.  It is a hilarious modern version of the classic story Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

In Eligible, we find that the Bennet family lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.  All five of the Bennet women are currently living at their parent’s home after their father’s recent heart attack.  Jane and Elizabeth have both been living in New York City.  Jane is a yoga instructor and lives on the Upper East Side.  Lizzie has been writing for feminist fashion magazine and lives in Brooklyn.  Mary has never left home and is working on her third online master’s degree.  Kitty and Lydia also live at home and spend most of their time at CrossFit workouts.  Mrs. Bennet is consumed with her ladies’ clubs and galas.

Of course, as in the original novel, Mrs. Bennet is very concerned with her daughters being married. The Bennet family goes to a Fourth of July picnic, where they meet Chip Bingley.  Mr. Bingley was recently the star on the television show, Eligible which is a dating show where 25 women try to convince the star to marry her.  Also at the picnic, is Fitzwilliam Darcy whom Lizzie does not find charming.  But first impressions can be wrong.

An updated and hilarious version of the classic Pride and Prejudice.  You will find yourself laughing out loud while reading this book.  Available in print, large print and audiobook.

 

If you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, you might also like these other adaptations:

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Longbourn by Jo Baker

- Ann Leave a comment

longbournParodies, continuations and alternate universe settings of Jane Austin’s books have become very popular – mysteries, vampire hunters, etc. – with a greater or (more often) lesser degree of success. Now there is a new version using the world and characters Austin’s Pride and Prejudice and it is delightful and beautiful and very much a great success.

Longbourn by Jo Baker follows the story of Pride and Prejudice from the the servants point-of-view. As were good servants in real life, the servants in Austin are mostly silent and unseen. Here they take center stage. They have their own dramas and crisis, joy and heartbreak and a unique, decidedly  unglamorous view of the family. The Bennett girls, both thoughtful and frivolous, only rarely acknowledge the servants and the extra work they often unnecessarily create for them (except for sweet Jane who is always undemanding and kind), and offhandedly change the servants lives without consulting what they might wish. Although they are the center around which the servants orbit, the Bennets are regulated to the periphery here and the world of the servant is foremost. The work is physically hard and mind numbing dull, yet for most of the servants their place in the household gives them shelter, both physical and emotional, from a cruel world.

Sarah, orphaned at a young age, is grateful to have a place at Longbourn, yet wonders if she can again find the happiness she remembers before her parents died. Her suspicions of James the new footman gradually change and when she discovers his secret, they become bound by love and a common understanding of those who are alone.

Longbourn is beautifully written – you may find yourself stopping frequently to reread favorite passages – and full of compassion and secrets. James’ story is especially heartbreaking and suspenseful. At heart a love story,  Longbourn is also about the restrictions imposed by society and class structure, about what we are willing to sacrifice for those we love, about the power of waiting and standing firm, about finding your own path no matter the obstacles.

Oh Jane! How you continue to amuse me!

- Ann Leave a comment

Thank goodness authors and actors and artists keep using Jane Austen as a muse to keep us Janeites busy. Here is a list of a few recent Austen-related items I’ve enjoyed:

From Prada or Nada: I have been a fan of actress Camilla Belle since her Disney Channel days, so I checked out this movie for some fun and silliness. My first shock was that despite the girly title and DVD image, this film has more drama than comedy. Then my second shock came at the end of the movie when I realized I had been watching a pretty direct retelling of Sense and Sensibility! (The girls are even named Nora and Mary–I was so embarrassed it took me so long to register the plot.) The movie follows two sisters as they deal with their father’s death and moving from his wealthy home to live with their Mexican Grandmother and extended family in a poor neighborhood in East LA. The film did a fantastic job of keeping true to Austen’s story while also staying accurate to today’s society and the lives of Mexican-Americans.

