Saturday, June 21, 2014

Once Upon a Time VIII: Wrap Up


Summer is upon us and the Once Upon a Time Challenge is over. That challenge is hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings, and encourages reading or viewing from four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology.

My goal was to read five books, but I read and reviewed only four books. My choices were all in the fantasy genre, although several were cross-overs with the mystery genreI did watch the first two Hobbit movies in April and write a post on that topic.

I enjoyed all the books I read. 

The books I read for this event were... 

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
9tail Fox by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Among Others by Jo Walton

You can check out the Review Site where participants posted links to any book or screen posts related to this event. Also, bloggers will link their summary posts HERE.

15 comments:

Cath said...

You did well! I've read the two Aaronovitch books and Among Others and really liked all three.

w said...

Good job on completing your challenge. I've heard great things about Jo Walton and recently bought Farthing. I read a great review of it...somewhere online. Walton writes alternate history and this will be my first time reading a novel like that. Hope to read it this year.

TracyK said...

Cath, I was very happy with all the books I read, but 9tail Fox was my favorite and a surprise. I did not know what to expect.

TracyK said...

Keishon, I loved Farthing and enjoyed the two books that followed it. But Farthing was the best of the three. I am also reading Jo Walton's book titled What Makes This Book So Great which is mostly short articles (from the TOR.com blog) on her thoughts on fantasy novels.... but not limited to that genre.

Unknown said...

I keep seeing Among Others on people's blogs, I'll have to see what it's about.
I like the name Grimwood, that's a perfect name for a fantasy author. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed, Tracy. And your post has reminded me that I really ought to branch out a bit more and perhaps read some fantasy. It's not usually my 'thing,' but it's good I think to try new kinds of books.

TracyK said...

Delia, I would highly recommend Among Others. The author combines a love of books with a coming of age novel. Grimwood is a great name, I had not thought of that. You should check out some of his work, it seems to be different.

TracyK said...

I agree, Margot, it is good to try new genres. There are a lot of books that mix fantasy and mystery nowadays, and it is worthwhile finding out how you like that. Some don't appeal to me, others work well.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, my children are after me to read Tolkien and watch the trilogy as well as "The Hobbit" movies. However, I haven't read or seen much fantasy since Harry Potter. Maybe, some day...

col2910 said...

Tracy, well done! With the possible exception of the Grimwood one, not really my kind of books.

Shalet Jimmy said...

Happy to hear it...

I am simply surprised that my interest varies. There was a time when I loved murder mysteries. Then it got stopped. Maybe due to incessant violence in those books. Then I went for serious reading. I enjoyed it. It stopped. Now to revive my interest in reading, I am delving into mysteries which worked.

TracyK said...

Prashant, I enjoyed the two Hobbit movies a lot. But I don't know how much I would have appreciated them
without having read the book first. The movies were substantially different though. I read the book to my son years ago.

TracyK said...

I agree, Col, Grimwood is the closest to your type of novel.

TracyK said...

I do like to vary my reading, Shalet Jimmy. Mainly, I stick with mysteries. One can get a lot of variety in the mystery genre.

TracyK said...

Thanks so much, Giuseppe. I enjoyed taking a look at your site. Nice interviews.