Into the Forest discussion
Reading Challenges previous
>
2015 Challenge Progress
message 51:
by
Katy
(new)
Jan 28, 2015 07:01PM
Nice list, Jenna. I may just change my mind and use some of your choices to help with my challenge.
reply
|
flag
Mod
Here is what I would like to read this year for the challenge. Some have alternat..."
Welcome to this. Group Jenna!
I am currently reading The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and also can never get enough of 12 Dancing Princess stories!
Mod
And I have got to read The Girls at the Kingfisher Club! I have a couple books in line at the library, but when I finish those I'll have to see if they have it.
Mod
You have some good books on your list.
The The Bread We Eat in Dreams does have some fairy tale retellings in it - I particularly loved Silently and Very Fast which incorporates aspects of a few fairy tales, especially Sleeping Beauty. I read the collection last month and enjoyed it.
If you're a Valente fan in general, I'd encourage you to try Sexing the Cherry. Their writing styles aren't THAT similar, but I think they appeal to the same type of audience.
I wasn't a huge fan of Tooth and Claw, but I admit it was very, very clever!
Kathy wrote: "Nice list, Jenna. I may just change my mind and use some of your choices to help with my challenge."Which ones? I love some of your choices, especially The Princess Bride which is my favorite book of all time. I've also been wanting to read Kate Crackernuts ever since I read the original in a Children's Literature class many years ago. You also have The Girls at the Kingfisher Club on your list, which I just finished last week and was bowled over. I have mad love for that book.
Jalilah wrote: "I am currently reading The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and also can never get enough of 12 Dancing Princess stories! "
Soooo good. The only other ones I've read are Princess of the Midnight Ball (Love, love!) and Wildwood Dancing (didn't really care for).
Margaret wrote: "Great list, Jenna! I didn't realize Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer was from the villain's pov, so I might end up read that instead of Grendel, or both. ..."
It twists the stories so that the heroes are the villains and the villains are the heroes, so it's not exactly from the villain's POV. But for me, that passes.
Margaret also wrote: "And I have got to read The Girls at the Kingfisher Club!"
Yes! Yes you do!
Melanti wrote: "I particularly loved Silently and Very Fast which incorporates aspects of a few fairy tales, especially Sleeping Beauty. "
I'll have to add this one to my TBR list too! I'll take anything with Sleeping Beauty.
Melanti also wrote: "If you're a Valente fan in general, I'd encourage you to try Sexing the Cherry. Their writing styles aren't THAT similar, but I think they appeal to the same type of audience."
Intriguing. I have only read one by both. Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (adorable) and Winterson's Written on the Body (heartsmashing). I have a few other Winterson books in my collection that I haven't gotten around to. This week I got Valente's Six-Gun Snow White from the library.
I have lots of fun reading on the agenda! Last month I graduated college after nearly a decade of effort, so it's wonderful to finally get back to my favorite type of reading -- fairy tales and fantasy! Thanks for the warm welcomes, everyone.
Mod
Margaret wrote: "I enjoyed Six-Gun Snow White, and there's another Valente as the group read until March 14th, Deathless, which I also enjoyed."I started that one a few years ago, but couldn't get into it and it had to go back to the library. I do plan on trying again, though. Maybe sometime before March 14th! ;)
Mod
Silently and Very Fast is a novella that's reprinted in The Bread We Eat in Dreams.
Valente's other books do tend to be a bit denser than her Fairyland series though I agree the fairyland series is adorable. I have the next one pre-ordered! I haven't read Written on the Body yet, though it's on my (very large) TBR pile.
After I graduated college, I spent YEARS reading only fairy tales and fantasy before I even so much as glanced at another classic, so I can imagine how glad you are to get back to reading just for yourself again.
Melanti wrote: "Silently and Very Fast is a novella that's reprinted in The Bread We Eat in Dreams."Oh, wonderful, thank you for telling me - I almost shelled out for the eBook!
Melanti also wrote: "After I graduated college, I spent YEARS reading only fairy tales and fantasy before I even so much as glanced at another classic, so I can imagine how glad you are to get back to reading just for yourself again."
It's a little hard to get used to! I'm also applying to grad school, so (hopefully, I guess) this feeling won't last long.
I need some creative ideas for number 11. I've read a lot of stories from a lot of cultures. Off the top of my head, a country that I have probably not read folklore from is Estonia. But I also kinda feel like Eastern European folklore might run together...Anyway, any really creative ideas? South America and Europe are my specialties, so that's probably not the best place to start... I'm really thinking that Eastern Europe, maybe some of the less prominent South East Asian countries (like Vietnam) would be the farthest from my current field that I can think of.
