Sunday, November 20, 2011

Two Good Retellings

I recently read Jane by April Lindner. It was an impulse grab from the shelves of my local library. I thought, "Hmm...Jane. This seems like a Jane Eyre retelling. I like the Brontes so I might as well try this." It was one of my best impulse grabs in a long time.

Somewhere around the middle of the book I had one of those rare reading experiences: I didn't want the story to end but I wanted to find out what happens in the end. I read quickly and thought about the book when I wasn't reading. I finished it in two days.

I've given a lot of thought to what I liked about Jane. First, I thought it was a retelling that was really true to the spirit of the original. Second, there was a ton of chemistry between Jane Moore, the poor nanny, and Mr. Rathburn, her rockstar employer. Third, I loved the short, clipped way that Jane spoke. In addition to being true to the original, it reminded me that this is another really good way to distinguish a character.

I can't give away Jane this week because I borrowed it from my library. Instead, I'm giving away another excellent retelling - an ARC of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. It's an awesome retelling of the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. Want it? Just tell me about your most recent awesome reading experience and it could be yours. Don't forget to add your email.

1 comment:

  1. I LOVED reading Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck. It is the third book in this awesome series and I loved it just as much as the others. It's a unique story with great characters and storylines.

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