Once Upon a Time II: a Reading Quest

I was reading the Sunday Salon post over at In Spring it is the Dawn and stumbled on a Quest! Joy! A reading Quest! I love a Quest!

"The Journey

This is really as simple as the name implies and is to Once Upon a Time as the experience was to The Sci~Fi Experience. It means you are participating but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. All reading is a journey, perhaps none more so than reading fantastical fiction. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to at least read one book within the four categories during March 21st to June 20th period. Just one book. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.

Quest the First

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II 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.

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 proved to be one of the more difficult quests last 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 was fascinated watching how folks worked to find books for each category.

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. 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."

If I were unethical, I would go back to my reading journal and list two that I've already read that would qualify for the fantasy and mythology category. But, I'm not and besides, that would take away an excuse to read more!

Progress:
Fairy Tale:
Snow by Tracy Lynn
a retelling of Snow White
read 13 May 2008 | my review

Fantasy:
Horns and Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson
read 19 May 2008 | my review

Mythology:
Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams by Alexander McCall Smith
read 26 May 2008 | my review

Fable:
Mountain Jack Tales by Gail Haley
This was a mediocre retelling in which the author chose to have a narrator tell the tales in an Appalachian dialect. I am an Appalachian mountain girl myself, and still had occasionally difficulty understanding. I can only imagine the reaction from one who did not grow up hearing this language. The tales themselves were clinical, sterile retellings with no life in them and the overall result was a dismal disappointment.

Quest the Third:
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
read 14 June 2008