Mod
Would you prefer novels or tale collections?
I don't know of any folktales collections from South East Asia,although I am sure there are. If you check out our bookshelves you might find something. Last year I read the novel The Ghost Bride which takes place in Malaysia among the Chinese community that settled there. It works in losts of Chinese and Malay mythology.
If you have never read anything from Iran I found the tales in Persian Folk and Fairy Tales to be fun and different. It's an old book so I had to order it as an inter-library loan.
Mod
Continuing with Chinese - how about Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was? It's partially based off of a Chinese folktale "The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd".
Or if you like middle grade, there's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. It has a succession of folktales incorporated, and it's sweet without being too cutesy (making allowances for its intended audience, of course).
In that same general area of the world, there's The Fox Woman which uses the Japanese Kitsune.
What about Africa?
There's Redemption in Indigo which is partially inspired by a Senegalese folktale.
Or Zahrah the Windseeker? It's a fun, lighthearted read though really the only folktale/folklore aspect I spotted had to do with Dada hair (sort of supernatural but natural dreadlocks).
I also liked The Icarus Girl, which draws on Nigerian mythology/folklore.
The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa works too. I enjoyed it. I think many of the lower ratings come from fans of his mystery series (#1 Ladies' Detective Agency) who expected it to be in that same style.
Hm. Skin Folk is split fairly evenly between European and Caribbean folklore, but even the European tales have a Caribbean flavor to them.
Do you have any favorite collections or novels based on South American mythology that you'd like to share? For this sort of topic, I usually just wander through my library's card catalog until I find something interesting, but recommendations are always great!
Mod
In the Shadow of the Banyan combines Cambodian folk tales and mythology with the Cambodian Civil War (and genocide) of the 1970s. It's lovely and heart breaking.
Jenna wrote: "Melanti wrote: "Silently and Very Fast is a novella that's reprinted in The Bread We Eat in Dreams."
Oh, wonderful, thank you for telling me - I almost shelled out for the eBook!
Melanti also wro..."
I joined this group after I finished college too. I wanted to join partly because it's great to be reading contemporary fiction instead of all the classics (which I also enjoy, but I love a variety), but also because I missed the discussions in college classrooms over the books we read. I hate reading something and having no one to talk to about it!
Oh wow, lots of good suggestions! After I posted I did an amazon search for books about Estonian folklore (since that's the country that first popped into my head), and I found a really interesting one, which I went ahead and Interlibrary Loaned. I might also check out some of these other suggestions, though -- of course anything I can learn about another culture's folklore will be interesting to me!
Mod
When I first read the description I thought it would be good and it definitely did not disapoint! Here is my Spoiler free review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
Mod
http://www.theguardian.com/books/book... I realised I was not the only one. Still not sure if I'll finish. My library order of Deathless,The God Who Begat a Jackal: A Novel and The Count of Monte Cristo are all in transit!
Jalilah wrote: "I was planning on reading The Bone People for the Challenge, either as my Endicott Mythic Fiction or a book from a country I've never been to. I really struggled at first and consider..."Wow, I'm glad I read that article before I tried reading the book. I definitely would have struggled with it. I may try to read it at some point, but with the disclaimer in mind.
Mod
I hope I did not turn you off the book Kirsten! As I said it did get better as the story goes on. The article just made me feel I was not alone struggling through the first chapter. I am curious to see how it continues!
So many good recommendations here. I ended up reading The Stolen Child for my Adult Fairy Tale -- very good.
Mod
I really liked that one a lot Kathy!
Mod
I almost ditched The Bone People a few times but finally I am very glad that I read it! It's the kind of book that would have been better to read in a group read!
Mod
Okay so I've been on an Endicott kick past few months, and now I want to change it up a bit. Below are three books from my personal library I'm considering for "4. A book or collection, fiction or non-fiction, featuring legendary/mythological monsters or creatures". These are considered classics around the dark fiction/horror community. But I just want to make sure they fit for this group's challenge. Thoughts?The Golem
Wagner the Werewolf
The Vampyre, The Werewolf and Other Gothic Tales of Horror
Mod
Leah wrote: "#12 A book from the "villains' POV is the only one that I'm not even sure where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions off top of their head?"I'm going to read Rumpled, by Lacey Louwagie, which is told from Rumpelstiltskin's POV. (It carries a warning: not recommended for readers under 14. I have no idea what that means. By the time I was 14, I had long been reading everything.)
If you read YA, you might look at Tracey Barrett's The Stepsister's Tale. And of course Gregory Maguire has a couple of titles that would fit this category.
