You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Let me tell you a story...

Jakob Grimm, half of the Brothers Grimm, was born on the 4 January 1785. Wilhelm, the younger brother, was born on the 24 February 1786. The Brothers collected and published around 211 fairy tales, folk stories and legends between 1812 and 1857.

In order to celebrate their birthdays and to acknowledge their work, January’s challenge is to read a retelling of a fairy tale, folk story, myth or legend.

Clarifications (with examples in the spoilers):
· This is not a book that *just* has mythological or supernatural elements in it, it has to be a retelling of another story. (view spoiler)[ For example, The Penelopiad as a retelling of the Odyssey, or The Mists of Avalon as a retelling of the Arthurian legend. (hide spoiler)]

· It also has to be the whole book, not just one short story within a collection. (view spoiler)[ For example, Neil Gaiman has a brilliant retelling of Snow White in Smoke and Mirrors, but as it is about 10pp in 365pp, this does not count. However The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories does count as the whole book is a collection of retellings of a whole heap of Brothers Grimm stories. (hide spoiler)]

· No primary sources sorry. As important and fun as it is to read the originals of these stories (and we all should), this is a retelling challenge. (view spoiler)[ Not Beowulf: A New Verse Translation itself, but reading something like Grendel or Eaters of the Dead. Or not The Aeneid but say Dido instead (hide spoiler)]

· And finally, I'm looking at stories with an oral tradition that have been told over time. So if the story was first told in the printed version, I'm afraid it's not counting this time. (view spoiler)[ Examples again Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, or Frankenstein don't count. However, Dracula would count as is it a retelling/reimagining of Vlad the Impaler legends. (hide spoiler)]

Points can be then earnt by the following

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
4 - Quest
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story
8 – Asian, African, Pacific, South, Central or Native American, Intuit, Middle Eastern or Australian
6 – Other European (eg Slavic, Scandinavian, Baltic)
4 – Classical Greek, Roman or Egyptian
2 – English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Canadian or American (by American I mean non-Native eg The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character (eg. Hood)
4 - Has a colon and subtitle (eg. Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles)
3 - Has “fable”, “fairy tale”, “story” or “legend” in the title
2 - Has a magical word in the title eg magic, spell, enchanted, bewitched
1 - Is three words (including The, etc)

Cover (the version *you* read. If audio book, go by Goodreads' most popular cover)
5 - Has an ominous looking male
4 - Has a long, flowing haired female
3 - Has a rose
2 - Has a weapon
1 - Has a horse

Confused? Want ideas?
Check out the other thread here http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... for rule clarifications and ideas.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy



Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
4 - Quest
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character
3 - Has “fable”, “fairy tale”, “story” or “legend” in the title

Cover (the version *you* read. If audio book, go by Goodreads' most popular cover)
0-

Points: 28

Good job, Anna. You're the first to report your book for the challenge.

Way to go, Anna!

Aacckkkk! Must find book and start it. But what about other groups, group read, and, and, ALPHABET??? Oh no! Is that a panic attack?? Calm down. Go take a pill. I have a month to get these read.
**off to find a pill or a book :)

LOL! Don't take too many pills, j'mom, or you won't be reading at all. You'll be off in dream land.

I read Briar Rose. The first book I started and finished this new year! A sad, yet sadly triumphant, telling of the Sleeping Beauty story based on the survival of one woman from a Nazi death camp.

Theme
4 - Quest
2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character

Cover
3 - Has a rose

25 points

Some library patron is hoggin' my book. I can't get Cinder yet.

I seem to have lost my book. I had it on my desk to check it was a valid choice, but I can't find where I put it! Somewhere safe, I suspect. Here's hoping it shows up before the end of the month...

Almeta, I'm sure you can russle up enough of us to go threatening kneecapping for your book if you need. Us bookclubbers are a scary lot.

Helen, SO glad I'm not the only one who does this. Hope it turns up soon, but at least you know its a super safe spot.

I read Book of a Thousand Days which was based on a classic story from the Grimm's fairy tales. I absolutely loved this book, it was very emotional and well written. It also had great twists and turns that were completely unexpected. I'd recommend this book to anyone.

