Wednesday 17 March 2010

The Once Upon a Time IV challenge

It's that time of year again! Spring is almost here and The Once Upon a Time challenge is once again upon us.



I feel as though I've been waiting for this one for weeks... my books all ready and waiting and piled up on the shelf. As always it is hosted by Carl and as always there are several options to choose from. I'm going for...



The object of this is to:

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

These are the books I've collected together for my pool *but* they're not necessarily the exact books I'll read. I tend to read a few off my own pile and also get inspired by what others are reading and end up reading a few off their piles too! Such is the world of book blogging. Anyway this is my pile:



From the bottom:

The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn by Henry Chancellor. I know nothing whatsoever about this book. My little grandaughter gave it to me on a recent trip to Exeter city library and said that it was 'really good' and when she does that I always try to read whatever she's recommending so that we can chat about it.

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper. Book three of her 'Over sea, under stone' series that I've loved so far. There's only one copy in Devon libraries and I nabbed that too while I was in Exeter.

The Magician by Michael Scott. Book two in his Nicholas Flamel series. I read book one last year and it's about time I got to book two.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. This has sat on my tbr mountain for years but just recently my husband and daughter have been gushing about this series so it's time to see what I'm missing.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik. Another series I've been wanting to read in forever! This one will double up for my Year of the Historical challenge.

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. I've never read the first couple of Discworld books and am reading them for the Terry Pratchett challenge Marg is hosting. So this one will also be a double-up book.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher. The first in a series that I've been wanting to read forever. Now's my chance.

So that's it. The challenge runs from the 21st. March to the 20th. June and I can't wait to start reading.

Books actually read:

1.. The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn: The Museum's Secret - Henry Chancellor
2.. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
3.. Temeraire - Naomi Novik
4.. Greenwitch - Susan Cooper
5.. The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett

~~~oOo~~~

13 comments:

verity said...

This sounds like a fun challenge.

Is that Susan Cooper one of her Cornish ones? I think some of the ones in that series are...

Cath said...

Yes, Verity. The first book is Cornish and so is this one - the third. The first was gorgeous... set in a Cornish fishing village and the setting was spot on. Book two was lovely too, a snowy Christmas setting but not Cornwall. I honestly don't know where the settings for books 4 and 5 are though. A highly recommended 'classic' children's series, imo.

DesLily said...

woohoo !! I almost included Temeraire by Naomi Novik. but I have a huge paperback containing the 3 books and the print is..small! so I haven't tackled it yet.. glad to see you are reading more of Nicholas Flamel! I loved his last book most of all of them and yet another is due out in May I think and I can't wait!
I am getting votes for books lol.. most lean toward the Emporium and the Time Traveler books which I am going to try to do.. but thought I'd try to start with a smaller book so the "journey" will be done and then I can relax lol.. I don't know why I am like I am ..if I say 5 books then I am obsessed until they are done! so i learned to sign on for 1 book and then I relax and enjoy the other books even more!

Ana S. said...

I loved Greenwitch! As for The Colour of Magic, it's definitely not anywhere near as good as his later ones, but it's well worth reading anyway.

Cath said...

Pat: I think I've put Temeraire on my OUaT list for the last three years. Maybe *this* time I'll actually read the thing - I hear it's a terrific series.

Well, I'm your sis so *my* vote for you to read The Emporium counts for two. heheheh.

Nymeth: I'm so pleased to be able to carry on with Susan Cooper's series. I absolutely loved the first two books.

Yes, I've heard that the first couple of Discworld books were different to the rest, which is probably why I didn't start the series with them and have never got around to them. I need to rectify that.

BooksPlease said...

I loved the Susan Cooper books when I read them years ago - I think some of them are set in Buckinghamshire (she was born and brought up in Burnham, I think).

Temeraire is tempting me.

I'm thinking of joining in with the challenge - I have quite a few unread fantasy books on my shelves.

Danielle said...

Hi Cath--this is off topic, but you asked about the Victorian lady's book that was in reply to Jerome K Jerome? I dug out the Hesperus catalog and the title is Lazy Thoughts of a Lady Girl by Jenny Wren and it's a 'reply' to JKJ's The Idle Thought of an Idle Fellow. It sounds good! And I want to read Naomi Novik, too have have the first couple of books in this series!

Susan said...

Wonderful list, Cath! I loved Greenwitch when I read it last year with Nymeth and Kerry. It will stay with you a long time after, especially as it's back in Cornwall again. I have borrowed His Majesty's Dragon to try reading (by Naomi Novik too).....there are so many good books for this challenge! I like surprises too, and Pat's list already reminded me of the Tanya Huff that I'd put on my to buy list....

Cath said...

Margaret: yes I suspect book 2 of the Susan Cooper series was set in Bucks. It was certainly a delightful snowy, 'Christmassy' kind of book.

The Temeraire series is meant to be very good indeed. I have book 1 and book 5, which is set in Africa, and I really want to read that so need to get the first 4 books read quickly.

Danielle: many thanks for getting back to me about that book. Will check to see if the library has it in a moment as I'm really intrigued by it.

Susan: Thanks... I am kind of hoping to read all of the books in my pool but am not sure whether that's realistic. Look forward to seeing what you plan to read.

I've been prevaricating far too long over Naomi Novik's dragon series. It's time I read them. And of course, I need a new series to start. *cough*

I really want to read the Tanya Huff too. The paperback is out in June I think, but I haven't checked the library cat. for it in a while...

Anonymous said...

Oh, I've read Greenwitch before, but I didn't know it was Book 3 of a series! That's interesting news to me!

--Sharry

Cath said...

xalwaysdreamx: yes, Greenwitch is book three of Susan Cooper's 'Over Sea, Under Stone' series. I've so far only read the first two but I thought they were terrific reads.

Jodie Robson said...

What fun you are in for! I really enjoyed Temeraire (I might add the second one to my list, I hadn't thought of it and it's been on the TBR pile for ages). Greenwitch and the Eyre Affair AND Storm Front - it would be wonderful to read all of them for the first time, I envy you.

Cath said...

GeraniumCat: yes, I think I have some fun ahead of me as these are all series I know people have loved and I'm dying to try them out. My husband and daughter in particular love the Jasper Fforde books.