A Book and a Beverage, June 2018

Welcome back to my A Book and a Beverage series for my June recommendations! I’m trying to make my way through my Pop Sugar reading challenge, and I’m reading a lot of books that are okay but not really blowing me away- I’m glad I’m experiencing new genres and authors that I might not otherwise have read, but the end result is also that known of them have really struck me as amazing. (I still have half a challenge left, so I’m hopeful it will still happen!) I do have a few books that I re-read every few years, and I turn to them when I need more literary inspiration! This month is about an old favourite of mine…

The Book: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters 

From the publisher of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem. “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters” expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

I know what you are going to say- Historian, classic lit mashups are so 2009, why on earth would you ever suggest this? Well, dear readers, this also happens to be one of the most entertaining books that I’ve read. Although I love Jane Austen, I find that while Sense and Sensibility can be insightful, it can also be gloomy and mopey without much literary sunlight to keep you going. The sea monsters might make it goofy and ridiculous in a way that you don’t normally associate with Jane Austen, but it’s entertaining and funny and a modern update to classic novel! It’s a great answer to people who claim that there is nothing going on in an Austen novel; yes, the sea monsters bring in the fantastical and funny but there was always drama and story.
The original mashup is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is also entertaining in it’s own way, but it’s also slightly violent in it’s additions and laboured in structure. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters has a wonderful feeling of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea meeting the Dashwood sisters, and flows nicely as a novel. I appreciate the literary mashup genre for bringing more people to classic literature, and for the pure entertainment that it offers!

The Beverage: Water…

I know that it isn’t the most interesting choice ever, but I am really focusing on drinking more water. I am trying to get back into shape and just take better care of myself, and that starts with the basics like drinking enough water. It only took a few days to get accustomed to drinking 2 litres of water a day, and I appreciate that my Fitbit has a water tracking section to make it even easier to stay on top of it. I also still love my Liberty London S’well water bottle, and it has reminded me to make sure that Liberty London (the store) is on my to-do list for my UK trip. If you want to vary up your water consumption, you can certainly add fruit and herbs for flavouring but I’ve been sticking with plain ol’ water to get the habit back in place.

What are you reading right now? And if you are interested in writing a guest post for A Book and a Beverage please send me an email at anhistorianabouttown@gmail.com! 
Until tomorrow,
The Historian
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