Update on Summer Reading List

Way back in May I created this post about my aspirations for reading this summer.  Needless to say, it did not go as planned, but here is the update of my journey so far.

1. The Dresden Files -- Read them, loved, them, and so obsessed that I found almost all the short stories that go in between the books.  For my immediate reaction after reading Changes see this post.

2. Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy -- I have been trying to find them all summer, however they are constantly checked out as they seem to be the IT books of the summer.  However, Tony, the library specialist from the Modern Languages Library is on the look out for their copy for me.  He's such a nice guy.

3. Devil in the White City -- I started it in May and just finished yesterday (7/31).  It isn't really that long of a book, it just moves a little slowly and is rather jumpy going from the architect to the serial killer to the insane assassin.  Also, each chapter tries to end with a mini cliff hanger which gets tiresome after awhile.  But all in all I really liked it, especially the little bits of sarcastic humor Larson threw in every once in awhile,

"No one saw Twain.  He came to Chicago to see the fair but got sick and spent eleven days in his hotel room, then left without ever seeing the White City.

Of all people."  (285)

I think my favorite quote about it was the Chicago Sun-Times one on the back of the book, "Larson is a historian with a novelist's soul."

4. Kathy Reichs' series -- I have started Deja Dead, the first book of the series and so far, I am unimpressed, especially in comparison to Bones.  The characters aren't very engaging so far and it's a little too graphic for me.  I will at least finish it, but if I don't end up liking it, I'm not going to read the others.

Update 8/11: I got through most of the book and just didn't care what happened. It's probably because I love Bones so much, but Reichs' characters seemed kind of flat and the attention to detail was a little too much for me.

5. Orwell's 1984 --  It's in my bag right now and I plan to start it today, as soon as I finish the other book I am currently reading (I'll get to that a little later).

Update 8/11: 1984 just stayed in my bag. I'm just not in the mood for disturbing, dystopian novel, as I'm already bummed enough that classes are starting up and my relative summer freedom is coming to an end.   

6. A.S. Byatt's  Possession -- I have it checked out from the library and will get to it, but it's a HUGE book, so I am not sure I will be able to finish it before classes start.

7. Italo Calvino -- I am currently reading the revised edition of The Path to the Spiders' Nests (finished 8/2) and so far it's okay.  It reminds me For Whom the Bell Tolls a little. I prefer his more experimental fiction so I also checked out If on a winter's night a traveler.

8.  The Woman in White -- I still have to catch up to Renae.

At least I have most of the books, and no those aren't all the Dresden Files.

As mentioned in the May post, my reading this summer was not limited to the above list.  In addition to the list I have read Namaah's Kiss and Namaah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey (just get past the sex goddess thing and it's an epic tale), Mercedes Lackey's The Sleeping Beauty (see this post), the graphic novel version of Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, and a few trashy romances to rot my brain. 

I really don't think I did too badly, considering all the time I've been at work, plus the TV I've watched as well and the blogs I read daily.  But hopefully, I will finish the rest of the list in the next few weeks.

How To: Appliques on Canvas

After one of my roommates moved out at the beginning of the semester, she took her photos with her that had been our sole decoration in the living room.  I stared at the blank walls for a few months and finally decided I had enough and started to think what I could do about it.  I was immediately inspired by all the HGTV I've been watching recently and decided to cover some canvases with fabric.

I wanted something floral and swoopy (you, know vines running all over and making swirly patterns).   This is the fabric I found at JoAnn's:

Sorry about the wrinkles.

It was a little more pricey than I wanted to spend, but it was the closest match to the ideal fabric-in-my-head.  Once I had the fabric and looked at the pattern, some of the individual flowers were interesting enough to stand on their own, so I decided to do some decoupage appliques on canvas too.

Supplies for both projects:

Fabric covered canvases -- fabric of your choice cut to dimensions that will cover and wrap around to the back of the canvas and push pins or a staple gun

Appliques on canvas -- fabric you want to applique, canvas, plain tea bags, Modge Podge or similar product, sponge paintbrush

Instructions:

The fabric covered canvases are fairly easy to figure out, so I won't bore you with the details.

The appliques are a little more complicated, so here it goes.

Step 1:  Boil some tea bags in a small pot of water.

Step 2:  After the tea has come to a boil, carefully pour into shallow pan or baking sheet. Place canvases face down, to die the tea.  When they reach the color you want, remove from the pan and allow to dry.

Step 3:  While the canvases are soaking/drying, pick out which flower(s) you want to feature and carefully cut them out.

