I AM LUCKY ENOUGH to have become good friends here at graduate school with a bonified Jane Austen nerd. (Hello, former English majors!) When I am a mess over school or weepy about love sagas, this friend of mine always listens to my gripes and then pauses thoughtfully, before saying something to the effect of: “It sounds like you need some more Jane in your life.” (Yes, this is her proposed remedy for everything.)

At first I was dubious. You see, I fancy myself as more of a pomo, contemporary, weirder-the-better fiction nerd. So I figured these stuffy novels of old couldn’t possibly hold transcendent healing powers. But I am here to confess to you, readers, that I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It’s been years since I read any Austen novels, and I had forgotten how damn good the stories are: witty banter, financial strife, smart women, lost love, sprawling countrysides, compassionate sisters who write letters to each other, near-death illness, brutish (and occasionally tender) men. Really, what more do you need?

And all this is particularly poignant now, as Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s very first novel, which she published under the psudonym “A Lady,” is now 200 years old. Frankly, I can’t believe it. The pathos of the story, though clothed in all those bonnets and cleavage-clad empire waists, is so strangely contemporary.

If you’re feeling lazy (like me) about reading the book, might I recommend the 1995 movie version (which basically contains the entire cast of Harry Potter plus Kate Winslet with a Jheri curl). It’s fantastic!

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I‘M DIGGING this photo post about girlfriends over at the blog size too small. It’s so sweet! This holiday season, I’m on the road, traveling in Japan with my boyfriend. We’re having a fantastic time, full of sticky rice balls and silly awkward bowing exchanges with strangers, but today, I’m feeling especially pangy for the Christmas-y comfort of my hometown girlfriends. Le sigh.

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WE’VE TALKED GIFTS before on The Sister Project. (Here’s a great post from Marion on the subject.) But this winter, I thought I’d do a little gift guide for the many sisters and one big brother in my life. This week: (mostly) handmade goods under $40 for your adorable sister-friend!

She’s cute and crafty and puts up with way too much of your complaining on long video gchats. (Er, well at least my bestie does.) So here are some holiday gift ideas that are as sweet and stylish as she is (clockwise from top left):

1. Big Ol’ Bow Earwarmers for warmth in the wintry North.

2. 2011 Astrology Wall Calendar Prints, functional and dreamy.

3. Leather Mini-Clutch–perfect for nights on the town and for holding essentials at school.

4. A batch of the most delicous homemade molasses chocolate chip cookies!

5. Striped spear embroidered necklace (This would have to be a Happy 2011 gift since it’s made to order.)

6. RGB nail polish (DBP free!) in purple-y gray color “Haze.”

7. A Cuddly Cloud Cushion for lonely times in her apartment.

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FROM TIME TO TIME I love posting on here about sister-themed books ( um, no I’m not talking about Sweet Valley High) that I’ve come across and enjoyed, because it always starts a juicy dialogue about what everyone has been reading lately. My current recommendation?

Early on in the summer I read Veronica by Mary Gaitskill and was so enamored by the female characters and their complex, heartbreaking relationships with each other. The book chronicles a lifetime of relationships but focuses specifically on the friendship between the narrator, a former model, and her much older colleague at a copy editing agency who is dying of AIDS.

I find the only downside to loving a book this much is that I mourn the characters when I’m done! I haven’t been able to get into any book as much since. Any recommendations? What sister-lit gems have you discovered lately? Do dish…

(P.S. Here’s a past sisterhood reading list from our bloggers and readers.)

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THIS WEEKEND, MY FRIEND Erin’s parents are driving up from New Orleans with 70 pounds of crawfish. We’re all going to contribute our favorite summer side-dishes (I’m bringing the potato salad), get a keg, and have a ruckus outdoor crawfish boil! I’ve never eaten crawdads (have you?), but apparently this kind of neighborhood crustacean boil is a bayou tradition. I think it’s a perfect way to wrap up the semester. And until then, I’ll be practicing my Louisiana Waddle, a la the lovely NOLA native Boswell Sisters.

(I’ll post pictures of the big boil next week…stay tuned!)

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That's a beer bump I'm sporting, not a baby bump!

HOORAY! HALLOWEEN IS JUST around the corner, and we’re celebrating by sharing our favorite sisterly costumes. I must confess that my brother and I never dressed in a joint costume, and I’m pretty sure he hated trick-or-treating with me. I couldn’t keep up with his competitive candy-gathering, and my mermaid/angel/pumpkin costumes really cramped his Black Spiderman/ninja/vampire style. So wearing matching costumes was definitely out of the question. In college, my roommate Elizabeth and I dressed as a hillbilly couple on vacation (pictured above); it was my favorite couple costume of all time! Show us your sisterly (or sister-friend, in my case) outfits of Halloweens past and we’ll put the photos together in a slideshow. Send pictures to thesisterproject [at] gmail [dot] com.

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LAST WEEK MY DAD WAS visiting me in North Carolina (hence my brief hiatus from posting here), and we spent a great afternoon at the movies seeing Whip It. My dad is over 60 and currently lives on an island in the middle of the Pacific, so he thought the movie was hokey and strange (although he did enjoy the surround sound), but I was smitten. I may even start roller skating. Alia Shawkat (of Arrested Development fame) and Ellen Page play besties in the movie, and as it turns out they’re great friends in real life! I love this interview with them (watch the full video here). I wish we could all hang out and talk sisterhood, don’t you? (Plus: for a whole heap of movies all about sisters, check out our homemade directory.)

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