Friday’s Fairy Tales #2: Cinderella

Published on by Rachelle
Cinderella - A.L. Bowley
Image by Sofi

The original 1697 story of Cinderella, sometimes called The Glass Slipper, is by Charles Perrault, and was published in his book Histoires ou contes du temps passé (You can listen to the story in French or read the English translation, both for free).  His version is the one that people are most familiar with, as it’s the version closest to the Disney animated movie.  It is loosely based on a story written by Strabo, a Greek Historian during the 1st century BC, who based his story on one written 500 years earlier by Herodotus, and was considered to be true.

Strabo’s story is of a Greek woman named Rhodopis, meaning “rosy cheeked”, who was a young girl when she was taken in the city of Thrace, and sold into slavery in Egypt.  Her owner frequently gave her gifts, including a pair of gold shoes, which eventually led her to being noticed by Ahmose II, Egypt’s then current Pharaoh.  She was “rescued” from slavery by becoming one of his wives.  Despite Rhodopis being mostly passive, Perrault’s Cinderella is even more so, and is the most passive version of the Cinderella character found throughout the world.

While the Grimm brothers kept Perrault’s ultra-passive main character, what is surprising is that, instead of cleaning up the story to make it more palatable to Victorian society, their 1812 version, “Aschenputtel,” is the more graphic one. It can be read for free, along with many of their other fairy tales, HERE.

Modern day retellings of the Cinderella story include:

Wednesday’s Words #4: Dr. Seuss

Published on by Rachelle

My Russian History Class is really getting to me emotionally.  The atrocities committed by the Soviets during WWII is staggering.  There is so much focus on what the Nazis did, that there is often a failure to notice what the Soviets did, and it all makes me sick to my stomach, depressed, angry, and increasingly cynical.  So, in an effort to make myself feel better, I’m dedicating this month’s Wednesday’s Words to Dr. Seuss.

“You can find magic wherever you look.  Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.”

I’m sticking with books that don’t have anything to do with Russia right now, with the exception of my school work.  Goodbye, War and Peace read-along.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go!”

I’ve got tickets to everywhere, right on my bookshelf.

“You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.”

So many choices….

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

When I chose my major, International Relations, it was because I wanted to work in Humanitarian Relief Aid, particularly with refugees, and my dream job was in the UNHCR.  After working, very briefly, for a non-profit last Summer, I became disillusioned, and not quite sure if I really wanted to continue on my chosen career path.  Later, I rediscovered my love of writing.  It’s too late to change my major and I can’t afford a double major or even a minor.  I also still feel an urge to do something related to Human Rights, and I still dream of going to grad school, but overall I don’t know what I’ll end up doing.

“If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.”

I have faith that I will figure it out by the time I graduate, or I’ll at least be able to find a decent paying job in a field that I enjoy until I do figure it out.

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

Until then, I’ll keep thinking and working, rinsing and repeating.  However, I will always keep in mind that….

DrSeussGif

and….

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

#FitReaders Check-In #7

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for Feb. 9th – 15th.  My goal for this week was an average of 7K steps per day, and since I hit that goal, I’ll be working towards 8K steps per day from Feb. 16th – 22nd.
  • I’ll add 1K steps each week until I’m completing 12K steps per day.  After that, I’ll add in resistance training and/or jogging.  I didn’t go to any hot yoga classes this week.
  • If it weren’t for this challenge, I don’t think I would have met my goal this week.  I pushed myself harder than I would have if I didn’t do these weekly check-ins.  8K steps a day is going to be difficult because I’m now at the point where I have to walk every day.  In previous weeks, I was able to get enough steps to cover multiple days, so if something came up, I was still covered.  That also allowed for full rest days.  Now I don’t have that option, so I’m not sure how that’s going to work for the days when I’m stuck at my computer writing my research papers.
  • One thing I’m proud of is that I’m beginning to see a difference in my level of fitness.  I still haven’t lost any weight or inches, but when the Boyfriend and I were walking our usual route, which includes a steep hill, I didn’t get winded going up the hill.  In fact, the Boyfriend and I continued our conversation all the way to the top and I didn’t even need to stop to catch my breath 🙂
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Total Steps: 50,463
  • Total Distance: 20.75 miles
  • Total Floors Climbed: 146

Monday’s Minutes #7

Published on by Rachelle

Currently Reading: Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran, a review book, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for The Classics Club, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, The Essential Feminist Reader, and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, because I’m insane.  Also, there’s a read-along for it.

 Rosy Sparrow Little Women Fiery Feminist   War and Peace

Finished: 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb, and The Very Best of Kate Elliott, which I reviewed on Saturday.  I might post an edited version of the paper I had to write on 1536 as a sort of review once I get it back from the professor.

