My debut novel is a Beauty and the Beast retelling because I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales all my life, and I’m thrilled to share some of my favorite retellings with you! When I was a child, my grandma gave me an illustrated collection of fairy tales. She had grown up reading stories from Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm brothers, and she wanted to share that with me. It was an interest I gladly adopted. I love seeing my favorite fairy tales told with new twists and elements that bring the stories to life all over again and let me fall in love with them one more time.
This is a Rumpelstiltskin retelling! When a friend recommended it to me, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t imagine Rumpelstiltskin ever being an interesting story to me, but Naomi Novik proved me wrong.
This book’s writing style is lyrical and vibrant, with a stunning world of magic and misery that will make you root for characters and keep you on the edge of your seat concerning their fates. (Did I mention the wide cast of characters that all have heartbreaking depth?)
In particular, I loved the Tsar’s story so much. This book surprised me in a hundred delicious ways.
Following her award-winning novel Uprooted, Naomi Novik has once again been influenced by classic folktales. Taking Rumpelstiltskin as her starting point, Spinning Silver is rich, original and a joy to read.
Will dark magic claim their home? Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her own heart and takes up his work in their village. Her success creates rumours she can turn silver into gold, which attract the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge - and if she fails,…
This is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
I loved that the book was from the beast’s point of view, and I loved seeing this arrogant New York high schooler undergo a transformation of both appearance and soul. The modern setting is so fun. The POV is so fun.
This is a quick, delightful read, and one I’m proud to have on my shelf. (There’s also a movie adaptation, if you’re interested.)
With a new Beauty and the Beast movie hitting theaters in Spring 2017, it's time to catch up on all things Beastly. Find out what it was like for the beast in Alex Flinn's contemporary retelling of the classic tale. This edition features cover art from the 2011 movie starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer. I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright-a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster. You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way.…
Gail Carson Levine has been one of my favorite authors all my life. She and my maternal grandmother are jointly responsible for my deep obsession with fairy tales.
While Ella Enchanted is more well known, Fairest is my favorite of her fairy tale novels. It’s a Snow White retelling that made me truly fall in love with the main character. Aza’s insecurities felt real to me, and I loved the twist that she is not fairest in all the land because of looks but, rather, because of her voice.
This story breaks me down and builds me back up again. I’ve reread it many times and intend to reread it many more.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty ...Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can "throw" her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light-especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor. A magic mirror, a charming prince,…
Sometimes you read a book that lingers with you for years—this is that book.
The Goose Girl is an enchanting, beautifully poetic read that captures the essence of everything that makes fairy tales magical. It’s a bit longer than most fairy tale retellings, but it makes the pages count, and it develops sweet relationships between the characters.
This is also the start of a series, with later books covering the side characters and giving them their own chances to shine. 10/10.
In this beloved first book in the Books of Bayern, from New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale, Princess Ani must become a goose girl before she can become queen.
Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life listening to her aunt's stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. As she grows up, Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but she never feels quite comfortable speaking with people.
So when Ani's mother sends her away to be married in a foreign land, she finds herself at the mercy of…
This is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses which actually keeps all twelve princesses in the cast.
You would think so many characters would overwhelm the story (or the reader), but the author manages to balance them all gracefully and makes you hope they’ll each have their own stories in the future (two of them do).
This book made my heart pound repeatedly as I worried about the rising stakes, and the pages simply flew by. It was delightful from start to finish.
Rose is one of twelve princesses forced to dance through the night in an underground palace. The key to breaking the spell lies in magic knitting needles, an invisibility cloak, and-of course-true love. Inspired by "The Twelve Dancing Princesses,"this novel is as captivating as it is fresh. Enchanted readers are sure to clamor for the new companion, Princess of Glass, also publishing this season.
When Beauty catches the attention of the lord baron’s heir, she is swept away by his charm, his wit, and his passionate declarations of love. But she doesn’t see the truth of Stephan’s intentions until it is too late. She locks away the secret of Stephan's abuse, and when her father emerges from the enchanted forest with a stolen rose in his hand and the tale of a vicious beast on his breath, Beauty seizes the chance to run as far from Stephan as possible.
She has some experience with beasts, after all. Certainly the one in the forest couldn’t be any worse than the one she’s already encountered.
I have been to, and loved, North, Central, and especially East Africa for over fifty years. Only six times have I been to Africa on holiday; more often, perhaps twenty or more times, as a television producer. Working in Africa gains a perspective of reality that the glories of vacation do not. Each has its place, each its pitfalls like stalled plane rides with emergency landings in the bush or attacks by wildlife. But, in the end, the magic of the “otherness,” what an old friend called “primitava” captures one’s soul and changes your life.
Keen to rekindle their love of East African wildlife adventures after years of filming, extreme dangers, and rescues, producer Pero Baltazar, safari guide Mbuno Waliangulu, and Nancy Breiton, camerawoman, undertake a filming walking adventure north of Lake Rudolf, crossing from Kenya into Ethiopia along the Omo River, following a herd of elephant making their annual migration.
Stumbling onto an elephant poaching, the team become embroiled in true financing of terrorism for al Shabaab –ivory sales–and are determined to stop the slaughter at any cost. Ivory trade financing terrorism involves UN refugee camps with two hundred thousand displaced Somali persons, powerful…
A documentary team hiking through East Africa collides with a gang of deadly poachers, in this gripping adventure by the author of Kidnapped on Safari.
Years of filming, extreme dangers, and daring rescues have taken their toll on documentary producer Pero Baltazar and his team. To relax and reconnect with the East African wildlife they love, Pero organizes a walking safari for him, his camerawoman Nancy Breiton, and their elite guide Mbuno Waliangulu. Still, Pero has trouble truly disconnecting from work. When the team comes across a herd of elephants making their annual migration north of Lake Rudolf, Pero decides…
