Into the Forest discussion

Margaret wrote: "I'm surprised you couldn't get into The Book Thief; that's the one I would have recommended...."

I have to admit I only bought The Book Thief due to peer pressure. Truthfully it doesn't sound all that great to me, but there's no way every single one of my GR friends would agree on a book unless it was at least tolerable.

I'll give The Killing Moon a shot.

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..."

Hi Melanti, I liked Of Blood and Honey a lot!
I think you said you ordered The Golem and the Jinni it is so good.
Did you give up on Arabian Nights?

Jalilah wrote: "Hi Melanti, I liked Of Blood and Honey a lot!
I think you said you ordered The Golem and the Jinni it is so good.
Did you give up on Arabian Nights?..."

I do have The Golem and the Jinni on order from the library, but it'll take a couple more weeks before it's my turn and I need something to read now. I've been tempted to just buy it but with all the sales likely to go on in the next week, I don't want to blow half of my monthly budget on a single book.

I haven't given up on Arabian Nights permanently, I'm just having trouble concentrating on any book at the moment - even authors who I know I normally love.

I just tried The Killing Moon... Quit on the second page when I realized I had read it for the fifth time and still didn't have the faintest clue what the page said.

So I switched over to Of Blood and Honey and am already on chapter 3. Maybe I just needed immediate and dramatic action to catch my attention. Hopefully it lasts!

Melanti wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "Hi Melanti, I liked Of Blood and Honey a lot!
I think you said you ordered The Golem and the Jinni it is so good.
Did you give up on Arabian Nights?..."

I do have The Golem and th..."

Hope it lasts too!
I could not get into Killing Moon either and gave up after the first chapter.

I just got The Golem and the Jinni a couple of days ago in the mail! It's beautiful! and I love how the edges of the pages are that dark blue!
I haven't read it. Trying to wait til I have more time!

Michelle {Book Hangovers} wrote: "I just got The Golem and the Jinni a couple of days ago in the mail! It's beautiful! and I love how the edges of the pages are that dark blue!
I haven't read it. Trying to wait til I have more time!"
That's one bad thing about ebooks... You don't get any cool formats.

Just finished up of Blood And Honey which I really enjoyed. I picked up the sequel a few months ago just before the publisher went bankrupt so I will probably read that soon.

Right now I'm reading The Onion Girl and it's seeming extremely familiar... I don't know if it's because I read so much of the rest of the series so I know what happens next or if I just read it before joining goodreads and just never crossed it off my mental list.

Melanti wrote: "Michelle {Book Hangovers} wrote: "I just got The Golem and the Jinni a couple of days ago in the mail! It's beautiful! and I love how the edges of the pages are that dark blue!
I haven't read it. T..."

That is too bad to know that Of Blood and Honey's publisher went bankrupt! I wonder if the author found another one? I have not read the sequel, but was planing on it. I understood there would be several books.

In The a Onion Girl many of the characters from the Newford short stories, as well novels make small cameo appearances. I don't remember which ones, but it could be why it seems familiar.

I am still really enjoying Waking the Moon but have not had that much time recently to read, so am about 2/3 through.

I am struck by the similarities with Memory and Dream. Although De Lint's book has a different kind of magic, the fantastic element in both books is somehow inspired by Greek mythology. However the most obvious similarities are both novels start with the leading protagonists as first year university students, both experience a type of magical experience that is also tied in with friendship that leaves them traumatized and frightened. Then both books fast forward 20 years to have the protagonists encounter the same type of magical occurrence that they fled from.

I was having a hard time finding something I could read after The Golem and the Jinni and was lucky to have found this book. However now what to read after it?

Jalilah wrote: "In The a Onion Girl many of the characters from the Newford short stories, as well novels make small cameo appearances. I don't remember which ones, but it could be why it seems familiar.
..."

That's why it's so hard to tell! I've read the vast majority of the Newford series (not Memory and Dream though) and even at the best of times they can all seem similar since they're usually variations on a theme and the stories all overlap a bit. But the further I read, the more and more certain I am that I've read this particular book before. I'm starting to vaguely remember how it ends. It's been 5-10 years though, so it's all a bit hazy. Oh well, it's still good even if it's a reread!


