What are you currently reading?
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham
What did you just finish reading?
A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin
Fairies by Skye Alexander
My Days with Princess Grace of Monaco by Joan Dale
What do you think you’ll read next?
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
I Grew My Boobs in China by Savannah Grace
A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin
I’ve always been fascinated by mythology, and I think that is what most draws me to fantasy. I love the way authors use similar themes throughout to weave these stories that, even though it is fiction…there is this seemingly thread of truth to it all. It is all so familiar, and those “truths” go back and back and back so far that we really don’t know if they are fact.
As William Faulkner said, “Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other.”
Skye Alexander’s book on the fae was very educational and informative. I’m on my fourth page of journal notes today, which might be a record. She covers all of the basics, from Tinkerbell to Jinn (what we know more commonly as Genie). The myths and legends for all of the fairies get broken down by country.
I have mixed feelings about the structure of this book. I probably would have liked it more if I hadn’t read it on a Kindle. I think this is one of those books you need to have in your hand, because there are just so many formatting changes, and pictures, and insets. The paperwhite just couldn’t do it justice. Plus…I happen to know that this has a gorgeous purple cover (the Goodreads pic doesn’t do it justice), and ooooh do I want it so badly.
However, even knowing that my reading was tainted by ebook format, I still have some hesitations. This does read very much like a college research paper, which unfortunately means it is a bit dry. There were subject headings every single paragraph, it seemed. Bullet points were extremely prevalent. I am glad it was well cited, but part of the reason my journal is so full is because she almost overdid it with quotes from other authors. Don’t get me wrong…I love when authors use quotations…to a point. But, I think it also detracts attention from the main body of work, so there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
I did really enjoy the insets, and I think I would have liked them even more if I had seen them in book format, rather than on the kindle. These were little stories about real life fairy sightings, examples to prove what Skye was describing. These made her research much more interesting.
Overall, I think this would be a wonderful thing for any fan of lore, fantasy, mythology, fairy tales, etc to have on their shelves. Also, if you are an author, you should definitely have this to flip through as a quick reference. It would be really handy just to pick this up when you need to know something about Irish legend, quickly. The book doesn’t have anything super in depth on any of the subjects, but it is really interesting basic information. I’m adding it to my To Buy list, and I’ll probably read her other books. I know she has one on Mermaids that I’m for sure going to check out!
What are you currently reading?
Fairies by Skye Alexander
What did you just finish reading?
My Days with Princess Grace of Monaco by Joan Dale
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Tolkien by Devin Brown
What do you think you’ll read next?
Clash of Kings by George RR Martin
The Iron Locket by Samantha Warren
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham
What are you currently reading?
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
What did you just finish reading?
Tolkien by Devin Brown
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
What do you think you’ll read next?
Michal by Jill Eileen Smith
My Days with Princess Grace of Monaco by Joan Dale
Fairies by Skye Alexander
What are you currently reading?
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
What did you just finish reading?
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
Greyhound by Steffan Piper
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
What do you think you’ll read next?
Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Fairies by Skye Alexander
The Iliad by Homer (We’ll see…I have some really huge titles on this TBL. I didn’t plan this out so well. I may have to rethink this one.)
As I Lay Reading 