Into the Forest discussion

Strange Bedfellows won as theme for the September 15-November 14 group read!
Each person can nominate 3 books:
1 Novel
1 Young Adult Novel
1 Original Tale (or a short collection of original tales)

Strange Bedfellows would be when your spouse of partner are not what they seem.
The most obvious examples would be the myth Cupid & Psyche or the fairytale East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It would also be when there is something really important someone does not know about their spouse, as in Bluebeard.
Basically there is a lot to choose from!

So nominate away!

Fitcher's Brides for adult novel.

I nominate:
For the Young Adult Novel Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block
For Original Tale the collection Secrets Beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives by Maria Tatar
I'm still undecided about the Adult Novel!

Here is an article by Teri Wendling that goes into the number of tales where the bride or groom turn into animals or vis-versa
http://www.endicott-studio.com/articl...

Bluebeard Tales from Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

Since we already did Beauty and the Beast Tales from Around the World. 0:)

Yes, it's another 800+ page behemoth.

Original The White Cat

Adult The Seventh Bride

YA Strands of Bronze and Gold

Rachel wrote: "Original The White Cat

Adult The Seventh Bride

YA Strands of Bronze and Gold"

The White Cat was already the original tale for a group read:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
It's one of my favourite takes!
Feel free to comment of the thread! All our threads stay open!

Lila wrote: "The White Cat was already the original tale for a group read:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
It's one of my favourite takes!
Feel free to comment of the thread! All our threads stay open!"

Oooh excellent! I will keep looking for another original tale. I was having a hard time figuring out books for this. I'd like to find a few that aren't bluebeard retellings. The premise is so dark, that I'd like to nominate something more lighthearted to offset it.

Would A Flame in the Mist count for this category? Reviews compare her to Mulan.

Part of the summary that I think would apply:
"Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires."

I think it counts.

Chris wrote: "I think it counts."

I would think so too

Chris wrote: "I think it counts."
Lila wrote: I would think so too"

Ok, I'll list that as my YA novel.

I'm having a difficult time narrowing it down! And my top 3 picks all seem to be on the border between YA and Adult.

Since no one has shelved this one on Goodreads as YA, my adult pick is Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher.

For YA I'll nominate Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan.

I also really wanted to nominate Deerskin by Robin McKinley, but it looks like a lot of group members have already read that one, so I decided to go with Tender Morsels instead.

I like all the original tales nominations so I'll leave that one. (Though I like all the other noms too!)

Margaret wrote: "I also really wanted to nominate Deerskin by Robin McKinley, but it looks like a lot of group members have already read that one, so I decided to go with Tender Morsels instead "

Deerskin is great. It's a retellings of Donkeyskin. I checked and it was a group read years ago, before I joined the group. However it looks like no one participated.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Although I've read it already, I'd be fine with it being a group read again. However I don't think if it would count as "Strange Bedfellows". Like most fairytales ( and that's why I don't think what I'm going to say is a spoiler) the princess gets married to the prince only after her true identity is revealed. So they are not "Bedfellows" while he does not know what or who she is.

This is what we have up to now:

Adult
Fitcher's Brides
The Seventh Bride
Mr. Fox
Bryony and Roses

Young Adult
Tender Morsels
Flame in the Mist
Strands of Bronze and Gold
Psyche in a Dress ( is also classified as adult. I read it and think It could go both ways)

Original Tale(s)
The Golden Ass
Bluebeard Tales from Around the World
Secrets Beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives

The polls go up on Tuesday September 5

I either want to read or have already read all of these books! Glad this theme won, even though I didn't vote for it! So many great choices.

Margaret wrote: "I either want to read or have already read all of these books! Glad this theme won, even though I didn't vote for it! So many great choices."

It's good to get this feedback Margaret! Because not that many people nominated books this time I was wondering it it was because they did not want the theme.

Well, that's my opinion!

I admit I haven't been contributing as much as I used to lately, due to baby on the way and still working 3 jobs. But I do try to keep up as much as possible. :)

The nominations look good, I was just stymied by the theme as to what books might work.

Katy wrote: "The nominations look good, I was just stymied by the theme as to what books might work."

Margaret wrote: "Well, that's my opinion!
I admit I haven't been contributing as much as I used to lately, due to baby on the way and still working 3 jobs. But I do try to keep up as much as possible. :)"

Congratulations Margaret!

Just to clarify, no one is obliged to nominate anything, but I just wanted to be sure that if they weren't nominating, it was not because they did not like the theme!

Kathy, I think Melanti chose the name Strange Bedfellows to give a lot if leeway and flexibility. Basically anything where a partner is not what they seem. The most obvious would be Bluebeard or East of the Sun West of the Moon, but I think there are many other tales world wide that have this theme. I remember reading First Nations/Native American tales like this too, but have not been able to find any novels based on the tales.

This article mentions several tales with this theme
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...
For example Beauty and the Beast, Cupid and Psyche, The Swan Maiden, Frog Princess, The White Cat.

Lila wrote: "This article mentions several tales with this theme
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...
For example Beauty an..."

It oversimplifies a bit. For instance, sometimes you can find your swan maiden bride again. But the best thing to do is give it back as soon as she has said she will reward your for it, because she will carry through, or (if you are looking for an evil wizard) just give it back, because she's his daughter and will help you.

Inpired by Swan Maidens, I am going to add The Black Swan as my adult novel nomination.

I will wait until this afternoon before putting up the polls in case anyone elese wants to nominate!

for adult I'll nominate in a dark wood by Amanda Craigslist.

For one more original: The Snake Prince (India). It is included in The Olive Fairy Book.

If that's too short, feel free to exclude it. Just trying to come up with more options.

Rachel wrote: "For one more original: The Snake Prince (India). It is included in The Olive Fairy Book.

If that's too short, feel free to exclude it. Just trying to come up with more options."
We can leave it optional to either read just the tale or the entire book. I am always looking for excuses the read the coloured fairy books!

Melanti wrote: "for adult I'll nominate in a dark wood by Amanda Craigslist."

Love the autocorrect on this one :)
Hope life is starting to have some normalcy for you after the storm.

Okay the polls are up and open!
Please let me know if I forgot anything!
Time to vote!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

Melanti wrote: "for adult I'll nominate in a dark wood by Amanda Craigslist."

I read this on my phone the first time around and read it as 'For adult I'll nominate dark Craigslist.' Haha!

I hope clean up is going okay!

Lila wrote: "We can leave it optional to either read just the tale or the entire book. I am always looking for excuses the read the coloured fairy books! ."

I was fortunate to own most of them growing up (my mom had them from her childhood). There are some excellent stories in them. Like most collections, it's a good "1-2 stories before bed" kind of book.

Margaret wrote: "Melanti wrote: "for adult I'll nominate in a dark wood by Amanda Craigslist."

I read this on my phone the first time around and read it as 'For adult I'll nominate dark Craigslist.' Haha!

I hope ..."

Ha! I didn't even notice that autocorrect took over. Darn phone!

I read virtually all of them as a child.

Melanti wrote: "Ha! I didn't even notice that autocorrect took over. Darn phone! "

:)

The Winners are:
Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher for the Adult Novel
Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block for the Young Adult Novel
And The Snake Prince found in The Olive Fairy Book
For the Original Tale