Written by Fanny Burney in the late 1700s, many of the novel’s social customs will seem illogical and random. But even for it’s differences, one can’t help seeing similarities between society of then and now. There is love, lust, outrage, sweetness, jealousy, and pride. Burney created a palate of diverse characters and relished in throwing them together in a mix of discord and harmony. It is said Jane Austen read Burney’s novels as a young one–I can see where Austen drew her inspiration for colorful character interactions.

I was highly entertained by search engine term responses by Lit Connection and Adventures in Reading. Since then, I’ve been wanting to do a Girlebooks edition of this theme, so I’ve been watching the search engine terms roll in for the past couple of months. Here are my responses to 3 search terms that either [...]

When I came across the following review of The Lamplighter from Erica Bauermeister’s 500 Great Books by Women, I knew I had to include this ebook on the site. The Lamplighter may be downloaded for free from our ebook catalog.
Second only in sales to Uncle Tom’s Cabin during the nineteenth century, The Lamplighter is almost [...]

While doing some research on fan fiction, I came upon a comment that while it is widely derided as non-literary work, there does exist recognized literary writing that is, in essence, fan fiction. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys was one of these examples.
The story is that of Antoinette Cosway, also known as Bertha [...]

As I like to post two ebooks at a time to the site, and having decided on Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I came across a gem of a book called Our Nig by another woman named Harriet, Harriet E. Wilson. Both are about slavery and both are written by [...]

Northanger Abbey is available for free download from our ebook catalog. This ebook is also part of The Complete Works of Jane Austen ebook compilation.
Northanger Abbey, written around 1798 but actually published in 1817, follows Catherine Morland on a visit to Bath and later to Northanger Abbey, the house of new acquaintances, [...]

We wrap up Banned Books Week with two free ebook offerings: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Black Beauty. At first I thought these two books had nothing to do with one another, but after further research I see a common themes of cruelty, compassion, and propaganda through storytelling.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was written [...]

The Country of Pointed Firs is a book you can take your time with. It has a dreamy quality, and it’s sense of nostalgia is very strong, as if this place and time no longer exists but in her memory. It’s not especially sad, but it got me thinking of similar events or people in my life that are perhaps gone forever. You can tell that the importance lies in the time, as you can always go back to the place, but maybe it has changed so much that the experience of it will never be the same.