Jane Austen was born on Dec. 16, 1775, which means that today is her 235th birthday! Austen’s wit and memorable characters are the reasons why she is my favorite author, and though I began reading her novels when I was in high school, I only recently began to appreciate how truly funny her books are.
To celebrate Austen’s birthday, Sourcebooks is offering several free e-books today only, and they can be had wherever e-books are sold.
Readers can download special illustrated editions of Austen’s beloved novels: Persuasion (my personal favorite — my copy is the one shown), Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Mansfield Park.
Also available are the following Austen-inspired novels:
Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds
I don’t own an e-reader, but I’m lucky to have all of Austen’s novels in my personal collection, and I’ve read quite a few of the Austen-inspired novels on the list. I hope you will celebrate Austen’s birthday by giving one of her novels a try if you haven’t already or pulling out one of your favorites.
Meanwhile, several bloggers are gearing up for the Happy Birthday, Jane! Blog Tour. Read the details here.
Thank you, Jane, for providing me with endless hours of reading enjoyment!
© 2010 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Diary of an Eccentric 
I have been waiting for this to start for ages! we are ahead in the time so its thursday evening now!
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Hope you took advantage of the free books! 😉
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Great post, Anna! I will take a look at the other blogs on this tour.
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Thanks, Suko! Just to clarify, I’m not part of the tour, but I’m looking forward to following it.
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sounds like a great promotion. I’ll have to look at the blog tour.
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Too bad I don’t have an e-reader!
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I’ve looked all over the free ebooks and can’t find them anywhere. I wonder if this is a regional thing. The one’s I found were published by Sourcebooks but .99 each. Still a great price but definitely not free!
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I’m sorry to hear that, Ti. Someone mentioned on Facebook that they couldn’t find the free e-books either. I’ll have to e-mail Sourcebooks and tell them.
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[…] just been informed by Sourcebooks that the free e-book offer to commemorate Jane Austen’s 235th birthday today will be extended through tomorrow, Dec. […]
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