Embarking for Fairylands…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations

onceup8300My favorite reading challenge of the year is back again!  Once Upon a Time, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, is a celebration of fantasy reading, especially with a fairy tale bent.  As Carl put it in his launch post this year…

“…that still small voice is calling, “Come away…”

It is that voice that beckons us to Middle-earth and Newford, that calls out from the gap in the village of Wall and from the world of London Below. It is the voice that packs so much promise into four little words…

“Once upon a time…”

The “challenge” is low-key (hence my quotation marks) and focused more on the fun.  No participation is too small, no pressure is involved!  This will be my fourth year participating (!) and it’s begun to feel like a little reunion of bloggers every year, as old friends come out to share their posts.  The “challenge” runs throughout spring, promising lots of good fantasy reading in the next three months.

Some years I’ve gone into this with a long list of books (and possibly a tall stack somewhere in my apartment) but this year I’m feeling a little more freeform.  I’m hoping for some impetus to read more fairy tale retellings, a plan for this year that I haven’t fully pursued yet.  Along those lines, I have Cress by Marissa Meyer on reserve at the library–#47 in line, so hopefully it will come before the challenge ends!

Beyond that, I want to finish up my rereading of Diana Wynne Jones’ Crestomanci series, and start a rereading of her Dalemark Quartet.  And beyond that…I will see where the spirit moves, and expect to get many good ideas from what everyone else reads!

And if I might shamelessly self-promote for a moment–may I suggest that my novel about a wandering adventurer and a talking cat, adventuring through fairy tales, would be a perfect read for this challenge? 🙂  (Edited: And you may also want to investigate my give-away…)

Happy voyaging, wherever your reading takes you!

23 thoughts on “Embarking for Fairylands…”

  1. Pingback: Once Upon a Time Review: The Wanderers - PEN IN HER HAND

  2. joyweesemoll

    I enjoyed Cress! It probably won’t take too long to get your copy from the library (most libraries buy more copies when the wait list is getting too long).

    Reply

    1. They have about half as many copies as people in front of me in line…so I hope that means I’ll get it in a month or so? Not that I spend a lot of time thinking about this or anything… 🙂

      Reply

    1. I’m pretty sure I have…assuming I’m thinking of the right series! There was a Native American retelling of Beauty and the Beast, a modern Snow White, and a slightly Arthurian 12 Dancing Princesses…

      Reply

  4. I’ll be interested in any fairy tale retelling you discover. Last year i started Emma Donoghue’s collection Kissing the Witch but didn’t finish it. It ws very good but I lost the thread and as they were interlinked it got a bit complicated to get back into the book.

    Reply

  5. Cheryl,
    The Wanderers does look like the perfect fairy tale book for this challenge. I’m putting it on my list. Just have to find my kindle…where could it have gone? Is it time for housecleaning?

    Reply

      1. I did go get a copy of your book. I will try to fit it into the Once Upon a Time Challenge this year. I am worried about the timing because I will be making a trip during the challenge. That could be good or bad depending on how much time I have for reading.

        Reply

  8. Signed up! (Got a copy of your book also – got a lot on the list so we’ll just see what happens! Not going to tie myself down but hoping to read quite a lot)
    Lynn 😀

    Reply

Leave a reply to cherylmahoney Cancel reply