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Are you all up for a 2015 Reading Challenge?
If so, please nominate your books here!
In the past we have done 12 books, but I know some of us, including myself, did not finish this year.
How about only 10 books this time?

I am up for the challenge! This will be my first full year with the group so I'm not sure about nominating!# Personally I want to read Angela Carter's Fairy tales this year and already have them on order.

I think 10 would be great, though if others want 12 that's fine too!

Here are a few suggestions:
-A collection or anthology of short stories and/or poems based on fairy tales.
-A critical study or history of fairy tales (I'm always meaning to read more nonfiction about fairy tales, but never get around to it)
-A fairy tale collection from a country you've never read a collection from before.

I vote for 12; one per month, if participant so chooses. Also remember participants set the number to be completed for their challenge. So if someone only wants to complete 5 of the 12 selections, then they set their challenge for 5. Easy peasy.

- I'd like to nominate the Endicott lists again. That would fill 3 slots in the 2015 challenge.

- A book or collection featuring legendary/mythological monsters or creatures. Fiction or non-fiction. Examples include the vampire, banshee, sluagh, wendigo, troll, mothman, jersey devil, sasquatch, dragons, goblins, and so on.

- A novel or collection by one of your favorite authors that you have not read yet.

- A novel or collection based on a theme you aren't familiar with or haven't read in the last 5 years. Themes could be anything, really. Enchanted forests, snow maidens, the Evil Queen, coming of age, and so on.

- A poem, short story, novella or novel that inspired one of your favorite movies, TV shows, mini-series, or play.

- A retelling of one of your favorite originals.

I think these are broad enough to make the selection process a lot of fun.

Great ideas, Leah!

Leah you are good at coming up with ideas.

I was thinking maybe we could have a certain legend/myth/tale like we did with the Arthurian read.

Thank you, Margaret and Kathy!

I also like the idea of a specific legend/myth/tale.

Leah wrote: "Thank you, Margaret and Kathy!

I also like the idea of a specific legend/myth/tale."

Thanks, but now we need to come up with one. Trying to think of a non-Eurporean one.

Maybe something from this thread: /topic/show/...

Leah wrote: "I vote for 12; one per month, if participant so chooses. Also remember participants set the number to be completed for their challenge. So if someone only wants to complete 5 of the 12 selections, ..."

I agree with everyone that Leah has great ideas!

I very much like including the Endicot list again because there are so many books on it that I still have not read. I have not been able to get the monthly ones in the Endicot group in time, so would love to have the chance to read them for this group!

Kathy wrote: "Thanks, but now we need to come up with one. Trying to think of a non-European one."

How about the legends and folklore of North America's native tribes? Their trickster myths have always fascinated me.

We could do:
- a specific tribe's legends, such as the Maya, Hopi, Cheyenne, etc.
- a specific type of legend: creation, trickster, etc.
- a legend with a specific theme: animals, nature spirits, dreams, etc.

What about a book from the "villain's" PoV?

Leah wrote: "Kathy wrote: "Thanks, but now we need to come up with one. Trying to think of a non-European one."

How about the legends and folklore of North America's native tribes? Their trickster myths have a..."

How about trickster myths/retellings? I feel like there's more variety there in terms of retellings. If we went with a specific tribe, we might end up all reading the same author.

Agreed, Margaret. Half the fun is seeing what books everyone finds.

Okay Everyone!

Thanks for all your great suggestions!

Let me know what you think of this 2015 challenge!

1.One YA Fairy Tale Retelling from the Endicott list
2.One Adult Fairy Tale Retelling from the Endicott list
3. One Mythic Fiction from the Endicott list
4. A book or collection,Fiction or non-fiction, featuring legendary/mythological monsters or creatures. .
5. A novel or collection by one of your favorite authors that you have not read yet.
6. A novel or collection based on a theme you aren't familiar with or haven't read in the last 5 years. Themes could be anything, really. Enchanted forests, snow maidens, the Evil Queen, coming of age, and so on.
7.A poem, short story, novella or novel that inspired one of your favorite movies, TV shows, mini-series, or play.
8. A retelling of one of your favourite originals.
9. A collection of or novel based on or containing the legends and folklore of North America's native tribes.
10. A critical study or history of fairy tales
11. A fairy tale collection from a country you've never read a collection from before.
12. A book from the "villains' POV

I agree that these selections are broad enough to give everyone lots of choices!

Margaret, to make it 12, I took out "A collection or anthology of short stories and/or poems based on fairy tales." since that can be included in the other things mentioned above.

