We know at least one Cub Reporter who will be excited to see this…a Jane Austen thread holder at studiotwenty’s Etsy store!

Maggie Stratton opines that a modern version of one of Jane Austen’s novels would have to take into consideration the “freemale.”

But should there be any appetite left for an updating of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion or the like, any 21st century interpretation would have some very different social realities to address. The 2008 Mr Bingleys in want of a wife would, according to the latest statistics, have to contend with growing numbers of single women in possession of their own good fortune, career and comfortable lifestyle, who have no desire to give up their independence.

This new breed of woman has been labelled the Freemale – a woman who is happily asserting that life can be good without a man.

New? Sounds very like Jane Austen herself, actually.

Lots of fun summer local events for Janeites coming up soon.

June 6, Topeka, Kansas: Jane in June Film Festival at the Topeka & Shawnee County Library kicks off with Clueless, Marvin Auditorium 101BC. Other films in the series will include Bride and Prejudice on June 13, The Jane Austen Book Club on June 20, and Becoming Jane on June 27.

June 7-8, Basildon Park, Berkshire: Jane Austen Weekend at Basildon Park. “Find out more about life in Jane Austen’s time. Themes will include flowers, food, live music and living history displays in the sumptuous surroundings of Basildon Park.”

June 8, Kansas City: JASNA’s Metro Kansas City Region will hold their Annual Box Hill Picnic at 2 p.m. in Loose Park at 52nd and Wornall. They wil be on top of the hill south of the Rose Garden; look for the tent and women in hats. For info- and a rain date if necessary- email jasna (dot) metrokc (at) yahoo (dot) com.

June 13, Topeka, Kansas: The Topeka and Shawnee County Library’s Jane Austen Book Club will discuss Persuasion, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Registration is required.

June 25, Blog Talk Radio - Blog Talk Radio talks with author Laurie Viera Rigler and book club members about her novel Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Not really a “local” event, because it’s open to everyone on the Internet, but it’s like a virtual book club. Check the site for your local time zone and details on how to call in.

The Complete Jane Austen has been nominated in the movies, miniseries and specials category for the Television Critics’ Awards.

As pointed out in the article, it’s an odd nomination, considering that two of the films included are more than a decade old. Why aren’t the individual films considered individually?

In other awards news, we heard from an Alert Janeite who attended the Jane Austen Regency World Awards and said there was some surprise at the many awards won by Becoming Jane at the awards as well as on this blog. She overheard one of the organizers saying that the results were skewed because the Australians who voted had not seen any of the films besides Becoming Jane and therefore could not vote for anything else. What, they don’t have YouTube in Australia?