I've been on a Jane Austen-ish kick lately. It started with reading The Jane Austen Book Club <too much modern drama-homosexuality, affairs-not enough Jane>, then I switched to the new Pride & Prejudice sequels written by Elizabeth Aston.

• Mr. Darcy's Daughters: I thought the main character a bit of a sap and was disappointed at the author's rendition of Elizabeth Bennett's five daughters turning out so terribly. Also disappointed that homosexuality had to play a role <does everything have to have an agenda?>. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 because it's mostly clean and a fluffy, entertaining read if you like Austen's style and time period.
  

• The Exploits & Adventures of Ms. Alethea Darcy: probably my favorite of the three I've read, though it was not anything like a Jane Austen novel beyond the time period. A girl dresses as a boy to escape a terrible marriage and has many adventures. I admired her pluck in a time women were supposed to spend all their time stitching samplers. ;) 4 out of 5.
  

• The True Darcy Spirit: well, one thing you can say about Aston is she probably didn't have to get her books past a clergyman father. Her girls are running off with men then not marrying them, engaging in pre-marital sex, running away from men pretending to want to marry them while secretly being homosexual, etc., etc. This was my least favorite of the three, considering I thought the heroine a big dope, and the romantic angle <b/c of course there's a romantic angle in these stories> highly contrived and shoved into the last five pages. 3 out of 5, again because there's no explicit sex, nor language, so I have to give it a rating on the upper side.

I thought I'd write about these books so you don't think I'm always reading about politics and terrorism and end times and the culture wars and etc., etc. ;)

My favorite thing I got out of the above four -- the term 'rusticating.' Meaning: to retire to your country estate and dither around gardening and reading books and riding horses and taking long walks. Derogatorily spoken of by the London socialites who spent their time whirling from ball to ball and intrigue to intrigue -- but highly attractive to one such as I. :p