This post is dedicated to one of the best authors ever! Note, I did NOT say, one of the best female authors because she's good on her own, she doesn't need that crutch to distinguish her.
Jane Austen is by far my favorite author. I have read nearly every book she's written and watched nearly every movie created from or based off of her books. Most people with a facination for Austen mistakenly believe her to be a timeless romantic and love her books because they are so wonderfully romantic. This is part of the reason I like her. Indeed, she seems to be the only "romance" novelist I can read over again and read all of. But to call Austen a romance novelist is kind of belittling. She was actually not even a romantic novelist. Sure, her books portray female characters waiting for the right man to save them from poverty. She even has books where the main characters get money and true love. But at the core of Austen's novels were social commentary. She had strong female characters (maligned by the men of the time as pushy or worse) who wanted equality and security. These characters readily realized the social times they were a part of and learned to play the most precarious of games: earn position without sacrificing your soul.
In the end, I think what I most appreciate about Austen is that she lived her stories. She never married, though she is said to have had some prospects. Her romance couldn't turn out in the fairytale way. But instead of becoming that bitter "spinster," Austen came to be a brilliant, championed mind. She gave hope to women and still managed to challenge the status quo. I love her for that!
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