Into the Forest discussion

I should re-read both Beauty and Rose Daughter. I haven't read either one in far too long!

Melanti wrote: "I should re-read both Beauty and Rose Daughter. I haven't read either one in far too long!"

Me too.

I just finished Lois Lowry's Son. I remember The Giver vividly, but I need to go back and re-read Messenger and Gathering Blue so I can see how they all fit together. The Giver was very dystopian, but this one has a strong flavor of fairy tale. Anyone else read it?

I loved The Giver, which I read as a child and have revisited as an adult, and I agree that the other three have a really different feel. Definitely less dystopian and more magic. I hadn't thought of it but I can see what you mean about the fairy tale flavour. I have to admit I didn't like any of the rest of them nearly as much as The Giver.

Michele wrote: "I just finished Lois Lowry's Son. I remember The Giver vividly, but I need to go back and re-read Messenger and Gathering Blue so I can see how..."

I'd totally forgotten about The Giver! I read it with my son when he was in elementary school and really liked it! I wanted to read the rest of the books in the series but never got around to it.
Thanks for reminding me.

I am currently reading The King of Elfland's Daughter but it's not the type of book I feel like reading cover to cover straight through.
I followed fellow member Margaret's advice and just started reading a chapter or so at a time.
In the meantime I have started Son of the Shadows.
Set in Ireland it seems somehow more Irish than the books that are for our Group read, ( with the exception of The Priest's Soul).
I think this series, along with the Wildwood Dancing series are my favourites from Juliet Marillier

Jalilah wrote: "Set in Ireland it seems some how more Irish than the books that are for our Group read"

Over the weekend I read a great book by an Irish author and set in Ireland: In the Woods by Tana French. Really wonderful.

One of my favorite lines: A character is discussing the very small rural town in which he grew up, and he refers to it as "Ballygobackwards." :)

Haha, that's great :) Here in Australia we refer to towns like that as Dingo Woop Woop (or just Woop Woop)

Jalilah wrote: "Set in Ireland it seems some how more Irish than the books that are for our Group read"

Yes, our groups reads aren't particularly Irish, except for the fairy tale (and I voted for all of them except the fairy tale!).

Melanie wrote: "Haha, that's great :) Here in Australia we refer to towns like that as Dingo Woop Woop (or just Woop Woop)"

In the U.S., the equivalent would be "East Podunk" or "Hicksville". Although a friend of mine from the South used to refer to "Toadsuck, Arkansas" :)

Katie wrote: "Ballygobackwards - I've never heard such an expression, which is shocking, considering I'm Irish myself :)

Not reading anything fairy tale-related at the moment. On my bedside table are [book:Dani..."

I wish you'd been around when we nominated books for our Irish theme this month!

Agreeing with Michelle, in the Southern U.S. we call those places Podunk, and I've heard Hicksville before. Also, Land of the Rednecks, Haven't heard Toadsuck, but it's a good one!

I love Dingo Woop Woop!

Katie wrote: "I'll probably still be reading the Eliot a month from now! ."

Finished Middlemarch by Eliot in January, and it took me a good month to read it!

Michele wrote: "Michelle, in the Southern U.S. we call those places Podunk, and I've heard Hicksville before. Also, Land of the Rednecks, Haven't heard Toadsuck, but it's a good one!..."

Growing up in the US Midwest, we always called them "the boonies", short for "the boondocks." Podunk and Hicksville is a lot more common down here in TX. I haven't heard "the boonies" in years - unless it's referring to the cartoon or comic strip.



I've started The King of Elfland's Daughter, but as everyone else has mentioned, it's slow going, so I can't power through it in one sitting like I did for Impossible, and I haven't had a huge amount of time to read to begin with. I need to go on another camping/reading trip so I can get it finished!

I also read several of the religious tales from the Yeats collection, but I'll hold off on the rest of the anthology until I know whether or not I'll be able to finish the Dunsany book in time.

I've had a lot more time to listen to audiobooks than read lately, so I've been working on my Audible backlog. I finished The Heart of the Matter and Mansfield Park both of which I enjoyed, and am about half done with The Killing Moon which has an interesting magic system - narcomancy (sleep magic).

(Unfortunately, there's no audio for The King of Elfland's Daughter...)

