Below is the final cover for Pride and Prejudice and Kitties, co-written by our own Debbie Guyol. 

Although this title isn't officially published yet -- it's due out in the spring -- it has already made it to a Wall Street slideshow honoring "All Things Austen", in honor of the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. How exciting!

Check out the Wall Street slideshow by clicking here
 
 
Our region has lost a longtime, and well-loved, friend and member. A good friend of Janet Rohrbaugh has shared the sad news that Janet passed away peacefully the evening of January 15. She was sitting in her chair reading a book. The cause of death is unknown at this time, but doctors suspect it was her heart. 

Janet will be greatly missed by all who knew her. 

There will be a memorial service for Janet at Westminster Presbyterian Church in NE Portland on Saturday, January 26, at 2pm.

Click here for a Google Maps link to Westminster Presbyterian Church.

What we can do for the family is to come and celebrate Janet's life at her memorial on January 26.

Janet's family has also asked that in lieu of sending flowers, please send a donation to the American Heart Association.

Please do pass this news and memorial information on to those who knew and loved her.
 
 
In the past year, our attendance at the May and December events has been less than anticipated. I have created a questionnaire to encourage feedback about these events. Do not worry about offending me. Just be honest and let me know what kind of events you would like to attend. Many thanks for your participation!
~ Kim Higgins, Regional Coordinator


For additional comments or concerns, please email Kim at jasna.orswwa@gmail.com
 
 
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Searchable title on Amazon.com
For our January 13 meeting, let's pretend we're putting together the ultimate condensed version of Jane's letters. We don't need to include all the stuff about Mrs. H. visiting and the cost of muslin or meat; we do want witty comments on balls, marriages, children, literature (including JA's own), etc. There are also references to family dramas and deaths. We can use entire letters if warranted, but in most cases snippets will be enough. Let's see what we can create!

Feel free to read all the letters and select the bits from each you think merit a place in JANE'S GREATEST HITS, but we've gone through them for you and picked out the ones we find the most entertaining or interesting or productive of excellent quotes. The numbers refer to the Deirdre Le Faye collection of Jane Austen's Letters (3rd edition, 1997).

1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24, 27, 34, 36, 41, 45, 50, 59, 60, 61, 62, 66, 68D, 68(A), 71, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 85, 86, 89, 90, 94, 103, 104, 107, 108, 109, 113, 114, 118, 129, 132(D), 138(D), 146, 148, 151, 153, 155, 158.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!
Debbie Guyol and Bill Boyd

 
 
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It is almost time for our January regular meeting! We will commence discussion on January 13th at 1pm at the home of Alexandra Guerra. Our discussion leaders will be Deb Guyol and Bill Boyd. The topic will be Jane Austen's letters ... more soon with details about the topic. Please let Alex know if you are able to attend.

See you next Sunday!

For texts of Jane Austen's letters (Brabourne edition), please visit http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/brablets.html.

For the reading group discussion schedule and more events this year, please see our 2013 Events page.