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Here is where we can share what we are currently reading, whatever it is,

I'll start. I am just finishing Elsewhere by Will Shetterly and liking a it a lot. It is part of the Bordertown series.

I've been dipping into the original Robin Hood ballads, the collection The Song of Robin Hood by Anne Malcolmson in particular, as it sticks pretty close to the original phrasing. I've also been reading a few of the ballads in the original Middle English, but it's very slow going!

I wasn't too enthusiastic about reading Hood when it was first nominated in the group thread, but now I'm getting excited that it seems to be winning!

I just finished up the three (so far, I think) fairytale retellings by Jackson Pearce, which are an effortless read. Then I started Pricksongs & Descants and HOO BOY...slow going!

I'm excited to read Hood; my husband has been urging me to read the series since we first started dated, but I just never got around to it. Fun to have a reason, now!

Just wrapping up Dragons and Dreams: Bedtime stories. Really amazing work by a contemporary author. The fairy tales in this one are darn near as good as the classics. Will certainly be rereading this one.

I've started a new habit recently where I read 4-3 fairy tales before I go to sleep every night. That way I have time to think about them and get to know all the ones I don't and I think it's very fitting to read fairy tales before bed ;)
I started with my collection of Grimm's fairy tales with the Edgar Taylor translation, and after that I'll move on to Hans Christian Andersen. After that I will have to see. I hope I will manage to keep it up that long!

Melanti wrote: "I've been dipping into the original Robin Hood ballads, the collection The Song of Robin Hood by Anne Malcolmson in particular, as it sticks pretty close to the original phrasing. I've also been r..."

I feel the same way Melanti! At first I was not that interested in Hood but now I am looking forward to it!

Has anyone read The Book of Lost Things?
That's one book that completely managed to capture the really really dark side of fairy tales.

Siareen wrote: "Has anyone read The Book of Lost Things?
That's one book that completely managed to capture the really really dark side of fairy tales."

I read that several years ago, and remember really enjoying the read. But yes a bit dark.

by John Connolly

Melanti wrote: "I've been dipping into the original Robin Hood ballads, the collection The Song of Robin Hood by Anne Malcolmson in particular, as it sticks pretty close to the original phrasing. I've also been r..."

I am excited about Hood too. And I will check out The Song of Robin Hood.

by Stephen R. Lawhead
by Anne Malcolmson

Just started The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, and it's hilariously absurd so far.
It's one of this year's Mythopoeic nominees.

Melanti wrote: "Just started The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, and it's hilariously absurd so far.
It's one of this year's Mythopoeic nominees."

good to hear. I've been looking at that one.

Kathy wrote: "Siareen wrote: "Has anyone read The Book of Lost Things?
That's one book that completely managed to capture the really really dark side of fairy tales."

I read that several years ago, and remember..."

That book has been on my "to be read" list for awhile now. It looks like the kind of novel I would like. The problem is the combination of this group and the Endicott list, my TBR list keeps growing faster than I can keep reading!

Book of Lost Things is good. The author has a kindle single up. Currently, I'm reading a book about the Amazon.

I just started a very interesting book When Fox is a Thousand by. Larissa Lai
It is part historical fiction,part mythology/fantasy and part contemporary. There are 3 stories. The first of a fox that inhabits people's bodies. The second story takes place in 9th century China about a poet and the third about a student living in Vancouver in the 1990s. I imagine all the stories will eventually tie in together. It is very intriguing thus far. The book is also from the Endicott list.

I'm finishing and will soon move on to

I am readingThe Changeling
Loved the first one The Steward

Jodi wrote: "I am readingThe Changeling
Loved the first one The Steward"

Jody, The Changeling seems like the kind of thing I'd go for as I love stories that take place in our world that involve the Fae. How did you like it? I see it is the second book in a series.

Just put Hood on hold at the library. The only copy is currently out, but should be back in a couple of weeks. I read the sample from Amazon, and this sounds pretty good, so I'll join the group read as soon as I get my copy.

I am really looking forward to Hood! I have ordered it from the library, Ruby Red as well.

