This was an entertaining, sometimes a little dramatic read. I enjoyed it and the characters.

Disclosure: This is a retelling of Persuasion, which I have never read. Therefore, I have no opinions about how well Sonneborn pulled off re-doing Jane Austen. I can tell you, that I found this book very delightful, and I shed my signature "happy tears" over the ending. 

When I first read the synopsis for this book, I thought I was signing on for a second chance romance, but really, this was more women's lit to me, because the focus was so solidly on Anne coming to terms with her past decisions and trying to gain control of her life. 

"I suddenly felt faint. My former fiancé was my new boss."

Anne, a 30-something college professor, was at a critical time in her fledgling career. Her contract was coming to an end, and she needed to get a book deal or lose her position. At the same time, she was dealing with an aging parent, never ending bills, and the return of her one-time epic love, Adam. Coming face to face with her past, has her reflecting on her current life circumstances and questioning her previous decisions. 

I really liked Anne. She was very down to earth and relatable. She also had a fantastic sense of humor. I really enjoyed her narration, commentary, and self-reflection. I absolutely adored Larry and thought him and Anne formed a perfect friendship. He definitely filled the role of quirky sidekick, and he did it well. Anne was funny, but Larry was hilarious. He side plot, was amusing, and a besotted Larry was a ton of fun too. There were also all those tangled webs of relationships that are ever-present in novels, such as Austen's. It was quite a web Sonneborn wove, and it did its job, leading me down certain paths of thought and making me laugh. 

I liked the way Sonneborn wove the flashbacks into the story. The placement was thoughtful, and fit nicely with the present-time events giving us a little insight into why Anne was making the decisions she was making. Some of these flashbacks really broke my heart. When I read about past Anne&Adam, I was totally shipping them, and I was eager to find out what led to the demise of their relationship. With each part of the past that is revealed, I understood Anne more and more. 

I loved the ending. I was wearing a big, stupid grin and had tears in my eyes, but I do wish it wasn't as rushed. It wasn't that it was not satisfying, I just wanted more, which is never a bad thing. 

Overall: A fun retelling, which I am filing under "makes-me-happy", because it did.

A nice albeit predictable book that borrows from Jane Austen and other type novels. The characters are likeable enough, the story is nicely wrapped up and the drama is just enough. I think I would have preferred an entire book devoted to Larry, the gay best friend sidekick who I felt was way more entertaining and endearing. 

It is a nice read and would be a great summer beach read.

“…I have loved none but you.” –Jane Austen, Persuasion

Modern retelling of Austen’s classic Persuasion. Rating PG->18: mild language, sex scenes between consenting adults, discussion of adult themes and sexual orientation. 

This story is completely a stand-a-lone. It could easily be read without knowing anything about Austen’s Persuasion. In fact, there were times when I found it hard to follow because I was trying to make it fit my concept of the Persuasion time-line. I knew what needed to happen next and kept wondering how the author was going to bridge the two stories. It might have been better if I had just accepted the story for what it was… a love story. 

Because very few of the names were similar to canon, I found it hard to keep track of the Persuasion characters and the story. We have Anne Corey and we have Dr. Russell as her college advisor. When she fell in love with Adam Martinez, Dr. Russell advised her against having a relationship prior to entering grad school. Getting her doctorate was going to be hard enough… and for Anne to try and maintain a relationship would be doubly hard on her academic goals. Anne subsequently broke it off with Adam.

“Persuasion is often more effectual than force.” Aesop

Those familiar with the Persuasion story know that Anne gave up Wentworth [in our case Adam] and lived to regret it years later. In our modern story the time difference is fifteen years rather than the eight canon years. Anne had not seen Adam in all that time and now he was president of her college, thus making him her boss. There were many new characters added to the story and several characters combined in order to lessen the traffic. In this version, Anne only had the one sister, a scary combination of the canon sisters, Elizabeth and Mary. 

Many JAFF [Jane Austen Fan Fiction] stories/books are located in or on a college campus. The characters are typically college-aged students and in keeping with the age Austen set forth in her stories. This is the first book I’ve read where Austen’s characters are much older and are actually the professors on campus. This was so cool. I really enjoyed the academic atmosphere and the day-to-day activities between the staff within the different branches of the college. From the chatty/nosy support staff, to the various professors [with tenure, on a tenure-track and the non-tenured hopeful], to the incoming president of the college… the interplay between our characters was entertaining. 

There was something for everyone. The descriptions of Anne as she researched for her book, the visits to the library archives [I could almost smell the ink, dust and paper], the various books and their authors discussed, poetry, opinions and the arguments supporting the stance on women writers in literature… was simply amazing. I hope I am not being crude when I say I drooled… yeah, I did.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t an epilogue and several threads were left dangling. Not sure if there is another book… it left me wondering what happened to several of the characters and their story.

