Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for moon]

Rising of the New Moon

The Economic Moon
Financial crisis — not a hindrance for scale building of the landscape park Zabil. «The new Moon» becomes the central construction of the project. The construction in the form of a half moon — a symbol of force and energy of the countries of the East — will tell about today's prosperity of the United Arab Emirates.
The New Moon in Dubai
Monument interiors contain 5 floors. Everyone symbolizes one of five postulates of Islam: belief, a pray, mercy, mutual aid and pilgrimage. The design contains in itself a conference hall, cafe, children library and an information desk.
The New Moon Monument
The external part of a building decorated by the Arabian inscriptions represents a steel skeleton with emptiness. Such decision will give the chance to supervise illumination and air temperature on all platforms of the New Moon, will protect an interior from a direct sunlight and will provide free circulation of air streams. Inside there will be a special microclimate which will unload the central systems of safety. The project completely corresponds to ecological building standards. Solar batteries will be built in a building covering, and it considerably will lower energy consumption.
VIA «Rising of the New Moon»
Moon Microbe Mystery Finally Solved: NASA's dirty little secret?

There has been a long-lived bit of Apollo moon landing folklore that now appears to be a dead-end affair: microbes on the moon.
The lunar mystery swirls around the Apollo 12 moon landing and the return to Earth by moonwalkers of a camera that was part of an early NASA robotic lander – the Surveyor 3 probe.
On Nov. 19, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean made a precision landing on the lunar surface in Oceanus Procellarum, Latin for the Ocean of Storms. Their touchdown point was a mere 535 feet (163 meters) from the Surveyor 3 lander -- and an easy stroll to the hardware that had soft-landed on the lunar terrain years before, on April 20, 1967.
The Surveyor 3 camera was easy pickings and brought back to Earth under sterile conditions by the Apollo 12 crew. When scientists analyzed the parts in a clean room, they found evidence of microorganisms inside the camera.
In short, a small colony of common bacteria -- Streptococcus Mitis -- had stowed away on the device.
The astrobiological upshot as deduced from the unplanned experiment was that 50 to 100 of the microbes appeared to have survived launch, the harsh vacuum of space, three years of exposure to the moon's radiation environment, the lunar deep-freeze at an average temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius, not to mention no access to nutrients, water or an energy source.
Now, fast forward to today.
NASA's dirty little secret?
A diligent team of researchers is now digging back into historical documents -- and even located and reviewed NASA's archived Apollo-era 16 millimeter film -- to come clean on the story.
As it turns out, there's a dirty little secret that has come to light about clean room etiquette at the time the Surveyor 3 camera was scrutinized.
"The claim that a microbe survived 2.5 years on the moon was flimsy, at best, even by the standards of the time," said John Rummel, chairman of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Panel on Planetary Protection. "The claim never passed peer review, yet has persisted in the press -- and on the Internet -- ever since."
The Surveyor 3 camera-team thought they had detected a microbe that had lived on the moon for all those years, "but they only detected their own contamination," Rummel told SPACE.com.
A former NASA planetary protection officer, Rummel is now with the Institute for Coastal Science & Policy at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.
Rummel, along with colleaguesJudith Allton of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Don Morrison, a former space agency lunar receiving laboratory scientist, recently presented their co-authored paper: "A Microbe on the Moon? Surveyor III and Lessons Learned for Future Sample Return Missions."
Poor space probe hygiene
Their verdict was given at a meeting on "The Importance of Solar System Sample Return Missions to the Future of Planetary Science," in March at The Woodlands,Texas, sponsored by the NASA Planetary Science Division and Lunar and Planetary Institute.
"If 'American Idol' judged microbiology, those guys would have been out in an early round," the research team writes of the way the Surveyor 3 camera team studied the equipment here on Earth. Or put more delicately, "The general scene does not lend a lot of confidence in the proposition that contamination did not occur," co-author Morrison said.
For example, participants studying the camera were found to be wearing short-sleeve scrubs, thus arms were exposed. Also, the scrub shirt tails were higher than the flow bench level … and would act as a bellows for particulates from inside the shirt, reports co-author Allton.
Other contamination control issues were flagged by the researchers.
In simple microbiology 101 speak, "a close personal relationship with the subject ... is not necessarily a good thing," the research team explains.
All in all, the likelihood that contamination occurred during sampling of the Surveyor 3 camera was shown to be very real.
A cautionary tale
On one hand, Rummel emphasized that today’s methods for handling return samples are much more effective at detecting microbes.
However, the Surveyor 3 incident back then raises a cautionary flag for the future.
"We need to be orders of magnitude more careful about contamination control than was the Surveyor 3 camera-team. If we aren't, samples from Mars could be drowned in Earth life upon return, and in all of that 'noise' we might never have the ability to detect Mars life we may have brought back, too," Rummel said. "We can, and we must, do a better job with a Mars sample return mission."
Winner of this year's National Space Club Press Award, Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999. (Original Story)
VIA Moon Microbe Mystery Finally Solved: NASA's dirty little secret?
4 Planets Converge in Night Sky. Impending disaster?

