Into the Forest discussion

I've not read nearly as much Zipes as I've meant to. So many books, so little time!


I really liked Bridge of Birds when I read it a couple of year ago. But tastes and moods definitely vary.

I've finally gotten to Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography by Stephen Knight. I'm also reading it for Read By Theme. The theme for October is myth and folklore.

Knight deals with the reasons why the Robin Hood myth evolved which is what interests me most about this book.

Add me to the list of wants to read more Zipes...

Started these two today:

Bluebeard Tales from Around the World

The Robber Bride

Also plan to read this week:

How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare

How to teach them Shakespeare? It should be simple..

Step 1: Get them addicted to the original Star Wars trilogy.
Step 2: Give them this book -- William Shakespeare's Star Wars

(view spoiler)[
SCENE 1.

C-3PO: Now is the summer of our happiness
Made winter by this sudden, fierce attack!
Our ship is under siege, I know not how.
O hast thou heard? The main reactor fails!
We shall most surely be destroy'd by this.
I'll warrant madness lies herein!


R2-D2: Beep beep,
Beep, beep, meep, squeak, beep, beep, beep, whee!

C-3PO: We're doomed.
The princess shall have no escape this time!
I fear this battle doth portend the end
Of the Rebellion. O! What Misery!
(hide spoiler)]

Finished Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier. It is very good, except for one thing that bothered me, I would say it is the best Beauty and The Beast re-telling I have read up to now. I am just starting Spirits of the Ordinary: A Tale of Casas Grandes by Kathleen Alcala

Oh Jalilah, not only is Heart's Blood a Juliet Marillier novel, but it's a Beauty & the Beast retelling, that sounds like something I'm going to have to read!

I finished Omens and have just started Smoke, which isn't fairy tale- related, so far as I know.

I'm still reading Robin Hood: A Mythic Biographyand I find that it's inspiring me to write Robin Hood books. Unfortunately, I have no time to write. I have two assignments for library school due on Sunday.

I've really gotten hooked on Jack Zipes' analysis of fairy tales. I'm just finishing up Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion, and just downloaded Why Fairy Tales Stick.

I'm so tempted to send him a copy of my little book of fairy tales - not expecting him to comment or review or anything, just as a thank you because I'm enjoying his books so much.

I just reread Campbell's MYTHS TO LIVE BY, a collection of lectures that I find to be his most accessible work.

What's the opinion of Campbell hereabouts?

I have several of Joseph Campbell's books on Mt. TBR. Unfortunately, all I've read of them so far is a copy of some of his lecture notes, and those aren't the best things to judge an author by.

I've read The Hero With a Thousand Faces and loved it. I haven't read anything else by Joseph Campbell though.

I just finished Spirits of the Ordinary: A Tale of Casas Grandes by Kathleen Alcala. I was somewhat disappointed by it considering that many of the other books by Latin American authors on the Endicott list like The House of the Spirits and Like Water for Chocolate and The Hummingbird's Daughter are some of my all time favourites.
I started The Robber Bride last night and if I had the time, I would just stay home and read it all day!

That was my exact reaction to Spirits of the Ordinary as well, Jalilah. Especially in comparison to the other Latin American magical realism books, it just doesn't have enough depth to it to measure up.

And since it doesn't have a lot of depth to it, it ends up seeming too derivative.

I just finished Robin Hood: A Mythic Biographyand consider it one of the most awesome books I've ever read. I have many notes toward Robin Hood novels that are different versions of Robin Hood from different approaches. I also have notes toward an Alan A Dale novel which would be related. Then there's the notes about RH novels and essay collections that I seriously need to read.

What I liked most about the book is that he understood it as a myth in constant evolution rather than a search for the single historical RH who may never have existed, or there may have been a number of real outlaws in different time periods calling themselves Robin Hood. Does it really matter? I think the legend, which is immortal, matters far more than any one version of it.

Now I'm not so excited about Spirits of the Ordinary: A Tale of Casas Grandes, which I was going to start today.

Last night I finished Horse, Flower, Bird and thought it was wonderful. The short stories in this collection are sparse and lovely, but very much written like fairy tales, so if you read it don't expect the normal character and plot development you would get in a short story. I hope Kate Bernheimer writes more fairy tales like this; her novels were harder for me to get into.

Melanti wrote: "How to teach them Shakespeare? It should be simple..

