Thomas Nelson has just published their first collection of what they call "Christian Encounters" The first collection of these neat little biographies are on John Bunyan, St. Patrick, Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, and my favorite, Jane Austen!

I Admit, I've read a lot of books about Jane Austen, about her country, about her times, about her influences and about her family and even "Jane Austen for Dummies"! Some are are dry, and seem to be just facts, others tend to go off the deep end and elaborate a bit too much, especially on her short-lived romances.Very, very, few make her life seem real and tangible to the reader.

To get to the point, I never have read one quite as enjoyable as this! At times this book reads like a novel, and yet it is full of (interesting - and verifiable!) facts and details. He's not one to drone on about the trivial, but he doesn't ignore the little nuances of her all too brief life. He also realizes his audience have probably not only experienced Jane Austen's books but also the many other variations on them. He mentions these, but doesn't take pages and pages to discuss this, just makes the reader aware of what he calls "Janeia." :)

I am a Jane Austen ADDICT, (as in, ahem, STALKER!!) so I know my stuff, and this guy has shown me that knows his too!

BIG thanks to the wonderful people at Book Sneeze for providing this book for review!