I think I'm doing this point system right, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title

0

Cover (the version *you* read. If audio book, go by Goodreads' most popular cover)

0

19 Points

Looks good Mary Alice! Glad you enjoyed your read. Only thing is your title is 5 words long, not 3. So just update that point and we are good to go!

Ok, I fixed it :) I thought it meant at least 3 words for some reason haha. Thanks!

No worries. Good to know if things are unclear. I assumed thats what you thought :)

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Theme: I will say the theme is happily ever after as that seems to be Penelope's wish, to live happily ever after. 2
Origin: Greek = 4
Title: Name of main character = 5
Cover: Has a long, flowing haired female on the cover = 4
Total points = 15

I read Beastly by Alex Flinn

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
2 - Happily ever after…
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title
0

Cover
3 - Has a rose

TOTAL = 21 points

>.>
Well as it is and has been and will be for the next week 38-40 degrees (100-104F for those of you), it may just happen.

I have never seen such a cutesy guy with a pike before.

It is now very high on my TBR list, so thanks Gaeta! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Rusalka wrote: ">.>
Well as it is and has been and will be for the next week 38-40 degrees (100-104F for those of you), it may just happen.

I have never seen such a cutesy guy with a pike before.

It is now ver..."

Rusalka, drop by my place. It's 1 degree Celsius/ 34F here.

Oh, Pragya, I did not think it got that cold in India, but after dragging my old globe out of the closet, I see that that was dumb. You must live in the north? It is in the low 30s F here in Oregon, USA too.

Cherie wrote: "Oh, Pragya, I did not think it got that cold in India, but after dragging my old globe out of the closet, I see that that was dumb. You must live in the north? It is in the low 30s F here in Oreg..."

I don't think I've ever thought of India being cold either.

And Rusalka.....I'll be visiting you in the winter after (if we EVER get there) we move to Canada. I hate the cold.

I read Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Theme
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents. Definitely! Her refusal to obey her father and marry Guy led to becoming Scarlet.
1 - Love. Scarlet loves Robin.

Origin of the *original* story
2 – English

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character

Cover
2 - Has a weapon. One of Scarlet's knives

13 points - Looks like I might get my glue stick :)

This is a YA book, and at times that was very obvious, but I enjoyed it overall.

Ummm... if this book is more of a headache then you want to deal with, just tell me I can read another one.

I read SnowWhite / Snow White: The Untold Story

It was an 'upside down' tales, written for children so it was two stories for the price of one. One side was a traditional re-telling of snow White, but the other story was a story from the point of view of the not-so-wicked stepmother.

Theme:
Happily Ever After: 2
Love: 1
I want to say consequences of not obeying your parents, but that's very vaguely implied, so I just can't.

Origin:
Brother's Grimm 10

Title:
Is the Name of the Main Character: 5
Colon 4 Question later *taking point for colon
Has the word Story 3

Cover:
Long haired female:4
(Rose: I have a question about the covers too)*not taking the points for the rose

Score: 29

*edit: I took the points for the Colon, and since Snow White: The Untold Story was the side of the cover where Snow White was not holding the rose, I won't take the points for the rose.
Next time I'll try really hard to pick a normal book.

***
I have a question about the title and the cover.


On one cover it has
Snow White
The Untold Story
(No Colon, but I know covers are often like that, with the title having a colon on the inside.) And there is no rose on this side.

In the categorizing index on the copyright page it has Snow White: The untold story (with a colon)

My conundrum is that the title on the inside is The Untold Story of Snow White.

The other side of the book is just Snow White, and it has its own cover with a picture of a rose on it.

So do I have to pick a side, or can I count both covers as they are on the same book. (And I thought I was grabbing something easy to score)

Since I edited the Goodreads page about the book, I would like an outside opinion. What I was told to do was treat it the same way they would an Ace Double with both titles and a slash between them and both covers if possible. So that's what I did, and someone else checked my work.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I read Cinder
Theme
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
Her stepmother took her cyborg foot away and she had to hobble around on crutches.

