30.3. Donna Jo's Task: Yours, Mine, and Ours

[kiki]

would you accept Bastard Out of Carolina? bone is abused by her step-father throughout. haven't read it in about 15 years, so i can't remember too many details. thanks for your help! :)

[Donna Jo]

kiki wrote: "would you accept Bastard Out of Carolina? bone is abused by her step-father throughout. haven't read it in about 15 years, so i can't remember too many details. thanks for your help! :)"

Okay, I'll accept it.

[kiki]

great, thank you! :)

[Melanie]

Would A Kiss at Midnight work?

I'm hoping any Cinderella type book (with stepmother &stepsisters) will work:-D

[Donna Jo]

Melanie wrote: "Would A Kiss at Midnight work?

I'm hoping any Cinderella type book (with stepmother &stepsisters) will work:-D"

Melanie, that will work and you are right, any Cinderella themed book will work as long as the steps are there too.

[MsOPP]

I'm planning to read Charming the Prince for B. The hero marries the heroine because he needs help with his many motherless children.

[Melanie]

Donna Jo wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Would A Kiss at Midnight work?

I'm hoping any Cinderella type book (with stepmother &stepsisters) will work:-D"

Melanie, that will work and you are right, any C..."

Brilliant! One of my favorite themes, lol!! Thanks!:-)

[Terri FL]

Would The Other Boleyn Girl work? Technically, it's a blended family as she was married before having the king's child, etc., etc.

[Aleksandra]

Sandy wrote: "I started a Listopia list for books involving blended families, including some that I've read that involve stepparents, step-siblings, etc.

Thanks Sandy is a big help.

For A Im going read
How to Kill Your Husband by Kathy Lette. Always good to know;)

[Donna Jo]

MsOPP (Julie) wrote: "I'm planning to read Charming the Prince for B. The hero marries the heroine because he needs help with his many motherless children."

That's a fun one. Enjoy.

[Donna Jo]

Terri Fl wrote: "Would The Other Boleyn Girl work? Technically, it's a blended family as she was married before having the king's child, etc., etc."

Terry, I am waffling about this one. I don't remember the blended family as being all that much part of the story, except as "wallpaper". If they have more to do with the story than I remember, it would be okay. If anyone else has read the story more recently than I, could you please comment?

[Donna Jo]

Aleksandra wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I started a Listopia list for books involving blended families, including some that I've read that involve stepparents, step-siblings, etc.

Thanks Sandy is a big help.

For A Im ..."

Isn't it great to gain knowledge while reading? LOL

[Melissa Wiebe]

Would The Mineral Palace work for Part A?

[Riona]

Melissa W wrote: "Having a hard time trying to find a book for Part A. Can somebody give me a list of several books? Thank you"

i used goodreads search to search for "your", "our", "mine" to give me some ideas. I'm using
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

Here are a few other ideas I just pulled up (just ones I found, I haven't read any of these):

Fall on Your Knees
Tell Me Your Dreams
Lover Mine
Mine
My Sister's Keeper
My Antonia
Who Moved My Cheese?
These Is My Words
You Shall Know Our Velocity!
Our Town
The Winter of Our Discontent
Flags of Our Fathers

I'm sure there are TONS more, i just found these in about 5 minutes. Just do a search and see what the keywords drag up, red the summaries and see if any pique your interest!

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Riona wrote: "Melissa W wrote: "Having a hard time trying to find a book for Part A. Can somebody give me a list of several books? Thank you"

i used goodreads search to search for "your", "our", "mine" to giv..."

I usually do my searches on my library website (to make sure that any books that I find interesting will be available to me!)

One that I found that sounded interesting was
The Winter of Our Disconnect (note: this is NOT the Steinbeck "winter of our discontent"!)

[Donna Jo]

Melissa W wrote: "Would The Mineral Palace work for Part A?"

Melissa, this won't work--the title needs to have the words Your(s), My or Mine, Or Our(s) in it. Can you use it for another task?

[Gayla]

Subtitles okay? I'm thinking of The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie.

[Donna Jo]

Gayla wrote: "Subtitles okay? I'm thinking of The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie."

Subtitles work just fine. Looks like you've chosen well.

