Episode 212: Fairy tales and Mythology

Introduction

Welcome, everyone, to Reading with Libraries! This week we are discussing Fairy Tales and Mythology.

We are a multitype system, supporting all types of libraries. This is our book group podcast, where we discuss different genres of books each week, while we all sit in our comfy chairs and drink our beverages. You are, of course, an important part of this book group. So if you do not already have a nice beverage please go get one, so you can join the experience.

There are no “right” or “wrong” books to read and chat about for our book group – we are just here to explore all kinds of books. All of us will take away at least a title or two that we want to read at the end of our time together!

Who is joining our reading group this week? This week we welcome returning Guest Host Ariel, from Great River Library System

 

Beverages

We have guests, we have our genre. We just need our beverages. Fortunately, we all came prepared with something to sip while we talk about our books. Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages. Each beverage will have a recipe or a link on our episode page, so you can try them yourself!  Obviously, feel free to sip along with us with any beverage that is right for you. Just join us in celebrating books, and discussing books!

This week our drinks are all so pretty to look at, and come from The Blind Pig pub in London. “The Blind Pig London is beautifully British and embraces the libations of its homeland to create drinks which have been described as liquid fairy tale.” The menu is a leather-bound children’s book of beverages, all with the lovely illustrations.

Mr Tumnas Tipple

Hendricks gin, Lanique rose, Cocchi Rosa, Pedro Ximenez sherry, chocolate bitters and tobacco essence.

Dream Jar

Ketel One vodka, Swedish punsch, apricot, lemon, vanilla & oregano syrup, egg white, soda and zozimus essence.

Magic Memories

Buffalo Trace bourbon, Disaronno amaretto, maraschino, pink grapefruit, lemon, raspberry, egg white and Tinkerbell.

Rabbit’s Remedy

Cabeza tequila infused with chamomile tea, carrot cordial, lime and cake.

 

Genre Suggestions

We have our guests and our beverages; let’s talk about some resources for finding fairy tales and mythologies.

“Fairy tales are stories either created or strongly influenced by oral traditions. Their plots feature stark conflicts between good and evil, with magic and luck determining the usually happy endings. While each culture and geographic region of the world has its own body of folk tales and fairy tales that it considers “its own,” certain themes and motifs tend to be repeated across many cultures and time periods. Universal human emotions such as love, hate, courage, kindness, and cruelty appear in bold, broad strokes on the canvas of fairy tales.”

The oldest known documented fairy tales come from Egypt and date around 1300 BC.

 

“Myth is a feature of every culture. Many sources for myths have been proposed, ranging from personification of nature or personification of natural phenomena, to truthful or hyperbolic accounts of historical events to explanations of existing rituals. A culture’s collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models, and moral and practical lessons.”

One of the great things about Mythology and fairy tales is that you can learn about cultures across the world. While we will not have time to talk about them all, we will have resources for you to explore stories from around the world.

There are all kinds of sources for myths. We link to an entire list on our website, and here are a few sources:

  1 Mythologies by region

  2 Mythologies by religion

  3 Syncretic mythologies

  4 Mythologies by time period

  5 Fictional mythologies

 

And a few resources from our friends at Goodreads:

 

Here are a few places you can go for more information:

·       https://bookriot.com/2017/10/19/remixed-fairy-tales/

·       https://bookriot.com/2016/09/26/100-must-read-retellings-myths-folklore-classics/

·       https://bookriot.com/2017/12/11/intersectional-fairy-tale-retellings/

·       https://www.bookbub.com/blog/2017/05/09/magical-books-about-king-arthur-legend

·       Fairy Tales: Resources for Teaching the Genre | Scholastic

·       Fairytale Theme Page– Fairy tale resources, lessons, ideas for fairytales!

