@courtenay 

Yes, I mentioned it before.  I was also fortunate to have attended the same Christian college where he  taught.  Another well known C. S. Lewis scholar, Dr. Charles Huttar, was also a professor there for many years, and I took a course with him too. It seems like my college years may have been providential. I grew up in the area of Michigan where the college is located, and I still live there today. 🙂

Posted by: @mel

@rainyweather It's rather disappointing that the two newer retelling were only so-so, because they look like books I would pick up. Have you read other fairy tale retellings/has @valiantarcher recommended Waking Beauty to you yet?

@mel They're weren't bad books, they're just not the sort I prefer. If you like the YA romance genre, I'm sure you'd enjoy them! I'm just not really a fan romance, or of many of the books that typically get labeled "YA". They were certainly interesting and I appreciate the different takes on a classic fairy tale, but the style, focus, and some content of the books just doesn't appeal to me personally. I don't recall ever hearing of Waking Beauty, but if it's anything like Beauty or the writing of Gail Carson Levine, I'm sure I'd love it. It does sound like a twist on Briar Rose. What's the name of of the author?

Most of the fairy tale retellings I've read are Levine's, but I've read some other twists such as Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm. The title pretty much sums that one up . I also like some original fantasies that have a modern-style original fairy tale feel.

@rainyweather I really liked a lot of books by Gail Carson Levine when I was a kid, though I admit I haven't felt like rereading them much lately. It's not like I've changed my mind about them though. (Or at least not much.) Someday, I'll probably be in the mood for them again.

I also enjoyed A Tale Dark and Grimm, though my favorite book in the series is Through a Glass Grimmly, which ironically is the one that takes it source material from the Brothers Grimm the least.  

@mel, I have not recommended Waking Beauty to rainyweather, so thank you for so doing!

@rainyweather, Waking Beauty is by Sarah E. Morin. I would say it's probably slightly closer to Beauty in style than Gail Carson Levine, but I'm not sure it's really analogous. Waking Beauty is a Christian fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty but much better handled than most Christian fantasy I've tried. For one thing, the author tackles at least one aspect of Christian life/thought I haven't seen addressed anywhere else; for another, the characters seem pretty well-rounded, and for a third, it's got some really fun humour (a few quotes, for example: "His princess was dusty. Arpien should have expected that. Anything lying undisturbed for a hundred years would gather dust. He’d crossed the ocean to find the right sword for this venture, but neglected to pack a feather duster." and "Self-defense was one thing. Blasé assault with a root vegetable was another." and "He’d gladly carry her to Estepel, but as she pointed out, there was nothing wrong with her legs. Besides, toting a fair damsel around in one’s arms was probably only romantic until you started perspiring."). It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I would recommend giving it a try if you can get your hands on it!

I'm currently reading Mr. Standfast by John Buchan. I've had to put it down a few times and my WWI knowledge is a bit shaky, so I'm not following everything quite as well as I probably should, but it's been fun and I've been enjoying all the Pilgrim's Progress references. I'm also enjoying

I've never been attracted to horror, but, for whatever reason, I've decided to read Dracula and I'm really enjoying it so far. (I'm about halfway.) The prose isn't the greatest but it's certainly not bad. While there have been some slow stretches, it's amazing how gripped I am, considering that (a) the novel's epistolary so I know whoever's narrating at the moment isn't going to die before the chapter ends and (b) I know the overarching plot already from a series of children's books called Cracked Classics by Tony Abbott, which is about two lazy middle school students who get sucked into the plots of literary classics through a pair of magical library security gates. 

It may sound really strange that I enjoy Cracked Classics when I'm an adult who often reads the actual literary classics, but what can I say? I like what I like. To give you some idea, here's a quote from the one about Dracula. It's spoiler-tastic though so read at your own risk. 

Posted by: @rainyweather

If you like the YA romance genre, I'm sure you'd enjoy them!

Well, like is perhaps a strong word. I keep being enticed by covers and premises and then find the actual content forgettable. But I keep hoping because every once in a while there is one that hits just right. (Deborah Grace White and J. M. Stengle both have series of fairy tale retellings that are above average in my opinion, though they do lean a bit hard on the romance angle. Whereas Gail Carson Levine leaned a bit more on expanding the stories and taking the reader to a world where a fairy tale could happen--as does Robin McKinley--and those types of retellings are harder to find.)

I just introduced my youngest sister to Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles and because of her enthusiasm I am about halfway through a reread myself. They're a fun entry in the fairy-tale comedy genre.

@col-klink I'm not reading Dracula myself, but I know several people who are following Dracula Daily (emails where you get the letters by when they were written in-story) and have absorbed enough by osmosis to get a chuckle out of your spoiler.   

Posted by: @jo

Posted by: @snowangel

I finished Awake & Alive To Truth by John Cooper and it was really good.

He is quite the Christian apologist, isn't he?! I have enjoyed listening to him when Alisa Childers has had Cooper on her podcast. I have not yet read his book, but thanks for the recommendation, SA!

He certainly is. Oh, neat. I haven't listened to any of the podcast episodes he has done with Alisa Childers or visa versa, yet. After you read her book, I would love to know if you enjoy/recommend it.

