Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2019 Read Harder Challenge
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Task #15: A book of mythology or folklore
Just started Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry for this challenge.
The Mists of Avalon and The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley both work for this - the first is a telling of the King Arthur story from the viewpoint of the women in the story, and the second is a telling of the Trojan War by Cassandra
Happy to see this prompt so it gives me more of a reason to finally dive into The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets that's been sitting on my bookshelf for awhile.
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan - I love this author's take on mythology and I need to catch up on his books!
The wonderful Stephen Fry has written two books on Greek mythology: Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold and Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures in the last couple of years. I haven't read either yet, but one will surely do for this category.
Another recommendation for Norse Mythology in audiobook. I just completed this task alternating between the print copy we had at home and the audiobook on Libby. Neil Gamien's reading is a total delight and I recommend that version.
I was going to read Circe, but then I received an ARC in the mail of Gareth Hinds' graphic novel of The Iliad, which was very nicely done. He has also done a graphic novel of The Odyssey.
I recently read a book called The Lost Queen by Signe Pike. It's described as a historical novel, since the title character is a Scottish queen who lived in 6th century Scotland—although almost nothing is known about her. However, it is within the world of King Arthur (the queen is the sister of the man known as Merlin, called by another name here). Others doing this task have mentioned books that also build on the Arthurian saga, so I assume it would be OK for me to count this? I didn't read it with that in mind and was planning to use Circe when I get around to listening to my downloaded audiobook.
I'm going to try Carolyne Larrington's "The Norse Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Heroes". I have some knowledge about Norse mythology and how it's referenced in a lot of popular culture but never really dug below the surface. So here goes nothing!
Do we think The Night Tiger would work as folklore? The description says it has elements of folklore, but I don't know that it's really a whole book of folklore. I got it from BOTM last month but haven't read it yet, and didn't realize it could potentially fit until today.
Allie wrote: "Do we think The Night Tiger would work as folklore? The description says it has elements of folklore, but I don't know that it's really a whole book of folklore. I got it from BOTM ..."Sounds to me that it works.
Instead of Circe, I'm contemplating The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog: The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit.
I highly recommend Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping with His Daughter. It's a selection of Coyote tales collected from over 40 different tribes, & assembled by Barry Lopez. They give a wonderful sense of the range & variability of Coyote's importance in the mythology of Native Peoples.Also, with each tale only a few pages long, it's a quick read, easily done in pieces.
Brandyn wrote: "Does it have to be folklore of our world or can it be fictional folklore like The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic?"Brandyn, my understanding of this challenge is that is to learn more about the mythology of an existing culture, not a fictional one. Since Bardugo is pulling from existing myths, such as about mermaids & golems, perhaps you would enjoy picking one of her inspirations to read about? Mermaid stories originated in Syria, then traveled to Greece (Aphrodite) & onwards. Golem are from Jewish folklore. And enchanted &/or dark forests are in folklore from all over: Japanese, German, Scandinavian, West African, Celtic, and more. :)
Allie wrote: "Do we think The Night Tiger would work as folklore? The description says it has elements of folklore, but I don't know that it's really a whole book of folklore. I got it from BOTM ..."I read this book and loved it. It's not like a retelling of a myth or folk tale, but folk lore plays very heavily throughout the whole book. I hope you love it as well!
I just finished listening to The Iliad. I am trying to read more classics this year. I read The Song of Achilles last year and wished I had read The Iliad first. It was very violent, as expected for a book about war. But very anatomically descriptive in it's violence, lots of sinews and tendons. (view spoiler)
I just found out that apparently a Scottish publisher did a series of novellas on this topic:The Canongate Myth Series is a series of novellas published by the independent Scottish publisher Canongate Books.
They're gathered here: https://www.goodreads.com/series/248967
It includes my pick for this: The Goddess Chronicle
I followed the recommendation of someone upthread and read A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, which has been on my TBR for a while. Really interesting, solid collection featuring new-to-me stories and spanning a range of genres.
I just finished the delightful When the Sea Turned to Silver, and I think it works for this prompt. It's a middle grade fantasy novel that brings Chinese folk tales to life in a really clever and charming way. Great characters and some really beautiful illustrations, too.
