(Click image above for unaltered artwork, The Queen, by Melissa Nucera, used by permission)
“I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it, far beyond ancient English.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien, on reading the Cynewulf lines about the star Earendel
What reader hasn’t recognized that “curious thrill” at one time or another? It is the opiate that we so often chase whenever we pick up the next book, that readiness to experience something, to connect on a level deeper than mere ink on the page. That chance for something “remote and strange and beautiful” is what repeatedly draws me back to fantasy, folklore, fairy tale, and mythology. Tales of this ken are built upon foundations of storytelling that date back to our most ancient ancestors. There is just “something” about this kind of story.
For the past four years I have hosted the Once Upon a Time Challenge, an opportunity to band together as a community to celebrate story, in this case the kind that fits roughly under one’s own personal definition of four categories: fantasy, folklore, fairy tale and mythology. As spring rapidly approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, the desire for these stories threatens to overwhelm, and with that, it is time to make the fourth annual Once Upon a Time Challenge official.
But first, please follow the jump and allow me to tell you about a wonderful sponsor for this year’s challenge:
Melissa Nucera is an artist whose Etsy Site has long been among my favorites. As I contemplated banner images for this year’s challenge I remembered how much I enjoyed having an artist sponsor for last year’s R.I.P. IV Challenge (Thank you Jennifer Gordon!). Jennifer and I are already scheming for this year’s R.I.P. V Challenge and as I poured over my Etsy favorites list Melissa’s art leaped out at me. She graciously accepted my invitation to sponsor and allowed me to slightly mar her beautiful art by placing a Once Upon a Time logo over it as the banner for this year’s challenge. Over the course of the next 3 months there will be some giveaways of Melissa’s work and she has agreed to sit under the interview spotlight as well. Thank you so very much for being a part of the challenge this year, Melissa!!!
The fourth annual Once Upon a Time Challenge officially begins on Sunday, March 21st and ends June 20th. In addition to the usual goings on over here at Stainless Steel Droppings, the next three months will see features on art, music, film and of course literature of a fantastical, mythical nature. The purpose of the challenges that I host is always to first and foremost have fun and secondly to promote a sense of community across the blogosphere, so I encourage you to become involved in any way that feels comfortable for you. To give the challenge some structure, I offer several options. You may choose one or more of the following:
This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. All reading is a journey, perhaps none more so than reading fantastical fiction. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to at least read one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 20th period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic! If not, then we have still had the pleasure of your company during this three month reading journey and hopefully you have read a great book, met some interesting people, and enjoyed the various activities that occur during the challenge. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.
Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time IV criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.
Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology. This proves to be one of the more difficult quests each year merely because of the need to classify each read and determine which books fit into which category. I am not a stickler, fear not, but I am endlessly fascinated watching how folks work to find books for each category.
Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream OR a viewing of one of the many theatrical versions of the play. Love the story, love the films, love the idea of that magical night of the year and so this is my chance to promote the reading of this farcical love story.
Read two non-fiction books, essay collections, etc. that treat any one or more of the four genres covered in this challenge.
and finally,
This quest involves the reading of one or more short stories that fit within at least one of the four genres during the course of the weekend. Ideally you would post about your short story readings on Sundays or Mondays, but this is not strictly necessary.
Clear as mud?!?!
You may participate in one quest or multiple quests, it is completely up to you and your reading whims!
You do not need to have a blog to participate, nor do you have to do any sort of formal review of your books. For those who want to, there is the Book Review Site available for you to post links to any challenge-related material you read. This is a great way for all of us to discover new books and for you to potentially generate visits to your own personal site.
For those of you who want them, here are some banners for you:
If you need a different size, please shoot me an email and I’ll take care of it for you.
All you need to do to participate is sign up below. If you are planning to do any sort of blog post on the challenge and/or a potential reading pool, please put that specific link below. Otherwise just put your regular site link. After you’ve done that, keep scrolling down for the first giveaway of this year’s challenge.
__________________________________
When not cluttered with a challenge logo, The Queen is a powerful piece, and for the first giveaway of this year’s challenge I am giving away a set of 5 cards featuring this image (with envelopes) to one lucky participant. All you need to do for this first random pick is to sign up for the challenge by 11:59 p.m. Sunday March 21st. I will draw and announce the winner after that.
While there is a deadline for this first giveaway, there is no deadline for signing up. People often continue to jump on board towards the very end of the challenge and all are most welcome.
