Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.
Topping today’s Buffet is Sense and Sensibility, the first novel Austen published. This edition by Bethany House usually costs $6.99.
Sense and Sensibility appeared in 1811 under the pseudonym “A Lady.” A work of romantic fiction, better known as a comedy of manners, the story is set in southwest England, London and Kent between 1792 and 1797, and portrays the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. The novel follows the young ladies to their new home, a cottage on a distant relative’s property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak. Austen wrote the first draft of the novel in the form of a novel-in-letters (epistolary form) sometime around 1795 when she was about 19 years old, and gave it the title Elinor and Marianne. She later changed the form to a narrative and the title to Sense and Sensibility. By changing the title, Austen added “philosophical depth” to what began as a sketch of two characters.
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Sense and Sensibility
Classics > Romance
Author: Jane Austen, Julie Klassen
Abeloved classic, Austen’s first published novel explores the question of what drives your life: your heart or your head? The Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, are as different as sisters can be. Serious Elinor lives by reason and thoughtfulness while her younger sister, Marianne, only follows her passions. But in questions of love, they learn neither the heart nor head alone will lead them to happiness. Filled with romance, Austen’s brilliant wit, and rich characterization, this is a celebration of sisterly love and the need for family–no matter how different they might be from us.
Though not the first novel she wrote, Sense and Sensibility was the first Jane Austen published. Though she initially called it Elinor and Marianne, Austen jettisoned both the title and the epistolary mode in which it was originally written, but kept the essential theme: the necessity of finding a workable middle ground between passion and reason. The story revolves around the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Whereas the former is a sensible, rational creature, her younger sister is wildly romantic–a characteristic that offers Austen plenty of scope for both satire and compassion. Commenting on Edward Ferrars, a potential suitor for Elinor’s hand, Marianne admits that while she “loves him tenderly,” she finds him disappointing as a possible lover for her sister.
Soon however, Marianne meets a man who measures up to her ideal: Mr. Willoughby, a new neighbor. So swept away by passion is Marianne that her behavior begins to border on the scandalous. Then Willoughby abandons her; meanwhile, Elinor’s growing affection for Edward suffers a check when he admits he is secretly engaged to a childhood sweetheart. How each of the sisters reacts to their romantic misfortunes, and the lessons they draw before coming finally to the requisite happy ending forms the heart of the novel. Though Marianne’s disregard for social conventions and willingness to consider the world well-lost for love may appeal to modern readers, it is Elinor whom Austen herself most evidently admired; a truly happy marriage, she shows us, exists only where sense and sensibility meet and mix in proper measure. –Alix Wilber
Runes: Book One (Runes Series)
Romance > Paranormal & Fantasy
Author: Ednah Walters
Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.
Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.
Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about him. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only is she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life
Tracks
Mystery > Private Investigators
Author: Niv Kaplan
In a thrilling manhunt, a grieving father is tracking any clues, any traces of his kidnapped child while forming an international organization that tracks other missing children.
The suspense never ceases as the flesh trade, divorce disputes, and child slavery are all being probed by Sam Baker and his team across the globe. The mystery builds as deep in the Sinai Desert, amongst immortal granite cliffs and The Gulf’s breathtaking shades, there lays Sam’s greatest fears. Hate, corruption, and greed threaten his organization and he turns to a secret outfit for help. Then a horrible scheme to use children to spread terror is revealed and the trackslead to an inevitably lethal confrontation with a merciless terrorist group.
This is a tale of modern terrorism, international intrigue, diplomacy, and sacrifice, all in hopes of finding one small boy.
Equoid: A Laundry novella: A Tor.Com Original
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author: Charles Stross
The “Laundry” is Britain’s super-secret agency devoted to protecting the realm from the supernatural horrors that menace it. Now Bob Howard, Laundry agent, must travel to the quiet English countryside to deal with an outbreak of one of the worst horrors imaginable. For, as it turns out, unicorns are real. They’re also ravenous killers from beyond spacetime…
Frozen Footprints
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: Therese Heckenkamp
“Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.” Eighteen-year-old twins Charlene and Max Perigard have grown up under the wealthy but tyrannical rule of their oil-tycoon grandfather. When Max disappears and a ransom note shows up, Charlene’s world is shattered. She desperately tries to persuade her tight-fisted grandfather to pay, but the old man is convinced that Max is merely faking his kidnapping to extort money. Fearing the worst, Charlene determines to find her brother before it’s too late. Her quest hurls her into a twisted, frigid world of snow and ice that leads to terror in an isolated cabin. Together the twins struggle for survival while enduring fierce trials of mind, body, and spirit. Devoid of all worldly comfort and consolation, will faith and hope be enough to get them through this chilling nightmare?
The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook: The Delicious Way to Strengthen Your Immune System and Neutralize Inflammation
Special Diet > Gluten Free
Author: Annalise G. Roberts, Claudia Pillow
From Annalise Roberts, author of the celebrated Gluten-Free Baking Classics, and Claudia Pillow, PhD, comes this new full-scale gluten-free cookbook–a breakthrough in healthier eating, featuring 140 great new recipes. The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook is a true departure from other diet cookbooks–learn how you can make daily decisions that will strengthen your immune system, prevent disease, and help you lose weight by eating real food.
The book includes compelling food choice explanations, guidance, and cooking advice, plus 140 field-tested recipes, including gluten-free roux for Macaroni and Cheese; traditional pan sauce gravies; innovative low-fat sauces and creamy soups; and a comprehensive chapter on the art and science of cooking great-tasting vegetables.