·       Ultimate Fairy Tale Resource Guide

·       Fairy Tales Lessons, Worksheets and Activities – Teacherplanet.com

·       Fairy Tales Lessons, Worksheets and Activities – Teacherplanet.com

·       Fairytales & Traditional Stories Teaching Resources & Printables

·       Primary Resources: English: Text Level: Fiction: Traditional Stories

·       Fairy tales; not just for kids | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

·       Fairy Tales | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

·       EYFS Story Resources | Free Traditional Tale

 

List of mythology books and sources

Now that we have some good resources to help us all find more books, let’s share some of the books we have already enjoyed!

 

 

Books Discussed

 Let’s talk about books!!

  • Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
  • Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
  • An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
  • Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, by Patricia C. Wrede
  • Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel by Marie Phillips
  • Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
  • Alice (The Chronicles of Alice) by Christina Henry
  • Briar Rose: A Novel of the Holocaust by Jane Yolen
  • The Mists of Avalon (Avalon, #1) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
  • Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

 

Here are a few more we discussed, with information from Amazon.com:

 

Indexing, by Seanan McGuire

Fairy tales are real. And they don’t care who they kill.

That’s where the ATI Management Bureau steps in, an organization tasked with protecting the world from fairy tales, even while most of their agents are struggling to keep their own fantastic archetypes from taking over their lives. When you’re dealing with storybook narratives in the real world, it doesn’t matter if you’re Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or the Wicked Queen: no one gets a happily ever after.

 

 

Reflections (Indexing #2), by Seanan McGuire

The struggle against not-so-charming storybook narratives isn’t the only complicating factor in Henrietta “Henry” Marchen’s life. As part of the ATI Management Bureau team protecting the world from fairy tales gone awry, she’s juggling her unwanted new status as a Snow White, dealing with a potentially dangerous Pied Piper, and wrangling a most troublesome wicked stepsister—along with a budding relationship with Jeff, her teammate.

But when a twisted, vicious Cinderella breaks out of prison and wreaks havoc, things go from disenchanted to deadly. And once Henry realizes someone is trying to use her to destroy the world, her story becomes far from over—and this one might not have a happily ever after.

 

Free Agent (Grimm Agency #1) by J.C. Nelson

When it comes to crafting happily-ever-afters, the Agency is the best in the land of Kingdom. The Fairy Godfather Grimm can solve any problem—from eliminating imps to finding prince charming—as long as you can pay the price…

Working for Grimm isn’t Marissa Locks’s dream job. But when your parents trade you to a Fairy Godfather for a miracle, you don’t have many career options. To pay off her parents’ debt and earn her freedom, Marissa must do whatever Grimm asks, no matter what fairy-tale fiasco she’s called on to deal with.

Setting up a second-rate princess with a first-class prince is just another day at the office. But when the matchmaking goes wrong, Marissa and Grimm find themselves in a bigger magical muddle than ever before. Not only has the prince gone missing, but the Fae are gearing up to attack Kingdom, and a new Fairy Godmother is sniffing around Grimm’s turf, threatening Marissa with the one thing she can’t resist: her heart’s wishes.

Now Marissa will have to take on Fairies, Fae, dragons, and princesses to save the realm—or give up any hope of ever getting her happy ending…

 

 

Mythos Academy Jennifer Estep

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy; a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why; especially since I should have been the one who died…

 

The Once and Future King TH White

Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons.

During Arthur’s reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur’s half-sister Morgause and the hatred she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king’s dreams for Britain—and to the king himself.

 

 

American Gods (American Gods) by Neil Gaiman

Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You’ll be surprised by what – and who – it finds there…

 

War for the Oaks  by Emma Bull

Eddi McCandry has just left her boyfriend and their band when she finds herself running through the Minneapolis night, pursued by a sinister man and a huge, terrifying dog. The two creatures are one and the same: a phouka, a faerie being who has chosen Eddi to be a mortal pawn in the age-old war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Eddi isn’t interested–but she doesn’t have a choice. Now she struggles to build a new life and new band when she might not even survive till the first rehearsal.

 

 

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.

So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .

 

Conclusion

Thank you so much for joining us this week! We will be back next week with a new genre, new books, new beverages, and all new discussion! Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast app, so you don’t miss a single moment of this book group!

 

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We are looking forward to talking about books with you again next week!