During this month of May, four bright planets will engage in a fascinating dance with each other in the morning sky.
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter will be involved in a series of conjunctions, joined at the end of the month by a very thin, waning crescent moon. We could even refer to this as a "celestial summit meeting," or more precisely, a series of summit meetings during May 2011.
Twice during May three planets will converge to form a "trio."
According to Belgian calculator Jean Meeus, a trio is when three planets fit within a circle with a minimum diameter of 5 degrees. Such a limit was one that Meeus chose more or less arbitrarily, but as he notes, "We have to make a choice."
On Wednesday (May 11), Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will converge within 2.05-degrees of each other, followed just 10 days later by another trio, this time formed by Mercury, Venus and Mars, which will crowd within a 2.13-degree circle. Then late in the month, on three successive mornings, May 29th, 30th, and 31st, the waning crescent moon will arrive, sweeping past Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury stretched out across the eastern sky from upper right to lower left.
Evil omen? Impending disaster?
What might ancient sky watchers from 500 or 1,000 years ago have ascribed to such a series of gatherings as this?
Most likely, they would have felt a mixture of fear and wonder. A fine example was a case in 1186 A.D. when an unusual gathering of the five planets visible to the naked eye resulted in a near-panic across the whole of Europe after religious leaders predicted that worldwide disasters would result!
Even today, in our modern world, similar fears sometimes arise.
You need only Google-search the date May 5, 2000, and you will find a number of different websites that predicted a variety of disasters attributed to the combined gravitational and tidal forces associated with a gathering of the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
One website proclaimed that it would be "one of the most exciting, powerful and transformative celestial events of our millennium according to astronomy and astrology experts."
In many ways, these words sound all too similar to the hype and tripe that has been bandied about during these past few years concerning the Mayan Long Count calendar in 2012.
Needless to say, we all survived the recent 2000 celestial summit and despite what you might hear or read in the coming days ahead, absolutely nothing cataclysmic will take place (at least nothing that can be directly attributed to this impending dawn gathering of the moon and planets).
Tough to see
The only tragedy regarding this display is that those living north of the equator will have a difficult time seeing it.
At first glance there doesn't appear to be any problem concerning the visibility of these objects. Their elongations from the sun will range from 18 degrees to 26 degrees, which should place them all in dark skies. Unfortunately, during May, as seen especially from mid-northern latitudes, the ecliptic is oriented at a shallow angle relative to the eastern horizon at dawn.
As a result, the moon and planets will rise into view during late twilight and will lie very low to the east-northeast horizon by sunrise. To see them, you'll have to make sure not to have any potential obstructions to your visibility such as trees or buildings in that direction.
But coming above the horizon so near to sunrise will also mean that you'll have a fighting chance of catching only Venus (magnitude -4) and Jupiter (magnitude -2) with unaided eyes. Whether you will be able to glimpse zero-magnitude Mercury is debatable, and certainly binoculars will be needed if you have any hope of seeing Mars (magnitude +1).
The crescent moon will also prove to be a visual challenge, being only 2 percent illuminated on May 31. Low-lying clouds or haze near the horizon on any given morning will only reduce your chances of success.
In contrast, those of our SPACE.com readers in the Southern Hemisphere, where the ecliptic at dawn appears at a somewhat steeper angle, will see this ever-changing array somewhat higher and in a somewhat darker sky; more like mid-twilight as opposed to late twilight in the north.
Indeed, those living in far southern locations such as Cape Town, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; or Dunedin, New Zealand, will have a much better chance of seeing and enjoying this month-long dance of the planets.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. (S)
VIA 4 Planets Converge in Night Sky. Impending disaster?
Life on the Moon

«Not a secret, that each of us is drawn by personal fears, and at times they, our fears clear up such desires which we admit to nobody», — the architect of the Concrete Moon, Antonino Cardillo philosophises. — «People always are surprised, how the culture on different continents is unlike. But it seems to me, the difference in cultures is rather doubtful. And it is frequent, as it is paradoxical, discrepancies become the unique tool in search of own individuality».
The Concrete House in suburb of Melbourn
Uniqueness of the Concrete House just in not similarity of two half. The building is constructed by request of the private person, on a rectangular site, in suburb of Melbourn. It's divided on two excellent from each other parts: one — for public — is similar to the turned ship or on the amusing concrete moon which follows directly from a lobby. Such design — an unexpected deviation from a direct way.

The Second — private — half of building is similar to a narrow and long case on which perimetre the gallery with an exit in a garden lasts.
Similarity and Distinctions
«Each of two so unlike parts introduces the mite in creation of the general harmony of the house», — the architect adds. Details of one half of building unexpectedly arise in another though are developed by different principles. So the concept of this house falls outside the limits simple understanding about two half conflicting among themselves. Design elements are interconnected, and sounding of one finds an echo in other. Especially well it is visible in a main hall in which visitors have doubts: where similarity comes to an end and distinctions begin.
VIA «Life on the Moon»
Iraq: Archaeologists defy ISIS militants in Iraq

University of Manchester archaeologists are continuing to make significant new discoveries near the ancient city of Ur despite efforts by Islamic State militants to ‘culturally cleanse’ Iraq of its ancient relics.
Dr. Jane Moon at Tell Khaiber [Credit: University of Manchester]
The Manchester team - one of only two operating in non-Kurdish Iraq – has just returned from three months of fieldwork there.
During the team’s time in Iraq, Islamic State militants destroyed ruins at the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh and are reported to have bulldozed an Assyrian palace at Nimrud and the classical city of Hatra too, as well as wrecking museum artefacts in Mosul.
But despite this, the archaeologists, who returned to southern Iraq in 2012,, continued to work at Tell Khaiber, which is close to the ancient city of Ur, where Sir Leonard Woolley discovered the fabulous 'Royal Tombs' in the 1920s.
The team, directed by Professor Stuart Campbell, Dr Jane Moon and Dr Robert Killick from Manchester, described their Iraqi colleagues as resourceful, innovative and resilient, even when times were bad.
“Everyone is quite rightly expressing outrage at the destruction in and around Mosul. The sad fact is, there is very little one can do to prevent deliberate vandalism by well-armed fanatics.
“But if the militants think they can 'erase history' we are helping to make sure that can't happen: it is the information that is important and not the objects. Our project is actually doing something positive for the Iraqis, and that is appreciated,” Dr Moon said.
In the course of their fieldwork this year the archaeologists discovered, among other things, 50 new documents, written in Babylonian, and found evidence for a scribal school operating at the settlement, which dates to around 1500 BC.
These were in a public building the size of a football pitch, and of an unprecedented format, believed to be an administrative complex serving a capital city of the Babylonian empire.
Professor Campbell said: “We found practice texts in the form of lists of exotic animals, and of precious stones, also evidence for the making and recycling of clay tablets. The whole complex dates to the 'Dark Age' following the fall of Babylon and the disintegration of Hammurabi's empire.
“For a time when this key area of Babylonia was thought to be de-urbanised and chaotic, we have evidence of sophisticated administrative mechanisms and large-scale distribution of grain and other commodities.”
Before returning to the UK, the archaeologists deposited 300 new artefacts in the Iraq Museum and set up a temporary exhibition in Baghdad as well as visiting universities that teach, or are planning to teach, archaeology.
“What we can do is make new discoveries to be proud of and help our Iraqi colleagues and the rest of the world to understand and appreciate what the antiquities actually tells us,” concluded Dr Moon.
Author: Kath Paddison | Source: University of Manchester [April 07, 2015]
The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold

After reading Lovely Bones and Lucky, I was excited to read Almost Moon. My excitement didn’t last very long. Almost Moon is the tale of Helen Knightly, a divorced mother of two grown daughters. Her father having decades earlier, it is up to Helen to take care of her emotionally abusive agoraphobic mother. Throughout the book the reader flashes back to episodes portraying the strained relationship she had with her mother. The first several chapters of the book were engaging. Helen can no longer take the strain and frustration of dealing with her mother, so she smothers her with a kitchen towel. The reader is then lead through Helen’s ritual of stripping and bathing her mother, then pulling her down the basement steps and putting her in the oversized freezer. A little out there, yes, but completely plausible. The remainder of the book goes downhill quickly and I completely lost interest. Almost Moon might be a good book for those readers that haven’t read any of Sebold’s other work, and therefore have nothing to compare it to. But a diehard Sebold fan will definitely be disappointed with this one, as I was.
Interview with Carolyn Turgeon + giveaway! — CLOSED

Bonnie from A Backwards Story is with us again today, bringing us another fantastic interview — this time with Carolyn Turgeon!