Origin of the *original* story
6 – Other European post edited from 4

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character

0 - Cover
Total = 14 points edited from original total

Cherie wrote: "I read Cinder
Theme
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
Her stepmother took her cyborg foot away and she had to hobble around on crutches.

Origin of the ..."

Isn't there a prince and they fall in love?? You need more points!

Jaxnsmom - you're not supposed to be trying to get the glue stick...
If Cherie think it's only 12 points, then I'm sure it's only 12 points.

Cherie wrote: "I read Cinder
Theme
3 - Consequences of not obeying ones parents (urgh)
Her stepmother took her cyborg foot away and she had to hobble around on crutches.

Origin of the ..."

Along with Jmom's query, you also get more points, as Cindrella is a French fairytale, not a classical story (ie ancient Roman, Greek or Egyptian). Therefore you get 6 points for other European.

Edit your post!

Shanna_redwind wrote: "Ummm... if this book is more of a headache then you want to deal with, just tell me I can read another one.

I read SnowWhite / Snow White: The Untold Story [bookcover:SnowWhite / Snow White: The U..."

I am really confused and I think I have a migrane so bear with me.

You say it is "Snow White" then has a subtitle, The Unknown Story. This is the equivalent of a colon on the cover. The inside should have it. I work with academics who have an unhealthy relationship with the colon. Also, I checked Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Snow-White-Unto...

Second. Cover is the cover of the version *you* read. But from my reading you say it has two covers on your book? Or do you mean you are looking at the back cover? If you mean either of these, it is the first front cover of the book that counts, not any of the others.

Make sense? Did I completely misunderstand?

Also, sorry for the delay. Goodreads has stopped notifying me yet again.

Helen wrote: "Jaxnsmom - you're not supposed to be trying to get the glue stick...
If Cherie think it's only 12 points, then I'm sure it's only 12 points."

Seeing as I have no chance at the most points, I might as well try for the lowest :) But there's still three weeks for someone to beat me.

Cherie and Amy, it gets way colder than that. Yes, I'm in the north but there's still more north to go where temperature goes sub-zero. It's got so cold here after about 44 years. Cherie, did you like Cinder?

jaxnsmom wrote: "Helen wrote: "Jaxnsmom - you're not supposed to be trying to get the glue stick...
If Cherie think it's only 12 points, then I'm sure it's only 12 points."

Seeing as I have no chance at the most ..."

I haven't started my book yet, J'Mom and I may give you a run for the glue-stick prize.

Pragya wrote: "Cherie and Amy, it gets way colder than that. Yes, I'm in the north but there's still more north to go where temperature goes sub-zero. It's got so cold here after about 44 years. Cherie, did you l..."

Yes, Pragya, I really did like the story. I think it was very well written. It is a very good twist on the original story that we all know and love.

Rusalka, it's a double sided book. Both sides are front covers of separate stories- Snow White and Snow White: The Untold Story. I read them both, but will only use the one title and cover.

I just used the cover of Snow White: The Untold Story because that's the side I claimed the points for the title on, though sadly for me, not the side that has the rose.

I'm sorry. I really wasn't trying to be confusing and I honestly didn't deliberately pick an oddball book.

jaxnsmom wrote: "Helen wrote: "Jaxnsmom - you're not supposed to be trying to get the glue stick...
If Cherie think it's only 12 points, then I'm sure it's only 12 points."

Seeing as I have no chance at the most ..."

Rusalka wrote: "Cherie wrote: "I read Cinder

I was not trying for the lowest points, Jaxnsmom, but I did not want to take advantage of something that was not really there either. Yes, there is a prince, but they did not "fall in love". They are attracted to each other yes, but by the end of the story, there certainly wasn't any going on, for reasons that you have to read the story to find out. I will reserve the edit for 1 -Love for now.

I did edit my post to change the Origin points. I was looking deeper into the Origin than was intended for the task.