[Coralie]

I am trying to read as many Australian books as possible this challenge, so I plan on reading either My Brilliant Career or My Brother Jack for A, and Seven Little Australians (or one of the sequels) for B.

[Donna Jo]

Coralie wrote: "I am trying to read as many Australian books as possible this challenge, so I plan on reading either My Brilliant Career or My Brother Jack for A, and [book:Seven Little..."

All of these look good.

[Jules]

I'm guessing The Secret Garden probably won't work, but as I haven't read it yet I thought I'd check. What do you think? Too extended instead of blended? What about Wuthering Heights as an alternative?

[Donna Jo]

Jules wrote: "I'm guessing The Secret Garden probably won't work, but as I haven't read it yet I thought I'd check. What do you think? Too extended instead of blended? What about [book:Wuthering Heig..."

I don't think either one of these books work.
The Secret Garden is more extended family (uncle raising her). Wuthering Heights is (I think, and I could be wrong, because I really hated that book and have blocked it from my mind) more about the adoption, but if there is a step relationship in it just tell me what it is and I'll allow it.

[Jules]

Donna Jo wrote: "Jules wrote: "I'm guessing The Secret Garden probably won't work, but as I haven't read it yet I thought I'd check. What do you think? Too extended instead of blended? What about [book:..."

Thanks! I'll try to fit both of them in for other tasks and see if I can come up with something else from my pile of books. :)

[KSMary]

Would this one work- The Fairy Godmother

[Donna Jo]

KSMary wrote: "Would this one work- The Fairy Godmother"

Yes

[Alice]

Someone had put the colour purple on the gr list. does that work?

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Alice wrote: "Someone had put the colour purple on the gr list. does that work?"

I added it to the list, because, when Celie is married off, it's because the husband wants someone to raise his children. You don't see too much of the other step-kids, but she has a long relationship with the oldest boy and his family. There's another relationship that fits, but mentioning it might be a spoiler.

[Donna Jo]

I read The Color Purple just last year, and Sandy is right, it does fit the task.

[Alice]

Thanks Sandy and Donna.

[Rachel]

I found this list that may help for part B: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/36... I'll probably choose one of the mysteries. I'd recommend Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie for someone with similar tastes. It involves a stepmother and a stepdaughter, and is very good.

[Donna Jo]

What a great list, RAchel. It looks good, but as always you'll want to double check that the book you choose from it meets the task criteria.

[Amanda]

Is there a verdict on The Other Boleyn Girl? I'd liek to read it too.

[Donna Jo]

Amanda Pearl wrote: "Is there a verdict on The Other Boleyn Girl? I'd liek to read it too."

Amanda Pearl, I am not going to allow this book, unless someone can convince me that the relationship with the child was more than just a statement of fact.

[Amanda]

Donna Jo wrote: "Amanda Pearl wrote: "Is there a verdict on The Other Boleyn Girl? I'd liek to read it too."

Amanda Pearl, I am not going to allow this book, unless someone can convince me that the..."


oh poo, oh well that's ok. I wanted to use it because I already own it and I'm trying to read all of the books that I own, but I've gotten Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister from the library and I actually like it (to my suprise) so I'll just use that.

[Kelly]

I'm going to use The Hand That First Held Mine (got it as one of my first e-books from the library!), and probably a Cinderella re-telling for part B. Anyone have recommendations? I haven't really done fairy tale retellings before (except Wicked which I really did not like), so I don't know which ones are good.

[KSMary]

I just read The Fairy Godmother which is a retelling of Cinderella which I enjoyed.

[Donna Jo]

Cinderella Lopez by Berta Platas
The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines( I thought this one pretty funny in spots)Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire (I found this one a little better than Wicked)
Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey (Probably my favorite of these)

Couple YA that I haven't read:
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
Ash by Malinda Lo
Before Midnight: A Retelling of "Cinderella" by Cameron Dokey

[Lahni]

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly involves a step mother and half brother.

[Leslie]

Would Sing You Home work for the blended family? I believe that there are a number of ways that you could look at the main characters as forming blended families, unconventional as they may be.

Thanks!!

[Donna Jo]

Leslie, is there an actual stepchild involved here or only a potential child? I haven't read the book yet. I'm going to say no based on the reviews I've read but if I'm missing some aspect of the plot, let me know and I'll rethink. I'll see if I can get a copy to read.