Jane Austen July 2025 discussion

Jane Austen July 2024 is coming soon! Please do introduce yourself if you're taking part this year.

I'm Katie from Books and Things on Booktube, one of the hosts, and Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors. My favourite novels by her are Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park.

Hello,
My name is Rebecca. I forget how many times I've participated in Jane Austen July. I am hoping to read 1 Jane Austen novel. I am currently in grad school and probably won't have time to do more than that. I look forward to reading the discussions!

My name is Mike and I am from United States — the state of Iowa to be specific. This will be my 4th Jane Austen July. The first year I was ambitious and read all six novels. Reading Lady Susan the following year was an absolute treat. And because of the group read of Northanger Abbey last year, I focused some of my additional reading around Gothic novels published prior to Jane Austen that she likely would have read; and I found because of JAJ that I have a secret love of those “horrid” novels.

My current ranking of the novels is (and I reserve the ability to make a change over the years):
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Northanger Abbey
3. Emma
4. Persuasion
5. Sense and Sensibility
6. Mansfield Park (Katie, don't hate me!)

And I'd rank Lady Susan somewhere in the top half of the rankings.

Thanks, Katie! I'm Allen, and I'll be reading Persuasion next month.

Yay! Almost time for Jane Austen July! I'm Lu and I'm in Tennessee (USA). I think this will be my 7th (?) year to participate - the time does fly, doesn't it?! I'm terrible with TBRs but I always enjoy the group reads and am looking forward to reading the choice this year. 😉

Thank you, as always, Katie for hosting and to Marissa and Claudia for co-hosting!

Hey there, my name is Naomi and I’m a Canadian expat living in Berlin. I’m an opera singer by profession and I love reading just about everything. This is my second JAJ, and I can’t wait to dive in!

Hello, I am Lorraine from Scotland. Persuasion is my favourite Jane Austen novel with Sense and Sensibility a close second, although I do love Northanger Abbey too.
I will definitely do the read a longs and watch some movies/series.
My brother recently sent me a copy of Eavesdropping on Jane Austens England, so that's another category covered.
The JAJ excitement is growing now.

Hi everyone! My name is Francis, and I'm from Honduras. This is my first time participating. I have read Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility. I've always wanted to read more of Jane Austen, and this is the perfect opportunity for it. I'm really excited! English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance if I make any mistakes haha

Hello friends! My name is Claire and I'm from Lancashire in Northern England :) This is my 4th or 5th year taking part in JAJ. I specifically want to reread and annotate "Jane Austen at Home" by Lucy Worsley as I have managed to get tickets to her Jane Austen tour in November and will be taking it with me in the hopes of getting it signed! I will be trying to make my way through some of Jane's letters as I was lucky enough to get the Folio Society edition for my birthday! Excited for all the discussions and to take part in the group reads!!

Hello, I'm Lauren, I live in Devon. This is my first JAJ, thank you for the invite Katie. I don't remember a time I didn't like Jane Austen, my Mum loves her writing as well and I was brought reading her books and watching the adaptations. Persuasion is my favourite. Going to have to do some research on her contemporaries.

Hi, I am Theresa and I have done JAJ for many years, but not sure if I did it all years. Looking forward to picking my TBR, although my main novel has been planned since last JAJ because it is the last one of hers that I haven't read.

Hi there! I am an avid reader of all-things Austen. I have seen most of the screen adaptations, and love re-watching them once in a while.
I will attempt the Challenges, as this July, I will start a new job. We'll see how far I get!
Last week, one of my voice students brought me a novel about Austen, written by a local author (Montréal). It's an omen! :)
This is my second year of JAJ. I cherish last year's experience greatly!

Hi! I’m Karen and I’m in the US, specifically Arizona. (Nothing like reading about English weather when it’s 110+.) This is my third or fourth JAJ. I’ve read four of Jane Austen’s published novels, some repeatedly, but have yet to get to the last two. I’m trying to decide which I’ll do this year. I really enjoy all of the extras like watching variations and reading other books from the time period.

Hi! Glad to be here! Really looking forward to learning from this group - really need to pay more attention to Jane Austen!

I'm an American Janeite, ex-literature major, historian, archivist and general nerd. I can't wait to read along and see what others are reading and watching.