Thank each and every one of you for the opportunity to be your Once Upon a Time host again this year and thank you again Melissa for your sponsorship. Its going to be a lot of fun this year, let’s go!
Oh how excited am I to find this post up finally. I have been collecting books for this challenge since Christmas. I need to get my post up now in order to join.
Yay I am the first to join!
Woo-hoo! Welcome aboard!
YAY! I’ll have my list up later this week!
Yikes, doesn’t time just fly! I can’t believe it is time for another Once Upon a Time.
I’m definitely in. I think I’ll go with Quest the second, but I have to think about what I’ve on my shelves… then again, I do work in a library so I guess there is loads of choice for me 🙂
Fence: Yes indeed, the path is wide open for you! Ha!
Stephanie: Great!!! 🙂
I’m super excited! Have been waiting for this! Thanks for hosting once again.
P.S. My list is up and I just want to say Melissa’s art is gorgeous.
yay! I’ll decide on what to read & so later, but for now: yay yay yay 😀
Nymeth: I’m so glad it is finally this time of year!!!
Claire: I’ll be over to check it out, and her art is great, isn’t it?
Wow, by the time I saw the logo, got it into my blog, wrote a little post on it and got that up, this went from 1 comment to 10.
Count me in. I’ll figure out Mr. Linky later, but for now sing me up for The Journey (aka the Slow Reader’s Choice). Naturally I have a TBR pile full of just about everything EXCEPT fantasy, but I’ll figure out something. I think I have David Drake’s BALEFIRES here, would that qualify, do you think? Also, how does horror fit into this mix?
Richard: There is so much urban fantasy that skirts the horror genre that there isn’t a clear line with that. Balefires sounds like it would work just fine, as would Sword Edged Blonde if that comes in at some point, as would the Hobbs book.
Oh, and THANK YOU for hosting this, Carl. Very much appreciated.
I’m in again, and my list is up. With the exception of the non-fiction (which will be coming from the library) I’m on a book buying ban, but I managed to find a wide selection from my shelves.
Looking forward to this again. Love the banners and the art work.
Oh yay, I’ve been so looking forward to your announcement post! I LOVE Melissa’s artwork and it is perfect for the challenge.
I’ll be working out my level of participation and pool of books in the coming days; I’m hoping to tie-in some of my reading for my Angela Carter month in April with my challenge reading.
It feels like spring is now officially in the air 🙂
I’m in. Would five books as part of one series be out of line. I’m thinking of Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John stories. I have three separate sets of the short stories and the five novels. The shorts I’ve read a few times, but not the novels as yet.
Randy: Not out of line at all. Glad to have you on board.
Claire: I checked out an Angela Carter short story omnibus from the library and plan to dip into it for the challenge.
Katrina: Thanks! I suspect the library and my existing book pile will be the places I’ll try to draw from most for this. Must resist temptation!!!
Richard: You’re welcome!
Hi Carl –
This is my first challenge, so I think I’ll just stick to The Journey at the moment. Thanks so much for hosting such a great challenge with absolutely gorgeous, affecting artwork. I will have to go check out her Etsy store.
My understanding – I just post this info on my blog now? Also, do we post our reviews once we finish or at the end? Sorry to ask so many questions, but I want to make sure my first challenge is great. Thanks again.
jenn
This will be my first go-round. I had so much fun with last year’s R.I.P. challenge that I decided to give this one a shot. You really have a way with challenges. You give them a certain atmosphere and mystique and of course imbue them with merriment and fun. I like it.
Oh, yay! I don’t know what I’d do if you ever stop doing this, Carl. It makes me happy for spring every single year. 😀
Melissa: Me too. 🙂
Jehara: So glad to have you in for the first time. And thanks, I appreciate it, but I do believe that a lot of what these challenges are come from all of you, so I’ll share the credit equally.
Jenn: Welcome! The Journey is a great way to start and not feel burdened with unrealistic expectations. And yes, if you want to you can put something on your blog and please post links to your reviews on the Review Site link whenever you put them up.
I am so happy to see this post again! Count me in!
That squealing you just heard, Carl, was me, proclaiming my excitement that you posted this today!
I posted my link, but it won’t officially go up until tomorrow. Several of us where talking about it on Twitter and comparing lists. The games already begun! Yay!
Thanks Carl, you are the best!
Heather: So that’s why my ears are bleeding! 😉 Yes it has, I can’t wait for the new discoveries, despite what it is going to do to my wishlist and tbr pile. Thanks!
Vasilly: Yay!!!
