Announcing the June Tag

[LibraryCin]

This was my 2nd choice after creepy!

I probably should get to the next in the Fables series (it's been way too long!), so that's: Fables, Vol. 20: Camelot.

I have other options, as well, including:
- Jack of Kinrowan / Charles de Lint
- Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love / Chris Roberson
- Red Hood's Revenge / Jim C. Hines
- The Sleeping Beauty / Mercedes Lackey

[LibraryCin]

Idit wrote: "for those on a comics binge... there's Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile. Not sure if it can count as a retelling - it mashes up all the characters from the different tales. but it's good fun..."

I was just about to make some recommendations and that was going to be my first one!

So... ones that made my favourites the years I read them include a few different volumes of the Fables graphic novel series, including volume 1, so start with:
Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile / Bill Willingham

Also:
Cindy Ella / Robin Palmer (YA)
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems / Marlyn Singer
Wildwood Dancing / Juliet Marillier

Hmmm, I thought I'd also see this one my list. I thought it made my favourites when I read it, but maybe not, however it's one of the first that came to my head, so I'm going to recommend it, anyway:
The Snow Child / Eowyn Ivey

[Amy]

Nancy - Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. But I can't figure out why its a re-telling.

[Tracy]

Some of my favorites:
East of Eden- a retelling of Cain and Abel
Everything Under- a retelling of Oedipus Rex
A Thousand Acres- a retelling of King Lear
Home Fire- a retelling of Antigone.

What I might read:
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg
Till We Have Faces
Gingerbread
Or, whatever looks good, because I have a lot of retellings on my shelves. I love a good treatment of a story I loved!

[Theresa]

Tracy wrote: "Some of my favorites:
East of Eden- a retelling of Cain and Abel
Everything Under- a retelling of Oedipus Rex
A Thousand Acres- a retelling of King Lear
[b..."

Oooh, I forgot about [book:Gingerbread|40634915]! I have that on my nightstand as I bought it recently.

Also any of the Austen Project.

[Darci]

Amy-I think Home Fire is a retelling if the Antigone story. At least, that’s what one of my friends said in her review.

[Jen]

Tracy wrote: "Some of my favorites:
East of Eden- a retelling of Cain and Abel
Everything Under- a retelling of Oedipus Rex
A Thousand Acres- a retelling of King Lear
[b..."

What's [book:Baba Yaga Laid an Egg|6011268] a retelling of? I also have The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle,Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dawn of the DreadfulsDreadfully Ever After and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters all sitting on my physical book shelf so any suggestions welcome.

[Nicole R]

NancyJ wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Joanne wrote: "The Once and Future King-Arthurian."

Oh I was thinking that was an original, duh. I was thinking of putting the series on my TRIM list. I'd like to at least read the first book to see if I like it."


Interesting. Is it an original? Some of these books that are the seminal works that commemorate legends or myths are hard to really categorize. The story of King Arthur has been around for centuries, well before White's novel. But, is White's book really a retelling or is it really just a straight-forward recording of the tale?

[Meli]

Nicole R wrote: "Meli wrote: "I have several Shakespeare retellings, but trim #30 is Vinegar Girl so I will be reading that.

Also from Hogarth Shakespeare (that I have) are:
[book:New Boy|3170625..."

I'm actually not doing horizons challenge, so I won't get to get to experience the high of hitting the trifecta, but if I was doing horizons this would not fit... I don't know the setting but feel strongly it isn't Greece.

If I have time I might try to knock out Hag-seed as well.

[Joanne]

Cora wrote: "Here are some retelling recommendations:

Geekerella (fun, young adult contemporary romance)
For Darkness Shows the Stars (science fiction retelling of Austen's [book..."