Melanti wrote: "Growing up in the US Midwest, we always called them "the boonies", short for "the boondocks." Podunk and Hicksville is a lot more common down here in TX. I haven't heard "the boonies" in years - unless it's referring to the cartoon or comic strip.."

Actually, I hear the boonies too! That's what my sister says whenever she's referring to our hometown, haha.

I finished The King of Elfland's Daughter this morning, thanks to a snowy day and me canceling classes. I'll also finish Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies today or tomorrow. It's an interesting read, particularly the intro. The chapters take 5 common tales and unpack them, but those aren't as interesting to me, mainly because I'm so familiar with those tales already. She leans heavily on Carter's retellings of them in The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, and how she redefines gender, but I've read a lot about Carter already so it would've been nice to include some authors and tales that are used less often in fairy tale criticism.

I've recently started Ancillary Mercy, the 3rd in a space opera trilogy that I enjoy, and I'll begin Speak Easy by Catherynne M. Valente tomorrow. It's a retelling of the twelve dancing sisters with Zelda Fitzgerald in it. Should be interesting!!

I love those expressions! Even though it's a pity they seem to have replaced "one horse town", Or does anyone still use it? I've always liked that, too.

I've actually come to enjoy the "Victorian doorstoppers" (another great expression, btw!). But I can't read anything on the side or I'll always pick up the other book. I'm in the middle of Castle Richmond and I'm pleasantly surprised, having studied English lit for several years and never come across Trollope somehow. Daniel Deronda is planned for the near future, maybe we can help each other read it?

At the supermarket, of all places, I couldn't resist buying Red 1-2-3 today, even though it's a German translation. Well, maybe even a little because of that, because the title of the German edition is "Wolf"... Has anyone read it?

Margaret wrote"Yes, our groups reads aren't particularly Irish, except for the fairy tale (and I voted for ..."

Who could have known? Lord Dunsany is Irish so we all assumed. Anyway I've wanted to read The King of Elfland's Daughter for sometime now.
I nominated and voted for Dreamer's Pool, but am glad it did not win because I was disappointed with it. It not IMO Juliet Marillier at her best.
And YA novels.......I think they can always be risky, but it's always worth the try because there are a few good ones out there.

Wolf wrote: "I love those expressions! Even though it's a pity they seem to have replaced "one horse town", Or does anyone still use it? I've always liked that, too. ..."

I've heard "One Stoplight Town" used before which is more modern but doesn't flow as well. I've only heard/seen "One Horse Town" in books and film. Though it does remind me of another one - a "Blink and You'll Miss It" town for an tiny town on a highway/freeway. But I think the longer idioms are a bit more cumbersome, and probably don't get used quite as often.

I keep meaning to try Trollope - I just somehow never get the time. Same with George Elliot!

Jalilah wrote: "Margaret wrote"Yes, our groups reads aren't particularly Irish, except for the fairy tale (and I voted for ..."

Who could have known? Lord Dunsany is Irish so we all assumed. ..."

Yep! If anything, it's my fault, but I've forgotten so much about it all I remembered was that it had to do with fairy land. It's often hard to figure out if a book contains enough folklore/fairy tales without reading it first.

Jalilah wrote: "And YA novels.......I think they can always be risky, but it's always worth the try because there are a few good ones out there. ..."

We've gotten some good ones for group reads. Or, at least, we've gotten a few that most people who spoke up in the group read threads seemed to enjoy.

And we have discovered likes & dislikes & found new favorites. All in all we generally end up with fairly good choices. Just sometimes not, I guess.

Over the weekend, I finished In the Woods and read The Returned. Thought-provoking.

Note that The Returned is not the basis for the American tv series of the same name; that was based on a French film. The American tv series that was based on this book was called Resurrection.

Michele wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "Set in Ireland it seems some how more Irish than the books that are for our Group read"

Over the weekend I read a great book by an Irish author and set in Ireland: [book:In the Woo..."

I've added this to my To Read list!
Thanks for letting me know about it!

So far I haven't read anything by Eliot or Dickens yet. I did pretty well with some Jane Austen (having discovered her humour in Northanger Abbey and spotting it in the others, too, after that) and I liked Jane Eyre and North and South. And now I'm completely immersed in the Trollope and can't put it aside. I still think I'll take a break after that and read something completely different. Lots of due dates at the library coming up, Daniel Deronda will have to wait.