Step 4:  Use Modge Podge to affix the cut out to the dry canvas.  Brush the paste over the back of the cut out.  Then place flower, glue-side down, and completely cover the canvas with a coat of paste so that the fabric doesn't unravel and there is a consistent look to the canvas.

Step 5:  Let paste dry...

...and Voila!

Tales as Old as Time

I just finished Mercedes Lackey's The Sleeping Beauty (I know, I know, it wasn't on the summer reading list, but there was a lot of flexibility in that list and I have been pretty steadily working at it as I have finished the Dresden Files). It was good, but about the same as the other books in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, which is not up to the standard of the Valdemar universe or even her Elemental Masters series (I highly recommend both).

The basis of the Five Hundred Kingdoms is that there are all these, well, kingdoms that are guided by this omnipresent and unintelligent force, the Tradition, that seeks out people whose lives closely resemble a fairy tale, saga, or myth and force events to replay that same story over and over again.  So if you have a deceased father, a stepmother, and two stepsisters who are ugly in some way, you turn into Cinderella (the basis of The Fairy Godmother, the first book in the series).  However that is not always the case because what is the Prince Cinderella is supposed to fall in love with is two years old, or eighty-five years old? Then there is all this Traditional magic that builds up around the almost-Cinderella that could be used for good or evil.  This is where the Fairy Godmother comes in, an individual who guides (read 'manipulates') the Tradition to a non-evil ending.  Basically, the book is full of allusions to tales - Grimm's, Anderson, and the Greek and Norse myths.  It's a creative way to deal with the fact that "there is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature," (Foster 29).

If you didn't follow the last link, the book I am referring to is Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, which is actually a really good and fairly easy read about how to pick apart some of the inner workings of books.  Anyhoo, Chapter 5: Now, Where Have I Seen That Before? examines the intertextuality of literature, whether it be from direct references, allusions, or reworking stories.  Though I don't completely agree with his "big secret" that "there's only one story" (Foster 32), because that seems a little simplistic and too broad, the the idea that stories build upon one another and are constantly referring to each other is completely wrapped up in fairy and folk tales.  I mean think about it, how many versions of Cinderella have you seen or read? I estimate at least 20, but that seems low because, in essence, most chick-flicks play on that theme.  There is just this fascination with happily-ever-after that never seems to leave us from our first introduction through the safety of the Disney-ified versions of the stories to the humorous modern interpretations to the dark and dangerous "originals."

Here are some of my favorite re-tellings, fairy tales and other wise:

• Bill Willingham's Fables series -- They're graphic novels that put all of your favorite characters in a modern setting, complete with inter-dimensional travel, epic battles, and sex.  Great storytelling and concept. Rated PG-13 for language, images, and sexuality. See my earlier rave post on this very subject.
• Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series -- Again, not up to her usual standard, but these romances have a great concept and they are entertaining.  I also like the fact that she features different traditions of tales in each of the books.  Start with The Fairy Godmother.  Rated PG to PG-13, depending on the book for mild sexuality.
• Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series -- This universe is set in Victorian era Britain for the most part and combines the basic plot of fairy tales with elemental magicians.  They are less simplistic and a little darker than 500 Kingdoms; my favorites are Pheonix and Ashes and The Serpent's Shadow.  Rated PG-13 for mild sexuality, violence, and mature themes.
• Anything by Robin McKinley --  She writes mostly for young adults and has a feminist twist (rated PG). My favorite is Beauty.  The only adult story I've read of hers is Deerskin and it was okay.  Definitely check out her original fiction as well, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. 
• Politically Correct Bedtime Stories and Once Upon a More Enlightened Time by James Finn Garner -- Humorous, modern re-tellings of all your favorites.  It's been awhile since I read them, but I think I would rate them PG-13 for some mature material.
• D.J. MacHale's Pendragon Series -- It's an older children to young adult series of a modern-day hero of the Arthurian legend.  Great story-telling.  Rated PG for some heavy action. I haven't finished the series, so shh! Don't tell me what happens.

Some other popular fairy tale re-fashioners include Gail Carson Levine of Ella Enchanted fame (G), Gregory Maguire of Wicked fame (definitely R) and Angela Carter (R), but really almost all writers pull on these various traditions and you can find fairy tales tailored to almost any philosophy from feminism to Marxism to Nazism (I kid you not, the Nazi party re-wrote Grimms tales to better reflect Arians and put down Jews). 

The possibilities are endless and I love seeing what has bee added to the literary tradition. I can't wait to read more fairy tales and add a little magic to my life.