Jalilah wrote: "That is too bad to know that Of Blood and Honey's publisher went bankrupt! I wonder if the author found another one? I have not read the sequel, but was planing on it. I understood there would be several books...."
They got bought out last minute by a comic book publisher (I think?) which claimed that it was going to keep Night Shade Books operating same as usual -- but I haven't seen any new releases since the buy out, nor has their website ever been updated. I'm not sure if Leicht can still publish through them or if she'd even want to!

Such a shame it went under though! Night Shade Books published some really great stuff. Valente's The Habitation of the Blessed was originally put out by them. But she broke ties with them long before the bankruptcy (I assume she was irate at never getting paid) and hasn't found a publisher for the final book of the trilogy.

I'm currently running up my credit card bill on Amazon's Cyber Monday sale... There goes my budget and my TBR pile!

I'm only a couple pages into Finnikin of the Rock and I am in love with it so far!

While I'm reading it I can clearly picture the story happening right in front of me! Like I'm on the journey with them! :)

I'm still avoiding Coyote Cowgirl (shame on me!) so I'm now reading Jane Yolen's Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories.

It has several short stories that were later developed into novels -- including Snow in Summer, which is MUCH better in short story form than in novel form.

It also has a short story which has been turned into Curse of the Thirteenth Fey: The True Tale of Sleeping Beauty. I really liked the short story, but given my opinion of Snow in Summer, not sure I want to give the book a chance!

I'm reading Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters: Stories and am really enjoying it. I'm sure some of you have already read her, but the short stories are wonderful. They're speculative, and very quirky and character driven. I think my favorite from the bunch so far is "Magic for Beginners." The last story is a cinderella story, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.

I'm also reading The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells for the first time. I'm enjoying it. I always try to read some classics in December, and for some reason I have never gotten around to The War of the Worlds.

I have Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories on my kindle. It looks good!

Melanti wrote: "I'm still avoiding Coyote Cowgirl (shame on me!) so I'm now reading Jane Yolen's Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories.

It has several short stories that were lat..."

Lol and I am still avoiding
Beastly although I think I still will read it. The cover on the copy I have is from the movie, so that does not help.

I think my favourite Newford books are Someplace to Be Flying, Forests of the Heart and Memory and Dream maybe in part because they all feature different characters who don't always appear in the short stories. Also somehow the plots seem the most original. Still loved Onion girl though.

You might still enjoy Coyote Cow girl if you take it for what it is, a light, fun coming of age story. It is not a thriller and the feeling I get from it is in someways similar to the Sarah Addison Allen novels I have read.

Jalilah wrote: "You might still enjoy Coyote Cow girl if you take it for what it is, a light, fun coming of age story. It is not a thriller and the feeling I get from it is in someways similar to the Sarah Addison Allen novels I have read. ..."

Oh, I'm definitely going to read it -- I just have to wait until I'm in the right mood (and not sick) so I might actually like it instead of just throwing it against the wall... (I wouldn't attempt reading Sarah Addison Allen at the moment either.) I just read the interview Odette linked to in the group reads thread, and what Antieau says about creating a constant "WIJ" mindset makes sense. But it's exhausting and frustrating to read about someone who's constantly afraid of silly things -- especially when I'm the type of woman who doesn't think twice about going to a play/concert/etc by myself, even if it means having to come home alone on the bus at midnight.

I agree with what you're saying about movie book covers! My copy of The Book Thief is from the movie -- it's not the original interesting domino one. Doesn't at all inspire me to give it a chance.



Margaret wrote: "I'm reading Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters: Stories and am really enjoying it. I'm sure some of you have already read her, but the short stories are wonderful. They're speculative, and..."

You should check out her first anthology too. Stranger Things Happen There's some overlap on stories, but not all. She's released it for free here. It looks like she's taken down the free version of Magic for Beginners though. You should be able to find an archived copy online somewhere -- it's a creative commons license, so I think re-distribution is legal in this case. The paid version has a couple more stories than the free version, but I think those extra stories were reprinted in Pretty Monsters so you shouldn't miss out on anything.