Hi everyone, my name is Antigony and I'm excited that it's the turn of Sense & Sensibility as I've not read it! Thank you Katie, Marissa and Claudia for continuing to host JAJ and look forward to the group discussion.

Hello everyone,
Greetings from an Irish Austen fan.
This is my third year participating in Jane Austen July.
It is so fun.
Thanks to Katie, Marissa and Claudia.

Thank you for the invite Katie, this will be my first time participating. I’m Oggy, from London but currently residing in the UAE. I’ve only read Pride and Prejudice (multiple times), Persuasion and Northanger Abbey so this is a wonderful opportunity to get started on her other books.

Hello everyone! My name is Joe.
Thank you for the invite, Katie!
I've read Pride & Prejudice in college, and I've seen the movie version of Sense & Sensibility with Emma Thompson.

My name is Tracy. I've been a Jane Austen fan for many decades, teaching Jane Austen novels online in continuing education (mostly Lexington Community Education) since 2008. At the time, I started having dreams about missing chapters of Pride and Pride - in part, Darcy's perspective and process of change - and began writing a novel based upon them (with an in depth psychological approach). Sadly, it remains unfinished. It was difficult being true to Austen and also following my own Muse, who kept guiding me in another direction!

At the time, before I became homebound, I did a week long Pride and Prejudice research trip in England and posted over a hundred of my best pictures online at
https://tracymar.smugmug.com/England which I'm happy to share (no, they're not for sale - they're just up for Austen fans to enjoy).

I've read all of the Austen books several times. My favorite, of course, is Pride and Prejudice, for which I focus a lot on the psychological development of Elizabeth and Darcy. (By the way, my next Pride and Prejudice: Character and Conflict course starts online on zoom on Friday July 12 for five weeks at 12:30 edt ) but I'm particularly fond of Persuasion and also Sense and Sensibility.

I never get tired of hearing readers' perspectives on the novels (or watching all the movies - I've recording five different Darcy proposal scenes from five different P&P films and it's so much fun to compare them to each other and the book).

Tracy wrote: "My name is Tracy. I've been a Jane Austen fan for many decades, teaching Jane Austen novels online in continuing education (mostly Lexington Community Education) since 2008. At the time, I started ..."

Nice to see you again, Tracy!

Hello all,
I'm Rachel. This will be my 4th (I think haha I loose count) JAJ, I love it so much! I actually forgot it was coming up then got an email notification about this chat from Goodreads - yay I'm so excited now!
Absolutely love taking part and reading and interacting with the comments
I never get through all the challenges but I always give them a good go and I always reread one of the 6 main JA novels which I have read many times before. Reading Jane Austen puts me into a happy/feel good place and I love having July as the month I pick up one of her novels again. Always fun to discover novels from around the same time period aswell, and I enjoy modern retellings too.
Looking forward to chatting with you all in July

I am from the midlands region, living close to Birmingham in the UK

Hello my name is Carrie and I have yet to read anything by Jane Austin, I hope to change that this month.

Hello,

My name is Boglárka. I'm currently delving myself into the world of Jane Austen and Classical Literature. I love to analyse these things so much, and I would like to hear the experiences of other Austen readers, and I would like to get to know them a little better. My native language is Hungarian, but I try to do my best in English as well. I'm SO EXCITED for the JAJ.

Hi, thanks for the invite. This will be my first Jane Austen July. Sense and Sensibility is my favourite Jane Austen novel.

Hi, my name is Barbara, I am French and I live in Canada since 2022 after almost 4 years in UK.
You will probably notice my accent ;))) !!
I am here like you, because I enjoy reading (and re-reading) Jane Austen's novels.
I have a little weakness for "Pride and Prejudice" but somehow I like them all and notice something new each time I reopen one of her novels.
Last time I re-read a Jane Austen novel was "Sense and Sensibility", last year.
Most of the time I read her novels in English, and sometimes in French but unfortunately the translation are not very good, sometimes some parts are missing or have been rewritten (crime!).
Anyway, it's the first time that I participate to JAJ and I am glad to start exchanging on this sujet passionnant!
I would be happy to read again " Northanger abbey" and discover "Lady Susan".
I still have a bit of time to decide what else to complete the "challenge". If you don't know what non fiction to read, may I suggest the excellent "What matters in Jane Austen, 20 crucial puzzles solved" by John Mullan.
A bientôt :)

Hi, I'm Andrea in Seattle, a political organizer and journalism writer and editor. This will be my second Jane Austen July, and I'm so happy to have found this group! Thanks again to all the hosts, whose YouTubes are a tonic. My favorite Austen novels are Pride and Prejudice and Emma, but I love them all without reservation.

