Into the Forest discussion

It's that time. Time to nominate for our next group reads.

Books can be
(1) Collection of tales
(2) Criticism/Biography related to fairy/folk tales or legends
(3) Retelling of such tales
(4) Inspired by such tales.

You may nominate books that have been either nominated before (and even read). Books in a series can be nominated out of sequence provided the series can be easily read that way (say like de Lint). We chose one YA and one adult book. You may nominate as many books as you wish.

I would like to nominate: Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson because it is on the Endicott Mythic fiction reading list and I have really enjoyed most of the books I've read on that list.
Also because this book is supposed to be a re-telling of Twelve Dancing Princesses, one of my favourite tales.

I'll always be happy to read or re-read a Charles De Lint. His Newford series is not really series in the sense that you absolutely have to read them in order; rather they are a series of books that take place in the same universe with many of the same characters. If you read them in the order you get more background history about the various characters but this is more important later on in the series. I would not start with Onion Girl or Widdershins but you could start with Memory and Dreamor my personal favourite Someplace to Be Flying

What do you think of for the adult book: Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson and De Lint's new YA book Under My Skin ????

Not certain it is easily attainable (and it is also not very long), but I have been looking for an excuse to track down Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale. It is a graphic novel.

The Sun, the Moon, & the Stars by Steven Brust is another on my to-read list. I understand there is some Hungarian folklore incorporated into the story.

The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block is one I just found. It is a collection of modern short story retellings .

Mawgojzeta wrote: "The Sun, the Moon, & the Stars by Steven Brust is another on my to-read list. I understand there is some Hungarian folklore incorporated into the story."

It's been a long, long time since I read this, but I know I loved it when I did - I'll second Brust.

Rapunzel's Revenge is good. Not the greatest artwork but it's a cute story.

The Sun, the Moon, & the Stars is good too. There's two alternating stories - one modern one and one retelling. Trying to find the links between the two (nebulous at best, IMO) might be a good discussion topic.

Sexing the Cherry has been on my radar for quite some time, too.

For another children's book nomination, what about The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo? The subtitle is "Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread" so I'm pretty sure it's influenced by fairy tales. (Newberry winner and Mythopoeic nominee)

So all I have to do is beg!

Great noms!

I'd suggest The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell. It's a highly unusual version of the Twelve Dancing Princesses with sort of a Beauty and the Beast element as well.

I would like to nominate Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner