More books

[Naomi]

not yet.

[Grace]

oh, well. tell me what you think of it when you do. i need a second opinion. :)

[Roberta]

How about Confessions of an ugly step-sister?

It's a twisted Cinderella story. I liked it. :) Oh, and this group is awesome. :D

[Grace]

the title alone sounds cool. i think we should add it to our group 'to-read' list. or however it works. bookshelf?

i'm going to go right now and order it...

[Roberta]

cool :)

[Grace]

annnnd, it is ordered! that's a cool looking cover too....

[Roberta]

it is ... it's very different from what I imagined it to be. i like the author and i can't wait to read more of his books. he has a lot of these fairy retellings.

[Grace]

cool. i'm always looking for retellings. the Once Upon A Time series has some good ones.

[Anna]

I read it. It is very dark and the themes of rape and incest are a heavy presence in it. I seem to remember that the original fairytale was also very dark and creepy, so I thought it was quite a brave tale to take on. My favourite from her is still Beauty. So cute and sweet!

[Grace]

Anna, you're talking about Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister, or Once Upon A Time Series?????

[Anna]

Grace wrote: "Anna, you're talking about Confessions Of An Ugly Stepsister, or Once Upon A Time Series?????"

Oops I'm so sorry! I thought my comment was gonna go after the one I replied to. I was talking about Deerskin by Robin McKinley.

[Grace]

Lol, it's ok . :) yes, i loved Beauty!!!!

[Terri]

One book that I love that I don't see listed on your bookshelf is "Enchantment" by Orson Scott Card. Terrific retelling of the sleeping beauty fairy tale.

Also, the "Once Upon a Time" series has some really good ones. The two I've read are "Golden" which is a retelling of Rapunzel and "The Storyteller's Daughter" which is a retelling of the Arabian Knights tale "The Thousand and One Nights".

Thanks for all the recommendations - I am a fairy tale addict!

[Naomi]

Thanks, I'll put Enchantment on the bookshelf. xD I haven't heard of that one, I 'll look into it. xD
I actually have a different group for just the Once Upon a Time Series. We're actually reading The Storyteller's Daughter right now. Check it out, it's a good group: Once Upon a Time Group

[Rebekah]

Please add the Mercedes Lackey Elemental series.

The Fire Rose= Beauty and the Beast
The Serpent's Shadow= Snow White
The Gates of Sleep= Sleeping Beauty
Phoenix and Ashes= Cinderella
Wizard of London= The Snow Queen
Reserved for the Cat= Puss and Boots

She also has several other books based in fairy tales:
Firebird
Black Swan

[Grace]

I thought this group died... we should really make a book that we're all "currently reading"...

[Naomi]

that sounds fun. how should we do it and what order would we read the books? Every month? every other month? first published to last published?

[Grace]

the other groups i'm in, they have it once a month. (yes, i know we're not copying other groups, but it works as once a month in them.) you receive an email saying that the group will start reading such and such a book on Insert Date Here. usually it's a date the next week or a few days from said date.

[Naomi]

how do you set that up? I haven't heard of that before...

[Grace]

well, i'm not the admin here so i wouldn't know. it's probably under settings or bookshelf. i'll check the bookshelf and see...

i'm not sure what it's CALLED, just that i get emails alerting me as to what book's next. :)

[Grace]

it's says only mods (under bookshelf) can put books as currently reading. after that, i assume it'll send out an email automatically.

[Naomi]

hmmm.. Well, I'll try. xD

[Naomi]

...any suggestions for what book to read...? Y'know, first.

[Grace]

For this group? Ummm, what I'd do is one book of the "Once Upon A Time" series, then just a book not part of it (example: "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine) then one of the "Once Upon A Time" books and repeat... if that makes sense.

[Naomi]

Well, there aren't enough 'Once Upon a Time' books to balance that out, even w/ what we just have on the bookshelf now. Though if you want to read and discuss those books, check out my other group. (I'd really rather not keep re-reading those books in 2 dif groups...)

[Sue]

Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms books are also fairytales retold with a different twist. The Fairy Godmother (Cinderella), One Good Knight (the Greek myth of Perseus), Fortune's Fool (a Russian tale involving the little humpbacked horse) and The Snow Queen (The Snow Queen.)

[Grace]

Oh, Sue, do we not have those books on our shelf? I thought we had Mercedes's books... or at least some....

[Grace]

Naomi wrote: "Well, there aren't enough 'Once Upon a Time' books to balance that out, even w/ what we just have on the bookshelf now. Though if you want to read and discuss those books, check out my other group...."

Hmmm, true. *shrugs* Ok, I'm out of ideas. Isn't there enough books to just pick one at random and read it?

[Danielle]

Grace wrote: "that it was really dirty/confusing. not good compared to her other books, or something. did you read it?"

I read Deerskin and really enjoyed it. It was a bit graphic in the beginning and at one point at the end, but I did not find it offensive or anything. All the dark elements were well handled and the whole I felt was cohesive. Of course, I never read the original, but I like Robin McKinley's work and wasn't disappointed.

I enjoyed it more than Spindle's End.

[Danielle]

For those who enjoy the Arabian Nights tales, my newest novel, Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, co-written with Day Al-Mohamed, comes out next month.

It is a steampunk retelling of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

[Myra]

Naomi wrote: "question, The Amaranth Enchantment seems to be a retelling to me, but I'm not sure of what. does anyone know for sure either way?"

Read this in another comment. I know this is getting to you almost a decade after the original question - The Princess Of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George.

I will try to see if I can paste the link so you can read the similarities and differences yourself.