Seven Hidden Gem Fairytales

Thanks to The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday series (TTT) for this great post idea: Top Ten Hidden Gems in Historical Fiction. However, as I have always loved fairytales (especially the morbid and particularly dark ones...but I won't include many), I've decided that that will be my take on this Tuesday's topic! So, here's 7 I think you should check out if you haven't before.

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1. The Goose Girl - Probably my favourite fairytale of all time, this is one about a princess who gets tricked and bullied by her maidservant to swap places with her so that she can marry the prince in her stead.
2. Rumpelstiltskin - A father's boast that his daughter can spin straw into gold leads to her being forced to make good on this lie, or be imprisoned forever. But when an impish man appears, he agrees to turn the straw to gold...for a price.
3. The Nightingale - The Emperor's favourite sound is the singing of the nightingale. But then he receives a gift of a beautiful jewel-encrusted, mechanical bird whose singing is not quite as sweet,. It enchants the Emperor nonetheless, and the nightingale is all but forgotten.
4. The Blue Coat - Adapted into the book Something From Nothing by Phoebe Gilman, The Blue Coat tells the tale of a grandfather who makes a beautiful blue blanket for his grandson, who loves it and carries it everywhere. But when the blanket becomes worn and tattered, his grandfather takes all the pieces he can save to make a coat. But when that too becomes worn out, he makes the next thing, and the next.

Period Dramas: Basil

Basil is a 1998 film starring Jared Leto and Christian Slater. It was adapted from the 1853 novel of the same name written by Wilkie Collins.

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What It's About:

Basil, a shy and naϊve gentleman and Oxford student is trying to find his place in life, while still trying to please his father. Having no friends, save for his father's ward Clara, Basil knows little of the world. Upon being injured, he relies on the help of a man, John Mannion, for his rescue, and the two become fast friends. Even though they are from different classes, John opens Basil's eyes to what is around him - even if it goes against everything his cold father taught him regarding his position in society. And then, Basil falls in love...

Five Books I Read In School...Unfortunately

Inspired by The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday series (TTT), here are five books that I had to read throughout my years in school that I really did not enjoy. Fortunately there aren't many that I really didn't like as a whole. There are several that I started out not liking, but that grew on me, which I will likely feature in a future post. Please see the original post here: Back To School Freebie

1. Losing Joe's Place - Gordon Korman

Let's be honest, I wouldn't have liked this book no matter what, but it didn't particularly help that my teacher read it to us in eighth grade...and did voices for the characters.

2. The Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson

Not a bad book overall, but studying a book with, well, little about it to study, is pretty darn dull and pointless.

YA in Review: Lord of Shadows (Cassandra Clare)

First of all, this post will essentially be Spoiler Free, however as this book is part of a series, it will contain spoilers from the previous books that are necessary to explain parts of the plot of this installment. Any comments by other users will not necessarily be spoiler free, so read at your own risk. Ready? Here we go!

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In this exciting new installment to Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles, book two of The Dark Artifices has lots to offer for fans of this expansive universe.

What it's about:

Malcolm Fade is dead, and Emma can finally put her torment over her parents' deaths to rest...or can she? When Emma learns the details of why parabatai are forbidden from falling in love, she knows what she must do to protect not only herself and Julian, but the rest of the Blackthorns - pretend to have feelings for Mark. But Mark is not without his share of troubles. Having just begun to adjust to life outside of the Wild Hunt, and with romantic entanglements of his own, will their relationship strengthen him and Emma, or cause more harm than good? The Faeries will no longer submit to the Cold Peace, the Clave is considering more rigid regulations, and the Seelie Queen wants something that only the Blackthorns can give her - how will the Shadowhunters be able to stop history from repeating itself?

Fifteen Characters I'd Name A Child or Pet After - Book Edition

Inspired by this post from The Broke and the Bookish: Ten Characters We'd Name Our Children or Pets After, this fun topic is part of their Top Ten Tuesday series. This is absolutely perfect because a) I love lists, and b) I have actually thought about this more times than I would be comfortable admitting. It was so hard to pick just ten that not only did I choose fifteen, but at this point I am just going to go with book characters, and will likely do an entirely separate one for those in movies. Here we go!

1. Jonas - The Giver
2. Gabriel - The Giver
3. Eleanor - Ella Enchanted/Sense and Sensibility

Blog-Along: Wolf Hall, Episode 6 - Master of Phantoms

Alas, here is my final blog-along of Wolf Hall, as we look at Episode 6. If you are new here and would like to start at the beginning, you can see Episode 1 here: Wolf Hall, Episode 1.  I will be editing things to avoid large spoilers and make things more concise, but it will mostly be my thoughts as I have them.

Wolf Hall, Episode 6 - Master of Phantoms

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           Play by Play

• Smash on the table. Food will come faster that way. Ooh, and picking food out of your teeth and sticking it in your goblet. Oh the table manners!
• Uh-Oh, Crommy's seeing things. Cuckoo. Cuckoo.
  

Blog-Along: Wolf Hall, Episode 5 - Crows

Alright, we are now on Episode 5 of Wolf Hall, with only one more to go after this. If you haven't read my thoughts about the previous episodes, you can start with Episode 1 here: Wolf Hall, Episode 1. As per usual, I will be editing everything to avoid large spoilers, and to make things a bit more concise, but it will mostly be my organic thoughts.

Wolf Hall, Episode 5 - Crows

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           Play by Play

• Oh sorry Sir, are we keeping you up? You know your dinner party sucks when not even the king is willing to stay awake for it.
• Jane Seymour, that was gutsy. Good girl.