AFTER THE INTERVIEW, STICK AROUND FOR AN AWESOME GIVEAWAY CONTEST COURTESY OF THE AMAZING CAROLYN TURGEON!
Carolyn Turgeon is the author of three novels, Rain Village, Godmother, and Mermaid. Her next novel, The Next Full Moon, is scheduled to come out in August/September 2011. Based on Te Swan Maiden, this will be Turgeon’s debut novel for young readers. Her novels tend to be twisted versions of fairy tales you’ve never seen before, such as The Little Mermaid from the princess’ perspective in addition to the mermaid’s or a version of Cinderella where the godmother is banished from the fairy realm when something goes horribly wrong... For a review of Turgeon’s work, please visit the above links. Reviews of her other titles will come to A Backwards Story later this year. Godmother and Mermaid are also featured in a FTF guest post titled FRACTURED FAIRY TALES.
1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I can recall loving all kinds of stories, such as Thumbelina and The Princess and the Pea, with all their strange and wonderful images—the tiny girl floating along in an acorn, the princess with her stack of mattresses. I think my favorite fairy tales were by Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose… but my favorite was The Selfish Giant. It’s very sad and strange and beautiful—the ghostly little boy, the lush garden, the endless snow and frost, the giant who gets struck down, covered in white blossoms… I’ve always tended to like stories that are very sad.
2) What made you decide to write alternative versions of fairytales from unique perspectives?
I didn’t really start out intending to write alternative versions of fairy tales. When I started Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, I just wanted to tell the Cinderella story straight, with lots of wonderful, lush detail and full, fleshed-out characters and all kinds of weirdness and darkness, etc. That’s what I love about fairytales, by the way—that strange combination of beauty and darkness you find in all of them. After my first book, Rain Village, which took forever to write, I wanted to do something that I thought would be a lot of fun, something that I would really love writing. I only decided to tell the story through the perspective of the fairy godmother when I realized how limited Cinderella’s perspective was—back then I only ever wrote in first person—so I figured that if the fairy godmother was narrating she could be pretty omniscient, tell you what was going on with Cinderella and the other characters. Plus, she could tell you her own story, too, which I thought might be interesting. Later, I decided to set the book in contemporary New York City and only have the godmother remembering everything that had happened in the other world. The book is set half in New York and half in the fairy tale world (in flashbacks). I only decided to do that after joining a writing workshop and seeing that the people in the workshop didn’t seem to be responding to the straight-out fairy tale I was writing. I wanted to win them over and I thought maybe I could lure them in with a present-day story set in the city, win them over that way, and then plunge them into the fairy tale.
So the book only slowly evolved into this alternative version. Once I put the fairy tale in via flashbacks, I knew something had to have gone terribly wrong. Why else would the fairy godmother be an old woman in New York?
After writing the book, though, I felt there was something really powerful in taking a story as well known as Cinderella, a story that’s in our blood and bones, and telling the “real” story from a perspective you never think or care about.
3) Can you tell us more about your upcoming book, The Next Full Moon?
The Next Full Moon is my first children’s book, a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl who’s being raised alone by her father in Pennsylvania and who starts growing feathers, which is totally mortifying and confusing for her of course. She then comes to discover that her mother, whom she thought died when she was an infant, was (and is) a swan maiden. The story’s based on the old tales in which a man steals a swan maiden’s feathered robe when she’s in her human form, takes her home, marries her and has children with her. One day she discovers the robe and flies away—there are various reasons for this, depending on the version you read. I wondered: what happens when those kids she leaves behind hit puberty? In my book, the man and woman had only one child, and now here’s the kid ten years later with feathers appearing on her arms and back, having no idea that her mother is still alive and, of course, no idea that she’s a swan maiden.
I like the idea of a 12-year-old girl, full of shame and embarrassment, slowly discovering that she’s magical and amazing.
4) What other ideas are you working on right now?
Well, I’m working on a few things right now. Because of Mermaid, I started this blog, I Am a Mermaid, where I talk to all kinds of people about mermaids. I’ve realized that there’s this whole mermaid culture out there that’s really fascinating and lovely. So I’m writing my first non-fiction (but still quite fantastical!) book. And I’m working on a new novel that has to do with Weeki Wachee and a YA novel about a drowning pool, and I have this half-done thriller that I hope to finish this year…
5) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building? How did you bring everything together?
It was challenging for me to write about magical worlds, I think, in that I was afraid of making them too Disney-ish or corny. So with Godmother, at first I was very vague when talking about the fairy world; in fact in the first draft, the flashbacks start with the godmother meeting Cinderella and we don’t really see her in her own world at all. It was only after the book sold that my editors pushed me to make the fairy world more defined and vivid, to explain the rules of that world and the landscape of it and so on. So I added in the first couple of flashback chapters that are in the book now, and they were probably the hardest chapters for me to write, even though they’re probably the lightest ones in the whole book.
With Mermaid, I mainly had to explain the rules we see in the original Hans Christian Andersen story… like why the mermaids can only visit the human world once, on their birthdays, and so on. It was more like putting together a puzzle than anything else, trying to create the worlds in that book and make them adhere to specific points from the original story.
6) Which of the books you've written is your favorite so far? What makes it the most special to you?
Hmmm. I think that would always tend to be the latest one. Right now I’m very excited about The Next Full Moon and writing for this younger age group. I found it surprisingly easy to write as a twelve-year-old, which is possibly a little worrisome, and was able to draw on my own memories and experiences more than I have for any other book. Like the characters all go to the lake in their town, where there’s an old carousel and people sell lemonade and they can all go swimming or lie out on the beach. And I was just directly describing the lake my friends and I used to go to in East Lansing, Michigan, where I lived from when I was twelve to fourteen, and I hadn’t thought about that lake in years. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and so I’m really distanced from some of those memories and places. It was kind of nostalgic and wonderful, writing that book and slipping into those memories and this old self. Also, I have to say, I think the trauma and awkwardness of being twelve mixes really well with the fairy tale elements in the book, and I like the idea that something magical is happening to you as you hit puberty and you just have to figure that out.
7) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
I love Angela Carter and her weird, gorgeous visions. I love Alice Hoffman, Francesca Lia Block, Joanne Harris, Isabel Allende, Jeanette Winterson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Italo Calvino... They’re not all fairy tale writers and I don’t know to what extent they’ve all been inspired by fairy tales, but they all write in that vein I think, lush and magical. I really enjoyed Erzebet Yellowboy’s Sleeping Helena. And I also, by the way, really loved the way the Pied Piper story is used in the movie The Sweet Hereafter. It’s pretty brilliant.
8) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Oh, I think maybe Thumbelina. I mean, who wouldn’t want to ride around in an acorn? For the most part, I think fairy tales are not the stories I would like to live out. Though I wouldn’t mind being the little mermaid for a day, before she goes and sees the sea witch and ruins her life…
9) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
I’m going to have to defer to my childhood self, who loved all those movies quite passionately. As an adult, I could barely even get through The Little Mermaid, which I was totally swept away by as a teenager. Probably my favorite, though, is Snow White. The old versions of that tale are really very shockingly weird and violent, and even the Disney version is incredibly creepy, with our semi-dead heroine lying gorgeously in a glass coffin in the forest and our hot prince having a thing for dead chicks.
FUN AND CRAZY ROUND!
~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Oh, the stepmother from Snow White. She’s a gorgeous witch with a magic mirror who has her stepdaughter murdered in the forest and then eats her heart (or lungs or what have you). Even though she’s betrayed by her huntsman and actually eats a stag’s heart, she believes she’s eating Snow White’s. It’s hard to think of a more perverse female villain! And I love the image of her skulking through the forest with her cloak and her basket full of poisoned apples.
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Oh, I love Rapunzel and the lettuce that is so delicious and addictive that Rapunzel’s mother craves it above all else and even makes her husband climb into a witch’s garden to get more for her. I mean, who pines for lettuce? Now I totally want some lettuce, now that I’m thinking about it...
I’d like to be something equally un-chocolate-y, if you know what I mean, some other pedestrian, unsexy vegetable with hidden powers of seduction. Like a rutabaga or a turnip. Turnip is kind of a cute word, not too far off from the delightful “tulip.” I’d like some fairytale character to be sitting in a room wasting away from a mad desire for turnips.
~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
She stared out the window at the impossibly lush turnips growing outside just beyond reach, their leaves shooting into the air like hands, their bodies dense and purple, as round as breasts. Her mouth watered as she watched the turnip leaves undulating in the breeze. As if they were bellydancing, she thought.
Meanwhile, Turnip was enjoying a large slice of chocolate cake at Jean Georges.
~Would you rather:
- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs. Don’t those sound delectable? A magic bean is just wrong.
- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? I think polishing the glass slippers would be much more manageable. And I love things made out of glass, especially slippers and dresses. Are you aware of Karen LaMonte’s glass dresses? Look:
- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Oh, a fairy godmother. Who wouldn’t want an endless supply of dresses and carriages? And let’s face it: Prince Charming isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.
Come to think of it, though… if we’re talking about the fairy godmother from my own book, then I’d really have to go for the hot prince, or even one of the coachman or mice. Anyone but the godmother, please!
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Okay, okay, here’s the part you’re all waiting for: The giveaway! Carolyn has generously agreed to give away three—yes, THREE—autographed copies of Mermaid as well as some fun mermaid tattoos! You know you want to win this contest and read this fantastic book.
To enter,. In addition, please leave a comment answering this question: What would you do if you could be a mermaid for a day? Also, what would you be willing to sacrifice in order to become a mermaid?
~~Entries must be received by MAY 5th. May 8th This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!~~
~~Good luck and I can’t wait to see your responses!~~
PS from Misty: I love this picture! ----->
Cinder Blog Tour — The History of the Lunars

