2011 book 279

Shannon Hale's Austenland
I basically hate chick lit (because it's so formulaic and boring) but thought I'd give this book a chance for the following reasons:
--Hale is the author of a bunch of YA books I like a lot.
--They're filming a movie of this, starring Keri Russell and Jennifer Coolidge (who is perfectly cast)!
--It was one of those $1.99 Kindle book deals.
And if you want to read a cute book about a 32-year-old New Yorker who's obsessed w/ Mr. Darcy and whose aunt wills her a trip to England for an Austen-themed role-playing adventure, you really can't go wrong with this. Like all chick lit books, it's totally formulaic and you know exactly what will happen (actually, Hale did surprise me with one plot point), but her narrative, as always, is fun to read. I was a little annoyed that the protagonist was all "Why can't he be more like Mr Darcy?" about the guy who is EXACTLY like Mr Darcy, who is totally a stuffy crankypants in the book. Anyway, I didn't dislike this, which is frankly surprising. B+.