I have read The Queens of Innis Lear and liked. It was her first attempt at Adult Fantasy and gave her a fourth star for the effort

[Joanne]

NancyJ wrote: Yes, the gods are sending you a message! And if you don't listen, they'll strand you on an island with no books. "
😫😂🤣

[Joanne]

Joi wrote: ": Found this awesome link of YA Retellings
There's a (very small) infograph that you can enlargen- breaks the retellings down to fairy tales, classics, Shakespeare, and mythology.

Down farther o..."

This is pure gold! Thanks Joi!

[Joanne]

Jgrace wrote: "Not my first choice... but not to worry.

This tag seemed to be used mostly for fairytale retellings, and YA retellings at that. They don't interest me too much. But, there are other ways to apply ..."


I second The Red Tent-loved it

[Joanne]

LibraryCin wrote: "Idit wrote: "for those on a comics binge... there's Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile. Not sure if it can count as a retelling - it mashes up all the characters from the different tales. but it's go..."

I swore I Would get through this thread without adding a another book...*Heavy Sigh .You got me with Wildwood Dancing

[Joanne]

Nicole R wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "Joanne wrote: "The Once and Future King-Arthurian."

Oh I was thinking that was an original, duh. I was thinking of putting the series on my TRIM list. I'd like to a..."

It's marketed as "A Masterful Re-telling"

[Tracy]

Jen wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Some of my favorites:
East of Eden- a retelling of Cain and Abel
Everything Under- a retelling of Oedipus Rex
A Thousand Acres- a retelling o..."

The Russian folk tales about Baba Yaga- an old woman/witch. It’s part of a series of folklore/mythology told with a modern twist. Another in the series is Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles

[[deleted user]]

Hi! Question for the mods!
One of the books I'm considering for this tag would fit Horizons as well. However, I haven't been participating in this challenge so should I just post in the 'retellings' folder or put it in the horizons folder as well? That's if I decide to read it of course!

[Nicole]

I was lucky enough to have my randomizer book match the monthly tag!

I'll be reading reading The Secret Chord this month - a retelling of the life of King David (biblical).

IF I'm lucky, I'm also hoping to get my hands on a copy of Circe - which would fit both the retelling category as well as taking place in Greece for the Horizon's challenge! We'll see though, this one seems to still be in high demand and is on hold at my library - I have no idea how many people are ahead of me in line.

[Nicole R]

Jenny wrote: "Hi! Question for the mods!
One of the books I'm considering for this tag would fit Horizons as well. However, I haven't been participating in this challenge so should I just post in the 'retellings' folder or put it in the horizons folder as well? That's if I decide to read it of course! ."

Jenny, if you read the book then definitely post it in both folders as you have described! Even if you aren't making a dedicated effort to read each month for Horizons—which is totally not a requirement—you'll pick up a few extra participation points by posting it there!

[Nicole R]

Nicole wrote: "I was lucky enough to have my randomizer book match the monthly tag!

I'll be reading reading The Secret Chord this month - a retelling of the life of King David (biblical). "

I really enjoyed The Secret Chord. Are you familiar with the biblical story? I totally recommend giving it a quick wikipedia search and spend no more than 30 minutes reading about the biblical story in order to really enjoy the book more!

I did that as I only remembered the bare bones of the biblical story, and I think it really enhanced my enjoyment of The Secret Chord.

[Nicole R]

***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***

Y'all, I am just not as good as Anita, and in my attempt to help out yesterday I posted the tag as "retelling" and it should be "retellings" plural.

I have corrected the first post including the name of the tag and the link to the tag shelf.

Honestly, I do not think it will impact too much EXCEPT PERHAPS whether your book fits the EXACT tag for Trim. Though, I am going to guess it is highly likely that the book fits both.

Because this is totally my error, for this month's Trim—and this month ONLY—it will count as fitting the monthly tag if it is tagged "retelling" or "retellings." I will post this in the Trim thread as well.

Sorry about that!

[Theresa]

NancyJ wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Well, I should have checked TrimTBR selection before posting earlier -- my #30 is The Song of Achilles. And since Horizons for June is Greece - I've got a triple hea..."