Small break today: I finally got Red Thorn #2 and what do I see a few pages in? "One-Haggis town". I don't know if that IS a Scottish expression or an invention of the writer, but I think we should add it to the list!

Wolf wrote: "Small break today: I finally got Red Thorn #2 and what do I see a few pages in? "One-Haggis town". I "

Ha!

Melanti wrote: "Growing up in the US Midwest, we always called them "the boonies", short for "the boondocks." Podunk and Hicksville is a lot more common down here in TX. I haven't heard "the boonies" in years - unless it's referring to the cartoon or comic strip."

I'm in Ohio and we use "the boonies" and "the sticks" regularly for little rural towns around here. Podunk is usually reserved for the villages and rundown towns really way far out in BFE.

Melanti wrote: "I've heard "One Stoplight Town" used before which is more modern but doesn't flow as well. I've only heard/seen "One Horse Town" in books and film. Though it does remind me of another one - a "Blink and You'll Miss It" town..."

I just moved out of a "Blink and You'll Miss It" town; technically, it is a village (1,500 - 2,000 people I think). That was how most everyone referred to that village; although, it did get its 15 minutes of fame when Nigel Lithgoe (So You Think You Can Dance) drove through it a few years back on his way to a contestant's hometown of Wapakoneta, which was slightly bigger but still out in the boonies. (Fun fact: Wapak was Neil Armstrong's hometown.) They filmed him driving through the one stoplight lol in our village.

After finishing up Jemisin's The Killing Moon, which has a magic system influenced by the religion and magic in ancient Egypt, I moved on to Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides.

It's pulpy and wildly implausible, in a retro, Men's Adventure sort of way. It has pirates, Blackbeard (though they don't call him Blackbeard most of the time), voodoo and zombies. Sigh.

It's just good enough for me to not quit listening but not good enough for me to really enjoy the book.

I really liked Powers' Last Call, so I've been buying up his books as I see them come on sale, but this one is really, really annoying me.

I am still pecking away at The King of Elfland's Daughter, but I also picked up Rushdie's new book Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - which I do like, but not quite as much as some of his other books. But I'm only a couple of chapters in, so there's plenty of time for it to improve!

I'm also reading (well, listening) to A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. It's about a girl who collects words - sees them in the air, actually, in a synesthesia-like fashion. It's striking me like a Sarah Addison Allen that's been watered down and sweetened up to appeal to ten year old girls. And if you've ever read Allen, you know she doesn't NEED any extra sugar! And there's certain words that are getting repeated over and over and over again - and it's driving me nuts. It probably wouldn't bug a 10 year old nearly as much but for a story about how awesome words are, you'd think they wouldn't over-use them to the point of abuse like they are.

Last night I finished Engraved on the Eye. Very interesting FSF, steeped in Middle Eastern culture, folklore, ambience. Quite good.

Michele wrote: "Last night I finished Engraved on the Eye. Very interesting FSF, steeped in Middle Eastern culture, folklore, ambience. Quite good."

I enjoyed that one. He also wrote Throne of the Crescent Moon, a middle eastern fantasy novel. I'd like to read it this year; I believe I have it on my 2016 challenge list (along with a bunch of other books, haha).

Right now I'm reading The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, a post-apocalypse thriller. I didn't realize how much of a thriller it was, and that's not usually my cup of tea. It's well-written, just very action packed, and there's so much torture! I was thinking when I finished I might read The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan, which looks more my taste.

I'm also reading Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2015: A Tor.Com Original on my kindle. It's a collection of some of the short stories, novelettes, and novellas Tor.com published last year.

I'm listening to the audio version of Argo: How the CIA & Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History on Overdrive, and it does help me meet my walking goals--it keeps moving and the narrator keeps up a good pace. I generally find non-fiction best for walking.

In my car, though, I'm playing Bertie Plays the Blues. There are authors I prefer to listen to rather than read in print, and McCall Smith is one of them. Not that I don't enjoy reading him, but his narrators tend to be so distinctive and wonderful that most of them give added value.

Just finished the seductive but perhaps too lush Poison. Goodreads ate my review, but I will try to post another soon.