1536 Kate Elliott

Winter 2014-2015 COYER Progress:  I’ve read 8 books towards my goal of 10, and participated in 2 read-a-thons towards my goal of 3.  I’ve been keeping up with the Facebook group, and I finally did a mini-challenge!

Show Your Shelves Some Love Progress: 6 

Outdo Yourself Progress: 7

Netgalley/Edelweiss Progress: 5

SF/F Bingo: BINGO!  The Very Best of Kate Elliott was published this year, I’ve read a book containing dragons (The Sunken by S.C. Green), a book by a female author (The Eterna Files), a book published prior to 2000 (Walking the Labyrinth by Lisa Goldstein) and an Urban Fantasy (The Kingdom Lights by Steven V.S.).  My “Free” book is Tommy Black and the Staff of Light by Jake Kerr).  Now that I’ve met this challenge, I’m going to attempt to fill in the whole card.

S&SBingoUpdate4

Total pages read for the week: 384

Total number of books for the year: 9.  I’m still behind schedule and had to move back the review dates for this month’s books again.  Also, I made the mistake of forgetting to download a review book before it was archived *face palm*.  I had an exam and 2 papers to write this week, and I’m busy writing more papers over the next 2 weeks, so I’m not likely to get caught up with all my review books this month.

Top Commenters: This week, my Top Commenter was Shaina from Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?

Review: The Very Best of Kate Elliott

Published on by Rachelle

Kate Elliott

  • Author: Kate Elliott
  • ISBN: 9781616961794
  • Publisher: Tachyon Publications
  • Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There isn’t much in The Very Best of Kate Elliott that I didn’t love.  I’ve never read anything by her before, but I plan on reading more of her work.  I hope that it lives up to this “Best of” collection.  If it weren’t for a couple of the essays and one of the short stories, I would give this book 5 stars.  However, the 2 essays I didn’t care for came off more as personal rants than they did professionally written and well researched essays.  I appreciated her point of view.  I just wasn’t impressed by the way in which it was presented.  As for the one short story I didn’t like, it was an erotic story that felt way too much like amateur porn.  I know there are millions of readers out there that would have no problem with that, but I prefer my erotica to be a bit more elegant.  I’m not sure if that’s really the right word I’m looking for, but it’s the one I’m going with.

The rest of the stories, and the other 2 essays, are amazing.  They’re Feminist without being preachy or completely excluding men or making them all antagonists.  Most of the stories’ main characters are female, but there are a couple male narrators, which I found to be interesting and, in a way, refreshing.  I love Feminist female authors, but they tend to write exclusively from a female point of view.  While that’s perfectly fine, especially if that’s what they’re comfortable writing, I enjoy the attempt to get inside the head of a male character.  Male authors have been doing that with female characters throughout the history of the novel, so why not?

While the stories do fall into the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres, they feel closer to speculative fiction than stereotypical genre fiction.  All of the characters are well defined and full of depth, but Kate Elliott doesn’t skimp on the world building, since that is just as important to her, as discussed in one of the essays.  There are only 2 stories that I would say are lighter reads, so be prepared for some heavy thinking, but definitely give this book a try.

Thursday’s Things #2

Published on by Rachelle

Thursday’s Things is a monthly feature in which I round up the bookish things I’ve discovered.

1001 Things
Original Image by Viktor Hertz

#FitReaders Check-In #6

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for Feb. 2nd – 8th.  My goal for this week was an average of 6K steps per day, and since I hit that goal, I’ll be working towards 7K steps per day from Feb. 9th – 15th.  This is where I’ve had trouble meeting my goal in the past, so I’m going to work extra hard to meet it this time.
  • I’ll add 1K steps each week until I’m completing 12K steps per day.  After that, I’ll add in resistance training and/or jogging.  I didn’t go to any hot yoga classes this week.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Total Steps: 43,331
  • Total Distance: 17.8 miles
  • Total Floors Climbed: 97

Monday’s Minutes #6

Published on by Rachelle

Currently Reading: The Very Best of Kate Elliott, a review book, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for The Classics Club, 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb, for one of my college classes, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, because I’m insane.  Also, there’s a read-along for it.

 Kate Elliott Sparrow Little Women 1536    Fiery War and Peace

Winter 2014-2015 COYER Progress:  I’ve read 7 books towards my goal of 10, and participated in 2 read-a-thons towards my goal of 3.  I’ve been keeping up with the Facebook group, but I still need to do a mini-challenge.

Show Your Shelves Some Love, and Outdo Yourself Progress: 5

Netgalley/Edelweiss Progress: 4

SF/F Bingo: So far I only need to read a book published this year.  The Very Best of Kate Elliott will qualify for that. I’ve read a book containing dragons (The Sunken by S.C. Green), a book by a female author (The Eterna Files), a book published prior to 2000 (Walking the Labyrinth by Lisa Goldstein) and an Urban Fantasy (The Kingdom Lights by Steven V.S.).  My “Free” book is Tommy Black and the Staff of Light by Jake Kerr).