Mod
I'm going to read Rumpled, by Lacey Louw..."
I was planning on read it too for # a story told from the POV of the villan!
Susan wrote: "Leah wrote: "#12 A book from the "villains' POV is the only one that I'm not even sure where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions off top of their head?"I'm going to read Rumpled, by Lacey Louw..." Ooh, "Rumpled" sounds interesting! Going to check it out.
Susan wrote: "Leah wrote: "#12 A book from the "villains' POV is the only one that I'm not even sure where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions off top of their head?"I'm going to read Rumpled, by Lacey Louw..."
Rumpled has some non-explicit sex that is central to the story's plot, which is why it carries a warning. There's nothing there that couldn't be in a PG-13 movie, but I erred on the side of caution since some people automatically assume fairy tale retellings are safe for kids.
I was like you, Susan -- when I was 12 I read Deerskin, and Flowers in the Attic by age 14, so my innocence was pretty much lost. :p But having worked with 8 - 18 year olds (and their parents) for most of my career, I felt that if I included an age disclaimer I'd run the risk of offending fewer people. Of course, people who read the book hoping for explicit erotic content probably come away disappointed. :)
Lacey wrote: "Of course, people who read the book hoping for explicit erotic content probably come away disappointed. :) "I would hope that they would be looking in more obvious places for that sort of thing. ;)
Here is my place-holder for the 2015 Challenge:1.One Mythic Fiction novel from the Endicott list The Ice Queen or possibly The Satanic Verses. Now plan to read The Gospel of Loki.
2.One Adult Fairy Tale retelling from the Endicott list Briar Rose READ
3. One Young Adult Fairy Tale retelling from the Endicott list Bound READ
4. A book or collection,Fiction or non-fiction, featuring legendary/mythological monsters or creatures. Dark of the Moon READ
5. A novel or collection by one of your favorite authors that you have not read yet. The Game READ
6. A novel or collection based on a theme you aren't familiar with or haven't read in the last 5 years. (Themes could be anything;enchanted forests, snow maidens, the Evil Queen, coming of age, and so on.) June edit: took me a long time to think of a theme I haven't read recently--then while looking for BOUND I came upon Napoli's Song of the Magdalene. I haven't read any scriptural re-tellings in a long time, so Magdalen it shall be. READ
7.A poem, short story, novella or novel that inspired one of your favorite movies, TV shows, mini-series, or play. Metamorphoses--one story of which inspired the play-within-A Midsummer Night's Dream.
8. A retelling of one of your favourite originals. Peter: The Untold True Story READ
9. A collection of or novel based on or containing the legends and folklore of North America's native tribes. Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun: An Athabaskan Indian Legend from Alaska READ
10. A critical study or history of fairy tales The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales June edit: Turnip Princess turned out to be mostly the collection and very little history, so I'm going to use From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers READ
11. A novel or folk or fairy tale collection from a country you've never read a collection from before. The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa READ
12. A book from the "villains' POV Rumpled READ
Lacey wrote: "Susan wrote: "Leah wrote: "#12 A book from the "villains' POV is the only one that I'm not even sure where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions off top of their head?"I'm going to read Rumpled,..."
I think many people appreciate the word of warning, not only those supervising young readers, but also people looking for "gentler" fantasies.
Mod
I'm not sure PG-13 really requires (or even deserves) a warning most of the time, but I've lost count of the number of reviews of fairy tale inspired books that gets nasty reviews with low ratings because they weren't child-friendly, so I can see your caution!
I'm sure mom would have freaked out if she'd realized what I was reading by age 12!
Can anyone help me update my challenge report (the little box headed "You have read 0 books toward your goal of 12 books")? I've searched for likely topics and can't figure out why i can't save my updates. My challenge shelf is named into-the-forest-challenge, and I've entered 7 books and rated the 3 I've already read. Can anyone point me to a help or how-to link, please?
Hi Susan,Based on my experience:
From the Group's challenge screen, when you entered the # of books you planned to read for the challenge, did you also select the shelf "into-the-forest-challenge" as the shelf where you'd track this challenge's books? That's the first step required so the challenge knows which shelf to pull from for reporting stats back to you and the Group challenge.
Next, when you mark a book as read are you also:
1) adding it to your into-the-forest-challenge shelf
**and**
2) entering a date in the Date Read drop-down boxes?
You get to the dates by going to your "Review" for that book then clicking the Edit link. At the bottom of the "Review" box will be drop-down boxes where you select the dates for when you read the book.