Hello, my name is Blane. This is my first dear participating in Jane Austen July. I have so far read sense and sensibility and pride and prejudice. I want to thank Katie from books and things who has inspired me to read pride and prejudice and Charles Dickens as well.📚🌷

Hi, I'm Jassmine from Czech Republic. A usual I did things backwards and started commenting in the tbr thread before introducing myself 🤭

Not that there is that much to say. This is my second JAJ (although it feels like at least third...) and I'm really looking forward to it! My favourite is Emma, but it is really hard to choose favourites... (still didn't read Northanger)

Hi, I am Linda from Luxembourg. I have loved Jane Austen's books ever since my first read of Pride & Prejudice more than 20 years ago. It has remained my favourite to this day, though I love them all and it is sooooo difficult to rank them (at least the four in the middle between P&P at the top and Emma at the bottom of the list)! I regularly enjoy re-reading, re-listening to and re-watching Austen's works and screen adaptations. So I couldn't resist this group even though we are just finishing Persuasion in another group here on GR 😅

BarbaraBrubru wrote: "Hi, my name is Barbara, I am French and I live in Canada since 2022 after almost 4 years in UK.
You will probably notice my accent ;))) !!
I am here like you, because I enjoy reading (and re-readi..."
Bonjour Barbara!
Je suis au Québec!
Au plaisir d'échanger avec vous!

Hello, I'm Gaby from Germany. This will be my fourth Jane Austen July. Thanks to Katie, Claudia and Marissa!

Lindenblatt wrote: "Hi, I am Linda from Luxembourg. I have loved Jane Austen's books ever since my first read of Pride & Prejudice more than 20 years ago. It has remained my favourite to this day, though I love them a..."

Glad your joining, even if you just read one thing.

Lucie wrote: "BarbaraBrubru wrote: "Hi, my name is Barbara, I am French and I live in Canada since 2022 after almost 4 years in UK.
You will probably notice my accent ;))) !!
I am here like you, because I enjoy..."

Lucie wrote: "BarbaraBrubru wrote: "Hi, my name is Barbara, I am French and I live in Canada since 2022 after almost 4 years in UK.
You will probably notice my accent ;))) !!
I am here like you, because I enjoy..."

Bonjour Lucie, je suis au NB :), contente de participer et d'échanger !

Hello! I'm Bronte from California, and I'm super excited for this event! I am definitely reading Mansfeild Park on July. It's a reread for me but I love it! im excited to see stay everyone decides to read for this event.

Hello! I am Marylou from the Boston area of the United States. I have lost track of how many times I have done JAJ. I look forward to it every year and so appreciate you all hosting it.
My favorite Jane Austen novel is usually the one I just read lol, but Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and Mansfield Park are generally my top three in some order.

Hi, I'm Jane! Have read Sense and Sensibility as well as Persuasion in the past, will be starting Mansfield Park this July. I have never liked introducing my name since young due to extreme low self-esteem, but reading Austen has changed that mindset a little for the past 4 years.

Hello everyone,

My name is Thaizi Ono and I am from Brazil.
It is my third time participating in Jane Austen July (JAJ),
I came to this group by Katie Lumsden channel, her videos about Jane Austen are so infectious.

For this JAJ, I think I will read Persuasion ;)

Hi all! My name is Anne and I'm from Virginia in the US. I am a HUGE JA fan but this is my first time actively participating in JAJ and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

I have re-read all of Austen's 6 novels, most recently Mansfield Park a couple months ago, so I think I'm going to pass on the main challenge and focus on the others. I'm definitely going to read Worsley's bio of Austen, and possibly a P&P "sequel" that I just picked up at a library sale today. Maybe some Georgette Heyer because I'm also a big Heyer fan. We'll see, still working on my TBR.