I'm halfway through In the Shadow of the Banyan and am really loving it. The protagonist is a seven-year-old refugee during a Cambodian revolution. Her father is a minor prince and a poet. The novel entwines the folk tales and mythology the little girl knows from her father as well as the poetry of her father. It's quite lovely.

I'm looking forward to Hood. It's something my husband might like as well, and it's rare to find something we will both enjoy. We also really liked the BBC Robin Hood tv series. If you haven't seen it, give it a try. I'm pretty sure you can stream it on netflix.

If anyone else is in the mood for more Robin Hood than just Hood, I just finished Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt -- which is heavily influenced by the Robin Hood legend. I really enjoyed it. It's not a direct retelling, but it looks at how some of those legends might have gotten started.

It's first in a series, but I think "series" in this case just means "set in the same world".

In the Shadow of the Banyan looks very interesting Margaret!

It could be I might want to read more Robin Hood type books after Hood, Melanti.

If I really like a type of book I often want to continue the same type afterwards. I got stuck in 19th century France for about 6 months for this reason. Lately, because I have been reading more fantasy-type books I sometimes have a hard time getting back in to more realistic novels. When my copy of My Antonia finally arrived from the library after waiting many months, I was concerned I would not like it, however I am really loving it and wonder how it happened that I never read it before!

Remember you can always start a "buddy read" if there is something you want to read with someone.

Well, the timing on Jackaroo was mostly coincidence... I bought it a couple of months ago, then promptly lost it. Then found it again when I was cleaning, and figured I'd better read it quick before I lost it again!

I just finished The Last Werewolf, have started The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. I have from the library: Monument 14, The Graveyard Book, Not That Kind of Girl. And I have a bunch of ARCs...

Picked Monument 14, except after having read half of it and checking here it's actually Sky on Fire #2 in the series... Enjoying it, but now I'm totally getting why I wasn't introduced to the characters and setting more smoothly.

I am reading Daughter of the Sword by Steve Bein. Up to now I am kind of liking it, but not a lot.

Melanti wrote: "If anyone else is in the mood for more Robin Hood than just Hood, I just finished Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt -- which is heavily influenced by the Robin Hood legend. I really enjoyed it. It's not ..."

Melanti, thanks for letting us know about Jackaroo. I just ordered it from Paperback Swap. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm currently reading
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey which is a transformed version of the Steadfast Tin Soldier. It's part of the Elemental Masters series which are all loosely based on fairy tales and take place in Edwardian England.

Shomeret wrote: "I'm currently reading
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey which is a transformed version of the Steadfast Tin Soldier. It's part of the Elemental Masters series which are all loosely based on fairy tales..."

It looks good Shomeret! I see it just came out. I have only read the first two Elemental Masters books but would like to read more. Mercedes Lackey is another author I have been meaning to start up a thread for in our authors folder.

Finished Daughter of the Sword it is so so and will be starting Hood as soon as I get a chance!

I'm currently reading The School for Good and Evil then Ruby Red is next. By the time I finish those two, Hood should be ready for pickup at the library. Hoping to to join in the discussion for both group reads this time around.

Just finished Hood...very good read. Now on to the new release by Dan Brown Inferno

Glad to know you liked Hood Monica!
Leah, be sure to let us know what you think of Rudy Red. I will be starting it soon too!

Still trying to get my hands on a copy of Hood for the group read but while I was waiting, I read Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson.

Not quite as good as her Sexing the Cherry but very close.

It's about Atlas and Hercules, obviously, but it also works on a metaphorical level with writers being Atlas and their burden being the stories they've written/worlds they've created which are formed page by page like layers of sedimentary rock. Winterson always has such lovely imagery.

Now I've moved on to Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.

I am pretty sure I put Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore on my best books of 2012 list. I hope you're liking it, Melanti!

I just finished The Ordinary Acrobat: A Journey into the Wondrous World of the Circus, Past and Present and really liked it.

Currently reading Frames, a mystery set in the present day, but about classic Hollywood and old movies, in this case von Stroheim's Greed from 1925.