Step 1: Get them addicted to the original Star Wars trilogy.
Step 2: Give them this book -- William Shakespeare's Star Wars..."

Step 1: Check!

Step 2: Sounds hilarious. My daughter read blurb/excerpt and agrees we'll have to read it.

Have you read Darth Vader and Son or Vader's Little Princess? She's read them and shared excerpts with me - pretty funny.

Just finished re- reading The Robber Bride. The first time was over 15 years ago. It remains a solid 4 star book for me. Am now starting A Curse Dark as Gold...reluctantly. I am not in the mood. Please convince me someone that it is going to be good!

Leah wrote: "Have you read Darth Vader and Son or Vader's Little Princess? She's read them and shared excerpts with me - pretty funny. ..."

I've read Darth Vader and Son but not the second. It was cute. I'm hoping the Shakespeare book is as good as the first few pages promise. I've still got a couple of people in front of me in the library hold list.

Jalilah wrote: "Please convince me someone that it is going to be good! ..."
Uh, the beginning and end are good, if you can get past the middle?

I've been out of town on buisness for the last week or so and really haven't had much time to read. I'm about half done with Catherynne Valente's latest (The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two) and it's just as good as usual.

I did read Philip Pullman's I Was a Rat! yesterday, and it's like a watered down version of The Coachman Rat. Both are about one of the rats turned into coachman in Cinderella and use that to talk about what it means to be human. The childishness of Pullman's writing always bugs me. Not sure what it is about it... It sort of seems like he writes down to his target audience? Though that doesn't make much sense considering he always has rather advanced topics.

Jalilah said "I am not in the mood."

Then I suggest you not read it now. Really. I loved A Curse Dark As Gold, but if you feel forced to read a book, you may end up disliking a book you wouldn't normally and that's really good.


I just put aside a book that was well- written, but just too bleak, relative to what I've been reading. It was one sad, depressing book too many. It's A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story. It's a memoir about the author's childhood in Afghanistan.

Next up: The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

I just got a subscription to Marvels & Tales: the journal of fairy tale studies. It's very scholarly, but fascinating reading!

Julia wrote: "Jalilah said "I am not in the mood."

Then I suggest you not read it now. Really. I loved A Curse Dark As Gold, but if you feel forced to read a book, you may end up disliking a book you wouldn't n..."

I think like Melanti, there is something about the cover of A Curse Dark as Gold that puts me off. Also, Robber Bride was so intense. However I am about half way through and enjoying it.

A Curse Dark As Gold ended up being a 3 star book for me because of the long middle section, but the ending was very good!
I went on to read all the The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights stories for the group read. I find the stories truly enchanting! Afterwards I was in the mood to read more about Jinn, so I went on to a very interesting novel that is part detective-mystery, part supernatural- magical realism taking place in Yemen A Land Without Jasmine by Wajdi Al-Ahdal. It was very good, 4 stars. I just started The Secret History of Moscow and am really liking it up to now.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars turned out to be really funny. Sort of like a novelty item though, and not in any ways meant to be taken seriously. It's not really friendly to the Shakespeare neophyte, though. I think you have to be familiar at least with the most popular plays to pick up the humor and references.

Jalilah wrote: "A Curse Dark As Gold ended up being a 3 star book for me because of the long middle section, but t the ending was very good!..."

I'm glad you liked the ending at least!

I just finished Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen and was a bit disappointed. It's a retelling of Snow White set in West Virginia in the 1940's. I think it needed either more magic or less magic. Most of the magic is potions, herbs, and folkloric remedies, but every now and again it throws in something straight out of the fairy tale - like a talking mirror - and those elements don't fit in with the rest of the book at all!

Melanti wrote: "William Shakespeare's Star Wars turned out to be really funny. Sort of like a novelty item though, and not in any ways meant to be taken seriously. It's not really friendly to the Shakespeare neo..."

When you nominated Snow in Summer for the last group read Melanti, I was immediately intrigued and ordered it. I absolutely loved the setting in the Appalachian mountains during WW2 ( or was it the depression?) I found the idea to have the Stepmother involved with a snake handling church brilliant. I think the reason why I ended up giving it 3 stars, which for me means I liked it but did not love it and probably would never re-read it, was because of the pacing. The middle part kind of dragged on and the later part where Snow finds the cabin with the little men then fast-forwards to her marrying the only brother who is not "little" did not work for me.
The Secret History of Moscow started off very good but the end I was somewhat disappointing.
I am starting one of the few PR-Urban fantasies that I really enjoy enough to read on: Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Jalilah wrote: "Melanti wrote: "William Shakespeare's Star Wars turned out to be really funny. Sort of like a novelty item though, and not in any ways meant to be taken seriously. It's not really friendly to the..."