Jalilah wrote: "Okay Everyone!

Thanks for all your great suggestions!

Let me know what you think of this 2015 challenge!"

That looks like A LOT of fun!

This looks awesome! I didn't participate in last year's challenge because I didn't want to come in "halfway," but I plan to go for it this year. Could you include links to the Endicott lists you're using with those challenges? I had a little trouble knowing whether I was hunting down the right list when Endicott has come up in the past -- I'm not super familiar with it. Thanks!

Thanks for all hard work. I already have several great ideas, which means the list is varied and inclusive- for my tastes anyway! Excited to see what all everyone else chooses!

Lacey, I'm sure someone will give you the link, but if you put in endicott studio as one word, my computer pulls up the excellent site with the three separate reading lists on it.

Lacey wrote: "This looks awesome! I didn't participate in last year's challenge because I didn't want to come in "halfway," but I plan to go for it this year. Could you include links to the Endicott lists you're..."

The links for each list;YA retelling, Adult retelling and Mythic fiction are all in this folder: /topic/group...

Once the challenge is up on our homepage I will also put the direct link to each list.

Here is the direct link to all three lists:

Thanks! I'm excited about the Endicott lists -- there are many books on them that I want to read. Can't wait to start!

Jalilah wrote: "Okay Everyone!

Thanks for all your great suggestions!

Let me know what you think of this 2015 challenge!

1.One YA Fairy Tale Retelling from the Endicott list
2.One Adult Fairy Tale Retelling..."

I was going to suggest you cut that one when I noticed we had one too many!

The list looks great! I'm already ruminating on what to read. I think I'll have trouble with the novel that inspired a favorite movie, so I might switch that around to a novel that inspired a movie, and read and watch both!

Margaret wrote: "The list looks great! I'm already ruminating on what to read. I think I'll have trouble with the novel that inspired a favorite movie, so I might switch that around to a novel that inspired a movie, and read and watch both! "

I'll have to think hard on that one too! My favourite movies are not Fairy tales, in fact I don't even like most Hollywood fairy tale films. I am wondering if some of
It will be a challenge but a fun one! I wonder if the Hayao Miyazaki film Spirited Away was based on a novel.

Jalilah wrote: "I'll have to think hard on that one too! My favourite movies are not Fairy tales, in fact I don't even like most Hollywood fairy tale films."

Remember, it's not just fairy tales; there's myths and legends, too. was based on Dracula. was based on Le Morte d'Arthur. was obviously inspired by a fairy tale.

Also, one could argue that a certain tale, legend, or myth inspired a film they love even if it's not blatantly obvious, like as obvious as in the Jack example above, and even if the writers (novel or screen) didn't specifically credit that original tales, legends or myths. I'm thinking along the lines of based on the book by Daniel Wallace. I love (and own) that movie, but haven't read the book yet, so the book Big Fish could be a potential choice for the 2015 challenge.

Jalilah wrote: "I wonder if the Hayao Miyazaki film Spirited Away was based on a novel."

It wasn't, but the film inspired a graphic novel :D was based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones.

I quite enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle as well, both the book and the movie. In fact, I love all of Miyazaki (well, almost)!

I'll keep the myths in mind. I've read and watched all your examples, Leah! :) I particularly like Big Fish, if no one's read or watched it yet.

I'm sure I'll come up with something.

This is a great challenge list. Thanks for putting it together!

Thanks for setting this up, Jalilah.
It looks great!

This sounds like fun. Not sure if I'll get through all twelve, but at least it gives me something to aim for (and I always seem to get more done when I have a goal!). Thanks for putting it together, Jalilah.

Mods,

If it's not too much trouble, in the 2015 Challenge section on our Group Home page, could you possibly link to our Group's folder for the Endicott lists (versus having the external link to Endicott's site)? Or skip the folder altogether and instead link to the individual thread for each challenge item like we did for the 2014 challenge? It was quite handy in the 2014 challenge to have each one linked to its specific list right from Group Home.

Group folder: /topic/group...

YA Fairy Tale list /topic/show/...

Adult Fairy Tale list /topic/show/...

Mythic Fiction list /topic/show/...

Those Endicott lists are a great resource. I've not seen them before. There are a few on there I've read, but lots more I haven't. It will be fun to explore!

Done

Melanti wrote: "Done"

Thank you!

This is a good overall selection. I might add some Aboriginsl myths from Australia too.. that is an Rea greatly unexplored

Melanti wrote: "Done"

Thanks!

Okay, so I've set up my entry into the challenge. My super obvious and stupid question: do we have to read a NEW book for each part of the challenge or can it be something we have already read?