Readers will enjoy a wide selection of flavorful and diverse recipes like Buffalo Meatballs, Roasted Poblano Asiago Soup, Kale with Puttanesca Sauce, Chicken Noodle Gratin, Moroccan Lamb Stew, and more.
Intermarket Analysis and Investing: Integrating Economic, Fundamental, and Technical Trends
Business & Money > Investing
Author: Michael E.S. Gayed
Written in 1990 and re-released with a foreword by Michael A. Gayed in 2013, this eye-opening book brings together the most relied upon tools of market analysis.
Michael E.S. Gayed clearly explains how this powerful combination of major schools of thought of market analysis can help investors dramatically improve their judgment on likely market performance and spot important trends, thereby making successful investment decisions.
Intermarket Analysis and Investing begins with an overview of investment analysis that examines types of risk and portfolio structuring. Then it moves on to the three prominent schools of thought in market analysis with discussions of:
1) Economic analysis, which is primarily concerned with the state of business, and anticipates phases of economic expansion and contraction by focusing on economic indicators
2) Fundamental analysis, the most widely followed and practiced form of analysis, it looks at the accounting and financial position of companies in an attempt to evaluate intrinsic worth and true stock value
3) Technical analysis or the market-timing school, practiced by “believers in the supremacy of trend analysis,” and followers of the ticker tape, It is primarily concerned with the dynamics behind the fluctuation in the price of a stock
TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?
English Creek
Women’s Fiction > Domestic Life
Author: Ivan Doig
Regularly $9.99, Today $1.99
In this prizewinning portrait of a time and place — Montana in the 1930s — that at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most captivating families in American fiction, the McCaskills.
The witty and haunting narration, a masterpiece of vernacular in the tradition of Twain, follows the events of the Two Medicine country’s summer: the tide of sheep moving into the high country, the capering Fourth of July rodeo and community dance, and an end-of-August forest fire high in the Rockies that brings the book, as well as the McCaskill family’s struggle within itself, to a stunning climax. It is a season of escapade as well as drama, during which fourteen-year-old Jick comes of age. Through his eyes we see those nearest and dearest to him at a turning point — “where all four of our lives made their bend” — and discover along with him his own connection to the land, to history, and to the deep-fathomed mysteries of one’s kin and one’s self.
Reckless Heart
Teen & Young Adult > Religion & Spirituality
Author: Amy Clipston
Regularly $9.99, Today $0.99
Slipping. Lydia Bontrager’s youngest sister is frighteningly ill, and as a good Amish daughter, it falls to Lydia to care for her siblings and keep the household running, in addition to working as a teacher’s assistant and helping part time at her grandmother’s bakery. Succumbing to stress, Lydia gives in to one wild night and returns home drunk. The secret of that mistake leaves Lydia feeling even more restless and confused, especially when Joshua, the only boy she’s ever loved, becomes increasingly distant.
When a non-Amish boy moves in nearby, Lydia finds someone who understands her, but the community is convinced Lydia is becoming too reckless. With the pressures at home and her sister’s worsening condition, a splintering relationship with Joshua, and her own growing questions over what is right, Lydia could lose everything that she’s ever held close.
In the Time of Kings
Fantasy > Historical
Author: N. Gemini Sasson
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
What if you could remember another life? What if you could re-live it and find love again?
Professor Ross Sinclair has everything he could ever want. Reunited with childhood sweetheart Claire Forbes, Ross can finally begin to heal the pain of his childhood and live in the present. A honeymoon in Scotland is the perfect beginning.
But when tragedy threatens Claire’s life, Ross’s dreams come to a crashing halt. He must now face the possibility of a future without her. Then, in one unfortunate moment, he’s hurled back to another time and confronted with even bigger problems.
Suddenly, it isn’t 2013 anymore. It’s 1333. The English have laid siege to Berwick, Ross has a wife he barely knows, more enemies than friends, and a past that brands him as a heretic.
The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie
Christian Living > Marriage
Author: Kim Carpenter, Krickitt Carpenter
Regularly $9.99, Today $1.99
Life as Kim and Krickitt Carpenter knew it was shattered beyond recognition on November 24, 1993. Two months after their marriage, a devastating car wreck left Krickitt with a massive head injury and in a coma for weeks.
When she finally awoke, she had no idea who Kim was. With no recollection of their relationship and while Krickitt experienced personality changes common to those who suffer head injuries, Kim realized the woman he had married essentially died in the accident.
And yet, against all odds, but through the common faith in Christ that sustained them, Kim and Krickitt fell in love all over again. Even though Kim stood by Krickitt through the darkest times a husband can ever imagine, he insists, “I’m no hero. I made a vow.”
Now available in trade paper with a new chapter and photo insert, The Vow is the true story that inspired the major motion picture of the same name starring Rachel McAdams (The Notebook), Channing Tatum (Dear John), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), and Academy Award winner Jessica Lange.
The Hangman’s Daughter
International Mystery & Crime
Author: Oliver Pötzsch, Lee Chadeayne
Regularly $4.99, Today $1.99
Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at play. So begins The Hangman’s Daughter–the chillingly detailed, fast-paced historical thriller from German television screenwriter, Oliver Pötzsch–a descendent of the Kuisls, a famous Bavarian executioner clan.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2