Dreams Underfoot - how to fall in love with fantasy

Dreams Underfoot was the first major collection of Charles de Lint's short stories, published in 1993, most of which were previously published in short story collections. For me, this was the collection that launched de Lint into public fame as a Canadian writer of urban fantasy. I'm 3/4 of the way through the book, and I'm finding I am delighted all over again with Charles' writing.

I first read this collection in 1993 or 94, when it first came out, and I thought it the best collection of short stories by anyone I had come across. There are no bad stories in this book. Some are stronger, some are better worked out, some have such fabulous stories that I really want them to continue, a few - very few - don't touch me or disappoint because they are different - yes, even a second time around reading, I still get disappointed when I want a story to go one way and it goes another! The wonder of this collection is that it mostly amazes with a gentle touch of wonder. These are real fantasy stories, every one. They are like the gossamer feel of dreams, tiny enchantments, glimpses of a world of wonder and magic that still exist around us. I want to go to Newford. I want to live there!

There are 19 stories in all, and I am on 14, 'The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep.' I like this story just for the title alone! It feels like a song when I say it. I thought that this morning while I was reading it on the bus on the way to work. These short stories are like pieces of music put to the page.

If you are looking for something a little magical and a little dangerous and a whole lot enchanting to take you from Hallowe'en into the Christmas season, this is a book I can reccommend to do just that.

The stories are interconnected, but they can be read and enjoyed separately also. Combined together, they make a lovely interweaving of myth and city legends, glimpses of fairies and magic, wonder, magic and fear - because Faerie is dangerous, and the myths that walk the streets of Newford always change whomever they touch. This is one of the finest collections of fantasy, and I am so enjoying this collection all over again.

It's here. It's finally, finally, finally here. Once Upon a Time 3 challenge is HERE

Look at that. Isn't that just stunning? And doesn't it just describe what a journey into a fantasy book is like for a reader? Well done, Carl! It's that time again! I'm so happy, I've been waiting it seems since RIP3 ended, for this one to start. That is not to say the other challenges I'm in aren't also exciting, they are, and I'm busy counting down to actually, possibly, completing Book Awards Challenge in time *happy dance*......but Carl's challenges have a little bit something extra, possibly because they are about genres of books that I can't live without: fantasy, and horror. Today he announced the beginning of Once Upon A Time 3. *sighs very happily* Go here

for the link to sign up.

Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge 3
I am going to do:
-Quest the Third: read 5 books in any of the 4 categories, plus reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. Well, you know me. It will be much more than five! And I read A Midsummer Night's Dream last year and enjoyed it very much. I'd like to read it again, this time taking time with the language and play-on-words Shakespeare used.
PLUS I want to do
-Quest the Fourth: Read two non-fiction books, essay collections, etc. that treat any one or more of the four genres covered in this challenge - since I am still half-way through Le Guin's The Language of the Night, this qualifies.....
And, because I don't know how to say no and I'm such a big sucker for anything fantasy, I'm going to do
- the Short Story Weekends also. This would have everything to do with the numerous short story collections I have, both openly on my TBR shelves, plus squirreled away on my other shelves, that need reading.

Now, because I told Chris at Stuff as Dreams Are Made On that yes, I would love to see the list of potential books he might read, I thought I'd better do the same here. Fantasy book lovers, this is my list of potential,' books I have right now' to read for the challenge:

Quest the Third:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (tbr in June before midsummer)
and any from:
-Changeling - Delia Sherman
-Blood-Bound - Patricia Briggs
-Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale *library book
-The Wood Wife - Terri Windling
-The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue
-The Naming - Alison Croggon
- We Never Talk About my Brother - Peter S. Beagle
- Tithe - Holly Black
- Red Moon and Black Mountain - Joy Chant
- The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar
- Territory - Emma Bull
- Forests of the Heart - Charles de Lint
- Blue Girl - Charles de Lint
- Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
- The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
- Briar Rose - Jane Yolen
- Unshapely Things - Mark del Franco
- Lord of Snow and Shadows - Sarah Ash
- The Once and Future King - T. H. White
- Tam Lin - Pamela Dean *Library book
- Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

Quest the 4th
- Language of the Night - Ursula K. LeGuin
- TBA

Short Story Weekends
some collections I'm considering reading from are:
- The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet - ed Kelly Link
- St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves - Karen Russell
- Harrowing the Dragon - Patricia McKillip
- Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City - ed Martin Greenberg *library book

Are you drooling yet? Because looking at the books I have to choose from, is making me love fantasy all over again, and this wonderful challenge.

