Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

Kate Reading is a fabulous narrator. I have come across her several times and she never disappoints; certainly doesn't with Rude Awakenings. She switches seemingly without effort between that southern California accent of a 2009 modern woman (Courtney Stone) and the cultivated tones of the daughter (Jane Mansfield) of a gentleman from 1813 Regency England.

From one prospective, this book analyses the social values of modern America through the eyes of this woman from 1813. All aspects of modern life as seen through the astonished eyes of the woman who finds herself in a new body and new life are reported with breathless wonder: internet, movies, air conditioning, women with career choices and degrees!, automobiles, make-up, bathrooms with running water (hot and cold), toilets and so forth. The author, Laurie Viera Rigler, through her 1813 self makes some very interesting commentary on the status of women in this new world. She glories in the freedom of choice but points out some obvious flaws or flies in the ointment.

I enjoyed Rude Awakenings even more than Confessions and I enjoyed Confessions a great deal. To accomplish this body, identity, century switch, one has to imagine time as vast fluid entity with every instant touching every other instant; every person connected to every other person who ever was. The rules of time according to this theory are like the rules governing the World Wide Web where every web page is next to every other web page. Perhaps, sometimes, the barriers do break down and Courtney Stone finds herself in 1813 and Jane Mansfield wakes up in 2009 LA.

I love the premise of the story. I have read something similar in the past and that book was heavy on the romance. This book, on the other hand, is neither really a romance nor a self-discovery book, thus making it weaker than what it could have been. It also could have been a great romatic/sf/comedy using the differences between the past and the present; unfortunately I think the time slip situation/gag was underutilized in this book. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this book, I did.

But IMHO the second book is more enjoyable as a self-discovery book and the difference in the era of the main characters are much better used. If I read this book first I might have not read the second book…

I'm a sucker for a well-executed anachronistic book and this one definitely fits that description. I love Jane Austen's books and the feel of this book is very similar while adding in a modern twist. I really loved this book. I liked Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict as well, but I think this is the better of the two books.

If you read and loved Confessions of a Jane Austin Addict, you will also love this book. I recently saw that there was a sequel, so I went back and listened to Confessions again. I enjoyed it very much, so I bought Rude Awakenings. It was very funny, I caught myself laughing out loud quite a few times. I always wondered what happened to Jane in Courtney's life, I am glad she wrote a book to answer all of those questions.

If youre a Jane Austen fan, or like light hearted funny stories, I highly recommend Confessions and Rude Awakenings.

This is a fun, light-hearted listen - - especially if you're a Jane Austen fan. Rigler writes time travel stories where the time travel isn't the main plot point in the book. Instead it's a device for getting two women to the men they'll fall in love with. This book was especially fun watching a girl from Austen's time deal with our modern day conveniences.

These aren't spectacular books. They're just fun, clean listens. Reading is a great narrator. If you're an Austen fan, you'll enjoy these books.

I expect I'll listen to this book over and over. I love the narrator's clear distinction between inner and outer voices, and her nuanced expression of the many surprises "Courtney" encounters. I don't want to say more, because it would be so easy to spoil this ... listen to the beginning of the book before you read too many reviews!!

I had already read "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict", but didn't even make the connection between these two books -- the Audible experience is SO different from the written page. I can't imagine actually reading this book; it's one story that seems custom-made for experiencing via Audible. I may have to go back and listen to "Confessions".

If you enjoy Jane Austen or indeed any Regency author, do yourself a favor and listen to this book. It's the same gentle humor, the same satiric view of society, but really brought home.

This is a fun book, but probably only for the true Jane Austen addict. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of listening to it. It gives you a great picture of life in modern day LA through the eyes of a woman from Jane Austen's time. What really makes it amazing is when she thinks, she has an English accent, but when she talks she has an American accent. This was very skillfully handled by the narrator.

I enjoyed the first book more -- and I don't think it was because of the story -- I think the first narrator was much better....

A thoroughly enjoyable book read by one of the best narrators in the business. Kate Reading's facility with accents and her ability to give an individual voice to each character truly make the story come to life.

I wanted to like this book. I love the premise of putting Jane Austen into the present, and I think many readers will enjoy Jane's bemusement and incomprehension of 21st-century life. I stuck with it for quite a while...perhaps what I didn't care for was that "Jane" of this book did not have the rapier wit of the real Jane of Jane Austen's novels. Perhaps it's an unfair comparison. I suggest that you listen to the free sample for a while to see if it suits you.