Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books Every Jane Austen Fan Should Read

'Top Ten Tuesday' is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. I love making lists, so this feature fits me perfectly! If you also take part in this feature or have any additions to my lists, please get in touch; I'd love to hear from you!  

  10 Books Every Jane Austen Fan Should Read
I'm a big Jane Austen fan; she's my favourite author of all time and next to reading her own novels, I also love reading adaptations of her famous books or stories based on Austen's own life. For this week's Top Ten Tuesday I decided to go with 10 books you definitely need to read if you're a Jane Austen fan, just like me, but are also worth picking up if you like chick lit with a touch of Austen!
Be sure to share your own TTT's in the comments section below; I'd love to hear from you! 

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1. 'Austenland' - Shannon Hale

Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man-perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of "Pride and Predjudice." When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

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2. 'A Weekend with Mr. Darcy' - Victoria Connelly

Of course she's obsessed with Jane Austen... 

Surrounded by appalling exes and fawning students, the only thing keeping professor Katherine Roberts sane is Jane Austen and her personal secret love for racy Regency romance novels. She thinks the Jane Austen Addicts conference in the English countryside is the perfect opportunity to escape her chaotic life and finally relax... 

But then she encounters a devilishly handsome man at the conference who seems determined to sweep her off her feet. Is he more fiction than fact? Or could he be the hero she didn't know she was looking for?

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3. 'Me and Mr. Darcy' - Alexandra Potter

After a string of disastrous relationships, Emily Albright has had it with modern men.

She'd rather curl up with Pride and Prejudice and step into a time where men were honorable and strode across fields in breeches, their damp shirts clinging to their chests. The men she meets are more into pleated trousers, two-timing and internet porn.

So when her best friend invites her to Mexico for a week of margaritas and manhunting, Emily books a guided tour of Jane Austen country instead.

There are no dream men here. The coach is full of pensioners, apart from one Spike Hargreaves, a foul-tempered journalist writing a piece on why most women would love to date Mr Darcy.

But then she walks into a room and finds herself face-to-face with Darcy himself. And every woman's fantasy suddenly becomes one woman's reality...

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4. 'The Jane Austen Factor Series' - Katie Oliver

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5. 'Sense and Sensibility' - Joanna Trollope

Two sisters could hardly be more different.

Elinor Dashwood, an architecture student, values discretion above all. Her impulsive sister Marianne displays her creativity everywhere as she dreams of going to art school.

But when the family finds itself forced out of Norland Park, their beloved home for twenty years, their values are severely put to the test.

Can Elinor remain stoic knowing that the man she likes has been ensnared by another girl? Will Marianne’s faith in love be shaken by meeting the hottest boy in the county? And when social media is the controlling force at play, can love ever triumph over conventions and disapproval?

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6. 'The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen' - Syrie James

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.

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7. 'Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict' - Laura Viera Rigler

Sassy, smart and suddenly single Courtney Stone is a typical modern LA girl. That is, until she wakes up one morning in Regency England in the body of Jane Mansfield. At first she thinks she must be dreaming - maybe she's read all of Jane Austen's books a few too many times - but as time goes on she finds there is a lot she needs to get to grips with: a new accent, a new body, a wicked new 'mother', and most excitingly, a new man in her life: the dashing, dishy Charles Edgeworth.

But is he a Darcy, a Wickham, or merely a confusing distraction? As Courtney trips through the social minefield of life in Jane Austen's England she wonders: Will she ever get her twenty-first century, west-coast life back - and does she even want to?

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8. 'The Jane Austen Marriage Manual' - Kim Izzo

It's in the midst of the recession when Kate, a freelance journalist and Jane Austen addict, finds herself single, unemployed and soon-to-be homeless (not to mention about to turn 40). In desperation she accepts a writing assignment to prove that in the toughest economic times a wealthy man is the only must-have accessory.

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9. 'First Impressions: a Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice' - Alexa Adams

In Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy begins his relationship with Elizabeth Bennet with the words: "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present togive consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men." 

What would have happened if Mr. Darcy had never spoken so disdainfully? First Impressions explores how the events of Jane Austen's beloved novel would have transpired if Darcy and Elizabeth had danced together at the Meryton Assembly. Jane and Bingley's relationship blossoms unimpeded, Mary makes a most fortunate match, and Lydia never sets a foot in Brighton. Austen's witty style is authentically invoked in this playful romp from Longbourn to Pemberley. 

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10. 'According to Jane' - Marilyn Brant

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". From nowhere comes a quiet 'tsk' of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there. Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. 
Years and boyfriends come and go - sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham. Still, everyone has something to learn about love - perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending.