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[img_assist|fid=3515|thumb=1|alt=Once Upon a Time]
"Once upon a time" - four short and simple magical words. When you hear them you know you are going to be taken away to another world. So what better name for a reading challenge? Thanks to Carl V book bloggers will be exploring the world of fantasy with the Once Upon a Time Challenge this spring.
Hearkening back to childhood, those four words represent the foundation upon which story is built. In that same way, these four types of story, Mythology, Folklore, Fairytale, and Fantasy, form the very foundation of storytelling itself. It is from the roots of these genres that our latest challenge grows.
The challenge will look at the four streams mentioned above - mythology, folklore, fairytale and fantasy. There are different streams to this challenge which makes it a bit different from your average reading challenge. You can choose from reading any five fantasy books, reading at least one book from each of the genres, or reading at least one book from each of the genres plus William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Why A Midsummer Night's Dream? Because the challenge ends on the day of the summer solstice! For those that love these challenges but feel that four or five books is beyond their reach Carl has put in a stream which is to read just one fantasy book.
Book challenges are about getting out of your reading comfort zone. And this one is challenging me before I've even started. While I have read fantasy (and often heartily enjoy it) it's a genre in which I do not consider myself well informed. When you split the genre out into fairytale, folklore, mythology and fantasy I find myself getting even more lost and confused, especially since it seems that many books feel like they could hit multiple categories. How do I know which to choose? It turns out that I am not alone. Today Carl posted in response to all the questions he sbeen getting about the genres and provided definitions and examples. It was reassuring to see that even Carl had trouble breaking down some of the categories.
Shake things up and add a bit of fairy dust to your bookshelf this spring!
Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
