In the YA world, it is currently very popular to re-tell a classic story. Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, you name it. They grab the basic premise of these classic tales and turn them upside down. Maybe Cinderella is a cyborg? Snow White is actually a warrior. The Beast is human. The possibilities are endless.

Fairytale retellings not just popular in the YA novel world, but in films and tv series. Once Upon a Time is a very popular fairytale retelling where all these classic (and uncopyrighted) favorites shine in new light, with a twist to their stories…like Peter Pan actually being a villain…

Anyways, I am not here to talk about Once Upon a Time or Ella Enchanted, I was to talk about books.

For the month of November I will be reading several retellings of classic fairytales. I do not have a quirky name for the month, but something along the lines of November Retold or Twisted Fairytales November.  I honestly do not know! I am no good with quirky names. Point is, the theme for November is fairytales retold or with a twist.

I already have my TBR prepare for this month and I hope I can tackle all these books.

I will begin with the Lunar Chronicle series by Marissa Meyer. This series is a retelling of Cinderella, Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. It is set several hundred years in the future and in China…well New Beijing and Cinder (aka Cinderella) is the main character of the whole series.

I have already read Cinder and I was fascinated with the hole plot and idea. Cinder is a cyborg with immunity to a very deadly disease that is plaguing the world. Oh! And there is a civilization called the Lunars that live on the Moon that want to take over the Earth. So we follow the story Cinder as she lives her daily life and finds herself in unusual circumstances.

Then we have Scarlet, and here we explore Red Riding Hood’s story along side Cinder’s…I have not read Scarlet but it is the first book on my TBR. I promise!

Next there is Cress, and it follows Rapunzel’s storyline, kinda. And of course Cinder.

Then Winter is the final book in the series. Winter is not out yet but I have it pre-ordered and it will arrive to my doorstep (hopefully) on the day it is released!

After I am done with The Lunar Chronicles I will be continuing The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer.

I have already read the first two books of the series, The Wishing Spell and The Enchantress Returns. The next book that I have to read is A Grimm Warning…and Beyond the Kingdoms (but I don’t own this one).

The Land of Stories is a more innocent retelling of the classic Grimm Brother Stories, where we follow the tale of twins, Alex and Conner, and how their lives are connected to these stories and people.

THEN! If I still have enough time in the month of November I will be exploring the world of The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. This story is a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights.

I have never read this classic story, so I honestly don’t know what to expect. All I know is the a woman got out of a death sentence by telling a story to a prince/king each night until he fell in love with her or something. All I know about this retelling is that it is darker than the original story…but I am honestly clueless.

Hopefully I can read all these books by the end of November!

OH!

I also have business cards now! What do you guys think? I think they are so cute~

HAPPY READING.

I was in ninth grade and Borders was still a semi-stable bookstore company. I do not remember what led me to ask my mom to buy me a complete set of books…but I did. I think we were looking for a book I needed for my English class or something, but on that day I returned home with the complete paperback set of Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. My memory is fuzzy on how quickly I devoured the stories, but on 2010 I continued the journey of the Greek world of Camp-Half Blood with the new Heroes of Olympus series.

Six years later I am proud to say that I am slut crazy for Riordan’s stories. I also discovered my love for Percy Jackson (my favorite book character of all time…presently). It was Riordan who put me back on the reading bandwagon after my…vampire literature phase…

The stories of Percy Jackson (at least the first five books) we watch Percy grow in each book. Much like Harry in the Harry Potter series. Percy is a demigod, the son of Greek god Poseidon, and he learns that being a demigod sucks and it is not something he would wish upon anyone. He didn’t ask to be a demigod. I was 14 when I read the first book and Percy was 12, even though he was younger than me, I wanted my life to be a crazy deadly adventure like his. (I know…wtf?)

Today I just pray to the heavens my poor baby survives another quest. And question Riordan’s butchering of Percy’s inner demons in Blood of Olympus. Sorry getting side-tracked.

I have branched off and dabbled in Riordan’s other mythology pools. I have met Carter and Sadie Kane, Egyptian magicians, who have to make sure the world doesn’t turn into sand as they try to figure out how to bring back Ra. Even though I have only read the first book of the Kane Chronicles trilogy I know I am in for another great adventure. Filled a bunch of gods, demons, and Goth God of Hotness.2: Anubis.

Recently, Riordan released a new series. A Norse series called: Mango Cheese Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. I absolutely loved it, Magnus is my fictional son and if anything happens to him I might send Uncle Rick a very angry 10-page letter.

Something I absolutely love about Riordan’s stories is that they all connect. All these Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse gods are in the same universe. I like this, because I do not completely agree with Christianity and their whole concept of only being one single god. Of course, these books are not religious at all, so no worries.

In his three mythology series there are subtle hints of the other stories. In the Kane Chronicles there are subtle hints of Percy’s world and his gods. Carter’s uncle warned them that Manhattan is inhabited by other gods so he needed to be careful (which left Carter extremely confused). There is even a cross-over (that I have not read) where Carter and Percy meet, along with Sadie and Annabeth!

Then in Magnus Chase…who is Annabeth Chase’s cousin (she is a Greek demigod, daughter of Athena), there are a bunch of hints and shade thrown about Greek series.

Can you tell that I really like Rick Riordan’s stories? I own practically all his mythology stuff…someone send help.

Next May he is publishing a new series based of the world of Camp Half-Blood called Apollo’s Trials… and I wont be here!!! I might actually cry if I get spoiled…

I just…augh! I need help!