I absolutely love all of her novels, but on any given day, my favorite is either P&P or Emma. They take turns. :)

Hi everyone! My name is Janice and I am in Canada. I think this is my 5-6 Jane Austen July which is one of my favourite reading month of the year as well as Victober and Christmas. I have read Jane Austen's main novels and love Pride and Prejudice the best! It is the one novel I have read the most. I really can't decide which novel would be in second place. I watched Katie's, Marissa's, and Claudia's videos last night and completed my TBR. I may actually complete all the challenges this year but if not I will have a wonderful month of Jane Austen July! Thank you so much to our hosts!

Hi all! My name is Kathrine, and I am from Norway. Currently live in the south, but grew up and raised my children in Lofoten, above the arctic circle.
This is my first year with Jane Austen July!
Have been a huge fan since I was 16, and my first P & P is read so many times the cover now disintegrates... But my favourite book is Persuasion!
Not sure yet how this works out, or where to watch the videoes, but I'll get there, and looking so much forward to all of it!

Hello everyone. This will be my first Jane Austen July though I am a lifetime fan from California. I will be rereading Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park. Can't wait to rewatch the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (1995). Have a wonderful day.

Hello, I am Renuka and am in Hamburg Germany having moved 25 years ago form London to be with my Canadian husband.

I've been an Austen fan since I first read Emma as a 13 years old for the GCSE Lit syllabus - and also reading my mother's own school PP version on the side.

JAJ has been a joy since I stumbled across it in 2018 its first year, thorugh a non-host participant YT video, but only half way through the challenge - and that year I did a bare bones challenge.
In 2019 I did the full challenge but was again only on YT.
In 2020 I joined the group here.

For me now a major part of the attraction is reading the group chats and the many excellent recommendations from the long timers and those who are quite expert on JA. I am no longer on the YT comments, unlike the first 2 years.

Looking forward to the sharing this year too :)

Hello Everyone!

My name is Sophie, I haven't participated in years, but I'm going to do my very best to read multiple books for this challenge this year!
I would love to reread Pride and Prejudice, read her History of England, and finally read at least one non-fiction - either about her specifically or the Regency period in general (cross fingers for both, hehe)

Looking forward to this, I hope everyone has a lovely time reading :)

Hello! Thanks, Katie, for inviting me!

I'm Lisa of Troy, and I plan on reading Sense and Sensibility, one of my last remaining Jane Austen Novels on the BBC's top 100 novels. Growing up in the US, we were given Little Women at a very young age, and Louisa May Alcott is pretty much the opposite of Jane Austen. As such, I haven't really taken to Austen. Hopefully, the enthusiasm of this group will rub off, and I will catch the excitement!

Looking forward to hearing everyone's insights!

Lisa of Troy wrote: "Hello! Thanks, Katie, for inviting me!

I'm Lisa of Troy, and I plan on reading Sense and Sensibility, one of my last remaining Jane Austen Novels on the BBC's top 100 novels. Growing up in the US,..."


Hi Lisa,

Welcome. You are in for a treat. I only started reading Jane Austen three years ago. I read "Emma" in secondary school and hated it. I have since reread it and plan to read this Jane Austen July.

Lindenblatt wrote: "Hi, I am Linda from Luxembourg. I have loved Jane Austen's books ever since my first read of Pride & Prejudice more than 20 years ago. It has remained my favourite to this day, though I love them a..."

Hi Linda from Luxembourg! What a wonderful country. I lived there for a while and both our kids were born there. I hope to be back soon to reconnect with friends.

Kathrine wrote: "Hi all! My name is Kathrine, and I am from Norway. Currently live in the south, but grew up and raised my children in Lofoten, above the arctic circle.
This is my first year with Jane Austen July!
..."

So cool! My 2xs great-grandmother was born and raised there. Her grandparents ran a tourist hotel in Tromso. I recently learned the family came in the middle ages when the Danish and Germans were setting up a trading post with the Sami. I've been to Oslo and Lillehammer loved it. I felt right at home there thanks to all the family stories passed down through the generations.

Cams wrote: "Lindenblatt wrote: "Hi, I am Linda from Luxembourg. I have loved Jane Austen's books ever since my first read of Pride & Prejudice more than 20 years ago. It has remained my favourite to this day, ..."

Thank you, Cams. I am not a native from Luxembourg (few people are ;)), but I do also like living here. I see you are in Scotland now? That's VERY pretty, too, and a great place to visit!