Let me know if the above helps solve the problem.
Mod
Based on my experience:
From the Group's challenge screen, when you entered the # of books you planned to read for the challenge, did you also select the shelf "into-the-forest-challeng..."
Susan wrote: "Can anyone help me update my challenge report (the little box headed "You have read 0 books toward your goal of 12 books")? I've searched for likely topics and can't figure out why i can't save my ..."
Thanks for answering this already Leah!
Yes, Susan you have to create a shelf, then shelf the book. The date which you mark the book as read has to be after you have created the shelf.
Please let us know if this works for you!
For those who are considering Rumpled for your book from the villain's PoV, I'm offering it for free on Kindle through Saturday as part of the Fairy Tale Fortnight at the A Backwards Story and Bookrat Blogs: www.amazon.com/Rumpled-power-Rumpelst...There's also a drawing for the paperback version if you're not a Kindle user: http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/2....
Mod
Thanks for letting us know Lacey!
Leah wrote: "Hi Susan,Based on my experience:
From the Group's challenge screen, when you entered the # of books you planned to read for the challenge, did you also select the shelf "into-the-forest-challeng..."
Leah wrote: "Hi Susan,
Based on my experience:
From the Group's challenge screen, when you entered the # of books you planned to read for the challenge, did you also select the shelf "into-the-forest-challeng..."
Thanks! I didn't realize I had to enter the date read.
Jalilah wrote: "Leah wrote: "Hi Susan,Based on my experience:
From the Group's challenge screen, when you entered the # of books you planned to read for the challenge, did you also select the shelf "into-the-fo..."
Thanks! I had neglected to enter the date read--all fixed now.
Mod
Lacey wrote: "For those who are considering Rumpled for your book from the villain's PoV, I'm offering it for free on Kindle through Saturday as part of the Fairy Tale Fortnight at the A Backward..."Thanks, Lacey! I'm strictly a print reader so I really appreciate the chance to win a paperback copy :)
Mod
When I checked out Manitous: The Spiritual World Of The Ojibway I was not thinking about it for the challenge. I was only eager to read about the subject, but now that I think about it, it might fit for
#4. A book or collection,Fiction or non-fiction, featuring legendary/mythological monsters or creatures.
It's not only about monsters or legendary creatures. It's also a lot about the Ojebwe spirituality so I am not sure.
What do you all think?
Mod
Mod
It might also count for:
6. A novel or collection based on a theme you aren't familiar with or haven't read in the last 5 years.
Or
10. A critical study or history of fairy tales
So I just picked up Elijah's Violin and Other Jewish Fairy Tales, and I'm wondering whether I can get away with reading it for #11 (a collection from a country you haven't read before). It's not technically tied to a particular country, more a culture that is unfamiliar to me, but I've been stumped about this one. If not, I might use it for #6 (unfamiliar theme), but I have other ideas for that one, too. I'm trying to choose books from my own collection to fulfill the challenge to try to "read down" my piles a bit. :)
Lacey wrote: "So I just picked up Elijah's Violin and Other Jewish Fairy Tales, and I'm wondering whether I can get away with reading it for #11 (a collection from a country you haven't read before..."I don't know about the challenge, but I've added it to my TBR list just because it it sounds so different from anything I've read.
Mod
I think it counts. How I view the challenge is trying to pick books outside my normal choices and, since this is a culture you haven't read from, I would think it counts, even if it's not exact!
Here's what I've read thus far:
#1: Little, Big
#2: Haroun and the Sea of Stories
#4: A Cup of Salt Tears
#5: The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
#9: The Girl Who Married the Moon: Tales from Native North America
I'm almost done with Morphology of the Folktale, which will count as #10.
I've not been going by the list I generated earlier! I'm finding that whenever I make a list of things I need to read I never read anything from that list. I'm a better reader when I'm partially instinctual about what I read, even though I actually do want to read everything I put on the list!
Right now I'm lacking #3--YA Endicott; #6--unfamiliar theme; #7--fiction a favorite movie was based on; #8--retelling of one my favorite tales; #11--country I haven't read before; and #12--villain's pov.
I should keep this in mind when I'm voting for the next group read! Several of the nominations would count for some of mine.
Into the Forest
Books mentioned in this topic
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club (other topics)Bitter Greens (other topics)
The Hearing Trumpet (other topics)
Sacred Wilderness (other topics)
Bambi: A Life in the Woods (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jon Robin Baitz (other topics)Juliet Marillier (other topics)
Peg Kerr (other topics)
Susan Power (other topics)
Genevieve Valentine (other topics)
More...