Kirsten wrote: "Okay, so I've set up my entry into the challenge. My super obvious and stupid question: do we have to read a NEW book for each part of the challenge or can it be something we have already read?"

Hi Kirsten, the way I see it is the idea of a challenge is to be exposed to new books. However if you want to re-read a book you've already read a while ago that seems okay.
Any thoughts anyone else?
I only started doing challenges a few years ago in this group. I'd never done them before. This year I did not complete it by 2 books. It's not the end of the universe if you don't finish!

Kirsten wrote: "Okay, so I've set up my entry into the challenge. My super obvious and stupid question: do we have to read a NEW book for each part of the challenge or can it be something we have already read?"

I try to challenge myself by reading new books as well, but I don't see anything wrong with re-reading. I've always enjoyed re-reading books, but I rarely give myself the chance to. I feel like I need to tackle the ones I haven't! There are so many books I want to read!

Margaret wrote: "I've always enjoyed re-reading books, but I rarely give myself the chance to. I feel like I need to tackle the ones I haven't! There are so many books I want to read!"

I know. I often don't re-read a book until I have to, either due to a class or because a group is reading it (and then I kinda force myself to re-read it). It's sad, because I don't remember all of the details of all of my favorite books. But I have over 1,000 books on my to-read shelf! I just know that there are some books I have read that are perfect fits for this challenge. ;)

Kirsten wrote: "Margaret wrote: "I've always enjoyed re-reading books, but I rarely give myself the chance to. I feel like I need to tackle the ones I haven't! There are so many books I want to read!"

I know. I o..."

1,000! Wow!

Feel free to recommend any that would be good for the challenge. Some of the sections I know exactly what I'm going to read, but several I haven't begun to think about yet.

Margaret wrote: "Feel free to recommend any that would be good for the challenge. Some of the sections I know exactly what I'm going to read, but several I haven't begun to think about yet. "

Hmm, okay... there are a lot of fairy-tale or fantasy re-tellings of all kinds to choose from these days. I wouldn't even know where to start with recommentations! I can give it a try, though. Check out these new and old authors for ideas: T.H. White, Angela Carter, Elizabeth Kostova, Donna Jo Napoli... That's a start, at least! :)

Jalilah or Melanti,

Will there be a separate thread for 2015 Challenge Progress? Or should we just keep posting in this one? I used the 2014 Progress thread A LOT last year to see what others were reading.

Leah wrote: "Jalilah or Melanti,

Will there be a separate thread for 2015 Challenge Progress? Or should we just keep posting in this one? I used the 2014 Progress thread A LOT last year to see what others were..."

I was wondering about that too.

Kirsten wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Feel free to recommend any that would be good for the challenge. Some of the sections I know exactly what I'm going to read, but several I haven't begun to think about yet. "

Hmm,..."

I was thinking of reading Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter for #5.

Good idea. I think I have that one and might be reading it, too. :)

Here you go!

/topic/show/...

I have such a bad memory for books I could reread and it would be just like reading it for the first time! I know I've read Nights at the Circus years ago but the only thing I remember is that I liked it.

Since I've been on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ I've found that writing reviews helps me remember the book better. So maybe I should reread it and review it this time!

Marina wrote: "I have such a bad memory for books I could reread and it would be just like reading it for the first time! I know I've read Nights at the Circus years ago but the only thing I remember is that I li..."

That's one of the reasons why I joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I have trouble remembering things if I don't use multiple devices, so if I read something and write about it, I'm far more likely to remember it! And then add discussing it, like in this group, I'm probably always going to remember the book.

I'm in, love challenges!
(bookmarked)

So would Bound count for #11) A fairy tale collection from a country you've never read a collection from before -- its based on a Chinese Cinderella story.

Kathy wrote: "So would Bound count for #11) A fairy tale collection from a country you've never read a collection from before -- its based on a Chinese Cinderella story."

Yes, it's on the Endicott list! I was originally going to read Zel for my YA retelling, but I've switched to Bound. I only have so much time.

I'm new around here and I am planning for the challenge and trying to get a hold of the Calvino Italian Folktales. Would it count for the challenge: 11. A novel or folk or fairy tale collection from a country you've never read a collection from before? I can't think of any collection from Italy that I have read before.

Karen Michele wrote: "I'm new around here and I am planning for the challenge and trying to get a hold of the Calvino Italian Folktales. Would it count for the challenge: 11. A novel or folk or fairy tale collection fro..."

Welcome Karen Michele!
Yes it definitely would count!