January 2013 Challenge REPORTING - Let me tell you a story...

[Janice, Moderator]

I hope I'm going to get my book read in time. I'm still slogging through Middlesex. And then I want to get going on my Alphabet books.

You know, it just occurred to me that I don't need to be so anal. I can read The Red Tent: A Novel before I read my alphabet book, right?

[Emily]

Oops. Just realized that I put my reporting in the wrong thread. Here it is

I read The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley

Theme
1 - Love

Origin
2 - English

Title
0

Cover
2 - Has a weapon

5 measly total points

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Cheers Emily!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Lara wrote: "After reading and thinking I had read it for the Alphabet challenge (I didn't), I decided to finish by Mercedes Lackey, which I had start..."

I will let the Rose go through to the keeper (yes). As I have to be a kill joy and point out that Beauty and the Beast I'm afraid is a French fairytale, not a Grimm story :( Other European instead. Sorry!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Good work on everyone so far who has completed their books! Nice to see so many people in the Challenge, only halfway though.

Hopefully those of you who are hoping to join us and are stuck in other books get to join us shortly.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I finally made a decision and read Hood

Theme
4 - Quest
- big turning point in the book is a saga about a quest.
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
- in this case a good-ish one. Bran (Hood) was off skylarking trying to get into Merian's bed instead of turning up when he was told by his dad to accompany him to London. Dad ended up deaded (happens 20pp in, not a spoiler) and the rest of the book occurs as Bran disobeyed.

Origin of the *original* story
2 – English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character (eg. Hood)

Cover
5 - Has an ominous looking male
2 - Has a weapon

Total: 21 points

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Lara wrote: "I read Beastly by Alex Flinn

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title
0

Cover..."

Sorry Lara, same for you I'm afraid. French fairytale, not a Brothers Grimm. Sorry on the late pick up

[Lara]

Rusalka wrote: " French fairytale, not a Brothers Grimm. Sorry on the late pick up"

That's fine. This is more about fun than points for me anyway.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Lara wrote: "Rusalka wrote: " French fairytale, not a Brothers Grimm. Sorry on the late pick up"

That's fine. This is more about fun than points for me anyway."

Exactly what I was hoping, but I still feel mean. Thanks for being a good sport!

[Cherie]

Emily wrote: "Oops. Just realized that I put my reporting in the wrong thread. Here it is

I read The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley

Theme
1 - Love

Origin
2 - English

Title
0

Cover
2 - Has a weapon
..."

Hi Emily. I almost purchased this book at the book store when I was there today. Did you actually read the version with the cover you posted? I was only asking because the cover I saw today was , which has a guy and a weapon on it. A clunker on the points, but was it a good story?
Robin and his men were always my favorite persons to pretend to be. I always choose to be Little John when we were not playing cowboys and Indians. I even named my dog Little John.

[AmyK]

The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights"

Theme
4 Quest
2 Happily Ever after
1 Love

Origin
6 West and South Asia

Title
4 has a colon and subtitle
3 has the word story in the title

Total 20 points

Note to Rusalka.....I didn't know whether to give myself points for "quest" because I wasn't sure.

Storyteller offers herself to be married to the king (who has vowed to execute his bride the next morning) to win his heart and save many others from the same fate. Let me know what you think.
edited after quest discussion

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Hmmm... does she go off and achieve things to do this?

Eg. Goes to the Island of Blah-di-blah to defeat the Thingy-ma-bob or gather 278 of the feathers of the rare Whatsi-ma-doose-it?

That was my lines of thinking of the Quest theme.

[AmyK]

Nope, but she does tell a story about a girl who goes a bazillion miles to get some nameless treasure from the bottom of the ocean.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

You've just reminded me there is a saga in my book about a quest too.

4 points to both of us.

[Debra]

Rusalka wrote: "Hmmm... does she go off and achieve things to do this?

Eg. Goes to the Island of Blah-di-blah to defeat the Thingy-ma-bob or gather 278 of the feathers of the rare Whatsi-ma-doose-it?

That was m..."

lol, that is the funniest explanation of a quest I've ever read.