Before I end my post today, I would like to give a wonderful shout-out to my husband. It's been our March break this week, and it has also been the week from hell. On Monday morning my daughter woke up with a fever, and she has had it ever since. On Tuesday I found out I didn't pass the interview for the job at work I'd applied for. On Tuesday night, picking up a toy, I put my back out worse than the previous week. Wednesday I had a terrible meeting with my managers. Thursday and today, I have been home, unable to do much. My husband stayed home the first three days, and my eldest has come to help out for these last two, since I really can't do much while my back heals. Some books came in at my bookstore, and my husband, my wonderful husband, went and picked them up since I can't get there. I dropped a big hint about a certain new hardcover by Dan Simmons, and

HE BOUGHT IT!!!

He came home with (first three I'd ordered):
Blood Bound - Patricia Briggs
Iron-kissed - Patricia Briggs (I'm considering putting this one in the challenge too.)
New and Selected Poems, vol 1, - Mary Oliver
and
Drood - Dan Simmons.

Please don't laugh too hard. Drood is so heavy that I can't lift it while my back is out!! In fact, I'm having problems reading Watchmen for the same reason.

Isn't my husband a wonderful man?

Happy reading everyone, happy Friday, happy OUT3 challenge day, and - Happy Spring!!!

Sunday Salon - fantasy weekend

No, not that kind of weekend, where all my wealthy, I can have anything I want and go anywhere in the world, all-my-dreams come-true kind! In true fantasy chick weekend, I have been quiet here because I have been reading and watching movies with my kids as we recover from a virus. I was home sick on Friday, and spent it finishing Horizons by Mary Rosenblum. I had to change our digital satellite box that day also since it died, so while I was at Rogers I looked around for some movies to rent, and came home with:
- Mirrormask - based on Neil Gaiman's book. very strange and I don't like the colours, so we didn't finish it. My daughter did watch some of it.
- Gotham Knight. We've watched this twice already. It's fascinating to see how Batman emerged from youngster to hero in this .
- Pan's Labyrinth. I have this for a week. I am very curious, having heard very good things about it.
- George and the Dragon. A direct to dvd movie, with James Purefoy, Piper Perabo, and Patrick Swayze, along with an uncredited appearance by Val Kilmer (I had to look twice, definitely him!). And so much fun. The dragon is obviously special effects, but it's a very sweet knight to the rescue adventure story for kids, so very little gore, and lots of genuine laughs for the adults. I really enjoyed this one and might get buy it.
- The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian. We haven't seen this one yet, that's tomorrow's viewing. since we enjoyed THe Lion, the witch and The Wardrobe so much, I'm really hoping this is good again.
- Scooby Doo and the Goblin King. Just out on video. My daughter watched this the first night.

All fantasy!!! all fun!

That's not all, though. I read. I finished Horizons, I'm halfway through Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope, and as a very special treat for myself, I read The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, vol 2 in her series The Dark is Rising, and have started the next one in the series, Greenwitch. I have to say that so far, I've enjoyed The Dark is Rising much more than Over Sea, Under Stone. I like Will and his family. So I am quite happy to see Will put together with the kids from Over Sea, Under Stone in Greenwitch.

I will reviw the books later, right now the Superbowl is about to finish (wah! since I didn't care, I was cheering for Arizona Cardinals, and they've just lost), and the one hour special The Office is just about to begin.

And I got my walk in today, as it was above 0 c finally for the first time since we got back from England. It was a very quiet weekend, as my daughter and I recovered from fevers, and very enjoyable with all our movies and my fantasy books. This is what I mean by a fantasy weekend!

I hope yours was delightful, too.

Mythopoeic Awards

The Mythopoeic nominations for this year's awards have been nominated:

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

* Theodora Goss, In the Forest of Forgetting (Prime Books)
* Nalo Hopkinson, The New Moon’s Arms (Grand Central Publishing)
* Guy Gavriel Kay, Ysabel (Roc)
* Catherynne M. Valente, Orphan’s Tales, consisting of In the Night Garden (Spectra) and In the Cities of Coin and Spice (Spectra)
* John C. Wright, Chronicles of Chaos, consisting of Orphans of Chaos (Tor); Fugitives of Chaos (Tor), and Titans of Chaos (Tor)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature

* Holly Black, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (Simon & Schuster); Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (Simon & Schuster); Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale (Margaret K. McElderry)
* Derek Landy, Skulduggery Pleasant (HarperCollins)
* J.K. Rowling, The Harry Potter series, consisting of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s [Sorcerer’s] Stone (Bloomsbury); Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Bloomsbury); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Bloomsbury); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Bloomsbury); Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Bloomsbury); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Bloomsbury); and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Bloomsbury)
* Nancy Springer, Dusssie (Walker Books for Young Readers)
* Kate Thompson, The New Policeman (HarperTeen)

You can go here for all details. I am excited to see that I have read one of them! Ysabel, by Canadian fantasy writer Guy Gavriel Kay. And two more are on my list of books to get - Theordora Goss's In the Forest of Forgetting, and Catherynne M. Valente's books. Plus for the children's books nominated, I've read all the Harry Potter, and I've been hearing good things about Kate Thompson's The New Policeman. I know some bloggers have read Holly Black's Tithe.