S&S BingoUpdate3

Total pages read for the week: 477.  I was apparently in the middle of another reading slump without knowing it, but I accidently discovered a cure: reading a book from a series I love.  I thought my reading was just being interfered with by all my school work, but on Wednesday evening I got home after a craptastic day with a huge case of the “F-its”, went immediately to my TBR shelf, picked up The Fiery Cross, and started reading without any regard for all the things I should’ve been doing instead.  It turns out all the books I’ve been reading lately have been kind of heavy, and instead of reading I was filling my time with busy work and random chores whenever I wasn’t working on school work.  I enjoy heavy books, but I got bogged down, and I needed another world to escape to and just enjoy the story and characters without dealing with serious modern day real life issues.  The crazy part is now that I’m out of the slump, I’ve been able to return to those heavier books with a renewed interest.  I think from now on, I’m going to keep a light read going along with all the other heavier reads so that this hopefully doesn’t happen again.

Total number of books for the year: 7.  I’m now behind schedule and I moved back the review dates for this month’s books.  However, now that I’m out of my reading slump, I think there’s a chance I’ll be able to complete most of the challenges I’m participating in.  These next couple of weeks are going to be particularly busy, though, so I’m not likely to get caught up with all my review books this month. Wednesday’s Words will now be monthly, along with all my other features except this one.

Top Commenters: This week, my Top Commenter was Shaina from Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?

#ShelfLove No Book Buying Challenge: Finances

Published on by Rachelle

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It’s February, which means those of us participating in the No Book Buying Challenge are supposed to share their book budgets, or what the money saved from not buying books will be spent on.  As you all know, my goal for this challenge is not to spend any money at all for the entire year, but gift cards and free books don’t count.

I got $75 in gift cards for Christmas and my Birthday this year.  I’m also earning gift cards by using a few different online rewards programs.  On top of that, the Boyfriend made an agreement with me that for every week I get at least 2 pages written for each 20 page research paper I have to write for my classes this semester, along with whatever other papers I have due, he will buy me one book of my choosing, as long as it’s not a hardcover.  His reasoning for this agreement is partly motivational, but also because going to the bookstore and seeing all those organized shelves of books is relaxing for me, and he wants me to keep my sanity throughout the insanity of this semester.  That’s what I call love <3

I’ve spent most of the money on my gift cards, but I’m saving the rest for the new edition of The Outlandish Companion by Diana Gabaldon that comes out in March.  I’m close to earning my 1st $5 Amazon gift card through one of the rewards programs, and I’ve also downloaded several free ebooks that I’ve come across.  I’ve earned 2 books so far from the agreement with the Boyfriend.  So, overall, I’m not feeling at all deprived for books.  However, I do have to repeatedly tell myself when I’m at the bookstore that I don’t have to buy every book on my wishlist right now because they’ll still be there when I’ve earned them.  I don’t know where that sense of urgency comes from, but I do know that my self-discipline and willpower are growing 🙂  I’ve read 5 books off of my TBR shelves towards my goal of 50, which means that if I’m able to keep that up, I’ll have met my goal by November.

I don’t have any plans for the money I’m saving from not buying books, but I will be taking the books I’ve read and decided not to keep to Half Price Books at the end of the year.  The money I get will go towards my book budget for 2016.  By then, I should have my degree and hopefully an adult job, but I want to continue spending as little or no money on books until I’ve got free space on my shelves.

Review: The Eterna Files

Published on by Rachelle

Eterna

  • Author: Leanna Renee Hieber
  • ISBN: 9780765336743
  • Publisher: Macmillan-Tor/Forge
  • Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 2nd book from this publisher that has irritated me.  However, I finished this book, and I didn’t get irritated until the end.  The characters are colorful and distinct, each with their own personalities and voice, so I never felt confused about who was talking or thinking.  The descriptions of places and architecture fully immersed me into the world of the story, which takes place in New York and London around 1882.  Overall, I enjoyed it, right up to end, if you can call it an ending.  I can’t even say it’s a cliffhanger ending.  It just sort of ends, but without a completion to the story.

That’s a real problem for me.  I have to really love a story to be ok with that.  Though I liked The Eterna Files, I didn’t truly love it, and therefore I will not be anxiously awaiting the next book to find out what happens.  I’m not even 100% sure there’s going to be a sequel.  The ending was that vague.

If you enjoy Paranormal or Urban Fantasy, and vague endings aren’t necessarily unsatisfying to you, then you’ll probably enjoy this book as much, if not more, than I did.  When the sequel comes out, if there is one, I might check it out from the library just to see what happens, but there are so many other great books that I’m looking forward to reading, I don’t think I’ll go out of my way.