In Which I Rank Jane Austen's Novels as Well as Have Opinions on Class

Evert Duykinck, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsAs of last year, I had a gaping hole in my reader knowledge. I had not read a single Jane Austen novel! I could probably blame not having taken BritLit in high school. They just weren't on my radar, honestly. Then something hit me: Jane Austen's novels are part of the absolutely wonderful public domain! This means not only that I can use the characters creatively if I want to (looks over at Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), but it also means that the wonderful Project Gutenberg has free ebooks for all six of her works! This for me changed everything, partially because I do 52 book challenges each year (and made it a point to read at least 10 public domain books in that challenge), but also, if I read the books and review them, I do so knowing that everyone who reads this blog and has an internet connection can enjoy her novels free of charge! What could provide a better opportunity for me to post the first book review to this blog?…