🤣😲🤓

[[deleted user]]

Nicole R wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Hi! Question for the mods!
One of the books I'm considering for this tag would fit Horizons as well. However, I haven't been participating in this challenge so should I just post in t..."

Thanks Nicole, I probably will read Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece for the tag as it will cover various prompts for other challenges I'm participating in! 😊

[Theresa]

I will even be getting bonus points in Trim for The Song of Achilles as "retellings" tag shows up on first page first column of genre tags for it - 448 tagged it as such. Usually have to dig deep into the lists to find those bonus points.

I need to buy a lottery ticket of some sort, clearly.

[Joanne]

Nicole R wrote: "***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***

Y'all, I am just not as good as Anita, and in my attempt to help out yesterday I posted the tag as "retelling" and it should be "retellings" plural.

I have corrected ..."

I am not sure what the difference is.......???🤔

[Meli]

Joanne wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***

Y'all, I am just not as good as Anita, and in my attempt to help out yesterday I posted the tag as "retelling" and it should be "retellings" plural.

..."

Me neither, but luckily my trim still fits!

[Nicole R]

The difference is that in order to get the bonus points for your Trim book fitting the monthly tag, the book must have the EXACT tag.

So, the actual tag is "retellings" plural, but I announced it as "retelling" singular. While the meaning of the tag is the same, it may impact if your Trim book is eligible for those bonus points for fitting the monthly tag.

To avoid any issues for people who already started planning, I simply am allowing your Trim book to be tagged exactly "retelling" OR "retellings" to be eligible for the bonus points for fitting the monthly tag.

In reality, it likely isn't an issue as it seems like many books are tagged with both the singular and plural versions of the monthly tag, but I just wanted to be clear in case anyone came up with a problem.

[Ellen]

I believe I will read "Jane Steele" as it's on my TBR. I hope I like it better than "Paragon Hotel" which I did not care for at all. I just processed two new YA books for our library that I might try to get to: "Mirror, Mirror" and "As Old as Time"; they both sound pretty good.

[Rachel N.]

I plan on reading Winter so I can finish this series, which I have been enjoying. I also highly recommend The Secret Chord.

[Amy]

I just wanted to say that I really liked the secret chord, but if you were looking for a biblical retelling of David, I really loved and gave five stars to David and the Philistine woman. New author, and she was amazing!

[Michael]

Might try Hoffman's The Dovekeepers (women at Masada) or Pressfield's Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae.

David Vann's Bright Air Black (Medea retelling) sits and a shelf and longs to be read as well.

So many great recommendations. I second The Sacred Chord and The Song of Achilles. Other Trojan War related tales I loved include Dan Simmon's Ilium (a brilliant merging of The Iliad with space opera) and Hair's Athena's Champion.

In the line of fairy tale retellings, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories was awesome for its dark humor and smouldering sexuality.

[Book Concierge]

Not my favorite choice, but I have several possibilities:
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Even in Paradise by Elizabeth Nunez
Longbourn by Jo Baker


As for recommendations:
A retelling of the Cain & Abel story: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

A retelling of Hawthorn's Scarlet Letter: When She Woke by Hilary Jordan

[Book Concierge]

Oh, I see a couple of people have already recommended
Jane Steele
and
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Totally agree these would be perfect.

[Book Concierge]

And here are two light "romances" that are great fun
Retelling of Romeo and Juliet (without the body count) - Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray

Retelling of Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen in Boca by Paula Marantz Cohen

[Amy]

Michael is right! Completely forgot about the Dovekeepers and it’s my number one favorite book! Although in the last couple of years a few of them have been giving it a run for it’s money. Alice Hoffman, Facebook will always forever be in my top five and usually at number one. It’s absolutely a re- telling.

[Karin]

Cora wrote: "Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)"

I gave this four stars, so it's quite good as I recall.

[MargieD2017]

I will be reading .
While this is YA material so they say it nonetheless is supported with historical facts and photos. Should be a good read.. I hope!