Almost done with the audio of Norse Mythology and I realized I need to have Neil Gaiman sit beside me in NYC traffic and talk every day. He is so soothing. His voice is delicious!
I finished Akata Witch for this challenge, and I can't say I loved it, which disappoints me - it gets rave reviews just about everywhere as a "Nigerian Harry Potter," but there was way too much "tell" and not enough "show." One of the great things about Harry Potter is how fully the writing immerses you in the world, and I didn't get that at all from Akata Witch. Furthermore, Harry Potter's world was more or less original, while Akata Witch borrows a lot of its worldbuilding from Harry Potter. The soccer scenes were especially egregious in telling rather than showing, and I couldn't really care about any of the characters because most of them had one personality trait.I'm not sorry I read it, though - I got a lot of knowledge of Nigerian folklore through it that I never would have had otherwise, and it's been on my list for so long!
Mod
I just finished The Bear and the Nightingale ...I think it should fit. Heavy on the Russian folklore.
I've read Spinning Silver which is a retelling of a fairy tale and Trail of Lightning which is based on Native American mythology. I enjoyed both and I'm thinking they would work for this category.
I read Circe by Madeline Miller for this and I'm so glad I did. It was excellent, well worth reading.
Anyone have thoughts on whether the new Helen Oyemi book, Gingerbread, works for this? I just checked it out of the library, and haven't read it, but it seems very fairy-tale inflected and I've scene the words "myth" and "folktale" mentioned in reviews. Thoughts?
Amanda wrote: "Anyone have thoughts on whether the new Helen Oyemi book, Gingerbread, works for this? I just checked it out of the library, and haven't read it, but it seems very fairy-tale inflected and I've sce..."Goodreads lists it as a "retelling."
That is neither a yes or no. Thank you
I read The Book of Enoch: From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. An apocryphal book that sheds some light on some of the more enigmatic parts of Genesis. Very interesting read.
Last year I read The Egyptian Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends for fun, and I found it very informative. If anyone wants a good primer on Egyptian mythology, I would suggest this one.
Amanda wrote: "That is neither a yes or no. Thank you"For what it's worth, I think retellings or reworkings are perfectly fine! I'm in the middle of Gingerbread right now and I think it fits.
I second Circe by Madeline Miller - SO good! I used it for this task.
I just finished Damsel which is a feminist fairy tale retelling. While there are some trigger warning (you can check out the reviews), I found it a quick, well-written, and satisfying read.
Brandyn wrote: "Does it have to be folklore of our world or can it be fictional folklore like The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic?"This is what I'm planning to read!
Sirena: A Mermaid Legend from Guam, by Chamorro authors Tanya Taimanglo, meets 4 tasks. It works as:#8: an #ownvoices book set in Oceania (the Chamorro are the indigenous people of Guam & the author & illustrator are both Chamorro)
#9: a book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads
#15: A book of mythology or folklore
#23: A self-published book
It's also quite short, & the kindle version is ~$3 on Amazon.
What about The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making for this task? I've only read her short stories before but I recall hearing that this book is based on a fairytale book mentioned another novel.
I'm thinking of reading Oreo, by Fran Ross. It is about a 16-year-old of mixed heritage who heads out in search of her father, and is supposed to be an "update of the Theseus myth". Apparently there is a summary of the Theseus myth in the back of the book, in case you don't know much about it!
I finished Circe by Madeline Miller. I really like it.
Nicole wrote: "The Epic Crush of Genie Lo"Oh, thank you! This has been on my to-read list but I didn't catch that it meets this task. :)
I am reading fractured fairytales by jane yolen for this one. I love fairytales and i find i love the collection of vignettes pulled into a book style. So far so good!
I was hoping that one would count but I wasn't sure it would.
Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Gods of Jade and Shadow (other topics)Brown Girl in the Ring (other topics)
The Immortals of Meluha (other topics)
The One Hundred Nights of Hero (other topics)
A Thousand Ships (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia (other topics)Nalo Hopkinson (other topics)
Natalie Haynes (other topics)
Madeline Miller (other topics)
Tanya Taimanglo (other topics)
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Ditto! It's super great! Wish I hadn't read that last year...