Once Upon a Time Challenge

I have held off on signing up for challenges this year due to lingering embarrassment from last year. (I had signed up for hundreds than fell off the boat...baby...moving...ya know...) But thank you Suey for pointing me to this one. I am going to do it. I am going to focus. I have been reading fairy tales like there's no tomorrow anyway and I love the artwork. Good motivation, huh?

There is Quest the First: Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time IV criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

And Quest the Second: Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology. This proves to be one of the more difficult quests each year merely because of the need to classify each read and determine which books fit into which category. I am not a stickler, fear not, but I am endlessly fascinated watching how folks work to find books for each category.

Then there is Quest the Third: Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream OR a viewing of one of the many theatrical versions of the play. Love the story, love the films, love the idea of that magical night of the year and so this is my chance to promote the reading of this farcical love story.

Now that I'm copyin' and pastin' I see that the important conjunction word is or. This whole day, and it really does take me a whole day to put up a post, I've been thinking and. I'm still taken with the and concept.

So here are my Goals:

Quest the First:

1. Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
2. East by Edith Pattou
3. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
4. Confession of an Uglay Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
5. The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey

(I will be focusing on fairy tales since there are so many I've been pointed to recently. I read fantasy all the time and it would not be anything of a challenge.)

Quest the Second:

1. Fablehaven: The Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull (Fantasy)
2. Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen (Fairy Tale)
3. Hush by Donna Jo Napoli (Folklore)
4. Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary by Lynn Curlee (Mythology)

 Quest the Third:

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream (reading)
2. A Midsummer Night's Dream (watching)

But, in case things get hairy, let's keep in mind that it is truly an or.

It starts March 21st and ends June 20th.

Wish me luck! And then come JOIN US!