I did indeed like it a lot, Julia. It was a lot of fun to read.
Though, I feel vaguely guilty for reading it on my Kindle with its impermanence and its changeable fonts! And I hear I missed out on a fun glow-in-the-dark cover by reading it electronically.

I'm now reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Strands of Bronze and Gold which is a recently published retelling of Bluebeard set on a southern plantation in the mid 1800's.

Melanti wrote: "I did indeed like it a lot, Julia. It was a lot of fun to read.
Though, I feel vaguely guilty for reading it on my Kindle with its impermanence and its changeable fonts! And I hear I missed out o..."

I loved a Tree Grows in Brooklyn Melanti!
I am currently reading Ruby Red and am finding it good fun, even though I also fail to find any Fairy Tale or Mythology in it.

I'm re-reading "The Wizard of Oz".

I'm just starting a YA novel, Of Beast and Beauty

which seems to be a science fiction based retelling of B&B.

I finished off A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It was a really wonderful book!

Strands of Bronze and Gold turned out to be really awful. I keep changing my rating back and forth from 1 star and 2... I don't want to rant too much here, but go read TheBookSmuggler's review. She said what I wanted to say in my review, but did it much, much more coherently.

I'm moving on to some Shakespeare. Hopefully, that will put me into a better mood.

Melanti wrote: "Now I've moved on to Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore."

Eww, added to my hold list at the library.

Jalilah wrote: "I am currently reading Ruby Red and am finding it good fun, even though I also fail to find any Fairy Tale or Mythology in it."

Curious, based on what I'd heard. Hope I wasn't mislead by others' descriptions (again). I'm starting this one today.

I'm about a fourth of my way through Riddley Walker, and it is excellent. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world, and the protagonist is a twelve-year-old boy, or, rather, he's relating his history at that age. Every chapter contains a folktale trying to make sense of the environmental disaster he and his villagers live in. It takes a bit to get into because the novel's written in a semi-illiterate dialect. Everytime I sit down, it takes a minute or so to sink in, but once I do it reads fast.

I am reading A Beastly Scandal by Shereen Vedam and enjoying it!

Enjoyed Hood, and continued on with the second book in the King Raven series, Scarlet. So far, I like this one even more than the first.

In fairness to the author, he labels his genre as "mythic history and imaginative fiction". The book descriptions state: "prepare for an epic tale that dares to shatter everything you thought you knew about Robin Hood." With an open mind, and no preconceived notions on how the story "should" unfold, he crafts an engaging and entertaining tale.

Finished the other Scarlet by Meyer. It is better than Cinder but when I was in the middle of one of the last fight scenes, I found myself rooting for another cliff-hanger and a long sample from book 3 just so I could be done faster... Bah. At least it's over now and not sitting in my TBR pile.

I've finally gotten my hands on Hood, and am about half done...

I read the prologue to Hood then realized I needed to cleanse my palate so to speak and go for a fun, pure entertainment type read first. So I switched to Cold Days by Jim Butcher (I love me some Harry Dresden). I'm over halfway through Cold Days, so I'll likely resume Hood by Thursday.

"Cleanse your Palate" LOL I know exactly what you mean.
Last month I read 3 books for group reads that I did not like that much. Not that I hated them, they were all 3 stars so I liked but did not love them. Of the 3, I liked Ruby Red the best.
Luckily I really enjoyed A Beastly Scandal by our Shereen Vedam . It is so much fun. Now reading Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier and am absolutely loving it! Thanks so much everyone for recommending it!

Here's a quote from the book I just finished ( The Thirteenth Tale ):

Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes - characters even - caught up in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you.

I thought it was poetic way of describing the feeling you get at the end of a wonderful book. Palate cleansers - whether it be a break (as mentioned here) or a wildly different style of book are very necessary!

Melanti wrote: "Here's a quote from the book I just finished ( The Thirteenth Tale ):

Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you..."

Love it! And so true. Thanks for sharing.

Great quote Melanti and so true!
I know there have been many books that I would have probably enjoyed, had I read them at a different time, not immediately after a book that I loved so much that I was still living in it. It really is best to read something completely different right afterwards.