Count me in for Quest the First and Short Story Weekends. I will be working off the pool method plus I cheated and started on March 1st. Sorry I couldn’t resist as fantasy is my favorite genre. I started off with Alex Bledsoe’s Burn Me Deadly. Great way to stat off my quest. Excellent Noir fantasy novel.
My pool includes: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie ( I just started this one ), Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess, In the Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, The Wizard by Gene Wolfe, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. This pool as always is subject to change at anytime without reason.
I also plan on picking up the new Anthology book Warriors that comes out tomorrow edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois. I’m very excited about this one as Martin has written a new Dunk and Egg story plus a lot of other cool authors are included that I have never read before.
Thanks for hosting Carl !!!
Hooray!! Count me in! I’ve been so looking forward to this challenge coming around again. This will be my 4th time! As always, I love the artwork. Thanks so much for hosting it again.
So excited…had it marked on my calendar but was so pleasantly surprised to see this early posting…thanks again for hosting such fantastic challenges! Can’t wait to see what I will read! Thanks again
Courtney
My post is up and a page dedicated to tracking my progress: http://stilettostorytime.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/once-upon-a-time-challenge-iv/
Those pictures are beautiful! I cannot resist joining even though fantasy etc. is not my favorite genre. I have been wanting to read Inkspell by Cornelia Funke so this will be the perfect motivator. I had a lot of fun with the RIP Challenge too. You are a great host. 🙂
Brittanie: I’m glad you gave in to temptation! It is always fun to see people step outside their favorite genres and try something different. I hope you enjoy Inkspell.
Courtney: I get to the point where I just cannot wait any longer and I have to get the announcement out. I’ll check out your page.
Robin: One of the founding participants! Hard to believe this is the fourth time!
Jeff: That is a great pool! I’ve cheated too as I’ve already read on de Lint book and have been listening to another.
Very excited and I’ve posted my lengthy list. I actually just finished The Grass Harp by Truman Capote and when I finished it I thought, “Damn, I should’ve held off on this! It’s a great little fairy tale of sorts.”
Some other Shakespeare suggestions: Cymbeline, The Tempest, and Winter’s Tale – all have strong fairly tale elements. Actually, now that I think of it Winter’s Tale would be great for the R.I.P. Challenge (plus it has the best stage direction ever – Exit, pursued by bear).
Thanks for hosting, Carl. Big fun to be had by all!
Carl, I was caught unawares, thinking this would begin March 21, so I don’t have the official post mentioned in my blog. Yet. I will, my friend, I will.
I’m considering a reread of Watership Down, a first read of The Wind In The Willows, or the second of the Fire and Ice series as I loved George R.R. Martin so much last year. Also, of course, I want to throw in some Calvino Italian fairy tales. So, when I get organized, I’ll put up a post. In the meantime, this is so wonderful…Spring has officially sprung!
Of course I am joining!.. I will find some books in the tbr and make a post and come back with the link (dunno if that will get done today or not!) more than likely I will do the Journey and Quest the First but I will join with only the Journey and as always just keep reading..though my reading had been really REALLY slow for some time now, I don’t know why but I’m in no matter what!
Deslily: Glad to hear it. My reading has slowed down a bit too lately, partially because of work and partially because I was on such a tear for awhile that it is a pretty natural part of my cycle to hit a slow spot. It will hopefully pick right back up though, and I wish the same for you as well.
Bellezza: It still has the March 21st start date…although I care not if folks are starting early. Just like getting the announcement out a bit early for everyone. Definitely some good choices there. If Jeff is voting he would choose for you to keep going on with Martin!
Caitlin: Despite professing a fondness for Shakespeare, I have not read any of those plays. Bad me! I do love that stage direction. Fantastic! I’ve felt a lot like that lately, ha!
I’m in, and I can’t wait to start! Lovely, lovely choice of Melissa’s art, too. I clicked over to your blog and thought “hmmm, that looks familiar.” (Came so close to picking that one – it really is a wonderful piece.) I’ll be very much looking forward to her interview. Thanks for doing this again, Carl!
Yeah! I’ve been waiting for this Carl, thank you! I’ll link and post by the end of the week.
Count me in even if I can’t spell my name right! I’ll try to read a fantasy novel per month.
Yay! I’m so happy to sign up, this is my first time participating!!
I swore I wouldn’t enter any more challenges, but how could I resist this? Please count me in and I’ll post about this soon.
Here’s my “acceptance Post” to join Once Upon a Time!!
http://herethereandeverywhere2ndedition.blogspot.com/2010/03/once-upon-time_16.html
Count me in. I stumbled on a bunch of simon pulse paperbacks that are all fairy tales retold. I also have Need and Captivate by Carrie Jones lined up. What about Meg Cabot’s princess diaries series? I’m just now getting around to it and was wondering if they go in the fairy tale category.
Sam: I think the Cabot books would be just fine! Great to have you in.
Deslily: I look forward to reading it. 🙂
Sakura: Hooray for broken promises!!! Wouldn’t want you to forgo this one.
Amanda: Welcome, I love first timers. I hope you have a wonderful time with it.
George: Spelling is overrated! LOL! Great to have you.
Gavin: Wonderful that you are joining in again. Thanks!
Chelle: Thank you, I was thrilled when she gave the art use her blessing.
Jeff’s mention of the WARRIORS anthology reminds me I should put GAME OF THRONES on the list for this challenge. I started it once, read about a quarter (maybe a third) of it and then it slipped into the Partials & Others area and just recently surfaced – if I can find where I put it so I’d “remember where it is”. Ha! I have also realized there are some non-fiction things here that I believe will fit under the <span style=”color: #ff9900;”folklore and mythology heading.
Problem I’m having is, I need to finish up other things before I can even think about starting some fantasy. Yikes!
It didn’t close my CSS. Darn. Try once more. folklore and mythology heading.
You have CSS turned off, Carl?
Richard: I don’t believe so.
Yippee! Sign me up! Last year’s favorite book came from this challenge (The Wood Wife)
I had just decided that I’m not going to join up with any more challenges, because I never end up finishing them, when I saw yours and I couldn’t help myself. I think it was the pictures that did it. But I suppose that since almost I only read fantasy these days, this is one challenge that I might actually succeed at.
I am in, as always! I’m working on a post and will link to it soon. Thanks for hosting this again, Carl – it wouldn’t feel like spring to me without the Once Upon a Time Challenge.
I adore the artwork you’ve chosen, and I look forward to learning more about the artist and her work.
Carl, since I won a prize during the last challenge, please don’t include me this time, and give others a better chance. Thanks, and Good Luck to all!
Richard: Will do.
Darla: Cool! I’m glad you like the artwork, I can’t wait to learn more about her myself.
Simcha: Perfect! And hey, if you choose “The Journey” as your option you only have to read one book and you’ve successfully completed this challenge!
Daphne: I love The Wood Wife. I read it for this challenge a couple of years ago and it is one of the best books I’ve read. I just recommended it to another of the participants who was looking for ideas.
Once upon a time, there was a very new blogger who was curious about fantasy & folklore & myth, and who wanted to meet other bookish bloggers. She stumbled upon a Certain Challenge, and was welcomed. The host was a wonderful and interesting guy, with unlimited imagination. She felt included. She read a book she adored. She met many wonderful people, some who have become great bloggy friends. How could she not participate again?
So she has signed up for Once Upon a Time IV with no idea yet what she’ll read, but promises to complete at least one book. Because it is fun, because she’s met such great people, and because you are a wonderful host! Thank you (and Mary, for allowing it 😉 ) for doing this once again.
Well you know for sure that I’m in Carl!!!! So freaking excited about this 😀 I love this challenge to death!!!! I should have my post up soon and I’ll come back and add it to the Mr. Linky!
There goes my resolve – I wasn’t going to join any challenges this year – lol! I’m in!
Maree: I appreciate you breaking your rules for this challenge, it is wonderful to have you.
Chris: Thanks man, I really appreciate your enthusiasm and your presence in these things each year. I couldn’t imagine hosting this and not having you as a part of it.
ds: Awwwww…thank you so much! It is so much fun to host every year and I am glad that you and others have so much fun with it.
This is the first time that I’ll ever join a challenge but this looks too interesting to pass up. 🙂 I mostly read fantasy books anyway so it’ll be fun to join in. I love the Melissa Nucera artwork by the way.
I’m in too, post done and dusted. Can’t wait to start.
Cath: done AND dusted…you are way too efficient. 🙂
Chachic: Welcome, it is great to have you. I appreciate you giving it a shot.
I’d like to join up. Is this where we do so?
Just dropped in to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I put a few Irish reading suggestions on my blog, including one for fantasy.
I am so excited. This will force me to read all of the books in these genres that I have been kindling and saving in order to read something else…I love this!!!
My list of possible reads up, and there are some books on there that I am excited about!