Austenland by Shannon Hale: Although I tend to love films that do an Austen retelling, I am always hesitant of books that attempt the same. The exception to the rule is those self-aware books where a modern Janeite finds herself living as an Austenian Heroine in her own life. In Austenland, Jane Hayes has been given a trip to stay at Pembrook Park, one of England’s Regency Era resorts that caters to those with Jane Austen fantasies. Although at first she is hesitant to play along with the staff and actors, Jane eventually convinces herself that she will never let go of her Mr. Darcy obsession unless she fully allows herself to participate in the romantic experience. Unfortunately, her love life just gets more complicated as she begins to confuse reality and Austen fantasy. Shannon Hale just wrote a companion book called Midnight in Austenland that sets a murder mystery in Pembrook Park.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: This popular youtube series is one of my favorite new things! As you may have gathered from this post (and my other Jane Austen posts), I love Jane Austen with a modern twist, and the Lizzie Bennet Diaries add a twist that I have never seen before: they are telling the story of Pride and Prejudice in real-time! Yup, Jane started her web diaries back in April when she first found out that a young doctor, Bing Lee, bought the mansion near her parents’ home and her mother was becoming insane about it. Her and her bf, Charlotte, (along with occasional help from her sisters, Jane and Lydia, and Bing’s sister, Caroline) produce two videos a week that are usually about 3-5 minutes each. Right now, Lizzie and Jane are staying over with Bing while their mother is remodeling their home (in case they have to sell it). The actors are fantastic, the scripts are fresh, and the whole shebang is produced by youtube superstars Bernie Su and Hank Green. You can catch up on the videos directly from the LBD youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LizzieBennet/ or find out more about the whole project at: http://www.lizziebennet.com/

I always knew Elizabeth Bennet was tough…

- Ann Leave a comment

But I had no idea she was a highly trained zombie-killing Ninja!!!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen

It appears that Jane Austen may have left a few things out when she was showering her irony, wit and passive social consciousness all over the story of the five Bennet sisters and their adventures in society…for example: ZOMBIES! According to author Seth Grahame-Smith, the militia stationed at Meryton had a very specific reason to be there–to protect the village from a coming Zombie Attack. However, the officers really aren’t necessary because the Bennet sisters, particularly the two eldest, are known all over the countryside for their skills in kicking zombie butts. Other than that, the story strays little from the original Pride and Prejudice plot. Well… except for Mr. Darcy’s knack to crack inappropriate jokes. Yes, the author seems to have loosened up Mr. Darcy quite a bit, although in return Miss Lizzy is a very violent-hearted ice queen.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is more of a parody than a retelling, so those looking to be swept up in Regency romance and wit will not find it. I found myself reading it more to see how Grahame-Smith incorporated zombies into the plot then for the actual story. Expect a little gore and a lot of Jasper Fforde-esque humor.

More of a swamp thing than a zombie person? Check out Seth Grahame-Smith’s Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters!

It is a truth univerally acknowledged that Mr. Darcy is dreamy.

- Ann 3 Comments

I admit it. I am definitely one of those girls who watches the BBC presentation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy over and over and over again. I also watch Bridget Jones’ Diary starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy over and over and over again. In fact, a good majority of my favorite movies  are a version of the Jane Austen’s classic.  Why watch anything else when you can watch Mr. Darcy (especially when that Mr. Darcy is played by Colin Firth)?

BrideAndPrejudiceBride and Prejudice
Bride and Prejudice is Pride and Prejudice gone Bollywood, and it is FANTASTIC. Aishwarya Rai, Bollywood actress and former Miss World, is absolutely stunning as the Elizabeth Bennet character.

Lost in AustenLost in Austen
What girl wouldn’t want to trade places with Elizabeth for some alone time with Mr. Darcy? Yeah, that is what Amanda thought, too, until she started causing chaos in her beloved story when Mr. Bingley falls in love with her and Jane agrees to marry Mr. Collins. Maybe Miss Austen didn’t tell us the whole story…

Becoming JaneBecoming Jane
So Colin Firth will always be my favorite Mr. Darcy, but after seeing James McAvoy as Tom LeFroy, the man who may have inspired the Darcy character, he became my favorite actor. Swoooooon.

Bridget Jones's DiaryBridget Jones’s Diary
FAVORITE! I went through a phase in college where I watched this movie about once a week, now I watch it about once a month. Renée Zellweger is BRILLIANT as Bridget Jones and Colin Firth is DREAMY as Mark Darcy. Laugh laugh tear giggle swoon laugh.

Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice (the BBC Version)
By far THE BEST straight-up movie version of Pride and Prejudice. Some may be daunted by the six hour viewing time, but I say the longer the better (I have been known to watch it twice in a row…).

and for those of you who prefer Emma:

cluelessClueless
Long before he was part of Seth Rogen’s gang, Paul Rudd was the Mr. Knightley to Alicia Silverstone’s Emma of Beverly Hills. Hmmm, this represents a crossover into my other genre fave: teen movies based on classics…