I'm doing some culling of my keeper shelves and this biography of Jane Austen, one of my favourite authors, is on today's list to be registered and released to find a new reader. The receipt I left inside tells me I bought it in the AgeUK charity shop in Holmfirth in September 2013. It's a while since I read it, so I can't write a detailed review but I do know I enjoyed it at the time . . . .

Amazon Editorial Review: "Jon Spence's fascinating biography of Jane Austen paints an intimate portrait of the much-loved novelist. Spence's meticulous research has, perhaps most notably, uncovered evidence that Austen and the charming young Irishman Tom Lefroy fell in love at the age of twenty and that the relationship inspired Pride and Prejudice, one of the most celebrated works of fiction ever written. Becoming Jane Austen gives the fullest account we have of the romance, which was more serious and more enduring than previously believed. Seeing this love story in the context of Jane Austen's whole life enables us to appreciate the profound effect the relationship had on her art and on subsequent choices that she made in her life.
Full of insight and with an attentive eye for detail, Spence explores Jane Austen's emotional attachments and the personal influences that shaped her as a novelist. His elegant narrative provides a point of entry into Jane Austen's world as she herself perceived and experienced it. It is a world familiar to us from her novels, but in Becoming Jane Austen, Austen herself is the heroine."

Left with some other books just inside the main door to the bar in this lovely pub where we enjoyed a couple of evening meals this week. Please be prepared to make a donation to Macmillan Cancer Care, the very worthy charity that they're currently supporting - thank you!

Well over a million people around the world give their books a unique BookCrossing IDentity number (BCID) before sending them out to find new readers. Since the start of the scheme in April 2001 nearly twelve million such books have been put into circulation. This is one of them!

Our hope is that we can track the progress of our books once they've left our hands - and that's possible if finders like you visit the website, key in the BCID and leave a comment, however long or short. It's fun, it doesn't have to cost anything, although the site always appreciates donations towards running costs, and you can remain anonymous if you wish. You don't have to join but if you do you'll be able to number and track your own books!