SO sorry for the late posting. Blogger is usually good about scheduling posted things, but... Well. Le sigh.
Anyway, I'm so happy to welcome Marissa Meyer to the blog today! I absolutely loved Cinder (click for my review) and I'm absolutely thrilled to have Marissa here today sharing with us more of the History of the Lunars!
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It’s true that Cinder, my debut novel, is a take on the classic “Cinderella” story. And there are a lot of elements of the story that have survived—a girl oppressed by her stepmother, a fancy ball, a handsome prince.
But I also took a lot of creative license with the tale: Cinder is set in the far future, my main character is a cyborg, and there’s a deadly plague sweeping the planet.
And then there are the Lunars—an evolved society of humans that live on the moon and have powers of mind-control and manipulation.
Although the Lunars and their evil queen have existed in the story since its earliest draft, it took me awhile to figure out just who they were, how they came to live on the moon, and how they developed these creepy mind-control powers. But as I know many readers will be curious (just as I was curious!) about them, here is my abridged history of Luna.
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Centuries prior to the start of Cinder, the moon was colonized by a small group of researchers from many different countries in order to further space research and exploration. After about sixty years of existing as a jumbled colony of numerous Earthen countries and cultures, the colony was recognized as its own nation: Luna, a republic.
The first true Lunar was a man named Cyprus Blackburn. As a child, his DNA was damaged by the prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation from cosmic rays. This DNA damage developed into what is known as the Lunar gene, a mutation that enabled him to output and control bioelectricity in order to implant thoughts into other people’s heads. (Note: This is plausible in theory and some government agencies are even suspect of experimenting with bioelectricity for the purpose of brainwashing.)
Blackburn was able to use his unique gift to convince the people of Luna to elect him as leader and it wasn't long before he turned the republic into a monarchy. This is about the time that distrust began to spring up between the hitherto allied Earth and Luna, as Earthens grew suspicious of the ease with which Blackburn was able to change the country’s political structure.
For a few generations, the royal bloodline was the only bloodline that included the Lunar gene, but due to Luna’s miniscule population, the royal family’s notorious promiscuity and an abundance of illegitimate children, and the oppression of those without the gift, the Lunar gene became more common with each generation and eventually became dominant within the society.
Despite the growing mind-control powers of the lower classes, there persisted a common belief that Lunars would lose their gift if a person of royal bloodline wasn't on the throne. This superstition was encouraged by the royal family and royal scientists even proved its validity in multiple government-funded studies. Of course, any scientist who suggested otherwise was promptly executed.
Then, due to a process called hormesis, another genetic mutation began to develop within society as well: a mutation that resulted in one’s inability to output or receive electromagnetic stimulation from others. Lunars born with this mutation were called “shells,” a derogative term referring to how they were “empty” of the gift. As shells cannot be brainwashed or controlled, they became a target of abuse and hatred.
In the 108th year of the third era, a shell managed to infiltrate a royal party and murder the king and queen—leaving their two daughters, Channary and Levana, the only recognized descendents of the royal bloodline. As her first act as the new queen, Channary enacted the shell infanticide laws stating that any Lunars born as shells were to be promptly disposed of in order to protect the sanctity of their society. Three years later, Channary died.
And thus began the rule of Queen Levana, and the start of our tale…
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I hope this brief history of Lunars brings some elements of my futuristic world into focus, and that readers will enjoy discovering more about their world and culture as The Lunar Chronicles progresses.
Thanks so much for being a part of the blog tour, Ashley, and for letting me share some of my behind-the-scenes information!
Thank you Marissa! So very much! This is so fascinating!! I cannot wait for the rest of the series!!:)
Just Contemporary Week 3 — Contemporary Round Up

