briar rose

Alyce at At Home with Books has started a weekly tradition of revisiting past reading favorites and bringing them into the spotlight.

My pick this week: Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. This book was originally published as part of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Fairy Tales series – a project meant to unite some of the biggest names in fantasy and have them re-write the classic fairy tales for adults. The thought being that adults were the original audience for fairy tales, anyway, and a dark or different take on the traditional stories would provide something new for the genre. That was YEARS ago, and now (or maybe yesterday) it’s the next big thing to re-write classic fairy tales. The books in the series included Patricia C. Wrede’s Snow White and Rose Red (just re-released as a YA book, ironically enough) and Charles de Lint’s Jack of Kinrowan, among others. I started with those two and then decided to read Yolen’s take on the fable of the Sleeping Beauty.

I’ve been a fan of Yolen for a long time – she’s an immensely talented and prolific writer in the YA genre, and her writing (and that of a couple of other authors) helped introduce me to the world of fantasy. Plus I trust the editing of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Then throw in a fairy tale re-telling that mixes Sleeping Beauty (favorite!) and the Holocaust. WHAT?!, you say? Yes, I know…it sounds completely improbable and maybe un-doable. Only an author of Yolen’s caliber could pull it off. Evidence: it’s on the ALA’s 100 Best Books for Young Adults list, and I’ve seen it paired in lesson plans with Elie Wiesel’s Night.

When I first read Briar Rose I felt unsettled, anxious and out of my comfort zone. The book is powerful, hard-to-read (in the way that reading about true evil is difficult, not that it’s tough to understand), and disturbing. The story touched me and made me think about prejudice, intolerance, the nature of conviction, and the violence hidden in the human soul. It’s a good book; Yolen deftly handles a terrifying topic and gives the reader a chance to experience a time and a story that are often beyond comprehension.

Ever since she was a child, Rebecca has been enchanted by her grandmother Gemma’s stories about Briar Rose. But a promise Rebecca makes to her dying grandmother will lead her on a remarkable journey to uncover the truth of Gemma’s astonishing claim: I am Briar Rose. A journey that will lead her to unspeakable brutality and horror. But also to redemption and hope.

teaser tuesday (7)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“‘You won’t enjoy your lives much longer if you are going to try this idiotic adventure. Don’t set the office on fire,’ I said, ‘and go away before nine o’clock.’”

-p. 23 of Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King

i promise to kill...er...post about zombies

Velvet at vvb32reads is helping host and organize a September Zombie Week from August 29-September 5, and as a tie-in has created the Zombie Challenge. I hereby accept this solemn task/duty/suicide mission, and promise to post two (2!) entries about zombies during the aforementioned week. All that this means, really, is that I get to talk about zombies (which I seem to do quite a lot anyway) with good reason. Make sure you check out the challenge and all of the other zombie-related events going on during the week – there will be prizes!

the last breakfast

On my last morning in Atlanta we went to one of my favorite breakfast places, The Flying Biscuit.

So in honor of general Atlanta awesomeness, specific Candler Park Flying Biscuit genius, and the wonder that is breakfast food + strong coffee, I bring you...our meal!

My mom had the Egg-stravaganza. Yes, that's an oatmeal pancake with peach compote on the left. And a small bowl of grits. Delicious!

Elizabeth had the French toast with raspberry syrup and honey anglaise. Seriously YUM.

Lincoln had a Piedmont Scramble.

I had the Southern scramble, which included spicy collard greens, bell peppers and turkey bacon. WOW.

I think I'd be quite willing to switch to food blogging, as long as it includes lots of eating and pretty pictures. Will have to discover how that works. In the meantime, I hope you are drooling!