I would like to thank the publisher, Galley, Threshold, Pocket Book, Gallery Books for this ARC [Advanced-Reader-Copy] via NetGalley. Expected publication date February 6, 2018. The views expressed are my own.

By the Book a novel loosely based on Jane Austin’s Persuasion (which I have not read) was
overall a cute, light, fun read. 

What I enjoyed the most…
The beginning of the story and learning about Anne’s personality and her friendship with Larry. 
The flashbacks that gave insight into her relationship with her ex fiancé Adam who in her present life became President of the college where she teaches. 

What I would have liked to see more of…
Development and depth of relationships. There really wasn’t much interaction between Anne and Adam once they were at the same college. While I understand there was strain due to how their relationship ended previously there was no real development of their relationship in the present. There weren’t enough interactions between them, there was no trying to talk about the past or even a little flirting- just a rushed ending. Sure, it was predictable what was ultimately going to happen but there really wasn’t enough evidence to support that ending.

What I would have liked to see less of…
Some of the side stories didn’t seem necessary- such as Larry’s relationship or the amount of time spent on Rick. 

That you to Netgalley for the ARC copy.

Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen novel so I was excited to read Julia Sonneborn's modern retelling of the classic. In this version, Anne is middling college professor who can't quite seem to get to the next level in anything in life whether it be tenure, publishing her book, her family relationships or love. Meanwhile her ex-fiance, Adam has reentered her life as the new president of her college, and thus, her boss. They dance around each other, entertain other romances, deny their feelings and, most importantly to any fan of Persuasion, exchange letters. 

I'm glad that I read By the Book as it reminded me of how much I love the original. Sadly, nothing can quite live up to the yearning of Persuasion, so ultimately it pales in comparison.

Review

If I haven’t mentioned it yet, not only do I love Jane Austen but Persuasion is my favorite. Hands down. So when I saw this book on Net Galley, I JUMPED at the chance to read it! And I was not disappointed in the slightest.

The author, Julia Sonneborn, used the original source material and made it flourish in a modern tale of pressure from others, love and figuring out what you truly want. I almost like it better than the original. The main character, Anne, is strong, smart, has a thriving career and so much heart she is an inspiration and someone I wouldn’t mind being. While I loved Anne in Persuasion, she always seemed a little too self-less for me to truly identify with her. Anne from By the Book, however, has the heart but also a little more spunk.

Speaking of spunk, her BFF Larry is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Major kudos to Ms. Sonneborn for making a modern and authentic version of Anne’s sister Mary. Larry is funny and dramatic similar to his Persuasion counterpart but I feel like he has more depth.

Ms. Sonneborn’s writing was smooth and I simply loved how she made my favorite novel modern without losing any of its heart. Bravo! With some retellings, they can feel overdone, or that the author strayed to far or stayed too close to the source material, I can happily report that none of that occurred in this brilliant novel.

Bottom Line

If you like a sweet romance, pick up this book. If you like Jane Austen, pick up this book. If you want to tear, giggle, and have warm and fuzzy feelings, pick up this book. Pick up this book, end of story. IT COMES OUT FEBRUARY 6th!

RATING 5 Stars

This was a fun, fast-paced romance read. I loved that it took place in academia; I spent enough years there to recognize some of the light-hearted humor directed at students, staff, and the administration. While the novel wasn't anything too crazy or new (it is a remake, of course), it left me feeling happy and content.

The protagonist is suffering from what I assume is a mid-life crisis, and working through her family issues, work issues, and *romantic* issues will leave you breathing out an understanding sigh. 

My 3-star review is a positive one, but not outstanding.

This was a different book for me to try to read.  I have never read a retelling so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was an interesting read.
This story includes some interesting characters- from Adam, Larry and Rick, to Lauren, Bex, Jack and Annie.  Annie is a college professor that is working on obtaining tenure.  Adam is a past love that has just taken the position as President and is now Annie's boss.  Larry is Annie's gay best friend that provides many comedic moments throughout the book.  Rick is the Professional Writer that has taken a position at the University and Annie's current love interest.
There is a lot of weaving and blending of characters, but at the end of the day it's a pretty simple plot- girl used to love boy and probably isn't over him, new love is not all that he thinks he is, but friends will help lead her in a direction both in her career and love life.
At times I did find it annoying how silly Annie was- and how dramatic she was!  I thought the ending wrapped up pretty quickly as well without giving it a lot of room to grow the story between Adam and Annie.  They had brief interactions throughout the book, but nothing that would make you think that there was any remote chance of them ever getting back together. I thought more could have been done to develop that story instead of on the atrocities that Rick had going on!
I did think there were some moments in the book that defined the book- how writing and Persuasion was mentioned throughout it, was interesting to me!  I also enjoyed the email chains as it gave you a sneak peak into some of Annie's life and let the reader form his/her opinions about how Annie deals with them.  
Overall, it was a good book and that's why I am giving it 3 stars.  Nothing really stood out to me, but it was easy enough to finish and was great for a rainy day read.