[Emily]

Cherie wrote: "Hi Emily. I almost purchased this book at the book store when I was there today.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I read the book that I linked, and the cover only has a weapon on it.

I gave it a low 3-stars. The beginning felt a bit slow to me, but I liked it overall. However, it's probably one of my least favorite reads from Robin McKinley.

You may enjoy it more because of your affinity for Robin Hood. I do like that she incorporated a different side of Marian and other women in the book.

[Roz]

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Theme

3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents
2 - Happily ever after
1 - Love

Origin

I'm confused about this one
10 Brother's Grimm Story?

Title

0

Cover

4 Girl with long hair

20 points

I was going to argue for the Transformation points but I'm tired. True there was no blatant physical transformation, like from a frog to a man, but Clara truly thought she was a changeling, that she had been abducted, kept in a hole in a windmill and was finally returned to her family completely changed in every way. But more important, Clara went through a bigger change, from a protected and pampered child never allowed to leave her house and who was considered the most beautiful in the city, into a young woman who transformed herself in many ways, making herself into Ashgirl,Cinderella, and even Clarissa of Aragon, and leaving the original Clara behind.

Can you tell I liked this one? But I liked everything I've read by Gregory Maguire.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Heh. Good to hear that you enjoyed it! He's definitely on my tbr but never quite makes it to the top.

Re: Origin. Cinderella is a traditional French fairytale, not a German Brothers Grimm one. So other Europe points i'm afraid.

Re: Theme. Changling is valid I would say, and you have demonstrated it is a theme throughout the book. More points.

[Roz]

Rusalka wrote: "Heh. Good to hear that you enjoyed it! He's definitely on my tbr but never quite makes it to the top.

Re: Origin. Cinderella is a traditional French fairytale, not a German Brothers Grimm one. So ..."

So the readjusted pointage is as follows:

Theme:
5 - Transformation
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents
2 - Happily ever after
1 - Love

Origin:
6 - Other European

Title:
0

Cover
4 Girl with long hair

New Total Points: 21

Thanks Rusalka. You really should read him. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was very good but you need to have a good dictionary handy.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Roz wrote: "Thanks Rusalka. You really should read him. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was very good but you need to have a good dictionary handy."

I do luckily have both of those on my shelf at home. Will have to pick it up finally this year.

[Snoozie Suzie]

I finished my book Fallen
Cover
The cover of the edition I read isn't on here - it's a light purplish colour with an apple on the front. 0
Theme
Love 1
Not obeying ones parents (Adam & Eve defy God) 3
Origin
Other European 6

Total 10

Awesome! Although the book wasn't.

[Janice, Moderator]

I read The Song of Achilles,

Theme: Love = 1
Origin of Story: Classic Greek, etc = 4
Title: Name of main character = 5

Grand Total = 10

I gave this 5 points. Awesome book.

[Lara]

Janice, I bought the ebook when it was reduced price over the holidays and am really looking forward to reading it. I've seen multiple very positive reviews.

[Janice, Moderator]

I bought the audiobook in one of Audible's sales recently. When you look at the breakdown of the ratings on goodreads, 40% of the 6500 ratings were 5 stars. 36% were 4 stars. I thought that was impressive. I'm still not sure what to write for a review. I find it hard to review a 5 star. How many ways can I say, "I loved it!"

[Anna]

Janice wrote: "I find it hard to review a 5 star. How many ways can I say, "I loved it!" "

It's is hard to me too on another hand I can't write long almost essay to an 1 star book.

[Almeta]

Cinder

3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents -theme.
6 – Other European Origin
5 - Title is the name of the main character

Total = 14 points

[Cathie]

I read Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses thanks to the posting of another member in this group.

This book has it all because it is a retelling of many Grimm's Fairytales, all with a dark macabre twist.

So I have a question about Themes...happily ever after and love...what if it's message is they suck, but they still discuss them; do we get points for that? If so this book would add up to 15 points for Theme (!yea!), if not, then 12 (still yea!)


Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
4 - Quest
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story
6 - Other European Origin (Andersen's The Match Girl, Norse East of the Sun, West of the Moon, French Cinderella).