So, in honour of today, I thought I would announce that I have decided to read all the Mythopoeic Award winners and nominees, from when it first began in 1971. Go here for the award winners list, and here for the lists of all the nominees.

I have read a surprising number of books, and I am counting ones I've read already! This is an open-ended challenge for myself, to be completed whenever. Mostly this is my way of reading some of what has been considered the best in mythic fantasy written since Lord of the Rings was published. I am not making this a general challenge to all you only because I can't figure out how to do one of those darn cool buttoms!!! So if you are interested, just drop me a line and we'll keep in touch. Oh, for those who need some encouragement, Neil Gaiman is well-represented on this list!!!

The same goes for the World Fantasy Awards. Go here for the complete list of past World Fantasy award winners and nominees. I have not read quite so many on this list, but still, I am currently reading a nominee for 2006, Paul Park's A Princess of Roumania, and Jonathan Strange and Dr Norrell by Susanna Clarke is on many of my challenges for this year and it won the previous year. Again, this is open-ended for me, like on-going current challenges in the book blogging world to read all of the the Pulitzer Prize and Booker Prize winners. Only mine is to read all the winners and nominees for the World Fantasy Award.

I am very excited about setting myself these challenges. Some day I may join the ongoing Newbery and Pulitzer Prize winner challenges, but for now, I want to read what I already love to read. Don't be surprised if a few mystery award challenges creep in to my on-going list too! Then, I can see what challenges I can join next year, based in part on these that I've set for myself. The Canadian Book Challenge 2 (set to start in 16 days!!) fits in as Charles de Lint has been nominated on both World Fantasy and the Mythopoeic lists.

So what do you think? Is anyone out there interested in reading the best books in the fantasy world over the space of the next several years?

Mythopoeic Award Reading Challenge 2008

I am still new at this blogging, so I'm realizing the bonus of doing an actual blog on joining a book reading challenge - I can link back to it! And link to the challenge site too....So, although I joined this one a while ago, here is my blog on joining! I was thrilled to join this challenge, since I love fantasy so much. It was fun to go to mythopoeic list site and see how many books I had already read.......and it was surprising how many I hadn't read yet. A tiny voice is whispering that I think I am going to make it my challenge to read all the winners (and possibly the nominees as well,), in an open-ended challenge, like the on-going Pulitzer and Booker Man open-ended challenges to read all the winners. Oh, if only we were paid to read all these books and didn't have to work! I would gladly sit around reading for the rest of my life!!! So long as we kept the same income....of course we could always get paid more than what I currently earn!!!!

I highly recommend this mythopoeic challenge for those, who like with the Once Upon A time Challenge hosted by Carl, are looking for good fantasy to read. Lenneth at Foxy Writer is hosting this one. Here are her rules:

"The Mythopoeic Society is dedicated to the study and enjoyment of fantasy and mythic literature, especially the works of the Inklings, an informal literary circle at Oxford that included the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and others. Each year the Society awards the best scholarly and literary achievements exemplifying “the spirit of the Inklings” with the Mythopoeic Award.

The challenge is to read seven books between JANUARY 1ST 2008 to DECEMBER 31ST 2008 from the list of Mythopoeic Award Winners. (See? All kinds of brilliant Fantasy books to choose from!) [EDIT: Becky requested that I broaden the challenge to include the nominees for the fantasy and scholarship, which gives you a lot more choices!]

Here are the rules:

1. Choose seven books from the list of Mythopoeic Award Winners (or nominees, here for fantasy or here for scholarship).
2. Anything on the list is fair game, fiction or non-fiction.
3. Post a link to your list in the comments of this post (if you don’t have a website, post your list in the comments.)
4. Somewhere in your post, link back to this challenge post. (permalink)
5. Read the books between January 1st, 2008 and December 31st, 2008.
6. You may start anytime in 2008, but you must finish by the end of December 31st, 2008.
7. You may combine this challenge with other challenges. "

My seven books are:

• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke - DONE (888 Fantasy)
• Inkheart - Cornelia Funke DONE (888 Books TBR, Once Upon a Time, Banned Books) -
• Coraline - Neil Gaiman DONE
• The Innkeeper's Song - Peter S. Beagle
• Briar Rose - Jane Yolen
• Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones - DONE (888 Fairy Tales)
• The Door in the Hedge - Robin McKinley (888 Fairy Tales) - DONE

I could have added so many more, and indeed we are free to, but I have to be realistic, and I think if I, after doing this challenge for this year, make it my personal challenge to read ALL the books on the Mythopoeic list - with no set time frame - then that will satisfy my urge to read as much fantasy as I want to! (which I do anyway) AND complete an amazing challenge!

