good stuff

*I finally finished a book!

The Golden Phoenix: Eight French-Canadian Fairy Tales by Marius Barbeau, retold by Michael Hornyansky. Okay, so it was a very short book at just under 150 pages, but it was a book nonetheless. And quite an enjoyable one. It's not that I'd forgotten that I love folktales, but I think I had forgotten just how much I love them. There wasn't a single tale in this collection that I didn't enjoy. Quite the contrary...this was a wonderful little collection! In my limited experience with folktales overall, I think I've only previously read one French-Canadian tale, "The Talking Cat," so it was great fun to read the tales in this book. They definitely had both their own feel (like containing lots of Jacques and Jean Petits :D ), but they also seemed to contain all those classic folktale elements. Bottom line, I highly recommend this book to folktale lovers of all ages!

*Wonderful blogger friends who introduce me to books that I likely never would have heard of otherwise. Yes, as in the book above. Thank you, Kailana!!!

*The wonder of imagination.

This adorable little munchkin (I'm his mom--I'm allowed to be biased) lost the first of those all-important top front teeth. I asked him if he thought the tooth fairy would be paying him a visit that night. He answered, "There is no tooth fairy." Oh man, my heart just sank...how could he be growing up so fast?!! But then I asked him where the money came from and where the lost teeth disappeared to. His answer: the Tooth Cloud. Huh? Well, according to young Maxidoodle, the Tooth Cloud drops down the money and then sucks up the tooth. This was a totally new one to me, so I asked him who told him about the Tooth Cloud. "Nobody. I just heard it in my head. And I'm pretty sure I'm right."

(Yes, the Tooth Cloud did come through for him.)

*Wonderful blogger friends who send me e-mails that make my heart smile. For all kinds of different reasons. Thank you, Nymeth and Shanra!!!

*Silliness. Plain and simple.

















*Surprise visitors.






















*Book lists.

Don't lists of books just make you giddy right down to your toenails?!! Well, I just found one I'm super excited about. Susan at Black-Eyed Susan posted her unofficial list of great YA by or about women of color. It's my new personal reading challenge to read them all. Susan is pretty new blogger to me...and she's so awesome. Renay kind of awesome. Nymeth kind of awesome. Eva kind of awesome. Dewey kind of awesome. You know, that kind of awesome that speaks up about things that matter. The kind of awesome that makes a difference.

spring things

You Are Chirping Birds

You are a very caring person. You especially feel for innocent beings, like animals and children. You are keyed in to the world and very peaceful. You believe that everyone is connected. You remain focused and in the moment. You are not easily distracted. You have a good memory, especially for things that you hear. You listen carefully.

What Part of Spring Are You?

I'd like to say this was me, but well, I'm afraid I'm pretty distract-able!

*****

Our first spring flowers! Hello pretty crocus. Just a few more weeks and we'll have daffodils, too. :)










*****

Spring Reading Thing! Yes, I know that last thing I need is another challenge. But Katrina always makes the happiest buttons! Besides, the Spring Reading Thing was the very first reading challenge I ever joined and thus holds a special place in my heart. :)

goodbye winter, hello Once Upon a Time

If I had to choose just one reading challenge a year (sheesh, I hope it never comes to that!), I would undoubtedly choose Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge. This challenge holds a special place in my heart for so many reasons...

I'd never really even read fantasy before I ran across Carl's first Once Upon a Time Challenge. And I joined it as a way of sharing my daughter's love of fantasy. And yes, Annie joined, too, of course. Well, I fell in love. And it was really the beginning of my ever-expanding reading horizons. What a gift...to be given the keys to open whole new worlds.

But apart from the reading itself, Once Upon a Time is directly responsible for introducing me to some of the people I now cherish as some of my very best friends. Any idea how huge that is to someone who tends to be a bit of a recluse? Trust me, it's HUGE.

And Carl, well, I don't need to tell any of you who know him what an incredible guy he is. But aside from being a wonderful, wonderful friend and seriously one of the nicest people on the planet (no hyperbole there, I promise you), he is the King of Challenge Hosts! He builds a community of sharing and learning and just plain fun.

So, yes, after checking his blog multiple times a day for the past week, as I'm willing to bet many of us have been doing, this morning I was rewarded with the official announcement that will have me happy dancing through the weekend. I've decided to try Quest the Second this year. This will be my first try at this one, and frankly, I'm quite excited about it. My only concern is that I may screw up in putting books into the appropriate categories. But Carl will forgive me, I'm sure. And feel free to tell me if you think a book would better fit in somewhere else.

Okay, so here's a potential pool of each of the categories:

Myth:
*A Taste of Earth and Other Legends of Vietnam by Thich Nhat Hanh
*Native American Myths by Diana Ferguson
*Warriors Gods & Spirits from Central & South American Mythology by Douglas Gifford
*The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
*The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursa
*The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Folklore:
*The Book of Ballads by Charles Vess and others
*Outfoxing Fear: Folktales from Around the World edited by Kathleen Ragan
*Best-Loved Folktales of the World selected by Joanna Cole (though I won't read all of this during the challenge)
*Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Fairy Tale:
*The Illustrated Treasury of Fairy Tales designed by Rita Marshall
*Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales (though I won't read all of this during the challenge)
*The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales (though I won't read all of this during the challenge)
*The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
*Pay the Piper: A Rock 'N' Roll Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
*The Sisters Grimm: The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley
*Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
*Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham
*Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham
*Fables: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham

Fantasy:
*The Princess Bride by William Goldman
*The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar
*Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
*The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
*Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
*What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire
*The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
*The Book Without Words by Avi
*Strange Roads by Peter S. Beagle
*River Secrets by Shannon Hale
*Attica by Garry Kilworth
*Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig

And possible books to mine stories for Short Story Weekends:
*The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury
*M Is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
*Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
*Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint
*The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
*Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy edited by Ekaterina Sedia

No, it does not escape my notice that these are ridiculously long lists. I've already weeded them down a great deal, but then I got stuck. Besides, a gal needs options.

Annie, of course, will be joining the fun again. Like I could stop her if I wanted to. :) And I'm really, really excited because I think I have Rich convinced to do The Journey again...and to read American Gods! This alone leaves me giddy to the core!

The only concern: the exponential growth of the old wish list!

(Title of post is a bit misleading, or maybe just wishful thinking...we woke up to more snow this morning. Once Upon a Time more than makes up for it though.)

suggestions?

Since I got just the help I was looking yesterday, I'm back now asking for more help. Yes, thanks to the blessing of fellow addicts, I signed up for the the 21 Cultures Reading Challenge. And I put together a tentative list using books already on my shelves (or in one case, already ordered from Paperback Swap). But I'm still a few books short, and I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with a few I have on my list.

So, here's where I ask for help. Any suggestions? They just need to be books, fiction or nonfiction, that give a feel of the culture of the country where they are set. Modern culture or traditional culture. And the more suggestions, the better! :)