The Child Thief - Brom

The cover of this book is arresting enough, never mind the premise ... a side of Peter Pan that exposes a much darker character than H.M Barrie ever dared put to paper. Here is a Peter Pan tale that brings a more sinister and dangerous intent to his spiriting away of children to Neverland. And Neverland is not what we remember either! Yes, there is a pirate-like figure a la Captain Hook, fairy sprites that are full of mischief, dangerous beasts with fangs and slimy skins, but their danger and intent are magnified a hundred-fold. Gone are the strictly good and strictly evil characters of Barrie's story; they are replaced with like characters that are ... complicated, complex, more balanced with light and dark.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Once Upon a Time there was a magical island with a strange mysterious portal to the past ...

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children got a lot of press back when it was first published in 2011. A new spine-tingling young adult read, it relies on an old equation - misunderstood young man with unusual ability is drawn to an isolated haven for children with equally unusual abilities that is looked over by a matronly and well-meaning mother figure. Yes, the Harry Potter syndrome strikes again. Once again, age-old themes work with a new author's imagination to give us a whiz-bang adventure fantasy that promises to be ripe for subsequent novels.

Once Upon A Time VII - Carl's Reading Challenge Is Back!

The first days of summer-like weather have finally arrived and with them comes a feeling of excitement for sunny afternoons spent lounging on my porch with my pile of summertime reads. I always have a really fun time deciding just what I will concentrate on in my summer reading hoard ... and this summer, I'll start out with a few books and a play!

I almost missed out on this year's Once Upon a Time reading share that Carl Anderson organizes at his website called Stainless Steel Droppings ... it's been too long since I dropped in to see what he has been up to! If you are one that likes getting into conversations about fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, fairy tales, and such this just might be the challenge for you! Carl does an excellent job of tiering the levels of participation in this annual blogging event, building a full genre tour, use of television and wide-screen media, a read-along of one major work(this year it's Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream ), and a short story option. There is something for everyone here, folks!

I am opting for reading the Shakespeare and at least one other book, as I have discovered the event  pretty close to its winding down date (rats!) ... hence, I will be reading - drum roll, please ...

Ransom Rigg's Young Adult novel about young Jacob's fantastical journey in search of the details about his grandfather's mysterious past and unusual upbringing at Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Katharine Beutner's novel about the mythological daughter of King Pelias of Iolcus who, sacrifices her life out of love for her husband King Admetus in Euripides' tragic play Alcestis. Beutner writes the back story of the young princess and how she ends up embroiled in the play between Greek gods and her husband.

There! That should get me started! Perhaps, you too, will decide to jump aboard the Once Upon a Time train ... if you have a comfy chair and a pile of books set aside that fit the parameters of the challenge !

Neverwhere - The Final Discussion and Musing

When I signed on to read Neil Gaiman's book, Neverwhere, it had been a long time since I'd picked up adult fantasy fiction. It was such an interesting and fun read that I find myself wondering why I turned away from the genre in the first place. It's funny, isn't it, how you fall into a pattern with your reading preferences? A rut, perhaps? Kind of like poor Richard Mayhew who found himself walking a London routine of slow and steady career advancement, sure and safe relationships, and a mundane day-to-day existence. How unsettling to find oneself  'down the rabbit hole'  and wandering in a parallel world that has strange and bizarre intersections with your 'real world'. How unsettling for a reader to follow along and journey out of their 'reading rut' and into the fantastical world of London Below! Art and life intersected, for me, in a literary exercise.

Neverwhere Discussion 2 - Going to the Depths

This week's reading has confirmed my feelings on my three most memorable characters. I continue to love Old Bailey even though he can 'bitch and moan’. When he’s really needed, he comes through. The marquis deC … the marquis deC!  I am so unsure of him … I have a sinking feeling when he leaves the Earl’s Court … is that SOB going to double cross and sell out poor Lady Door and hapless Richard? Hunter? I’m not worried about her. She’s a mercenary and has reconciled her life and life expectancy long ago, but is she what SHE seems to be? I somehow think that her future and Richard’s will entwine … it’s all about those dreams he has of a beast … and she IS a hunter, right?

The email has come, though, and more questions await.

Reckless - A Novel by Cornelia Funke

"The sheet of paper slipped out of a book on airplane propulsion. Jacob only picked it up because he thought he recognized his father's handwriting on it, though he quickly realized his error. Symbols and equations, a sketch of a peacock, a sun, two moons. None of it made sense. Except one sentence he spotted on the reverse side: THE MIRROR WILL OPEN ONLY FOR HE WHO CANNOT SEE HIMSELF. Jacob turned around - and his glance was met by his own reflection."

                                                                        - Cornelia Funke in Reckless

Would you dare walk through the mirror and enter a mysterious world, foreign to all your experience and knowledge? Well, would you ?

Found Fairy Tales ... and The Turnip Princess

Little did I know when I joined Carl's 'Once Upon a Time' event that I would come across an article that would so fit the theme of this reading challenge.

Here's the background. My daughter and son came home for a Sunday family dinner today. In conversation, Sara mentioned that she'd seen that a huge cache of  'fairy tales' had been discovered in Germany. Did I know anything about it? Duh ... no! This, of course, sent us scurrying for the computer to check it out.