[LibraryCin]

Joanne wrote: "I swore I Would get through this thread without adding a another book...*Heavy Sigh .You got me with Wildwood Dancing.."

I do hope you like it (whether you read it next month or later!). :-)

[LibraryCin]

Nicole R wrote: "***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***

Y'all, I am just not as good as Anita, and in my attempt to help out yesterday I posted the tag as "retelling" and it should be "retellings" plural...."

Oh! I even already added the tag to the bookshelf last night and double checked (based on this thread!) whether it should be plural or not. I will go fix that now. :-)

[Idit]

Goodread seem to combine both tags into one.
If you click on the tag Retelling it would send you to the webpage of Retellings

[Jen]

Hmm I also have the Magnus Chase whole series and Trials of Apollo series on my TBR so Perhaps I'll do a fun one and read Edgar Sawtelle while I am flying (Should last 3 days).

[Magdalena]

Nicole R wrote: "Nancy, I am going to read Helen of Troy! Fits retelling AND Greece for Horizons! It is a bit of a beast at over 600 pages but it has been on my TBR for some time.

Interested in that?"

This looks very good I think Helen of Troy is fascinating, I'll probably be reading this!

[Darci]

Yay! Retellings! PopSugar actually has two retelling prompts this year, so I have plenty of books to choose from. I'm definitely going to read Cinder. I'm also going to try to squeeze in either Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West or Circe if I have time.

[NancyJ]

Has anyone read this retelling of Arabian Nights (A Thousand and One Nights)? The Wrath and the Dawn.

I read A Thousand and One Nights fairly recently so I'm really interested in this retelling of it, and the ratings are good. But I get a little scared off when many of the reviews have gushing gifs or graphics (suggesting it appeals primarily to young romance readers.)

Also - the Lunar chronicles - is it for the YA crowd, or does it have mature themes and good writing that might appeal to older adults?

Geez, I sound like an old lady!

[Jen]

AJ wrote: "I have been on bed rest all week having been extremely ill and missed so much (not even being able to read because my head was too fuzzy).

Retellings is the perfect tag for me as I love them so mu..."

Hope you feel better soon.

[Linda C]

Read Scarlet and Cress for beautiful, so I guess I will finish the series off with Winter for retelling/s (has both)

[annapi]

My favorite fairy tale retelling is Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley.

Mercedes Lackey has a whole series of retellings called the Five Hundred Kingdoms, starting with The Fairy Godmother.

Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest is a beautiful retelling of the Seven Swan Princes, and her Wildwood Dancing is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Then there's Naomi Novik's Uprooted and Spinning Silver, both excellent.

For a different spin on retellings, there's Ian Doescher's Shakespeare Star Wars series starting with William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope.

Maybe I will finally get around to reading The Bear and the Nightingale!

[NancyJ]

Joanne wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "OK Idit and others, I really need help!

I want a smart retelling, not a fluffy romantic fantasy written for teens. Though I wouldn't mind light and fluffy if it's also very adult (..."

Thanks Joanne, these look great! I wasn't sure if I wanted to read another Jane Austen retelling, but if I do, Unmarriageable sounds very appealing. I ordered book one of the Once and Future King to get me started.

I really hope we get an Irish or Russia theme this year because those lists are getting longer!

[annapi]

NancyJ wrote: "Also - the Lunar chronicles - is it for the YA crowd, or does it have mature themes and good writing that might appeal to older adults?..."

I enjoyed the first 3 books, but I thought the last book was a disappointment. But others have liked it so you might have to decide for yourself...

[NancyJ]

annapi wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Also - the Lunar chronicles - is it for the YA crowd, or does it have mature themes and good writing that might appeal to older adults?..."

I enjoyed the first 3 books, but I though..."

Thanks Annapi. I have so many great choices. I think this is another tag could easily fill several months, and satisfy many moods and interests.