A few months ago, I was supposed to participate in a month celebrating the re-tellings of various fairy tales with Project Fairy-Tale. Unfortunately, I managed to choose a really hard one and struck out finding books to read, so I had to withdraw. Luckily for me, the organizers of that are back with another challenge – this time, classics re-tellings. Five different bloggers have gotten together to come up with their fabulous plan for the celebration. Each blogger is responsible for a different time period of classics and for me, Charlene from The Bookish Whimsey is organizing my chosen classics time period – 19th century and gothic classics.

When I was scrolling through the various classics I could chose from, I realized my decision was easy – since there was one book on the list, that is also on my 50 classics in 5 years challenge – Emma by Jane Austen. So I signed up for it. The goal is simple – in the lead-up to and during the month of September, the goal is to read the chosen classic, as well as at least 2 adaptations/re-tellings/spin-offs or sequels – and this could include movies (which since I have never seen the movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow – I’m set on at least one choice…

When I started looking for other options, I was surprised how many there actually were – I knew that a lot of re-tellings had been done for Pride and Prejudice, but there are also quite a few for Emma. I’m not exactly sure which ones I am going to read yet (so if you have any ideas, comment below). A few that i’m considering:

Mr Knightley’s Diary – Amanda Grange – from her Jane Austen’s Hero’s series
Jane Fairfax – Joan Aiken
A Visit to Highbury – Joan Austen-Leigh – i’m really hoping I can find this, it is cool that it was written by Austen’s great great niece
The Importance of Being Emma (Darcy & Friends) – Juliet Archer – a contemporary re-telling
Perfect Happiness – Rachel Billington – which picks up a year after Emma finishes
The Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma’s Match (Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mysteries) – Carrie Bebris – this looks to be a mash-up of P&P and Emma with both couples solving mysteries together…

I’m sure that there are many more out there, and I am looking forward to exploring various websites over the next few months and finding a good range of books to read and review.

Is it September yet?