There have been so many awesome blog posts about Contemporary YA this week! I have loved reading the ones I've discovered, but just know that I had to have missed a bunch. So, if your blog post isn't listed here, please let me know!
Announcement of Contemporary Win!- A whole bunch of bloggers have gotten together to put on a John Green week this January! How awesome is that?! John Green pretty much oozes Contemporary awesomness so a week to spotlight him sounds awesome! Here is a link to one of the blogs hosting sign ups!:) Click me for John Green Week info!!!
Also, I cannot believe that I have so far forgotten to mention this — BUT — November is also Aussie Month over at Carla's blog, The Crooked Shelf. Since it's Aussie authors in general, not everything is Contemporary but there is definitely some Contemp love and seriously, who doesn't love Aussie authors?! There must be something in the water over there because they Rock!
Some of the Contemporary Australian Awesome — An interview with Melina Marchetta! (Whom I absolutely adore!) Reviews of Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley; Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell; A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon; Good Oil by Laura Buzo;
REVIEW:
Alissa @ The Grammarian — Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (not entirely Contemp, but mostly)
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols (and a giveaway!), The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz, Dreamland Social Club by Tara Atebrando, Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin and Shattered Soul by Jennifer Snyder (also has an author interview and a giveaway!).
Somer @ A Bird's Eye View — Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Mandie Baxter — Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Allison @ The Allure of Books — Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Mary @ Anxirium — Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives — Sea by Heidi R. Kling and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
The Busy Bibliophile — You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Jennifer @ The Book Barbies — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Racquel @ The Book Barbies — If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Where She Went by Gayle Forman, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez.
Magan @ Rather Be Reading — Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy
Krazy Book Lady — Joint Mother/Daughter review of Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennet
Estelle @ Rather Be Reading — Fringe Girl by Valerie Frankel
Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Amanda @ Book Love 101 — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Rachel @ Rachel Reads — The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Ginger @ Greads! — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Farrah @ I Eat Words — Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Amanda @ On a Book Bender — Cut by Patricia McCormick (guest review by Amanda)
Karen @ For What It's Worth — Saving June by Hannah Harrington
A Beautiful Madness — Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman, Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter (second in a series) and Saving June by Hannah Harrington.
Ashley @ Book Labyrinth — I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler
Laura @ The Reading Nook — Lie by Caroline Bock
Jamie @ Writers write, right? — The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols
Rachel @ Fiktshun — Where You Are by Tammara Webber (second book in series)
Melissa @ I Swim for Oceans — The Shattering by Karen Healy
April @ Good Books & Good Wine — Playground by 50 Cent and Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner — Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
Anna @ Anna Reads — Kiss It by Erin Downing and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Jayme @ The Secret Life of an Avid Reader — Withering Tights by Louise Rennison
Yani @ The Secret Life of an Avid Reader — Double Clutch by Elizabeth Reinhardt
Chey @ The Hollow Cupboards — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf — North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley, Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman and Where You Are by Tammara Webber (second book in series)
Farah @ Maji Bookshelf — The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler and Saving June by Hannah Harrington
Chelsey @ Starry Sky Books — Rhymes with Cupid by Anna Humphrey
Melissa @ This is Your Brain on Books — The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Mari @ Escape in a Good Book — All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield
Nina @ Escape in a Good Book — Dancergirl by Carol Tanzman
Sarah @ Whispering Words — Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning
Cass @ Words on Paper — Audition by Stasia Kehoe
Samual @ Books for All Seasons — Moving Day by Meg Cabot
Lena @ Addicted to Novels — Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay and Saving June by Hannah Harrington
Steph @ Steph Su Reads — Saving June by Hannah Harrington
Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — Fury by Shirley Marr
The Book Faery — Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday
Tee @ Dreaming Dreams — Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, and Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday.
Lizz @ Dreaming Dreams — Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman
Annette's Book Spot — Saving June by Hannah Harrington
AUTHOR:
Mary @ Anxirium — Guest post w/ author Jennifer Castle about Being a Contemporary YA Writer
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog interviewed Tara Altebrando.
Krazy Book Lady interviewed Cindy C. Bennett
Avid Reader Yani has a guest post from Elizabeth Reinhardt about dating
Kody Keplinger interviewed Hannah Harrington
Kirsten Hubbard is giving away Wanderlove bookmarks
Hannah Harrington lists her Top Ten Road Trip Songs.
DISCUSSION:
Misty @ The Book Rat talks about her most anticipated Contemporary YA (and it's a linky! You can too!!)
Molly Jo @ Surrounded by Words — Contemporary YA: A Love/Hate Relationship
Danielle @ Alpha Reader talks about her favorite Aussie YA novels.
Samual @ Books for All Seasons talks about favorite YA/MG Contemps about friendship
Romance:
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Danya @ A Tapestry of Words
More of the Tough Stuff posts that I missed last week:
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Sarah @ The Storybound Girl
Amanda @ The Fiction Fairy
Once again — If I've missed anything, Let me know!!:) I'd love to add your stuff to my link up!
Massive Fairy Tale Fortnight Winners List!!