This is the first time I will be participating in this and it sounds awesome! 🙂
I started reading “The Mystery Knight” by George RR Martin tonight to my kids out of the just released Warriors anthology. WooHoo! I love Martin and this new book is HUGE. I’m so excited.
My first cut – the long list – is now up. I went through the shelves and noted things I had but had not yet read, narrowed it to these. Comments, here or there, are welcomed!
My post is up!!
Horray! It’s that time again! And this year, I’m definitely going to complete it. This is my determined face. Mr Linky doesn’t work through the school servers (technology fail) but I’ve made my choices and the sign up post is on my blog.
Thanks Carl!
Horray! Work technology doesn’t allow Mr Linky to work, (and apparently it eats my comments too) but my post’s up and this year I’m determined to complete the challenge! Thanks for hosting this Carl, it’s favourite challenge and you’ve picked such a gorgeous image this year – I love it.
Stephanie: Can’t wait to see it!
Richard: I’ll be over as soon as I can to check it out.
Jeff: I was going to stop by BN last night just to take a gander at that monster but ended up not having time. I hope you enjoy the Martin story.
WonderBunny: Thanks, it is wonderful to have you with us for the first time, hope you have fun.
Marg: I’m curious now to see which one’s you are really excited about.
Patty: Great! Always nice to have an opportunity to scale down the tbr pile.
Sharon: In essence you have just signed up. You can do a blog post if you want and link up to it OR just put your name and link to your site in the Mr. Linky near the end of this post.
I absolutely LOVED the RIP challenge last fall and have heard such wonderful reviews about this spring challenge.
Unfortunately I have so many books that I MUST read over the next few months, that I can really only commit to the Journey level, but I am very much looking forward it and to being exposed to several new titles outside my normal reading genres.
Woo hoo! Just raided the bookshelves, raring to go!
Thanks Carl. I love the artwork you chose! I’m going to attempt Quest the third. Now to pick the books!
Hope I do better about posting this year. Love this challenge!
I cannot resist this reading challenge (although at the Journey level, most likely). Count me in! 🙂
Carl!!! This is my most favorite challenge in all blogosphere! Thank you so much for your effort and for “first and foremost have fun and secondly to promote a sense of community across the blogosphere” both of which you do very, very well. I am so looking forward to your reviews, and the reviews of all the folks above.
Happy Spring, and Happy Once Upon a Time! 🙂
Qugrainne: Thank you so much, it is a true pleasure to host. Happy Spring to you as well, great to have you in again this year.
Susan: You’re in! Have I pulled out the “resistance is futile” line yet?
Jenclair: So far this year I’ve done really good, which surprises me. I missed a lot of reviews last year.
Sharon: I’m glad you like the artwork, I think it was a fantastic choice myself. Melissa’s artwork is great.
Bride: Fantastic, always nice when participation doesn’t mean spending money!
Molly: I’m so happy you are taking the journey despite all of your other commitments. Thanks!
Carl tells me he hasn’t read a single one of the books on my list, thought he has heard of MOST of the authors. Wow. It makes me wonder how many of the books on the list the rest of the folks here have read?
This challenge is gonna be great fun.
I just posted about this challenge: http://suko95.blogspot.com/2010/03/once-upon-time-iv.html
🙂
I just, simply just had to sign up for this one 🙂
What beautiful artwork. See my challenge post here: http://nishitak.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-reading-challenge/
What a wonderful artist you’ve found yet again. I just wish there were more postcards at her shop. Yay for this challenge, I’m breaking my no challenge rule for you.
I have never done a reading challenge before!! Scary!! Thought I would begin with this one because I saw the words Midsummer Nights Dream which I love. There is nothing quite like a man that turns into donkey and whose name is Bottom. I am excited!!
Elise: I’m proud to be the host for your inaugural reading challenge experience. Isn’t A Midsummer Night’s Dream great? I saw it performed on Broadway by the Royal Shakespeare Company several years ago and just loved it. In fact, that same version is out on dvd now.
Jodie: I’ll pass the postcard wishes along to her and see if perhaps she has an increase in her plans.
Nishita: I will be over to check out your post, thank you so much for joining in.
Susan: Thanks, I’ll check it out. If you haven’t please post your link up in the Mr. Linky section as well.
Richard: I was surprised that with such a long list I hadn’t read any of them, but there are just so many books that it really shouldn’t be surprising. I may put up a potential list soon.
Look forward to that, Carl!
