February Book #1

Book: Chapter After Chapter: Discover the dedication and focus you need to write the book of your dreams by Heather Sellers

Book in a sentence: A great writing book for anyone who isn't quite an amateur anymore, but isn't exactly where they want to be as a writer.

The best thing about this book: Sellers prose is so approachable and easy-to-read. She makes you feel like she's a friend who is discussing your writing with you. I especially appreciated the chapter on slowing down. Sometimes I feel so much pressure to get things done NOW, that I forget to slow down and enjoy the journey. Slow down and focus on the things that are important. Just slow down. A must-read for any writer, especially if you're stuck in a funk.

Happy reading!

January Book #2

Book: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Book in a sentence: The first in the series of adventures of Thursday Next, a LiteraTec with SpecOps. Set in an alternate United Kingdom.

The best thing about this book: My friend Jenel put it best when she said this book could never be made into a movie. It's a book that celebrates it's bookliness by doing things that can't be done in any other media. Jasper Fforde's writing is entertaining, witty, and there are so many inside jokes for English Literature lovers that it will keep you on your toes. The tongue-in-cheek names will make you smirk, and Thursday's adventures will intrigue you so much that you'll run out and grab the next book in the series!

Happy reading!

January Book #1

Book: Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon

Book in a sentence: A banished fairy deals with old age, guilt, and trying to survive in a world that is not her own.

The best thing about this book: It was completely unique and unexpected. The premise is so far-fetched and yet the author made it believable, sometimes painfully so. Though there was a repetition of phrases and she has a serious crush on New York City, the writing was beautiful. It had the feel of a literary novel while still being engrossing and easy to read.

Happy reading!

The 100 Book List

I have been in a reading funk, as you can see by the fact that I haven't finished a book since November. As I was reading a fabulous book I just bought on writing, the author suggested making a list of 100 books you plan to read over the year. Books that have to do, in some way or other, with the book you're working on. So that I won't lose this list (and to perhaps give other people ideas) I am posting it here on my blog. I'm starting with books I own and moving on to ones that I hope to read. They are in no real order. Enjoy!

Pam's 100 Book List for 2013

1. The Arabian Knights translated by Sir Richard Burton
2. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
3. A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
4. The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber
5. The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories of Hans Christian Andersen
6. The Tales of Guy de Maupassant
7. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
8. The Uncrowned King by Harold Bell Wright
9. Wildwood by Colin Meloy
10. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
11. The Princess Tales Vol. I & II by Gail Carson Levine
12. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
14. The Fairy Book by Dinah Maria Mulock
15. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
16. Treasury of Fairy Tales retold by Geraldine McCaughrean and Sophy Williams
17. Ever by Gail Carson Levine
18. Fairest of All by Serena Valentino
19. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
20. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
21. River Secrets by Shannon Hale
22. Forest Born by Shannon Hale
23. Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge
24. Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
25. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
26. Ophelia by Lisa Klein
27. The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
28. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
29. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
30. The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley
31. Water Song by Suzanne Weyn
32. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
33. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
34. Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
35. Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
36. Rapunzel: and Other Maiden in the Tower Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner
37. Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
38. The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
39. Sunlight and Shadow by Cameron Dokey
40. Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguie
41. The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott
42. Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
43. The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey
44. Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguie
45. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
46. The Magic Three of Solatia by Jane Yolen
47. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
48. Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
49. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
50. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
51. Mirror Mirror by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple
52. The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
53. Fairy Tales and After by Roger Sale
54. Breaking the Magic Spell by Jack Zipes
55. Fairy Tales for Writers by Lawrence Shimel
56. Why Fairy Tales Stick by Jack Zipes
57. Off With Their Heads! by Maria Tatar
58. The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli
59. Unenchanted by Chanda Hahn
60. Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde
61. Cloaked by Alex Flinn
62. Entwined by Heather Dixon
63. The Extra-Ordinary Princess by Carolyn Ebbit
64. The Fairy Tale Fiction of Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie
65. Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mable
66. The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
67. Never After by Rebecca Lickiss
68. The Twelve Dancing Princesses: Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner
69. The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
70. The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
71. Darkwood by M.E. Breen
72. Can You Guess My Name by Sierra Judy
73. The Fairy-Tale Princess by Su Blackwell
74. Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon
75. Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson
76. From the Beast to the Blonde by Maria Tatar
77. From the Forest by Sara Maitland
78. Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon
79. Haunted Legends by Ellen Datlow
80. The Next Full Moon by Carolyn Turgeon
81. Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
82. Birdie's Book by Jan Bozarth
83. Aesop's Mirror by Maryalice Huggins
84. Grey Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
85. A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka
86. The Unhandsome Prince by John Moore
87. Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble
88. The Beautiful Between by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
89. The Poison Eaters by Holly Black
90. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
91. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
92. The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines
93. Troll's-Eye View by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
94. Fortune's Folly by Deva Fagan
95. The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold by Kate Bernheimer
96. Elementals by A.S. Byatt
97. The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt
98. Grimm's Last Fairytale by Haydn Middleton
99. Swan Sister by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
100. Sometimes the Soul by Gioia Timpanelli
101. Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer
102. Storyteller by Edward Myers
103. Enchanted Hunters by Maria Tatar
104. Whirl by Emma Raveling
105. How to Spin Gold by Elizabeth Cunningham
106. The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan
107. The Godmother by Elizabeth Anne Scarborough
108. Shadow by Jenny Moss
109. Fairy Tales and Feminism by Donald Haase
110. Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli
111. The Complete Tales of Merry Gold by Kate Bernheimer
112. Hannah's Garden by Midori Snyder
113. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
114. The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson
115. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
116. Shapeshifter by Holly Bennett

Wow! I thought 100 would be hard, but it wasn't. In fact, I'll probably keep adding to this all year.

Any that you think I've missed?

November Book #1

Book: In A Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
Age-range: 8 and up

This is the much-anticipated follow-up to Gidwitz's book, A Tale Dark and Grimm. While the first one had a seamlessness to it, with every fairy tale feeling like they belonged with each other, this one is more like a series of connected stories that tell a larger story. I still haven't decided which I like more.

This one, like the first, was violent in an old-school fairy tale way, but it had so much more humor to break it up that I think a younger audience could really love this one.

Happy reading!

As a side note I am in a reading funk. Suggestions?

October Book #4

Book: Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple
Age-range: 16 and up

This was a much-buzzed-about book that I kept hearing about. Repeatedly. Everywhere I looked. (Which is really weird for me because it's not fairy tale related, and mostly those are the only books that I hear the buzz about.) It was good, intriguing, and well-written. Books that are written as a series of documents are usually hard for me to read because the tone is (obviously) ever-changing. With this book there were small asides by Bee the "narrator" that tied everything together nicely. It's a book I would recommend.

Happy reading!

October Book #3

Book: The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey
Age-range: 12 and up

This was our book club book this month (although we won't talk about it until tomorrow). I was sorely disappointed. I had read another book in this series and loved it, so I had high hopes for this one. Alas, they were in vain. It was uneven and had too many loose plots running wild and dead-ending.

However, I think there is plenty to talk about at book club!