Sunday Salon: It's a Lizzie Bennet Diaries Easter

I mentioned briefly last week that I have somewhat belatedly discovered The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and by belatedly I mean just before it wrapped up once and for all! I watched the first 40 episodes last weekend, but managed to restrain myself from watching anymore during the week because I intended to start from the beginning again with a friend this weekend.

On Saturday morning, I set up the room ready to go. Snacks...check. Laptop receiving wi-fi signal..... check (eventually). Laptop connected to the TV screen....check. Ready to go!

While I waited for my friend I thought I would, you know, just watch a couple of episodes and then would start again when she arrived, except she ended up arriving a lot later in the day than expected and so I had watched the first 40 episodes again before I decided that I need to make cookies (which my son still hasn't tried - not that I am bitter about that) and made dinner! And then, I watched the first 50 or so with her. If you are counting along at home that means that yes, I watched the first 40 episodes three times. The difference being this time, that once my friend went home, I just kept on watching, right until the end, even though that kept me up until 2.30 in the morning.

And then there's today. No, I didn't start from the beginning again - even I would find that a bit of overkill - but I did start from the beginning on the website and read through all the additional material that is included and watch all of the other videos, like the ones that Lydia Bennet did, or later in the series those that Darcy's sister Gigi did, and so many more!

For those of you who are wondering what on earth I am talking about, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries are a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice using YouTube as the primary source of storytelling, but also using other forms like Twitter and Tumblr to progress the story. Whilst the book is clearly identifiable as being the basis of the story, many of the themes have been updated to reflect modern concerns. For example, while for Mrs Bennet the need to find good husbands is still very important especially in the light of the family's financial difficulties, for Lizzie and Jane and Charlotte the focus is more on their careers.  I found many of the modernisations to be fascinating. For example, Mr Collins was still irritating and in the metaphorical pockets of Catherine de Bourgh, but he wasn't a minister in this case. He was a ..... actually, I don't think I will tell you because it is one of the cleverer ways that the makers adapted the book.

I thought I would do a brief list of a few things that I learned from spending this entire weekend immersed is the world of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

1. Try and space your watching out over a few more than two days. Seriously....I am really tired now... and yet I can't stop watching certain episodes over and over! (and yes, you know the ones that they would be...le sigh). If you can't stop yourself, then it's not like I won't understand how that feels!

2. I basically put the Youtube stream on and let it play just the Lizzie Bennet entries. My advice to you would be to NOT do that. Follow all the posts from the website so that you get to see all the additional videos and Twitter conversations that help to colour the world and so that you can see the other action that is taking place away from Lizzie!

3. Don't let the fact that you have/have not read Pride and Prejudice stop you from enjoying the series. I haven't yet read it (shh.....I know alright) and I normally strongly avoid all the spin off books. Then again I tend to avoid the spin off books of the ones I have read too!

4. There are so many amazingly clever people out there who have created gifs, fan art etc. You could lose days just looking at this stuff if you aren't careful.

5. When the next adaptation, Welcome to Sanditon, starts some times in May, get in at the beginning. Yes, it means that you will have to wait for each new development to happen along with millions of other people, but I am sure that is half the fun...right? Right?

Oh, and to Livia Day whose book, A Trifle Dead, I intended to review yesterday .... sorry! I got a tad obsessed with LBD but I will get back to the book and do the review asap. Maybe even tomorrow, assuming that I can stop rewatching the videos tonight and tomorrow.

For your viewing pleasure, here is the first episode of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

Currently watching

Nothing.

Oh, who am I kidding. I think I might just watch the last 10 or so episodes again before I go to bed.

Currently Reading

A Trifle Dead by Livia Day (again...sorry) and listening to Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Up Next

The Chevalier by Cynthia Harrod-Eagle and From the Kitchen of Half Truths bu Maria Goodin


****Oh, nearly forgot! Don't forget to enter the giveaway that I am hosting of Back on Track by Donna Cummings - full details here****

Sunday Salon: Ramblings

I am not sure if you have noticed or not but it has been kind of quiet around here recently. While I have still been reading up a storm, the idea of sitting down to collect my thoughts and write about a book hasn't been that appealing. Yep....I'm in a reviewing slump. The only thing that gets me to sit down and actually write something is where I have committed to post a review on a particular date, usually for a blog tour. I have even dropped off Weekend Cooking for the last few weeks because I was so uninspired. Of course, it doesn't help that even the baking I have been doing hasn't exactly turned out well either! I did have a book to write about yesterday for Weekend Cooking, but then I saw something shiny and got distracted so it didn't happen. I have posts scheduled for the next two weeks now so it could well be that I don't ever actually write about that book! We'll see!

Of course, getting obsessed with something new isn't going to help motivate me to write reviews! Today, after hearing about them for a long time, I started watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. My intention was just to watch a few episodes. Do you think that 40 can still be quantified as a few or have I crossed the line into many, many episodes now? I can't wait to watch more! So much fun! I have no idea why I didn't start watching them earlier!

I am also way behind on blog hopping but I did notice a few posts the other day announcing that it was time for Once Upon a Time again, being hosted by Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings for the seventh time.

This year I am going to undertake the Journey level of participation.

This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to read at least one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 21st period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic! If not, then we have still had the pleasure of your company during this three month reading journey and hopefully you have read a great book, met some interesting people, and enjoyed the various activities that occur during the challenge. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.

In a way it kinds of feels as though I am cheating just a little bit on this one because the book that I finished the day that the challenge started is one that met the criteria, and I did have that in mind at the time I was reading it so technically, I could have finished the challenge already. Of course, see my opening paragraph to find out the likelihood of a review being written is.

Other books that I might reading for the challenge that are sitting on my shelves include:

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham
Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

I am sure that there are others on my shelves that might make the grade too!

In other news I am still going strong on the #estellagram front and so far haven't missed a prompt for the month of March! Normally I drop off after a few days from these photo a day challenges so I am quite happy with that achievement. Some time this week I will probably do a post with the photos that I haven't yet shown here. I do have to laugh at myself though because for yesterday's prompt I did something a teensy bit embarrassing. I am not sure if anyone has noticed because no one has said anything, but I am going to out myself anyway.

Yesterday's prompt was e-reader, so I put my e-reader on top of a book and took a photo of the both of them saying something along the lines of I am happy to read either paper books or using my e-reader, and didn't think much more about it! After I had received a few likes, I had another look at the picture and I realised that the page I was showing on the e-reader was of....ummm...sexy times in the steamy romance I was reading and not the Tudor set historical mystery that I had thought it was! Whoops! But it is there now so I am not going to take it down! Note to self....make sure you take a look at what you are taking photos of.

So that's it for my rambly Sunday Salon post this week! There will be at least a couple of reviews this week because they are scheduled. We'll see what else happens shall we!

Currently Reading

The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau and listening to Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Up Next

Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison