I probably won’t remember all of the books I’ve read ….
The magicians : a novel Lev Grossman
Sorry -not great. it took a long time to get started. not magical. not a grown up harry potter. but I might read the second one, because I was promised it gets better.
Parasite Mira Grant
Symbiont Mira Grant
I was going to explain – but it is easier to say she has an amazing story telling ability – In the midst of a big giant world changing event – she is still telling the story of individuals -that would be interesting even without the disaster. Book 3 comes out November 24th.
The darkest part of the forest / by Holly Black
I love Holly Black. Dark fairy tales are her specialty. In this book, there is a town that is on the border of a forest where fairy tales are real – all parts of them. There is even a glass coffin with a prince in it. The relationship between the town and forest has been balanced, but suddenly more of the evil side has visible. Then then coffin breaks…
The story of Owen : dragon slayer of Trondheim E. K. Johnston
Excellent. Way better than I expected. Current time period – but with added dragons.
pretty sure I read a few more books, but I just don’t remember ….
Witch’s boy
One of my fellow librarians has been pushing this book, maybe a little too hard. I absolutely loved it , but maybe not everyone will like it ( the fools). I’m looking forward to reading more books by Michael Gruber.
In the Witch’s Boy, we have a fairy tale. A witch of indeterminate age finds a baby . He is ugly, but she decides to keep him and raise him. She is not particularly good at this job, but she has a nanny and a tutor for him. A bear and a demon. Lump ( the boy’s public name ) grows up, but needs to learn more about being a human being. I have to admit, I really didn’t like Lump. But I loved all the ‘true tellings’ of my old favorite tales. and it does have the proper fairytale ending.
Fun and involving.
Are fairytales dangerous?
I’ve often read articles or heard speakers saying things like “Too many fairy tales are bad” and “Fairy tales lead to unrealistic exceptions”; and while I vaguely understood the points, I didn’t get it. I loved fairy tales, and still do . I gobbled them up as a kid and read all the retelling I can. Last night , while listening to Cosy Sheridan, I was struck by a lightning bolt of realization. ( This is very fitting — there were a lot of Greek gods running around in her songs.) When I think fairy tales , I don’t stop at Cinderella. Or Sleeping Beauty. And I do not mean the clean,happily ever after Disney versions only. My definition of fairy tale is big and broad — and really they hit all parts of life. The pretty , the romantic , the ugly, the courageous and the grim. There are many versions of Cinderella where her stepsisters are not forgiven. I read Grimm, Anderson, native American myths, Greek myths, fairy tales from Japan, China , India and silly stories from Norway. My favorite fairy tale is The Little Mermaid. No not the Disney version, but the version I read in our Grolier book of knowledge. It may me cry. and I had a hard time rereading it. I am sure that at first I wanted a different ending. Gradually, I really wanted the Little mermaid to changer her behavior. I wanted her to understand that giving up everything for love, and espcially for love that wasn’t going to be returned wasn’t wise. She never did learn, but I think I did. Sacrifice might be part of love, but giving up yourself is wrong.