This is my first time. I’m in for the Quest The First. What a cool challenge.
I already got lost perusing Melissa’s artwork. It’s lovely. Thank you for hosting Once Upon A Time again. I’m seriously looking forward to it.
Horray! OK, this year I will make it, I will I will I will. My post’s up!
Stormfilled: I’ve been worried that you had disappeared for good. So great to have you back!!!
Rachael: I understand that, it is easy to do.
Tweezle: Thanks for joining in, welcome!
Though I have enough challenges on my plate this year, but this one is so tempting !!! Love the artwork 🙂 I am posting it in my blog..Can’t wait to read the reviews and the books chosen by other bloggers..
Carl – It would be fun to see your reading ” pool “. I hope you get a chance to share it.
I am definitely on ‘The Journey’ – not sure what I can commit to, but I couldn’t resist signing up when I saw this at My Fluttering Heart. 🙂
I write stuff that is often inspired by folklore, so this was a perfect fit for me.
I knew I came back to blogging just in time!! I wouldn’t miss this challenge for the world!! But it will be a few days before I can post anything.
I’ve missed you Carl!!
Thanks for hosting this great challenge! I’m super excited to get started.
I’m joining! I’ve not written an introduction post because right now I have absolutely no clue what I’m going to read. 😛
Stormfilled – wow, The Belgariad and The Mallorean. That’s a tall order, but I’ll bet you enjoy them just as much as the first time. I have them in hard cover, bought as they came out, and keep thinking I’ll re-read them someday but never seem to get to it. I’ll be very interested in your thoughts and opinions on them as you read.
I am so excited to join this challenge. I believe in *expanding my world* and these genres are not something I would normally choose.
And I LOVE the gorgeous artwork!
I am excited to join this challenge for the first time! Are we allowed to read books for a second time for the challenge?
Jo: Absolutely! I’ll be doing some re-reading for the challenge.
Marcia: It makes me smile when I see people jumping in to these challenges to try something new. Great to have you.
Jenny: I’m going back and forth about what to read myself. Thankfully there is plenty of time to get a variety of stuff in.
Whitney: You’re welcome, thanks for joining in.
Stephanie: It is WONDERFUL to see you back. I’ve been popping in every so often to see if you’ve made it back and I’m so glad that time has finally come. I hope things are better now.
Karen: Thanks for joining in. I have really come to appreciate a variety of literature, music and art that are inspired by and/or pay homage to folk lore. There is some great rich stuff there to pull from.
Jeff: The trouble is not going crazy with the list!!!
I’m in for Quest the First! These are genres I don’t generally read, so it definitely will be a challenge and I can’t wait to start!
Carl, thanks for not giving up on me!! Things are definitely better for me. In February, I got laid off from my job. With Mike laid off AND me, I was worried about so many things. You know…how to put food on the table, whether we would lose our house…etc. BUT I started a new job this week. FIRST shift. And I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I feel better for the first time in months.
Like I said, if there is anything that could get back into the blogging/reading mode, it’s the Once Upon a Time Challenge!!! You have no idea how grateful I was to see your post!!!
Thanks for being such a great friend!
I’m pretty allergic to challenges, but RIP sucked me in last fall and I can’t seem to ignore all the spring springing now. So I’m in, and I’m excited.
Not only am I joining in, I’ve already read 2! I love this challenge, thanks for hosting!
I’m so excited to find a challenge that fits this genre. I love it! 🙂
I’m a relatively new blogger and had no idea this was a challenge! I’m excited to get started! Too bad I just finished a fairy tale retelling last week. Oh well. It wasn’t that good. Hopefully I’ll find lots of great books instead!
Jennifer G: Welcome! Thanks for joining in. I sincerely hope that you do find some wonderful books to read for the challenge. If you want to read a really great fairy tale re-imagining book I recommend the short story collection, The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter.
Renee: I’m glad you found us, thanks for being a part of it.
Cafeshree: Wonderful to see you again, and kudos to you for being ahead of the curve!
Raych: Thanks for fighting through the allergy! I know it can be really easy to get oneself over-involved. I appreciate you making an exception for RIP and now for Once Upon a Time.
Stephanie: I am so sorry to hear of your hard times and am thrilled to know that you are back at work. This is such an odd and challenging time to be alive and work, and/or lack thereof, has been affecting so many people that I know and care about. I hope this is just the first step in things picking up and going in the right direction for you and your family.
Claire: I hope you find some books that make this genre one that you want to come back to again and again. Thanks for joining in.