Finally, I'm halfway through The Hired Girl, a new YA historical by Laura Amy Schlitz. It's nicely done, apart from being a bit episodic; it's diary form, and the entries seem to alternate between extremes of joy and discouragement--which is true to the adolescent experience, I think, but which makes the arc a bit bouncy for my taste--my favorite of Schlitz will always be A Drowned Maiden's Hair, which sounds like it might be fairy-tale related, but is not (it's about gilded age spiritualists).

I really need to start The King of Elfland's Daughter, but must read it on Kindle, and have had bad sinuses, so screen-reading tires me out.

(Wolf, take note) Also, the Schlitz book character keeps referring to Daniel Deronda, and I have no frame of reference for it, so that "doorstopper" is calling to me to be read. Perhaps Wolf and I can encourage one another as we tackle it.

Susan wrote: "Wolf, take note) Also, the Schlitz book character keeps referring to Daniel Deronda, and I have no frame of reference for it, so that "doorstopper" is calling to me to be read. Perhaps Wolf and I can encourage one another as we tackle it. "

There's a fantastic Masterpiece Theater adaptation of the book available via Netflix and (I think) Amazon Prime. Really interesting story.

Thanks, Michele. I'm tempted. . . .but it is after all Eliot, and I would feel it disrespectful not to read the book first.

Susan wrote: "Thanks, Michele. I'm tempted. . . .but it is after all Eliot, and I would feel it disrespectful not to read the book first."

Yes, I know the feeling :)

What fascinated me was the big part played in the novel by Zionism. That isn't something you run into a lot in novels of this era, and I didn't realize it had emerged so early. Great book.

Michele wrote: "There's a fantastic Masterpiece Theater adaptation of the book available via Netflix and (I think) Amazon Prime. Really interesting story. ."

I love that one. It might be the only Eliot masterpiece theater I've liked. I think her novels are difficult to adapt, unlike, say, Dickens, who wrote episodically anyway.

Books I recently read are :
The King of Elfland's Daughter
As much as I wanted to like because of its place in the history of fantasy writing, I just did not enjoy reading it that much.

Son of the Shadows was fantastic! If you've already read the first book in the series Daughter of the Forest and are in the mood for more Irish Fairy and Folk tales, I would highly recommend it.

Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival This one was just as good but different from Bird Girl & the Man Who Followed the Sun: An Athabaskan Indian Legend from Alaska

I've also read a few more stories in Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. Outstanding were "Soul Cages"
( thanks Monica for the suggestion!) and a particularly delightful very short little story called "The Story of The Little Birds.
Like the Priests Soul, both of these stories blend Christianity with Irish Folk traditions.

Katie wrote: "I'm still reading The Elegance o the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. The language in this is absolutely exquisite. I almost hate for it to end. I think it will definitely be a keeper. "

My mom sent me a link yesterday to a review of Barbery's new book. Looks good.

Yes! Let's do it. Let me know when you're ready, I'm game any time. But I'll probably not start it on my own as I keep getting dragged in other directions. I'm reading All the Light We Cannot See (and liking it) and it made me want to finally read some Darwin and Jules Verne. And whatever made me pull my Douglas Adams tome from the shelf, I started rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I'm enjoying it immensely, I really don't know why I never got beyong vol 3. And yesterday I decided I should really at least be ready to read some Dickens when the mood should strike me and David Copperfield might be a good place to start and when I downloaded the free Kindle-ebook, amazon threw the audiobook at me which I had already ogled, because it is read by Richard Armitage.... So I started another audiobook last night, which makes three of those (at different times, in different rooms, on different devices, but still...) So much for my only reading related New Year's resolution: Not to read so many books at once...

Oh, and I love The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Katie! I even bought it in French as a some motivation to read in French (which I can, but it's excruciatingly slow and laborious and I'd really need some practise).

Wolf wrote: "Yes! Let's do it. Let me know when you're ready, I'm game any time."

I would do a buddy read of Daniel Deronda! Let me know if you guys decide to do it.

Michele wrote: "Wolf wrote: "Yes! Let's do it. Let me know when you're ready, I'm game any time."

I would do a buddy read of Daniel Deronda! Let me know if you guys decide to do it."

Me three, me three! Shall we try to catch up with Katie?