I'm really enjoying Sister Emily's Lightship -- Lots of retellings and allusions to various stories - Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Snow White, Romeo and Juliet, etc. I had to chuckle all the way through "Dick Whittington and his Pussy, or Tess and her Adequate Dick". As you can imagine, it's rather ribald.

I am about 20% through Heart's Blood and am really enjoying it. This is my first novel by Marillier and so far I can see why she is so loved.

Cher wrote: "I am about 20% through Heart's Blood and am really enjoying it. This is my first novel by Marillier and so far I can see why she is so loved."

Is it not wonderful Cher! I think it is my favourite Marillier novel I have read up to now, although I also loved Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secrets.

Melanti wrote: "Jalilah wrote: "You might still enjoy Coyote Cow girl if you take it for what it is, a light, fun coming of age story. It is not a thriller and the feeling I get from it is in someways similar to t..."

Thanks Melanti! That's amazing. I've downloaded it. I'm finding about half of her short stories in Pretty Monsters I've read before in anthologies, but I love rereading them.

Just finished Loved it!!!

Now I'm starting which seems pretty interesting

I just finished two really excellent books, The Golem and the Jinni and Waking the Moon, so it was simply torturous trying to read Beastly this morning.
Will try The Thorn and the Blossom. I hope it is better!

I agree; I couldn't get into Beastly either. I'll think I will bump Emily's Lightspace up my stack.

Just finished Canadian Fairy Tales, which was interesting. Mostly first people, but with European quirks (ie fairies). What was interesting was the Tar Baby story. Transmited by slavery most likely, very interesting to see that in the collection. Also just finished listening to Anne Hathaway read the Wizard of Oz, which was great!

Jalilah wrote: "it was simply torturous trying to read Beastly this morning. ..."

Chris wrote: "I agree; I couldn't get into Beastly either..."

So sorry! I highly regret nominating it.

Don't be Melanti. We don't know until we try and different tastes. I don't think I'll enjoy everything. And I voted for it.

Chris wrote: "Don't be Melanti. We don't know until we try and different tastes. I don't think I'll enjoy everything. And I voted for it."

Exactly! We never know until we try and no one should ever feel hesitatant about nominating something because it might not please everyone. In that case we would never have any nominations.

I enjoyed the Thorn and the Blossom this morning. It is not like "wow" the greatest book I ever read, but it is fun and thoughtfully written, a perfect in-between book.

I just started reading book 2 of The Lumateran Chronicles, Froi of the Exiles which I'm really excited about b/c book 1, Finnikin of the Rock was so darn good!

I recently finished and liked a lot Enchanted by Alethea Kontis . This novel uses many, many fairy tale motifs in its plot. Also, appealing characters.

Currently reading and enjoying The Real Boy by Anne Ursu . It has comparisons to Pinocchio, and faery changelings, but more, it's an explaining of an young man's world on the autism spectrum in a fantasy world.

Julia wrote: "I recently finished and liked a lot Enchanted by Alethea Kontis . This novel uses many, many fairy tale motifs in its plot. Also, appea..."

Nice! both have now been added to my TBR list!!
Thanks ♥

I am now reading The Book of Lost Things. I noticed there were a few members who wanted to read it when we voted this month, so feel free to join me!
This group already did a group read for this book a few years back, so rather than start up a new thread I am just going to resurrect the old one.
Here goes: No Spoilers: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
With Spoilers: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's next on my list, Jalilah!

I'm in the middle of Swords Against Wizardry right now (old school sword and sorcery), but I checked out The Book of Lost Things, Human Croquet, and The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle from the library yesterday!

Just finished The Book of Lost Things and really enjoyed it. I've also started The Hero's Guide... which is a nice lighthearted break from the darkness of Connolly's book!

P.S. Please forgive any spelling errors, typos, bad formatting, etc, for the next couple of weeks. My laptop completely died on me and I'm having to use my tablet... Luckily I found a little bluetooth keyboard on sale today so I have something to type with while I shop for a new laptop. Hopefully I'll find something soon. A tablet is better than nothing, obviously, but it's still rather awkward.