Hello, lovelies! Hope you're having a great day — and for a lot of you, it's about to get better. Settle in for a really long list of winners from Fairy Tale Fortnight.
Disclaimer: All winners will be emailed, and will have 2 days (48 hours) to respond before a new winner will be picked. No exceptions — there are just too many giveaways, and too many sponsors waiting on shipping information for us to wait on responses.
All winners chosen with random.org, based on criteria in each individual giveaway.
Now, lets get to it, shall we?
Anahita's Woven Riddle 6 people guessed the correct country (Iran), but there's only 1 winner: Congratulations, Vickie Mae!
The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison The winning question was — I have a crush on my very handsome best friend, but I notice he tends to prefer short and not very bright skinny blonds (that are my total opposite). How do I get him to look at me as more than just a friend? This question was asked by — Karla VollKopf!

Jessica Day George Prize Pack #1 Includes: an ARC of Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow and a paperback of Princess of the Midnight Ball Devony!
The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson Vidisha!
Zoë Marriott Prize Pack Susanna!
Jaclyn Dolamore bookplates Mearadh!
The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettleheim
Lindsey M.!
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix Birgit!
Hoppy Easter Blog Hop Giveaway: Bee!

The Introverted Reader's Prize Pack (print + book of choice) Lexie! (whose book of choice is Princess of Glass!)
Ash by Malinda Lo Ana Lucia!
Impossible by Nancy Werlin Scoot, whose fave childhood fairy tale was Beauty and the Beast!
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin ArtsyBookishGal, whose favorite villain is Ursula from The Little Mermaid!
Nancy Werlin Prize Pack wins both Extraordinary and Impossible Casey! (The Bookish Type) whose fairy tale name would be Asparagus.
The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
winner TBD

Jessica Day George Pack #2
includes Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, Princess of the Midnight Ball and Princess of Glass
Jacinda!
Fables by Bill Willingham Kat! (email begins with ave)
Fragile Things + Black Thorn, White Rose
Tore!

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
bookworm1494!

A True Princess by Diane Zahler
Lieder Madchen!
A True Princess/The Thirteenth Princess swag
Small Review!
Jadey!
Brenda Jean!

Winners Choice from Enna Isilee
Alexa (chose Entwined)!
Brenda Jean (chose Entwined)!
I think I see a theme here!

Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher, signed
Christine!
Acrostic Poem ~ YA Prize Pack The Girl on Fire!
Acrostic Poem ~ Kids Prize Pack
Ems!
ARC of My Unfair Godmother + How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend, by Janette Rallison (both signed)
Debz!

Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky
Sysha!

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon, signed
Bee!
Vidisha!
Kulsuma!

Winner's Choice of an Alex Flinn book, from Sheila
Sierra!
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Carmella V.!
Congrats everyone! Remember, if we email you for your address and we don't hear back by Wednesday, a new winner will be chosen.
Norman Foster has become interested in lunar architecture

Bureau Foster + Partners, the well-known British architect, will take part in the program on studying of prospects of building of buildings on the Moon. Details of the project do not disclose, but, according to edition Building Magazine, bureau Foster + Partners will be engaged in studying of the materials existing on the Moon and Mars and potentially suitable for building.

The project will be a part of the big program "Aurora" of the European Space Agency. The representative of a bureau has informed, that a certain tender is provided, but on details to make comments has refused.
Spaceport for Virgin Galactic
The Guardian reminds, that Foster + Partners is engaged in designing of the first-ever private spaceport by request of company Virgin Galactic. Spaceport should open in 2011 in desert in the State of New Mexico.
The well-known architectural bureau
Norman Foster — the winner of every possible architectural awards, architectural bureau Foster + Partners was engaged in the project such known constructions, as: a covered court yard of the British museum, reconstruction Reichstag in Berlin, Hurst's tower in New York, the London skyscraper.
VIA «Norman Foster has become interested in lunar architecture»
In Honor of BBAW--Win a copy of The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold!

Thanks to Valerie from Hachette Book Group USA, I have 5 paperback copies of The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold to give away! This giveaway is open to US and Canada only.
The Rules:
To enter, comment on my blog. To be entered twice, blog about this contest. Please be sure to include your email address and the link to your blog if applicable. Contest ends Saturday, September 20 at NOON Eastern Time.
Giveaway Winners!

The Got Books Event has come to an end and while I'm sad the fun is over I'm excited to announce the winners of my giveaway! I am giving away two great nonfiction books, Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss and The Moon, Come to Earth by Philip Graham. Yeah yeah, you know right! So who won?
The winner of Notes From No Man's Land is Betty! Congratulations Betty, be sure to check out her blog Reflections With Coffee.
The winner of The Moon, Come to Earth is Vasilly! Congratulations Vasilly, be sure to check out her blog 1330V.
The winners were chosen using the true random number generator. The Got Books Event was a huge success in my opinion. I learned about several other blogs and got some new visitors at my blog. Friday and Saturday were both record breaking days here! I really want to thank GMR from Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers and Danielle from There's a Book for hosting this awesome event- I can't wait until next year's!
Interview with Elizabeth C. Bunce + Giveaway!