So, I have developed the very bad habit of stashing books to read later, like when I don't have library books or time to go the library, then I will read this stack of books. And I realized the other day that I have some books that were given to me that I really should read.  I am now reading Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer, I'm on the fourth chapter and enjoying it. I meant to read it ages ago, but it was stuck in a box for awhile and then I ended up double shelving books trying to make them fit on my bookcase. When I finished my latest library book, I realized I should spend time reading my own books and so I dug out Charity Girl.

SnowAngel

After a number of rather dry, historical fiction books from the early 1800s, my kids and I are reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for fun! We're all really enjoying it. AND, this is the first chapter book I recall my third sitting in with us willingly and wanting to know what happens next!  

@fantasia I remember reading that along with Mum when I was 4 years old and I absolutely loved it! The film is great too, of course, but the book is even better and has a lot more in it.

Really, thinking back to that time, it may have been partly due to my very positive response to Oz that Mum, not long afterwards, decided I might like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe...  

@fantasia 

There are other Oz books besides The Wizard of Oz that are well worth reading. They are available in hardcover editions with five novels in each volume. I have the first ten written by L. Frank Baum and I reread them about a year ago. When you read them as an adult they are like nostalgic fantasy. It is like a journey back in time when children’s fantasy books revealed a simpler, more innocent world.

@narnian78 ,

Yep, I have books 1-14 on my bookshelves! Though admittedly whenever I go to reread them I tend to stop at book 6. It was clear Baum intended to end the series there because it wraps up so neatly. And then he got enough fan mail he started writing again.  

@courtenay, I always took issue with the movie making Oz a dream.  

Posted by: @fantasia

@courtenay, I always took issue with the movie making Oz a dream.  

I take issue with that too — it just cheapens the fantasy by making it all somehow a product of Dorothy's subconsciousness, rather than a real place and real experiences. I'm not sure who decided to take the film in that direction or what they thought they'd achieve by doing it. It's still a good film, though, just not as good as the book!

I've read the first several Oz books — the first 5 of them, I think — and I enjoyed them, although I never felt impelled to read the entire series. I was aware that Baum tried to bring the series to a clear conclusion and then got bombarded with so much fan mail that he kept on writing more. Bit like Arthur Conan Doyle killing off Sherlock Holmes and then being pressured into writing even more stories, starting with the ingenious explanation of how Holmes didn't die after all!!  

Posted by: @fantasia

After a number of rather dry, historical fiction books from the early 1800s

...the books themselves are from the early 1800s or the books are set in the early 1800s? (I ask because I'm sure I've read books in the second category, but I'm not sure I've read anything in the first, so....)

I finally finished the biography of Julia Child--fascinating stuff, especially the making of the later shows.

Posted by: @courtenay

It's still a good film, though, just not as good as the book!

I'm actually going to say I think the movie, The Wizard of Oz, is an overall improvement on the book.

The following paragraph is going to sound like I totally hate the book, which I don't. (Any book that can bring Fantasia's diverse family together deserves some praise.) The reason I'm making it sound like I do is because it's so rare for...well, I'll get to that later. If you're a big fan of the Oz books, you might want to sit this post out.  

IMO, the movie makes a Dorothy a much better character. In the book, she's just kind of blandly cheerful and plucky all the time and she never seems phased by the wondrous things she encounters the way the Narnia protagonists, for example, do, so it's hard to empathize with her. The movie gives her more of an interesting character arc where she starts out wanting to get away from her home and comes to realize how much she loves it. (In the book, her goal is the same throughout.) The love-hate relationship she has with her aunt, I think, is really interesting. Even though Em doesn't get much screentime, the movie makes her quite a nuanced character.

I also think the movie has better humor, relatively speaking, than the book does. Baum's prose style, I find bland and generic. That doesn't mean he was a terrible author or anything! Nor does it mean that the book doesn't have cool things that the movie doesn't, mainly memorable images and worldbuilding. I'd say, striking images and worldbuilding were what made the Oz books popular. (Consistent worldbuilding? No. Entertaining worldbuilding? Yes.) 

The reason I'm writing so much about my liking the movie more than the book is because it's extremely rare for me to do that. Here's a link to read my normal take on book vs. film adaptations. Charlie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factories | The Adaptation Station.com I think I like books better because I can get inside the characters' heads and experience what they do. With movies, you have to go by the actors' faces. 

P.S.

Posted by: @courtenay

I'm not sure who decided to take the film in that direction or what they thought they'd achieve by doing it.

I heard somewhere the producers' believed audiences didn't like fantasy. I've never understood people who don't like fantasy. .

There are times that the books are better than the movies (it's always the case). Though I'm sure there are some movies that are better than the books.

I am probably the minority on this, but I think I kind of like the musical version of Jekyll and Hyde better than the book by Robert Lewis Stevenson. Oh, it is a good book, and a quick read. The musical fills in the gap pretty much.

As for Wizard of Oz, it's been done different ways, but the best known is the musical. I guess you never know what direction a adaption of a book would go in.