The Sookie Stackhouse series was my first PR series. I find Charlaine Harris's writing light and fun, like eating popcorn. I could not resist finding out how the story ends, so I am reading the last book Dead Ever After while I wait for my next books to arrive. It is a nice book to read after The Book of Lost Things because the two books could not be more different!

After finishing the The Arabian Nights the tales that are all in the "The Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies" tale (loved them!), I am taking a break from Fairy tales until my ordered books arrive in January.
For now I have Maya's Notebook from my favourite author Isabel Allende and a non-fiction book that looks interesting, The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria. I have to decide which one to take on my plane trip tomorrow!

Jalilah wrote: "The Sookie Stackhouse series was my first PR series. I find Charlaine Harris's writing light and fun, like eating popcorn. I could not resist finding out how the story ends, so I am..."

If you like PR, have you read the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning? It is urban paranormal fantasy and is probably my most all time favorite paranormal series.

Whew! FINALLY got a new laptop (it was only a week, but that was a VERY long week!) and I have spell-check again! Yay!!

I'm almost done with Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand - the author who wrote Waking the Moon, a recent buddy read. So far it's about half stories I'm liking, and half stories that just have way too much of an agenda for me. Unfortunately, the stories I liked the least were all in a row, so the middle half was extremely frustrating and slow.

Debey wrote: "Just in case anyone wants a fast, light fairy tale read over the holidays, "Knue who Slew the Dragon" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVN20JY will be free on Amazon on Christmas Eve--December 24 and "L..."

Hi Debey your book looks great but please post it in our "Goodreads Author Promotion" Folder! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

This thread is for sharing what you are currently reading!

I just finished the latest book by Isabel Allende, Maya's Notebook. I don't like to say "absolute favourite" about anything, not authors where there are so many I love, but if I were forced to choose just one it would be Allende. I have loved her books for years and will automatically buy everything new from her that comes out. Maya's Notebook is so different from her usual works! I still liked it, in fact I could not out it down, but it does not have the magical lyricism that her usual books have.
I am just starting a non-fiction book that reads like a novel: The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria

Cher wrote: "If you like PR, have you read the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning? It is urban paranormal fantasy and is probably my most all time favorite paranormal series..."
Yes, I read them all straight through until book 4 with that cliff-hanger, then had to wait a year to read the end! Yes! It was entertaining! Like Sookie Stackhouse, Darkfever both amused me and annoyed me.

Jalilah wrote: "Cher wrote: "If you like PR, have you read the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning? It is urban paranormal fantasy and is probably my most all time favorite paranormal series..."
Yes, I read them al..."

Lol, having to wait after book 4 would have been brutal!! One of my reading quirks is that I try to not start a series until the last installment is due to be out within a few months, but every now and then I get sucked in early. I'm dying for Patrick Rothfuss to finish his Kingkiller Chronicles series. That's another great one if you haven't yet read it, The Name of the Wind.

Anyone ever read Lud-in-the-Mist by Mirrlees? I had never heard of it before, but bought it as a kindle daily deal because Neil Gaiman wrote an intro for it. The novel is a fantasy that predates Tolkien's LOTR, and it is wonderful! It's so much fun, about a country that borders fairyland. It's very reminiscent of Gaiman's Stardust and Neverwhere, and also Terry Pratchett's style of humor.

I also just finished Human Croquet and was really impressed by Kate Atkinson's writing. That novel also weaves in fairy tale and mythic elements, but into realism. I'm going to read more by her. She's both funny and philosophical.

Margaret wrote: "Anyone ever read Lud-in-the-Mist by Mirrlees? I had never heard of it before, but bought it as a kindle daily deal because Neil Gaiman wrote an intro for it. The novel is a fantasy tha..."

A friend who has very similar reading tastes to my own when it comes to fantasy highly recommended it to me a few years ago and it's been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while. (I replaced the neglected paperback with an equally neglected e-book during the daily deal also.)

I keep meaning to re-read Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter before reading Lud-in-the-Mist since I've heard that they're related somehow (I forget how or where I heard that) but I hardly ever re-read things these days and I've just never gotten around to it.

Melanti wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Anyone ever read Lud-in-the-Mist by Mirrlees? I had never heard of it before, but bought it as a kindle daily deal because Neil Gaiman wrote an intro for it. The novel..."

