The Austen Project pairs six bestselling contemporary authors with Jane Austen’s six complete works; we’ve asked reading groups to read each of the titles and share their reflections. Here’s an introduction to who’s taking part.
Blackheath reading group
We enjoy classics and all really enjoyed Little Doritt by Charles Dickens last year. There are a couple of members of our group who love a good ghost story; to date the one that scared all of us the most was Dark Matter by Michelle Paver.
Book Buddies
At our first meeting we brought along our favourite novels and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was one of the most popular choices. Whoever is hosting the event chooses the book, so we have a variety of genres.
Words Wine and Wisdom
We all enjoy Jane Austen, some of us have read all her novels, some have read some of her novels, and some of us know her work best through film and television adaptions.
Nottingham Readers
We’ve participated in a few things together in the past, including the Guardian First Book Award. In the past our favourites have included David Peace’s GB84 and Robert Shearman’s Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical.
Leighton Park PTA Book Group
Of the six titles we read last year, our favourite was Patrick Gale’s Notes from an Exhibition. Earlier this year, we were one of the six groups chosen in the South East to shadow the Women’s Fiction prize.
Stockton reading group
We haven’t read any Austen and are looking forward to this fantastic sounding project. Sense and Sensibility will be given to our first group in September and they can’t wait to read it.
Literature Lovelies
We all loathe Fifty Shades of Grey (preferring The Story of O). Between us we’ve read most of the classics and William Shakespeare is a bit of a hero for us. Actually, none of us had read Joanna Trollope before so reading the Queen of the Aga Saga will be new for all of us. We promise not to be English teachers about the novels – we are genuinely excited about the prospect.
Leicester Ladies Bookworms
We take it in turns to choose a book and a venue then meet on the first Thursday of every month to discuss what we think of it. We read everything from Jane Austen to Terry Pratchett and S J Watson to Maus! We welcome new members.