I haven’t participated in a challenge online yet, and I’m really excited for this one 🙂 Can’t wait to start it!
You should really smack me upside the head for taking so long to sign up this year! But let me tell, you’ve brought me much joy ever since your announcement. 😀 It’s just taken me a long time to get around to actually writing my post. I was determined to get it before the end of the first day…and whew, I just made it.
Thanks so much for spending your valuable time bringing so many people so much joy with this challenge…it really, truly does, you know.
Debi: I’m just glad you are joining in, no head smacking required! 🙂 I consider this kind of thing a true value for my time and all of you add your time to it and it becomes this living, breathing experience for all of us. Believe me, I get more out of it than I put into it.
Ashlee: Thanks for choosing this as your first challenge, I am truly honored and excited to have you joining us.
We’re under way, and I just bought 28 mysteries and two SF books. But I have started reading a fantasy short story collection: Katherine Kurtz’ Dernyi Archives. It’s a beginning.
I had thoroughly enjoyed last year’s RIP IV challenge so I didn’t think twice about joining another challenge from this site.
This time, a challenge on one of my preferred genres : fantasy. I’m sure I’m going to have fun posting my reviews and trawling for new books to read. (As if my TBR pile isn’t already groaning). 🙂
Johanna – that groaning pile is a problem for a lot of us. I just added a number of books when I went to the paperback collector’s show yesterday (report on my blog). Yikes. But we’ll make it through, with Carl as our host.
I’m in for the journey! I’m hoping to finish the last two LotR books for this.
This is my first for this contest…
I really want to read a pile but to be realistic have limited myself to the minimum… perhaps more will be included!
How fun is this and my number is the year of my birth…
Thanks Carl!
I’m so excited! I love fairytales…
Vassily sent me your way – I posted a page with ALL current reading challenges and didn’t have the Once Upon a Time Challenge listed. Let me know if you want me to add any other information about yours. I hope it brings even more readers to your challenge!
Reading Challenges.
Rachelle (Bibliobabe)
I’m in!!! Finally got my list posted and I’ve even read a book already and reviewed it! I’m enjoying the sensation, it doesn’t often happen this way! Love the artwork you’ve chosen for this year, too, Carl. Thank you for hosting this again!!!
Susan: Great! I’ll be checking out your list. Glad you like the artwork, I am really pleased with the choice.
Rachelle: Wonderful! I appreciate you including me in the midst of so many fantastic challenges.
Nicole: I’m excited too. Have you read any Angela Carter?
Shellie: It is very easy to get carried away with the reading lists, isn’t it? I appreciate you joining in.
Rebecca: Wonderful! I hope you are able to get through them. Is this a first time read of them?
Johanna: Great to have you back for this challenge. I hope you enjoy it as much, or more than, the last RIP Challenge.
A little late getting my list up, but better late than never. I love your challenges; RIP last fall was my first. Thank you so much for all you do!
Amy
Amy: Thank you so much, I really appreciate the kind words. I couldn’t be happier that you enjoyed RIP enough to come on and to Once Upon a Time as well.
Better late than never. Just heard about this challenge from Natalie at the Purple Crayon and love it. I haven’t decided on books yet, but since I do A Midsummer’s Nights Dream with my 8th grade challenge students it fits in nicely with Quest the Third.
I just found the link for this on Simcha’s SFF Chat blog. I’m definitely going to do Quest the Second, and I’ll try for Short Story Weekends. I have all the Fairy Books by Andrew Lang, and those stories would be perfect!
You know this is my favourite challenge, Carl, thank you so much for organising it! I’ve posted my list and now I’m probably going to go quiet for a couple of weeks because I have to work but I’m going to be thinking about this the whole time.
Geranium Cat: Sorry work is going to keep you out of the loop for awhile. Hope you can sneak in a bit of reading during that time. 🙂
ThePaperChimera: Welcome!!! Look forward to reading about your thoughts on the Lang stories.
Jan: Wonderful! How cool that you get to do Midsummer Night’s Dream with them. Very fun! Thanks for joining in.
Consider me all signed up. Sorry I’m late, I only got back from travelling late last night. Looking forward to getting started soon 🙂
‘One book’ has won me over – I can do that!
And I’ve finally made my first selection, took me a while, but I’m starting off with some Sandman by Neil Gaiman. It’s a reread, but Gaiman is always good for that 🙂
This is my 1st book challenge. If anyone is interested in what I will be reading. The Books will be on my blog with reviews.