Title = 0 points


Cover
- Has an ominous looking male (nope just a baddd scary wolf, but we all know he's the male, lol)
4 - Has a long, flowing haired female


Total points = 35

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Cathie wrote: "I read Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses thanks to the posting of another member in this group.

This book has it all because it is ..."

Love is love even when it fails. All good.

Happily ever after. Do people live happily ever after, or do you find out they don't? Because once they don't it's not happily ever after. So more info please.

Even without those two points, very high scoring. Did you also enjoy it?

(P.S. please let me know if that makes absolutely no sense. I am in a bit of pain at the moment so I may not be thinking straight. I stopped a field hockey ball hit at close range at a goal by a giant man with my foot instead of a stick. NO GOAL THOUGH and I have another foot.)

[Cathie]

Hi Rusalka, I'm very sorry to hear about you being in pain...not fun :-(. Giant man have no sense of the limits of your wonder women status, lol, hence the NO GOAL, and the fact you're willing to play with them to begin with, lol.

The book was ok...I only gave it 2.5 stars, as it just felt that the author didn't really put a lot of time into the writing. I don't know...something was missing, but I don't know what.

People do live happily ever after, but they complain that now there is a lack of "bite" (ie. thrill) in their once excited life. The story of the Beast is like this; he gets his beauty (it is told from his perspective) and now they live happily ever after, with dinner being served, routine and love in their lives and fireworks that light themselves nightly at 8pm, but the thrill of the chase is gone.

Rapunzel is also like this...she gets rescued, marries the prince, gets away from the witch, etc., but complains that the prince only thinks of himself and how she can please him, whereas the witch always thought of her, and how she could keep her happy locked up in that tower. So although the certain characters do live happily ever after, happily ever after is boring or imperfect...so I'm not sure??

If it's all too confusing then don't worry about the 2 points; I can happily ever after without them :-)

[Ava Catherine]

Holy Cow! Rusalka! I think you should get some sort of award, or at least the team needs to take you out for drinks when you feel better. I am sorry you are in pain. Take it easy for a bit, and thank goodness you are still mobile. (somewhat?)

Take care dear heart! : )

[Janice, Moderator]

Ouch is right! Ice - whether on your foot or in your drink - will help.

[Debra]

Hope your foot is better soon, Rusalka! Put your foot IN that stiff drink - on ice, of course.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Heh thanks guys. Feeling a lot better today, but I stayed home as I can't put much weight on it still, and it's starting to hurt when I don't have it up. I'll take it easier today and then go back in tomorrow. At least when I woke up it wasn't in pain, and that was my test for if it was broken.

As soon as I came in and Lexx saw I was injured though, he filled up a bucket with ice, made me put my foot in it to get it to stop swelling (as I had thought I could just walk it off and continued to play the next 45 mins of the game, then went and had beers with the team) and brought me a giant glass of white wine. The man is too good!

The most offensive thing was the guy who hit the ball asked "Are you alright Darl?". Urgh. What are you? A 1960s Australian stereotype? And as I currently want to wrap my stick around your head, do not call me Darling.

Back on track, sounds like they are having a happily ever after Cathie, just more of a real world happily ever after, than their fairytale world is used to.

[Lara]

Rusalka wrote: "Heh thanks guys. Feeling a lot better today, but I stayed home as I can't put much weight on it still, and it's starting to hurt when I don't have it up. I'll take it easier today and then go back ..."

Rusalka, glad to hear you have someone looking after you--ice and wine too! Be careful, you may have a break or fracture. A coworker has been in a foot cast for weeks to help him heal from an injury after walking around on it for a while.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Thanks Lara. Yeah, I'm sort of kicking myself for doing that. I'll keep an eye on it and go see someone if it doesn't start healing in the next couple of days. Luckily we have next weekend off playing too as people are going away for the long weekend here.

I'm dog sitting the family dog who's in a leg cast herself, so I was thinking it would be amusing if we matched. What is it they say about dogs looking like their owners?

[Shirley]

In my experience

I stepped on an oil slick in a parking lot. I heard a pop when my ankle turned. Hopped the last few steps to my car ... drove across the street to emergency and by the time they did the x-ray NO break was evident.