I really like Patricia Briggs. My dad introduced me to the mercy thompson series, and they're so much fun, though I've only read the first two so far.

Jalilah wrote: "I absolutely loved the setting in the Appalachian mountains during WW2 ( or was it the depression?)..."

I wasn't sure when it was set either, so I looked on the copyright page. It says 1940's there. But it doesn't seem to be set during the war! Late 40's perhaps? The concept was so brilliant on that book! I normally love books set in that area of the country and with it having folklore and snake charmers, it should have been fantastic... Such a shame the pacing and all the just a bit too convenient coincidences (like the bear, and the one tall brother, etc.) that spoiled it.

Oh well. It put me in the mood to read something else set in the Appalachians, so I'm reading Cold Mountain at the moment. It's quite good so far. And of course, I have to balance out the Confederate viewpoint with some African American lit, so I'm also reading Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Once I'm done with those and get a couple of the monthly group reads out of the way, I've borrowed Charles de Lint's The Cats of Tanglewood Forest from the library. I've just glanced at it so far, but it appears to be middle grade and has plenty of Vess's lovely artwork throughout.

Jalilah wrote: "I am starting one of the few PR-Urban fantasies that I really enjoy enough to read on: Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs ..."

I'm kind of torn on this series. I've really liked it so far -- it's one of the best PR-UF series out there. (It and Dresden Files are the only two I still read.) But at the same time, I don't really want to be reading it for the rest of my life, and River Marked seems to be as good a place as any to stop since things are mostly resolved at the moment.

I just started reading The Forestwifeby Theresa Tomlinson. Stephen Knight's comments about it in Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography convinced me that I really needed to read it. Before that, it was a book that I thought I'd get around to reading some time. Well "some time" has arrived. I want to see a Marion who is the hero of her own story.

I just finished the rather mindless YA novel Devilish. But the book before that I liked Lady Lazarus. And the one two before that I loved: Two Boys Kissing.

About to start The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black .

I just finished After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall and it was so good. If you're a fan of end-of-the-world scenarios, this novella has both character development and interesting science.

I'm also reading Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, which is fascinating. I'm about halfway through, and did not expect so many interesting facts about shamanism. It's not dry at all.

And then I'm almost finished with The Long War. I really love Terry Pratchett, but this series isn't my favorite. They're well written, but Pratchett's humor is missing, and his insight. It's co-written with Stephen Baxter, so maybe that's it. It's still a good series, but not the same level of good I expect from Pratchett.

Next I will read The House of the Spirits.

I'm 2/3 of the way through The Forestwifeand absolutely love it. It started slow, but is now in my top ten Robin Hood related fiction.

I am so thrilled that I found this group!!! You guys are all about the books that I am in to! It's great to see other people interested and in love with the same things I have so much passion for!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxo

Michelle {Book Hangovers} wrote: "I am so thrilled that I found this group!!! You guys are all about the books that I am in to! It's great to see other people interested and in love with the same things I have so much passion for!
..."
I feel that way too Michelle. It is great you found us!

I just finished Wolves of the Crescent Moon a novel from Saudi Arabia. It is well written , but not necessarily a fun read because of the subject matter which includes child abuse and slavery. Now in contrast I am reading something very fun The Golem and the Jinni !

Welcome Michelle!

I'm only a couple of hundred pages from finishing up Hans Christian Andersen. It seems that the longer he wrote, the more overtly Christian he became. And since I'm not remotely religious, it gets very old, very quickly! I've got to say, he's my least favorite out of all the "classic" fairy tale writers so far. I'm pondering the merits of finishing up and getting it off of my "currently reading" list versus taking another break.

Melanti wrote: "Welcome Michelle!

I'm only a couple of hundred pages from finishing up Hans Christian Andersen. It seems that the longer he wrote, the more overtly Christian he became. And since I'm not remot..."

I admire you willpower and discipline Melanti! I would have given up earlier!

Melanti wrote: "Welcome Michelle!

