Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

Well, I'll add my accolades and good birthday wishes along with the rest of Blogger Land: Happy Birthday, Jane Austen (1775-1817). You made the literary landscape a beautiful place. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Austen deserves her super-stardom.

I recommend this Austen bio by Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shields. It's a relatively quick read and hits all the essential points of a quietly exceptional life: that of a writer who learned everything she needed to know simply by observing her family, friends and neighbors then putting two and two together. (Of course, it helped that she was brilliant.) From these astute observations she created some of the finest books ever written in the English language.

My own two personal favorite Jane Austen books: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and PERSUASION. Read more about Austen and her books here and at the Jane Austen Today blog. Also please check out Jane Austen's World for more Jane and fascinating Regency era info.

A list of gifts for the Jane Austen aficionado. Remember: you can never have enough Jane Austen accoutrement.

Happy Birtday today to Jane, from Google.