Susan wrote: "Finally, I'm halfway through The Hired Girl, a new YA historical by Laura Amy Schlitz. It's nicely done, apart from being a bit episodic; it's diary form, and the entries seem to alternate between extremes of joy and discouragement--which is true to the adolescent experience, I think, but which makes the arc a bit bouncy for my taste--my favorite of Schlitz will always be A Drowned Maiden's Hair, which sounds like it might be fairy-tale related, but is not (it's about gilded age spiritualists). "

I loved "A Drowned Maiden's Hair" -- and I think I picked it up because the title made it sound fairy-tale-esque! I am not as interested in "The Hired Girl," but the fact that it is written in a diary format makes it more appealing to me -- that is one of my favorite storytelling styles. I also love to read actual published diaries.

Susan wrote: "Me three, me three! Shall we try to catch up with Katie?"

Who is Katie and how far ahead is she lol?!

How would we go about this? Can we have an off-topic thread here? Or is it enough about Zionism to count as "based on the world's major religions" to not be that much off topic?

Richard Armitage reads beautifully btw. Not as great as Robert Carlyle, of course, but still. He did a Scottish accent for the aunt. ♡

Michele,

What fascinated me was the big part played in the novel by Zionism. That isn't something you run into a lot in novels of this era, and I didn't realize it had emerged so early. Great book.

This is about The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz?

Julia wrote: "This is about The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz?"

No, it's about Daniel Deronda.

Wolf wrote: "How would we go about this? Can we have an off-topic thread here? Or is it enough about Zionism to count as "based on the world's major religions" to not be that much off topic?

Richard Armitage r..."

Hi Wolf!
Because I am unfamiliar with the book you are referring to I can't really say. The books we read and discuss in this group have some kind of mythology,fairy tale, folk tale or legend in them. We read the originals as well as retellings and books that have somehow been inspired or influenced by these things. We also read "realistic", meaning no magic or paranormal events, that somehow work fairy tales or myths into them, like for instance The Robber Bride and The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

Katie wrote: "Next up for me will be Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch. "

Ah, that one is SO good!!! Have you tried Tanith Lee's Red as Blood? Also excellent.

Well, I just thought if a book could count for the challenge of a group, that group might be able to provide a little corner to read it. Mostly because I have no idea at all how a buddy read works, since I'm still pretty new here and have never done one. So it would be a good thing if someone organized it who's more knowledgeable? Just let me know how and where to join in.

Wolf wrote: "Well, I just thought if a book could count for the challenge of a group, that group might be able to provide a little corner to read it. Mostly because I have no idea at all how a buddy read works,..."

If you go to the group home page, scroll down until you can click 'more discussions,' then find Buddy Reads. You can click on 'Buddy Reads,' and then 'new topic,' and start a buddy read that way. Here's the buddy read link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Margaret wrote: "Wolf wrote: "Well, I just thought if a book could count for the challenge of a group, that group might be able to provide a little corner to read it. Mostly because I have no idea at all how a budd..."

Thanks for explaining that Margaret!

Jalilah wrote: "Thanks for explaining that Margaret! "

No problem!

I just finished a dystopian, allegorical novel by a Syrian writer, the The Silence and the Roar by Nihad Sirees. It's very good. Then I read a few more tales from Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry; King O'Toole and his Goose and The Priest's Supper definitely mix Irish Christian and Pre-Christian Myths. I had never The Stolen Child by Yeats until today, although so much literature has been inspired by it!
I am going to start The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran tonight.

Yes, Margaret, thank you very much! Even though there's the side effect that I hadn't realized yet just how many older discussions there were that I now have to browse through. I really didn't know there was so much more than they show you on the group's "homepage". I've created a thread and I'm looking forward to this new experience.

I've been hunting today and read the first of my "prey" right away (rhimes not intended but to lazy to wheed them out): Red Thorn #3. I'm still so thrilled there is a comic series based on Scottish legends! And the artwork is amazing, too. Only downside is getting only 24 pages at a time which is just too little, always. But as I have skipped this phase in my teens, collecting comics as they are published, pining for the next volume, it is also quite exciting to make good on it so much later.

I'm also rereading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, which I had read in German translation the first time around. I really like it, and the Ukrainian-coloured English, which of course can't really be translated, makes it worth rereading.

Oh, and I stumbled upon a retelling of The Snow Queen where I really hadn't expected it, in a Turkish mystery novel... Apparently there's no English translation yet, but it was really funny and interesting. Not for the fairy tale, which was just a little sideline, but all in all. Söhne und siechende Seelen