In which the Editrix engages in shameless self-promotion. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

We hereby declare 2007 to be the Year of Jane Austen. Not only is the Editrix’s own humble effort (also available for preorder at Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon France, Amazon Germany (thanks Simone!), Powell’s, Barnes and Noble online, or your favorite bookstore!) due to make its curtsy, but we found a really appealing variety of books related to our favorite author that either have just arrived in bookstores or will do so next year. With the new adaptations and biopics and reimaginings, there will be more Jane Austen in popular culture than ever. Our moment in the sun approaches, fellow Janeites. Let us make the most of it!

(Disclaimer: we use the Amazon U.S. links only as a convenience. Do please feel free to purchase books from your favorite online or brick and mortar retailer, or get them from the library. AustenBlog has no affiliation at this time.)

Just arrived is the latest Jane Austen Mystery, Jane and the Barque of Frailty by Stephanie Barron.

Jane is at the London theater during a visit to her brother Henry when she glimpses a Russian princess gazing intently at the box of prominent politician Lord Castlereagh. That night, the princess is found dead outside Castlereagh’s home. Unconvinced by the appearance of suicide, Jane begins inquiries that eventually encompass high society and their servants, politicians of every stripe and even courtesans. When a chance act brings Jane a threatening visit from the Bow Street Runners, her search for the truth intensifies still further.

We are remiss in failing to notice that Valancourt Books has released the second in its Northanger “horrid novels” series, The Castle of Wolfenbach by Eliza Parsons.

Matilda Weimar flees her lecherous and incestuous uncle and seeks refuge in the ancient Castle of Wolfenbach. Among the castle’s abandoned chambers, Matilda will discover the horrifying mystery of the missing Countess of Wolfenbach. But when her uncle tracks her down, can she escape his despicable intentions?

O! The wretched Matilda! How shall she fare? We shall read it in two days, our hair standing on end the entire time.

Alert Janeite Michelle wrote to tell us that Amanda Grange mentioned on her Web site that the next title in her series of Austen hero novels is Captain Wentworth’s Diary, due out in June 2007.

Persuasion is one of my favourite books, but I have often wondered what happened the first time Anne and Wentworth met, in 1806. Where did they meet? How did it happen? Was it at a ball, at dinner, or on a picnic or in the village? What did they think of each other? And what exactly happened?

When I came to write Captain Wentworth’s Diary, I decided to try and answer those questions by writing what is in effect a prequel to Persuasion as the first part of Captain Wentworth’s Diary.

And good news for those who have had trouble finding the first book in the series: (Mr.) Darcy’s Diary will be published in the U.S. by Sourcebooks in February. (No idea if there will be a name change.)

We found a listing for a curious title, Becoming Jane: The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen by Anne Newgarden.

Inspired by the charming, winning film that will have audiences wanting to know more about Jane Austen, this is a collection of her most famous and quotable quotes — the pearls of wisdom on topics like men, marriage, gossip, and relationships that are as true today as they were in 1789

It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . that Jane Austen’s pearls of wisdom and barbs of wit are some of the most well-known, wise, and funny around. This handy, highly giftable book collects the best-known bits from Emma, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey, and groups them into categories like “Men,” “Balls,” and “Marriage” so that readers can easily find the perfect quote for any occasion. For readers whose curiosity about Austen has been piqued by Miramax Films’ Becoming Jane, this book will be irresistible.

Hrmph. We already have two books of Jane Austen quotations. With regards to BECOMING JANE, we are rather hoping for a novelization. The snarking possibilities are endless.

The publication date (May 1, 2007) also reinforces the idea that the film will be released in late spring or early summer.

This book is not to be confused with Jon Spence’s biography Becoming Jane Austen, though that may have inspired the film, for better or worse. Spence’s book will be out in paperback next month. It probably also should not be confused with The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen by Dominique Enright, a 2002 book being republished in paperback.

Perhaps in anticipation of all this piqued curiosity, or perhaps as an antidote to it, several well-regarded critical and biographical works are being reprinted in new editions, just in time for Janeites to add to their personal library.

Tony Tanner’s Jane Austen is spoken of in reverential tones by the Editrix’s Janeite Posse.

Cambridge scholar Tanner sums up two decades of close reading in a series of cogent essays describing Austen’s novels in relation to “society, education, and language.” Included are revisions of his excellent introductions (for Penguin Books) to Mansfield Park , Sense and Sensibility , and Pride and Prejudice. Much of the commentary is grounded convincingly in traditional interpretation, but Tanner’s most intriguing perceptions relate to recent critical speculation, especially in his chapter on Emma Woodhouse as socially “eccentric” and hence in need of community.

We can personally recommend Irene Collins’ excellent biography, Jane Austen: The Parson’s Daughter, which has a place of honor in the Jane Austen Memorial Library and Reading Room at AustenBlog World Headquarters.

Jane Austen was a clergyman’s daughter, related to other clergy, born and brought up in a parsonage. Many of her attitudes, expressed in her novels, reflect this directly or indirectly. Her father’s reasoned and practical approach to religion, along with the range of books available to her in his library, shaped the essentially moral outlook behind her entertaining, but devastating, criticism of individuals and of society.

We also can recommend Richard Jenkyns’ A Fine Brush on Ivory.

Because of what seems on the surface to be a fairly narrow range (in her own words, “the little bit [two Inches wide] of Ivory on which I work with so fine a brush”), Austen is sometimes taken by modern readers to be an unadventurous writer, but Jenkyns makes a convincing case that she was a true creative genius who was always experimenting.

New scholarly works to be released in 2007 include Critical Companion to Jane Austen: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work by William Baker and Jane Austen and the Popular Novel: The Determined Author by Anthony Mandal.

We have received an advance set of The Tarot of Jane Austen by Diane Wilkes (a boxed set including the cards and books, just the cards, or just the book–we recommend the set). Talk about the universal nature of Jane Austen! Each card depicts a character or scene from Jane Austen’s works incorporated into the symbolism of the tarot. (And Jane herself is the High Priestess, naturally.) We are hoping that studying the cards gives us insight not only in to the tarot itself but into Jane’s works.

Other upcoming books include books of information, such as 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen: The Truth About the World’s Most Intriguing Romantic Literary Heroine by Patrice Hannon, the author of Dear Jane Austen; travel guides, such as A Rambling Fancy: In the Footsteps of Jane Austen by Caroline Sanderson; role-playing, in Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster; self-help, in What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance by Debra White Smith; and paraliterature, including the third book in Pamela Aidan’s Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman series, These Three Remain, and Helen Halstead’s Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride. ETA: Alert Janeite Kelley B reminds us of the Graphics Classics graphic novel that will include Northanger Abbey and The Mysteries of Udolpho.

And did we mention The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World by Margaret C. Sullivan (a very entertaining and erudite authoress), which we are reliably informed is chock-full of information about the world of Jane Austen’s novels, and beautifully illustrated? We think AustenBlog readers will find that one particularly interesting. </self-promotion>