I've read The Death of King Arthur: A New Verse Translation translated from the Middle English by Simon Armitage.
review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Theme
4 - Quest

Origin of the *original* story
2 – English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Canadian or American (by American I mean non-Native eg The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

Title
5 - Is the name of the main character (eg. Hood)

Cover (the version *you* read. If audio book, go by Goodreads' most popular cover)
5 - Has an ominous looking male
2 - Has a weapon
1 - Has a horse

Which I think is 19.

Shanna_redwind wrote: "Rusalka, it's a double sided book. Both sides are front covers of separate stories- Snow White and Snow White: The Untold Story. I read them both, but will only use the one title and cover.

I ju..."

Oh look that's just confusing! Children's book publishers too busy trying to make books "interesting" for kids, but absolutely *NO* consideration for those of us running book group challenges. Maybe they need a strongly worded letter... lol

My thoughts... rulings? no... are, claim the cover and title that give you more collective points. But only one side.

LOL.. sorry again. Does it help to know that I not only had to read it once, but have had to read it at least once a day since I got it out from the library? I'm going on 5 or 6 readings now. Will probably be at least 10 by the time it goes back.

Best non-spoilering tell off ever Cherie lol

Shanna_redwind wrote: "LOL.. sorry again. Does it help to know that I not only had to read it once, but have had to read it at least once a day since I got it out from the library? I'm going on 5 or 6 readings now. Wi..."

No no not your fault. And the joys of having kids hey?

I remarked last night how it must be fun to have kids so you can share all your favourite movies and books with them. My partner, who has 10 nieces and nephews, and has shared a house with 6 of them, remarked "NO! No no no! Because you don't watch or read them once. You read and watch them over and over and over again, until they are the most annoying things ever!!"

I think he still needs a couple of years to get over the experiences before we even consider having our own (if at all).

Looks like folks have found some good books to read. There goes my TBR list!

Debra wrote: "Looks like folks have found some good books to read. There goes my TBR list!"

*snicker* Hope you can fit in one read with us Debra. Otherwise I'm sure next month will blow out your TBR list too!!

You laughing at me!? lol

I read Briar Rose and reported it fairly early on. I think it was the first book I read this year.

Cherie wrote: "Pragya wrote: "Cherie and Amy, it gets way colder than that. Yes, I'm in the north but there's still more north to go where temperature goes sub-zero. It's got so cold here after about 44 years. C..."

Great. I have the book since so long, now just to pick it up and start reading.

You will not want to put it down, once you start reading it, Pragya. It is a quick read. I totally loved some of the twists on the original story, one not so much. I hope you like it too! I will be waiting to hear what you think when you are done.

Ah, thanks Cherie. Hoping to like it, I'll surely let you know once I'm through.

Cherie, Pragya...About to start this one myself. The library book hoarder finally let it go! (I think Rusulka threatened their kneecaps!)

Debra wrote: "You laughing at me!? lol

I read Briar Rose and reported it fairly early on. I think it was the first book I read this year."

... don't mind me. I'm heat-addled. Of course you did /facepalm.

Almeta wrote: "Cherie, Pragya...About to start this one myself. The library book hoarder finally let it go! (I think Rusulka threatened their kneecaps!)"

Mwahaha! The things I do for my YLTO-ers.

lol, Rusalka. I'll have to keep your knee-capping talents in mind for my future needs!

The Snow Child

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation
(From a snow girl to a child)
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
6 – Other European (Moscow)

Title
1 - Is three words (The Snow Child)

Total--13 points

After reading and thinking I had read it for the Alphabet challenge (I didn't), I decided to finish by Mercedes Lackey, which I had started for this challenge earlier in the month. Both are Beauty and the Beast retellings.

Theme
5 - Physical Transformation (from man to werewolf)
2 - Happily ever after… (because they found love)
1 - Love

Origin of the *original* story
10 – Brothers Grimm story

Title
1 - Is three words (including The, etc)

Cover (the version *you* read. If audio book, go by Goodreads' most popular cover)
5 - Has an ominous looking male

Total: 24

Question, the character of Beauty is named Rose, which is in the title. Does that count for the title points?