This sounds just wonder+ful. Here is my sign-up post and thank you very much for hosting!
Hi Carl,
I just found your challenge through Sam’s Book Blog and I decided to join in immediately. I’ve come up with a tentative list of books I’m going to read from and I’m excited to get started and read about what everyone else is reading, too! Thanks for hosting. 🙂
Christine: Great! I’ll be by to visit.
Buried in Print: Thank you for joining in, I’ll check out your link soon.
Clint: Welcome, I appreciate you making this your very first challenge.
Fence: This is the time of year I too am most tempted to reread Gaiman. So much of his stuff is perfect for this.
Julia: That is the very reason why I offer the ‘one book’ option.
Rhinoa: Welcome back, hope you had a good trip. Its never too late, wonderful to have you in again this year.
well, i’m late but glad to be in!
Hi Carl, I’m really excited to have joined up to this, I’m brand new to blogging over the past six months and really excited to hear other peoples recommendations- especially as these are genres I have not visited in a while!
I’ve chosen to do Quest The Third- and seeing as I haven’t read any fantasy for literally years I’ve started with Fiona McIntosh’s ‘Odalisque’, which of course had to be the first in a series of three and now I have to read the next one! This is gonna be a fun challenge!
I’ll be posting a review on my Book Club’s blog (http://leedsbookclub.blogspot.com/) as soon as I’ve finished the series, and if anyone has any recommendations as to what to read for mythology or fable let me know (I’ve already got my fairytales sorted as it gives me a great excuse to indulge in some Angela Carter!)
Happy Reading!
BookElf x
I am so excited for this challenge. I think the hardest part will be deciding what to read.
I always look forward to your challenges. I’m in grad school, so I can only commit to the Journey, but I hope to be able to participate more fully next year after I’ve graduated (cross your fingers!).
My first challenge! I am going for QUEST THE SECOND
Ooooh! This is the perfect challenge for me…I will try my best to link properly and let all you know what I intend to read and enjoy on my Journey.
I have the essays chosen and the books will fall into place quickly. Great challenge! I’m looking forward to it!
Definitely signing up for #2; probably will #3 and #4 also (and maybe the short stories. These are genres I love, so thanks for the “excuse” to read and reread. Thanks also for pointing me to Melissa Nucera’s gorgeous artwork. I have her Etsy store marked…
Finished another one a few minutes ago. The Bishop’s Heir by Katherine Kurtz, which is vol. 1 of the 4 volume Histories of King Kelson. Not sure if I’m going straight on to the next book in the series or take a break and read something else, as I have several other books on the boil. The dramatic ending of this one, which I only realized about a 1/3 of the way in that I’d read years ago, was so dramatic that I may plunge ahead, even though I’m in the mood for a mystery. I won’t decide until morning.
The review will take a few days to appear…
Thanks for hosting this challenge – I’m excited to dive into some fairy tale & fantasy reads!
I have updated the Reading Challenges page on my blog to reflect the latest book finished.
Thanks for hosting the challenge again. This one’s my favorite. Sorry I”m so late to sign up!
Yes. I will do this. After all, I did pick up a copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales!
Hi,
I joined the challenge in March, my blog was “I Read” at sumanam.wordpress.com but I moved my blog here : http://bookswithcoffee.wordpress.com/ , last month..if you can please update …
Thanks Sumana.
carl, where do we put our reviews?
Finished with Quest the Second, here’s my wrapup!
Hmm, me thinks if I remember I’ll partake of the challenge next year. Between the sci-fi challenge I host, other challenges, and a couple read alongs I’m booked.
I completed the Once Upon A Time Challenge– Quest the First, and just posted what I read for the challenge. I read eleven books that could meet the criteria, but there are five that I think fit the theme the best. Thanks for hosting, Carl. 😀
http://theromanticlife.blogspot.com/2010/06/once-upon-time-reading-challenge.html
I finished the challenge, but wasn’t sure where to post my post. Kept checking your blog. Finally decided to leave a comment to this effect.
http://eatingyabooks.blogspot.com/2010/03/once-upon-time-challenge.html
Surely it would be a crime for the book review blog ‘Once Upon A Time’ to not sign up for the Once Upon A Time challenge? I shall go for the nice simple one. I’ll be reading a fair bit of urban fantasy as is but really hoping to squeeze in Clash of Kings very soon before I start on the TV series and then I can get to the rest of Song of Ice and Fire! Huzzah! I need more epic fantasy in my life. Big time.