A Bit of Catch-Up (But Not the Kind for Fries)

I have been a bit absent from the blog lately and will probably continue to be for the next few weeks. Life is extremely busy right now with teaching, coaching speech, finishing my online class, preparing for the Minnesota licensure exams that I have to take, and trying to sleep, eat, and stay healthy in between! I hope to do two or three more Jane Eyre posts (the movie STILL isn't here!) as soon as possible, but I wanted to take care of some housekeeping in the meantime.

I was extremely excited about participating in the 24-Hour Readathon, and I fully intended to read as much as I possibly could that day. Sadly, April 9th was one of the only days that I could take one of the aforementioned licensure exams, so I will actually be spending most of that day answering questions about literature, pedagogy, and adolescents age 11-18. I know your jealous; try not to let it eat up your soul. I do have a four hour window between tests and I will have the evening free, so I still plan to read, read, read. In fact, I am headed to the library to pick up the Readathon books that are waiting for me there.

Speaking of library books on hold, it is time for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge! I discovered this challenge last year, and while I didn't complete it, I did enjoy the books I read for it. This year, I am signing up for Quest the First, which means I have to read four books that fit any of the challenge categories (fantasy, myth, folklore, or fairy tales).



I had the hardest time with the folklore category last year, but I already have a good list of books that I am contemplating reading for the challenge. Here's what I'm thinking I will choose from (at least at the moment!):
1. Tender Morsels (folklore)
2. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (fantasy)
3. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (fairy tale)
4. The Iliad (myth)--I never did finish this...
5. The Name of the Wind (fantasy)
6. Till We Have Faces (myth)--I had this on my list last year, but I didn't actually read it.
7. As many of the books from the Samaria (fantasy) series by Sharon Shinn--One of my goals for this year was to reread these books, which I loved the first time through.
8. Something by Angela Carter (fairy tale/folklore)

My list is quite fantasy heavy, but I hope to find some good ideas from the other challenge participants.

Here's to Spring and some wonderful reading!