I haven't read Dunsany either. I added Elfland to my TBR list, and amazon had some of his short stories free for the kindle so I now have those.

Lord Dunsany used to be incredibly popular but he isn't that well known these days which is strange considering how he's inspired such a huge range of our big-name authors. Tolkien, Lovecraft, Gaiman, Beagle, etc. were all big Dunsany fans.

The King of Elfland's Daughter was probably Gaiman's inspiration (or at least a partial inspiration) for Stardust, and "Charon" has too much in common with "Nicholas Was" for it to be a complete coincidence, in my opinion.

Just finished The Time Keeper. A wonderful tale about Father Time. Very insightful and thought-provoking. A quick read (just over 200 pages).

Working through The Song of Albion Trilogy. On book # 2. Nice work based on Celtic mythology.

by Stephen R. Lawhead

Finished The Girl Who Fell to Earth (4 stars) and catching up on the Arabian Nights!

I just started The Book Thief this morning and am already sick of the contrived narrator, pointless bold font sections, and heavy handed foreshadowing... And I'm only on chapter three!

I usually give myself around 50 pages before I put a book aside, Melanti. Just sayin'.

And 2-3-4 years ago I found a copy of The King of Elfland's Daughter and put it aside as not for me, then.

I'm currently reading Wash by Margaret Wrinkle . Also good for me so far this year: Love in the Time of Global Warming and Rose Under Fire.

Julia wrote: "I usually give myself around 50 pages before I put a book aside, Melanti. Just sayin'.

And 2-3-4 years ago I found a copy of The King of Elfland's Daughter and put it aside as not for..."

I normally only give up on the hopelessly dreadful books. I'm trying to decide if it's really bad enough to give up on entirely. I probably would have given up on it already if it hadn't been from the overwhelming praise from all my Goodreads friends... 10 ratings and the only one below 4 stars is from a person whose tastes often don't match mine. Going so contrary to the popular opinion makes me wonder what I'm not seeing!

Melanti wrote: "Julia wrote: "I usually give myself around 50 pages before I put a book aside, Melanti. Just sayin'.

And 2-3-4 years ago I found a copy of The King of Elfland's Daughter and put it as..."

I'll admit, I loved The Book Thief, and the narrator is one of the main reasons. Death's voice is unique; I love his metaphors. That being said, I can see why his voice might be annoying to you.

See, and to me, the narrator seems like style over substance. Zusak is using Death as an excuse to tell rather than show. Like when Liesel is talking to the Mayor's wife about her dead son -- Instead of the wife talking about it herself, Death tells the story and all you get from the Mayor's wife is a single sentence about it. So at the end, I know the fact that her son died in WWI, but I don't really know much more about her as a character.

I'm not all that fond of the metaphors either... "Falling chunks of rain"? What on earth is that supposed to mean? The only thing I can think of is those heavy rains when you get a sudden gust of wind and a wave of rain slaps you in the face. But when the only other reference you have to the storm is "It began to rain, nice and hard," "falling chunks of rain" just doesn't make sense at all. Sure, it might sound pretty but it needs to mean something as well, and way too many of the pretty phrases are just empty words.

Melanti wrote: "See, and to me, the narrator seems like style over substance. Zusak is using Death as an excuse to tell rather than show. Like when Liesel is talking to the Mayor's wife about her dead son -- Ins..."

I liked that the plot wasn't told as a linear story-line, like most holocaust narratives, but as a constant looping between times. But you might like the movie better than the book. I haven't seen the movie, but based on the trailers they've cut out Death.

Margaret wrote: "I liked that the plot wasn't told as a linear story-line, like most holocaust narratives, but as a constant looping between times. ..."

I don't mind the non-linear story line, but there's ways to do it that add more to the current time frame instead of just saying someone's son died 15/20 years ago. For instance, maybe instead of her son's death scene, what about her saying goodbye as he headed off to war? Or her reacting to the news of her death? Or even his letters on what the war was like? All those ways would tell you more about the Mayor's wife where a simple death scene doesn't.

(I think all this ranting means I probably ought to switch to another book for awhile...)