*********ADDED Oct 5 2008: ALTERNATES*****
- Forests of the Heart - Charles de Lint
-Ysabel - Guy Gavriel Kay - DONE
-In the Forest of Forgetting - Theodora Goss
- Tamsin - Peter S. Beagle - DONE

Cadillac Jukebox - Done!

Hurray! It took only two weeks, but Cadillac Jukebox is done. I did end up really enjoying it, and although I complained in another blog about the evil people, by the end, the book was about the depths to which people will go to survive, and to get revenge. It's a reminder, in these days of glorifying gangsters and drugs, that there are people who kill for the sadistic joy of it, but in this book, the sadistic killer is not brought down by Our Hero, but by the only one who could, the one out for revenge. This book makes the swampy heat of Louisiana come to life, and made me really want to try eating a shrimp po'boy! A good read, entertaining, and gritty.
Then I read 'The Safe-Keeper's Secret' by Sharon Shinn. This is a new series of books that I just discovered by Sharon Shinn, whose detective sci-fi/goddess mystery 'Wrapt in Crystal' is the book I best remember her for......I had no idea she was writing young teens books, until I saw the 4th in her Mystic and Rider series (forget the actual title of the series) reviewed in Locus (go to www.locusmag.com - a very good science fiction and fantasy review/book publishing mag that has been out for many many years). So at Collected Works two weeks ago I picked up The Safe-Keeper's Secret, and read it in two days! It is a delightful fantasy for teen readers, and the magic world - medieval setting - where some people are truth-tellers, some are secret-keepers and some are dream-makers, as well as normal things like farmers and kings and herbalists and innkeepers - is well-thought out. Highly recommended for an enjoyable read with fun characters.
So now i am working on Life of Pi. I was having difficulty getting into the story until this morning, when I told myself to think of it as a fable - which, duh! it is! A literary fable with humans and animals. So now I am enjoying it more, but I need a stretch of time to read it in, and getting one or two hours to read a day is difficult these days. It's the time between Hallowe'en, birthdays, and the stretch to Christmas......but I will try to read and finish it this week, so I can move on to one of my other 'Stack' titles.
Though, I keep making lists of books to get. As I get through making piles for the upcoming reading challenges starting in January, I see that my shelves have less and less books I haven't read on them, and I start to panic - what will I read next? Oh no, must have stacks of books to choose through!!! So I spent this morning going through the book recommendations on www.endicott-studio.com which is run by Terri Windling of Annual Fantasy and Horror Collections fame (among others things, like her own book The Wood Wife). This is a fascinating site for people who read fairy tales, study fairy tales, write fairy tales or paint them. As a source for new books in the fantasy world (with reviews accompanying most) it is among the best on the internet. So there I was, making my lists (third list in a month! My LSS is trying not to panic!) and drooling, so much to read! So much to handle, open, read, buy.....some are books I've seen in passing but didn't know much about (and needing to buy the latest ones from my favourite authors, which I have done now, so my heart is a bit calmer.....I have new books to read over the holidays, which I WILL do no matter how hectic the kids make it!).....books to get now include Delia Sherman's The Changeling, Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter and Dreamquake, Catherine Valente's The Orphan's Tales Vol 2, In the Night Garden, Sarah Monette's A Companion to Wolves (and I still have to finish her Virtu series which I am really enjoying), Michael Scott's The Alchemist, O.R. Melling's The Lightbearer's Daughter, Kate Thompson's The New Policeman. Oh, and Book three of Stevermer and Wrede's series, The Mislaid Magician. And then Neil Gaiman just wrote about Ellen Kushner's sequel to Swordspoint, called The Privilege of the Sword, which Locus did review a while ago (both positively)............no, no shortage of more new books to buy and read!! So I felt calmer, then, and have started carrying my lists with me just in case I pop into a bookstore ("Look dear, the door was open so I went in and look what I found! And don't worry, we still have money for food and Christmas....") Just need some way to open a time portal so I can go somewhere and read, read, read, then when I'm ready, open the portal and slip back into this world. In this fantasy of mine, no time has elapsed so no one knows that I went anywhere, and I get to read all the books I want to!!! I wonder if I would age in that portal/book reading world???
I wonder if I should add to my books read list every year, all the cookbooks I go through? One day I will write about my favourite cookbooks and chefs.....meantime suffice to say Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater, plus Sarah Leah Chase and James Barber, reign supreme in this household!! Which reminds me, Holly-Anne has already come to ask me what's for dinner, so I'd better go and start cooking......Life of Pi (and this blog) will have to wait......