I'm only a couple of hundred pages from finishing up Hans Christian Andersen. It seems that the longer he wrote, the more overtly Christian he became. And since I'm not remot..."

I'm having the same trouble Melanti. I'm at about 70%. I really wanted to finish Andersen this year, and I think I will, but I keep wanting to take breaks! I recently took a break and readNothing Gold Can Stay by Ron Rash, which is excellent if anyone enjoys southern realist fiction. I think I'm going to try to get to 80% on Andersen, take another break, and then finish it. Whew, he is religious isn't he.

I really want to read the Golem and the Jinni, but I can't buy anything right now. If I find a copy, I will definitely read it.

Margaret wrote: "I think I'm going to try to get to 80% on Andersen, take another break, and then finish it. Whew, he is religious isn't he...."

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!

It makes me wonder if many of the people who gave it 5 stars were either extremely devout or if they just read a "best of" version with just his most famous works.

Oh well. Over and done with now! I can move on to something else...

I'm currently reading The Drowned World which is a post-apocolyptic novel that's sort of reminding me of Heart of Darkness

Just finished Jonathan strange and Mr Norrell - exhausted and ready for bed - but althought I had to prop it up on pillows on my lap because it was too heavy to hold (1002 pages) I enjoyed it:)

Wow 1002 pages!!!
I'll have to put that book on hold until I have absolutely no plans on reading anything else for about 2 weeks!!! (or more, i got two rambunctious little girls) hahaha! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it :)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was a great book.

My edition printed the footnotes in really minuscule font, and I bookmarked one long footnote that covered most of 2 pages. Any time someone remarked about how thick the book was, I'd say "Yes, it is isn't it? And see how small the font is?" then open it to the page of footnotes. Watching people's expressions was a lot of fun.

Hee--I re-read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell earlier this year, in anticipation of the BBC miniseries. (Details: http://www.foem.tv/ ) Looking forward to that. But yes, I was impressed how she fit mini-novels within the footnotes. Many times in fact. :)

I will have to read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell now. I think it may be a January book.

I am reading Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey on Kindle and Doctor Who: Heart of Stone / Death Riders by Trevor Baxendale as a book.(Gr lists the author of the other novel.)

Wool is on my TBR too. I hope it's good as the hype makes it out to be!

I'm kind of drowning in library books and group reads right now. I still have 2 or 3 group read books for Nov. that I'm probably not going to finish in time. I suppose I really ought to cup back on the group participation, but they're all books I want to read someday!

And stupidly, I went ahead and checked out a couple more library books that I now have to read before they expire (ebooks)... So next up will be NOS4A2 and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.

I'm reading which, so far, is awesome!!!

Then I should receive and in the mail by the end of this week. So I'll have both of them to read :)
Exciting!!

The Golem and the Jinni was so good! I can't bring myself to try and read something that may not be good so I am skipping Beastly for now and going on to Waking the Moon. I can tell already it is going to be good!

Currently reading Irish Fairy Tales, edited by Leslie Conron. Full of short little stories about fairies, shape-shifters, and Irish folklore and myths.

Kyla wrote: "Currently reading Irish Fairy Tales, edited by Leslie Conron. Full of short little stories about fairies, shape-shifters, and Irish folklore and myths."

Love that kind of stuff!!! xo

I'm reading nothing at all right now, for once.

I've finished off most of the books I was reading, and now nothing on my bookshelf sounds good. I've spent HOURS browsing through the books on my Kindle and can't seem to get more than a couple of pages into any of them, not even books from authors I normally love!

Help! Can anyone spot anything fantastic on my TBR?
I've already tried reading Cold Days, Jeanette Winterson, Catherynne Valente, His Master's Voice, Sophie's Choice, The Book Thief, Blindness, Witches of Wensar, Murder Must Advertise, Catch 22, Hide Me Among the Graves, Arabian Nights ... No luck with any of them!

Melanti wrote: "I'm reading nothing at all right now, for once.

I've finished off most of the books I was reading, and now nothing on my bookshelf sounds good. I've spent HOURS browsing through the books on my..."

You have a good TBR list! I'm surprised you couldn't get into The Book Thief; that's the one I would have recommended. But I also enjoyed The Killing Moon, if you think you're in the mood for high fantasy. It looks like a lot of the ones you've tried to read are pretty literary and dense, so maybe you just need something fun.

Just started A Tale Dark & Grimm while waiting on another book to arrive.