The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda’s Voice.
Rules
- Grab a book, any book.
- Turn to page 56 (or 56% on ebook).
- Find any sentence that grabs you.
- Post it.
- Link it at Freda’s Voice.
Tag: Fairy Tales
August 2015 in Review
Things that Happened in August
- I returned home from summer camp! It was a fun time but I am glad to be home.
- I survived the days of smoke so thick I could not see more than a block ahead of me. When I went to drive into town, my vehicle put the auto-lights on because it thought it was night. It has never been this bad that I recall. Yay for the forest fires of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.
- I started school again. Back in the classroom with fifth and sixth grade students.
- Speaking of being back in the classroom, I’m going to leave you with one very short sentence: I hate lice! (Thankfully I do not have any.)
Books I Read in August
Review: The Rose Bride – A Fairy Tale Retelling and a Greek Goddess
The Rose Bride by Nancy Holder Series: Once Upon A Time
Publisher: Simon Pulse (2007)
Paperback (245 pages)
Rating:
Also in this series: Snow, Water Song, Sunlight and Shadow
Reading Challenges: 2015 Birthday Month, 2015 Color Coded, 2015 Fairytale Retelling, 2015 Mythology, 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015
Synopsis
When Rose’s mother dies, her only comfort is the exquisite rose garden her mother left behind. The purple blossoms serve as an assurance of her mother’s love. But Rose is dealt a second blow when her father dies and his greedy widow, Ombrine, and her daughter, Desirée, move in and take over the manor in true Cinderella fashion.
Fate has been cruel to Ombrine and Desirée, too. So despite their harsh ways, Rose has compassion. But these feelings are bitterly tested when, in a rage, Ombrine tears out the garden. Rose nearly gives up all hope—until a chance meeting with the king. Happiness might be within her reach, but first she must prevail over Ombrine. And then she must determine if she has the courage to love.
Find the book: Goodreads
Review: The Night Dance – Fairy Tale Set in Arthurian England
The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn Series: Once Upon A Time
Publisher: Simon Pulse (2005)
Paperback (193 pages)
Rating:
Also by this author: Water Song
Also in this series: Snow, Water Song, Sunlight and Shadow
Reading Challenges: 2015 Birthday Month, 2015 Fairytale Retelling, 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015
Synopsis
Under the stars, in a secret world…
Rowena, the youngest of twelve sisters, loves to slip out of the castle at night and dance in a magical forest. Soon she convinces her sisters to join her. When Sir Ethan notices that his daughters’ slippers look tattered every morning, he is certain they’ve been sneaking out. So he posts a challenge to all the suitors in the kingdom: The first man to discover where his daughters have been is free to marry the one he chooses.
Meanwhile a handsome young knight named Bedivere is involved in a challenge of his own: to return the powerful sword, Excalibur, to a mysterious lake. While looking for the lake, Bedivere meets the beautiful Rowena and falls for her. Bedivere knows that accepting Sir Ethan’s challenge is the only opportunity for him to be with Rowena forever. But this puts both Bedivere and Rowena in a dangerous situation…one in which they risk their lives for a chance at love.
Find the book: Goodreads
Review: The Wrath and the Dawn – People Aren’t Always Exactly As They Seem
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
(2015)
Hardcover (388 pages)
Rating:
Also by this author: The Rose and the Dagger
Also in this series: The Rose and the Dagger
Reading Challenges: 2015 Fairytale Retelling, Read 2015
Synopsis
A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.
She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
Find the book: Goodreads