April Fantasy Read BOTM is...

[Anne ✨]

The April BOTM (chosen by voter poll) is:
Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (translator)

A compilation of twenty-two favorite stories, with ghouls, goblins and ogres, sea serpents and sea kings, kindly animals and magic birds, demons and dragons, princes and princesses hiding within the pages.

1) SOURCE THE BOOK
It's FREE on Project Gutenberg :) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4018
You can read online, or download .epub, .mobi(kindle), .txt files. There's versions with images or without. You can even save to Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive.

2) JOIN THE CONVERSATION
April 'fantasy' discussion thread is here (starts April 1).

This month it's easier than ever to participate in our monthly read:
- Book can be sourced free, downloaded easily
- It's a compilation of stories. Start with a few stories and see what you think.
- Option to choose 'ANY' fantasy book to read instead (or in addition to)

Thanks to member Jazzy, in the UK, for nominating this book. Here's some interesting information Jazzy provided on the book's translator Yei Theodora Ozaki:

Yei Theodora Ozaki (英子セオドラ尾崎 Eiko Seodora Ozaki, 1871 – December 28, 1932) was an early 20th-century translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales. Her translations were fairly liberal but have been popular, and were reprinted several times after her death.

According to "A Biographical Sketch" by Mrs. Hugh Fraser, included in the introductory material to Warriors of old Japan, and other stories, Ozaki came from an unusual background. She was the daughter of Baron Ozaki, one of the first Japanese men to study in the West, and Bathia Catherine Morrison, daughter of William Morrison, one of their teachers. Her parents separated after five years of marriage, and her mother retained custody of their three daughters until they became teenagers. At that time, Yei was sent to live in Japan with her father, which she enjoyed. Later she refused an arranged marriage, left her father's house, and became a teacher and secretary to earn money. Over the years, she traveled back and forth between Japan and Europe, as her employment and family duties took her, and lived in places as diverse as Italy and the draughty upper floor of a Buddhist temple.

All this time, her letters were frequently misdelivered to the unrelated Japanese politician Yukio Ozaki, and his to her. In 1904, they finally met, and soon married.

[Tiina]

I got the book with images! I'll probably find waiting until April hard to resist...

[Jazzy]

I really liked the way she never had to change her name when she got married.

[Amber]

Its a pretty good read. I read this book a few years ago and is a great short story collection.