This book was delightful. It was one where I felt warm and fuzzy reading it, like returning to an old favorite but with new surprises. At a few points I made a girly squeal because of the cuteness of something that happened. It was well paced, and the writing was breezy without feeling superficial. 

I loved the college setting. It evoked and environment of brick buildings and fall leaves and most importantly, BOOKS. Books were almost a character unto themselves in this book (only to be expected from a retelling), even representing the state of the relationship between Anne and Adam. It also worked well for the placement of the characters in terms of career and love life, like Adam becoming the president of the university, or Rick being a writer in resident (like a soldier wintering for the season! So clever)

I love that the book combined a little bit of Persuasion with elements of Pride and Prejudice. This is evident in the character of Rick, who is something of a Wickham.

The only thing I dodn’t like was that there weren’t enough interactions with Adam, in terms of rebuilding the tension between them that leads up to the end. The story focused more on her relationship with Rick and her friend Larry, which is fine, but I feel like I needed to see Adam and Anne together more, learning about the people they have become and thus that they are even more in love with each other than ever.

So, i was cheering for Anne this whole time. She's a strong independent woman who i admire. Yes, she had her doubts, but who doesn't. At the end she proved that she shouldn't have regretted anything because it all fell in to place. I am in love with Adam. Where can i find him? I was too happy for them that i almost cried but i'm in public ,and i gotta hold it together. By the way, i need a friend like Larry. He sounds too cute. And mostly, i love how this talked about books because i love them too. GO BOOKWORMS!

This is an easy and enjoyable book to read. I finished it in a day. I liked Sonneborn’s writing and will gladly keep an eye out for more books by her in the future. I wouldn’t read it again which is why it’s more of a 3 than 4 star book for me. The ending just left me unsatisfied and that’s my biggest issue with it. If you like Persuasion or Jane Austen retellings, I’d recommend checking this book out!

For full review check out booksbeautyandbuys.com

Title: By the Book
Author: Julia Sonneborn
Publisher: Gallery Books
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"By the Book" by Julia Sonneborn

My Thoughts....

I found this read very similar spin to 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen novel, however it was still a interesting read that can give you a good feeling after the read. The main character Anne Corey I didn't know if I felt sorry for her or what at times. What will happen when Anne finds out that her true love and ex [Adam Martinez] is the Fairfax College President at the college as she is trying to get her tenure as an English professor? It was hard for me to see her giving up her true love of her life because a 'all knowing' professor persuaded her to do so if she wanted a career. One thing I will say is thank God for a best friend like Larry that Anne did have in this good story. 

Be ready for some twist and turns but in the end will Anne and Adam get their second chance and have a HEA? 

Well to find out you will have to pick up this overall enjoyable read "By The Book." 

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of By The Book by Julia Sonneborn.

Persuasion is my favorite novel by Jane Austen and despite there being so many good P&P retellings, there are actually very few retellings of Persuasion.  As such, I was so excited to read this one.  It was definitely a very fast read - it flowed very easily and wasn't taxing to read.  It was a pretty good retelling as well.... I just think a few things were missing (not just from the Persuasion plot but for this to be a truly stellar book).  I think the history could have been developed a bit better as well as some of the characters.  That being said, the setting was good, the faithfulness to the original was good and it was a fun, fast read.

By the Book comes out soon on February 6, 2018 and you can purchase HERE.  I definitely recommend this one for fans of Persuasion or Jane Austen.

I'd learned my lesson after that. It was a rookie mistake, imagining that I could be friends with my favorite writers. Now I knew that I preferred my authors to keep a safe distance—and they preferred the same of me.

What I liked about this book: I am sure, the author, Julie Sonneborn, brought a lot of her own knowledge of college life and the long road to took to get to her position as far as student debt and hours spent studying. Therefore, I felt that the setting  was very realistic. Anne Corey and Larry, two of the main characters, are well fleshed out and their conversations were often amusing; they added a light touch to the book. I also enjoyed the emails that Anne received from people around the college. 

What I didn't like:  I hoped this would be  a break for me  from the cursing and sex that saturates so many books these days. Having said that, I have to add that this story isn’t exactly  squeaky clean: I came across the f word, and  while there weren’t any moment-by-moment sex scenes, Anne hopped in bed with an author on what appeared to be their second date and Larry started an affair with an male actor who had a wife. While I haven’t read a lot of Austen’s works, I feel fairly certain that this kind of material does not come up in any of them.


Close to  the mid point, I felt I really wasn't that into the book, so I did not finish reading it. My review is based on the first 42% in my kindle.