Then...
When they did a second x-ray a week later sure enough it was broken. They said "fluid" masks a break soon after the incident and then they have to wait for all of the swelling and "fluid" to dissipate before they can see the true picture.

I hope yours is just a bad bruising of the tissue, but, do take care not to cause more injury.

Maybe a glass of wine and a deep soak in the tub.

[Cherie]

Almeta wrote: "Cinder

3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents -theme.
6 – Other European Origin
5 - Title is the name of the main character

Total = 14 points"

Did you like it Almeta? Are you ready for the next one? Part of me wants it to go on, to a conclusion, and part of me wants to think it was enough and be happy that it was a great twist on an old story and be happy.

[Debra]

Lexx sounds like a good guy, just like my hubby, Jeff. I'm with everyone else on this one. You might need an X-ray to know for sure nothing is broken. It WOULD be funny if both your family dog and you were in a cast!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

He has his moments ;)

I did have a good giggle when I thought of the dog thing. Like the beginning of the animated 101 Dalmatians by Disney. There's the scene of everyone walking their dog and looking identical. I loved that movie as a kid as I got a Dalmatian puppy at the same time the movie was on at the theatres.

... Sorry, did I mention this thread was all about me? Heh Report your books people!

[Lara]

Almeta and Cherie, I looked at some reviews of Scarlet, and many think it is even better than Cinder. I hate waiting for sequels to be released, but am definitely looking forward to reading this one.

[Cherie]

Thanks, Lara. I can't wait for it to come out.

[Jenny, honorary mod - inactive]

Finished mine. Loved it as well, so glad I took part!



Theme

2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title

1 - Is three words (including The, etc)

Cover (the version *you* read. If audio book, go by Goodreads' most popular cover)

1 - Has a horse

Total - 15

Would this book count as a quest? Princess overthrown, hiding as a goose girl, trying to reclaim her rightful place? :)

[Ava Catherine]

The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller

Theme:
1 Love

Origin of original story:
4 Classical Greek

Title:
5 Name of Main Character

Cover:
0

Total: 10 points

[Lara]

Did you like it Connie?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yay Jenny and Connie.

I second Lara's question, Connie.

Jenny, you're the expert on this book now. See my "definition" of a quest in message 63 and let me know if you think it fits.

[AmyK]

Rusalka wrote: "The most offensive thing was the guy who hit the ball asked "Are you alright Darl?". Urgh. What are you? A 1960s Australian stereotype? And as I currently want to wrap my stick around your head, do not call me Darling."

That might have made your foot feel better for a few seconds :)

[Travis]

Emily wrote: "Oops. Just realized that I put my reporting in the wrong thread. Here it is

I read The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley

Theme
1 - Love

Origin
2 - English

Title
0

Cover
2 - Has a weapon
..."

I too read

Emily says 5 pts so I agree. I gave it 3 stars as it took me 200 pages to gain much interest and I didn't care for the ending.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yeah that's always annoying. When you're almost three quarters into the book before it starts grabbing you, that's too long.

Just check that you and Emily read the same version. Cover points are awarded off the actual cover you read.

[Ava Catherine]

Rusalka wrote: "Yay Jenny and Connie.

I second Lara's question, Connie.

Jenny, you're the expert on this book now. See my "definition" of a quest in message 63 and let me know if you think it fits."

I love this book! Gave it 5 stars!
I counted the Quest because the Greeks went to Troy to rescue the fair maiden, Helen, from the clutches of the barbarians (dragon?). It sounded like a classic quest to me. Knight fights the dragon for the princess.
If you don't think so, I don't mind at all. No problem.
'Tis removed.

How is your foot, Rusalka? I hope it is better.

[Naomi]

Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses

Is the book I had asked about before and I read since retold versions of East of the Sun, West of the Moon were not available in the library systems I have access to.

It is a free verse poetry retelling/ re-imagining of several fairy tales of different origins.

There are tales from

Origin:
Grimm 10pts

Other European 6 pts (Andersen's The Match Girl, Norse East of the Sun, West of the Moon, French Cinderella are recognizable ones).

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
4 - Quest
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Cover

4 - Has a long, flowing-haired female

35 pts total