The County Library discussion

Hello all,

February 26 is Tell a Fairy Tale Day, so your challenge this month is to read a fairy tale, (like Princess Furball) a fairy tale retelling, (like Cinder) or a fantasy novel that has strong fairy tale elements (like Daughter of the Forest).

Good luck!

My friend recommended the book Spinning Silver, so I am going to give that one a try.

I read Spinning Silver this month and it started off as a solid 5 stars, but then I began struggling with the different POVs. I listened to the audio and there is no designation that the POV changed to someone else. All of a sudden a different character was center stage and I had to figure out which one it was. I heard the ebook is the same. If it had only been 2 POVs that would've worked, but I think there were 6 in the book. That kind of thing takes me out of the story. I still gave it 3 stars though. It was a creative retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

I keep meaning to get around to reading Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty series. This seems like the right time.

I read The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht.

Odd, and yet, enchanging. 4 Stars.

Tanya wrote: "I keep meaning to get around to reading Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty series. This seems like the right time."

Just kidding. I found The Changeling by Victor LaValle, and I can't resist.

Donna wrote: "I read Spinning Silver this month and it started off as a solid 5 stars, but then I began struggling with the different POVs. I listened to the audio and there is no designation tha..."

That's good to know. If I read that one, I'll do it with a good old-fashioned paper copy.

I'm reading some longer, non-fiction books right now. Doing this challenge will give me a couple of benefits:
1) I'm behind in my Goodreads annual challenge which is causing me some stress because I keep getting further and further behind and this will catch me up.
2) It's a delightful way to have something fun to read.
I'll be reading 5 titles.
King o' the Cats by Aaron Shepard
The Sugar Child by Monique De Varennes
The Enchanted Wood by Ruth Sanderson
Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale by Robert D. San Souci
Bloom by Doreen Cronin

I am going to read It has been on my to read list forever and it will give me a good reason to finally read it. I hope that it counts. If I have more time, I will read another book.

Tanya wrote: "Donna wrote: "I read Spinning Silver this month and it started off as a solid 5 stars, but then I began struggling with the different POVs. I listened to the audio and there is no d..."

Me too, I'll read the actual paper library book.

Lisa wrote: "can I read any of the Alex Flinn books for as a fairy tale book?"

Looks like most of her titles are retellings. Go for it!

I love the Daughters of the Forest series, so this is a good time to read Child of the Prophecy, which is the third book in the series. Yay! Great time of year for a fairytale!

I read The Goose Girl, a retelling of a Grimm fairytale. I wasn't aware of this fairytale before. It was a good story.

I decided to read a kiss in time by alex flinn for this months book club theme.

I have finished the fairy tale books I planned to read:
King o' the Cats by Aaron Shepard
The Sugar Child by Monique De Varennes
The Enchanted Wood by Ruth Sanderson
Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale by Robert D. San Souci
Bloom by Doreen Cronin

They were all fun, but of the 5, I liked Bloom best.

I read three by Anita Valle
Sinful Cinderella
Sneaky Snow White
Rotten Rapunzel

I read "To Bewitch a Beast" a totally new retelling of beauty and the Beast. it was so imaginative and full of interesting and lovable characters.

I read The Enchanted Wood by Ruth Sanderson. The illustrations are beautiful!

I'm not sure if it counts, but I read Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword which is a graphic novel rooted in Orthodox Judaism. It has a talking pig, a possible witch, and a troll... fairy tale elements if not an obvious fairy tale to us goyim.

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I'm not sure if it counts, but I read Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword which is a graphic novel rooted in Orthodox Judaism. It has a talking pig, a possible witch, and a troll... fairy tale eleme..."

I'd say it's a fairy tale. What's the difference between that and a story with a talking cat, a princess, and a giant?

I was mentioning to my sister what the challenge was for this month and she pointed out a book I re-read at a bookstore recently might fit the bill: That Is Not a Good Idea!. I've never bought it for myself, but I want to sometime. For good measure I should probably go home and read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs again, too.

(Yep, a Mo Willems fan. Particularly these two, the Pigeon books, and the Elephant and Piggie books.)

Everyone's choices sound amazing. Keep it going, there's 9 days left in this challenge!

I finished Spinning Silver. It was so good! I definitely recommend it, and will read more by this author. I hear her book, Uprooted is also excellent.

I also just finished Spinning Silver. I loved it. It’s quite different from Uprooted.

Audrey wrote: "I also just finished Spinning Silver. I loved it. It’s quite different from Uprooted."

Did you like Uprooted?

Becky wrote: “Audrey wrote: “I also just finished Spinning Silver. I loved it. It’s quite different from Uprooted.”

Did you like Uprooted?”

I liked it except for the romance, and that wasn’t a big part. The writing is equally entrancing.

I finished a kiss in time. by Alex Flinn. yesterday

Do we have a topic for March yet? The end of February always catches me by surprise since it is a shortie month.

Debbie wrote: “Do we have a topic for March yet? The end of February always catches me by surprise since it is a shortie month.”

I think we have to wait until tomorrow.

Mary is our prize drawing winner for February 2019’s reading challenge. They read To Bewitch a Beast.

Congratulations!

Congrats, Mary!

Elizabeth, Suggestion: to avoid both getting the gender pronoun (she, he) wrong for any individual and to avoid using a plural neutral (they), try doing the sentences this way:
... our prize drawing winner for [month]'s 2019’s reading challenge having read ....
or
... our prize drawing winner for [month]'s 2019’s reading challenge who read ....

So you get a single sentence that doesn't grind the brain of a grammar Beastie like me. And you don't offend Kim, who is a guy, by assuming and calling him "she". Win Win.

Debbie wrote: "Elizabeth, Suggestion: to avoid both getting the gender pronoun (she, he) wrong for any individual and to avoid using a plural neutral (they), try doing the sentences this way:
... our prize drawi..."

That sounds good, Debbie. I also appreciate Elizabeth being pronoun sensitive.

YAY!!!! To be honest I had no idea there were prize drawings. I thought it was just a way to expand what I read so YAY!!!!!

And it's cool that the prize is based only on names drawn "out of a hat" and not whoever finished first, or who read the longest book, or who read the most interesting book. Just based on luck of the draw!

Debbie wrote: "And it's cool that the prize is based only on names drawn "out of a hat" and not whoever finished first, or who read the longest book, or who read the most interesting book. Just based on luck of t..."

Which I why I never expect to win, hahahaha!