Ahhhhh!!!! Oh my goodness, where to begin? I originally wanted to rate this book a 3/5 stars but have since changed it to a 4/5. Let’s starts with the ending. What a perfect ending to this book! Everything I could’ve hoped for and imagined. I love how this book is about Anne and her goals and aspirations. She takes the time to focus on herself first, putting her desires and love life later. Her ex-fiancé Adam lands the job as the college president at the college she teaches at. Trying to make tenure and get a book published to keep her job, does she let him distract her? Her first love? Instead, she focuses on a new life with a new lover. SPOILER: he’s a huge phony, honestly couldn’t believe his guy by the end of the book and couldn’t stand him. Adam however, is a dream. This fun, flirty book was great, but absolutely FANTASTIC the second half. Took a while to really kick in but things intensified and boy, were you left wanting more! I truly am one of those believers of “if you love them, let them go. They’ll make their way back to you.” This book was just further proof of them and so well played out and beautifully written (a cliche, I Know, but it’s true). If you’re looking for a fun and light read with some happy tears romance, this book is for you.

If I could come back as anyone I'd want to be Ms. Corey.  A great job, lots of opportunities, handsome men at every corner, and of course, a heart of gold.

This is a good day-at-the-beach book.  It is a quick read, has some funny parts (I love Larry!) and has a predictable story line.   

Boy and girl meet.  Boy and girl fall in love.  Boy and girl break up for an unrealistic reason.  Boy and girl part ways for years.  Boy and girl meet up again and fail to communicate.  Boy and girl cause unneeded tension.  Boy and girl are together.  The end. 

I sincerely thank NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of By the Book.  However, this is probably the only way I would have read the book.  It was not bad, but it was also not great.  It is an average mild romance novel.  

It does offer some interesting insights into the life and issues of college professors and how tenuous their jobs are before they get tenure.  So if you ever want to do that job, you may want to read about how Anne (the protagonist) deals with the struggle of obtaining tenure at a university (the author is an English professor so she does a great job explaining this issue in detail). 

We also get to meet Larry.  Anne's gay best friend who is also a professor.  He was the comic relief throughout the story and brought about his own drama.  While Larry did not move the story along, he was a fun diversion throughout the book and I really enjoyed his antics. 

The story itself becomes frustrating at times.  It was obvious that Adam (Anne's ex-fiance) wanted to talk to Anne but she constantly had to leave for some reason.  If she would have just given him five minutes, this story would have been done right away.   But what fun would that be?  I do like that Rick (a villain in disguise that you can see from a mile away) is put in the story.  He was a fun addition and I like that Anne didn't constantly pine for Adam, but instead hung out with Rick for a while. But, as I said, after a while I have a feeling that quite a few readers will just yell at Anne to wake up already and see Rick for who he is and Adam for who he always was. 

So if you want a light-hearted, fun and quick read, I definitely recommend this book.  If you want something a bit richer literary-wise, read Jane Austin's Persuasion.  Either way, you can't go wrong.

As a retelling of Persuasion, this novel was pretty disappointing. Jane Austen's Anne was quiet and introverted, but she at least had a sense of people's true characters and didn't fling herself at any man who came along. The Anne in this book is petty, self-centered, and is almost indistinguishable from the main female protagonist in any other romance novel. She treats Adam, the character equivalent to Frederick in Persuasion, horribly, but he is still in love with her.

I did like the way the author used a university setting to bring the socioeconomic aspects of Persuasion to the modern day. Also, most of Anne's interactions with her dad were pretty funny. However, the good parts of this book just weren't enough to save it for me.

Jane Austen's Persuasion is rather loosely translated into a light contemporary romance, set among the faculty of Fairfax, a small California liberal arts college. Anne Corey, a 32 year old English professor trying to get tenure, has to deal with Adam Martinez, her ex-fiancé from over ten years ago, becoming the president of the college. Rather than having one good heart-to-heart talk with him, she avoids him and quickly gets involved with a suave author who's at Fairfax for a year as a writer-in-residence. 

This main plotline shares time with a few interesting subplots: Anne's best friend Larry, a gay professor, falls for a handsome actor who's firmly in the closet; Anne and her sister deal with their aging father's health issues; and Anne is anxiously trying to get her literary criticism book published - if she fails, she'll probably be denied tenure.

It was a decent read but never fully engaged me. The writing style, plot and characters are all straightforward, without a lot of depth, and the romance felt a little underbaked. Frankly I was hoping for more from this book, but it's fine for a quick, breezy romance read, if that's what you're in the mood for. The author (who is an English professor) has some telling insights into the travails of life as a non-tenured college professor. Anne's - and by extension Julia Sonneborn's - love for libraries and the classic authors like Austen shines through in many parts of the story.