Step into the world of folktales fairytales and let your imagination soar! These stories have captivated readers for generations with their magical adventures and important lessons about bravery, kindness, and the power of good over evil. So, why should you read folktales? Because they’re full of wonder and wisdom, just waiting for you to explore and enjoy!
- The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbjørnsen and Moe
- Tales of East Africa by Jamilla Okubo
- The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories
- Persian Myths and Legends
- Latin American Folktales
What I read this month
This was a slow reading month for me after the insane number of books I read last month. So I decided to go slow and pick up some long-pending reads from my TBR.
1. If We Were Villains by ML Rio
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a massive Donna Tartt fan, and because I have such impossible standards after The Secret History, I found If We Were Villains a bit lacking. I wish the characters were sketched out a bit more from the start so the author didn’t have to keep giving them attributes later in the book to make the story fit. The prose really sparkles in some places, I’ll give it that, but being neither a huge fan of Shakespeare (whose work is central to this book) nor entirely convinced by the young characters, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I would have liked.
2. The Angel’s Game by Carloz Ruiz Zafón
This is my second Carlos Ruiz Zafón and also the second book he wrote in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. I would foremost like to give Lucia Graves a big hug for translating the series. And if Zafón were alive today, I’d very much like to kiss his ring or whatever it is people do to pledge allegiance to a single indvidual because I would give my life for this man. I have seldom read prose so soul stirring and profound and written with a style that has transported me through entire worlds and made me want to lie down and do nothing else but read for days on end.
3. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
I would have probably enjoyed this book at age 14. Not so much at age 33. However, if you’re looking for a break from your usual reads and want something warm, hopeful and silly, you’ll really enjoy this. Mona is a 14 year old magicker whose magic power is – you guessed it – baking things to perfection. When the body of a girl ends up in her aunt’s bakery, Mona must get to the bottom of the mystery with some help from kind adults along the way. If there’s a pre-teen in your life who loves to read, I highly recommend gifting them this book.
4. The Education of Yuri by Jerry Pinto
I *just* started reading Yuri even as my house is a mess while carpenters drill holes into walls for *moar* floating bookshelves because I clearly have a book buying problem. I’m a few pages in, and I already know I’ll love it because old Bombay, Jerry Pinto’s quirky plots, his flowing prose are very familiar to me. And I’m quite sure I’m going to end up sobbing at the end of this just like I did when I finished his other novel Em and the Big Hoom.
Looking to start a themed book club? Here are some ideas to help you make book clubs fun.