With us today we have the lovely Elizabeth C. Bunce, author of A Curse Dark as Gold, a fantastic retelling of Rumplestiltskin (set in the Industrial Revolution! Brilliant!) and the "Thief Errant" series, which is about Digger, a spy and thief who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a magical rebellion. The first book, StarCrossed, is out now, and the second, Liar's Moon, comes out in November!
Make sure to stick around till the end of the interview for a chance to win your own copy of StarCrossed!
Without further ado, I give you: Elizabeth C. Bunce!
~What inspired you to set the tale of Rumplestiltskin in the Industrial Revolution?
A couple of things, actually. First, I wanted to set the novel in the time and place of fairy tales—that imaginary Fairy Tale Country—and thanks to classic artwork by Dulac, Dore, and others, for me that's the 18th century. Second, it was a natural extension of the decision to set the story in an ailing textile mill, because the social and economic changes of the Industrial Revolution presented an existing set of realistic obstacles and conflict for the plot. And, to be perfectly honest, I was in love with the clothes of the era, and just couldn't imagine Uncle Wheeler dressed any other way!
~What was the research process like for the story, both on the fairy tale front and the historical front?
On the fairy tale front, I read as many traditional versions of Name of the Helper tales as I could—not just early "Rumpelstiltskins," but also pieces like England's "Tom Tit Tot" and Scotland's "Whuppity Stoorie." But my goal was always to focus on the story of the girl who bargains away her infant son, so I did stick pretty close to the "Rumpelstiltskin" framework. The rest of the research—oh, mercy! I dug into everything from everyday life in the 18th century, to traditional folk magic and ghost stories, and, of course, a huge amount of research (both book learnin' and the hands-on kind) into the woolen textile industry. I have monographs on wigmaking, esoteric economic histories of individual mill towns, even the journals of period woolworkers. For me, research uncovers not just the things you know you're looking for—but almost more importantly, the things you had no idea you needed.
~Will we ever see more stories set in Charlotte’s world?
Yes! I have one published now, a ghost story called "In for a Penny" in the Scholastic anthology Bones, edited by Lois Metzger (July 2011). And I have a few more ideas—including more retellings—up my sleeve, as well.
~Why fairy tales? What is it that calls to you, personally,as a writer, and why do you think readers connect to them the way they do?
As a reader, I'm even a bigger fan of retellings than I am of the original tales. I am fascinated by the ways authors expand and adapt the source material while keeping the stories fresh and accessible to today's readers. There's so much potential in the fairy tales, and I find it really comes to life in a brilliant retelling. I'm particularly drawn to the fairy tale landscape—the dark woods, the impenetrable briar hedge, the castles. But as a writer, I like the challenge of re-imagining those classic settings; expanding the borders of Fairy Tale Country, as it were!
~StarCrossed seems pretty different from Curse; did you feel it was a departure for you? How does StarCrossed’s Digger compare to Curse’s Charlotte?
I like to say that Curse was written for my adult literary and fairy-tale scholar self, while StarCrossed and Liar's Moon were written for my inner 16-year-old fantasy fan. So in that way, I can't say the series is a departure, although it did feel very different to write Digger's story than Charlotte's. As characters, Digger is a complete 180 from Charlotte. Charlotte thinks over everything before she makes any move, and Digger is very much more a Shoot First, Ask Questions Later kind of girl. Oddly enough, their goals end up being the same (saving the people they care about), but their methods are a little different. I have a feeling Digger would have taken one look at Shearing and Stirwaters, said, "To hells with this," grabbed everyone, and lit out of there.
~StarCrossed is a series, so I know you’re in the middle of that, but are there any plans to tell more straightforward fairy tale retellings in the future?
Definitely! The first novel I ever wrote was a retelling, I have a collection of short retellings that's been in the works for a while, and I've just started collecting research materials for a Victorian-era fairy tale project I'm excited about.
~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
I don't know! What a great question. Since we're talking about Curse, let's narrow it down some. I still think that book has some great scenes (I especially love the conjuring of Jack Spinner, the introduction of Biddy Tom, the crossroads, and the denouement)... but today I'm feeling romantic, so I'm going to say Randall's gift of the watch. There's something magical about those rare moments where you can capture everything about a story in just a few lines, and I think this scene between Randall and Charlotte tells us so much about both characters.
Lightning Round!
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Hopefully I'd get a name! But it would probably be something like Donkeyskin or Aschenputtel. Maybe Doghair. Hundehaare. That sounds about right.
~ Using that name, give us 1 line from your life as a fairy tale:
Hard by a great prairie, in a cottage surrounded by mud in all seasons, guarded by a pack of hounds, lived a woman known as Hundehaare, whose back was permanently bent from bending over her books, her fingers gnarled and pricked from the needle. But from her muddy cottage, Hundehaare crafted things of great wonder, and her work was sought by folk from distant lands.
(Ok, that's two lines!)
[The judges confer... Two lines is acceptable, since they are such good lines.:) ]
~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Well, see, I tend to take a longer, more sympathetic view of my fairy tale villains, so it's difficult to come up with a list of inexcusable baddies. The thirteenth fairy in "Sleeping Beauty" is awfully petty, but, then, who hasn't felt wounded at being excluded from a party? And for mismatched dishes? But after giving this some deep thought, I'm going to have to go with The Pea.
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
My favorite always was and will probably always be "Beauty and the Beast." The least favorite one is hard to answer; it used to be "Rumpelstiltskin," hands down—but I feel kind of bad about saying that now, since the story has actually been very good to me!
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Although it directly contradicts another answer below, I'm going to say I'd like to accompany the soldier as he follows the dancing princesses to Faerie.
~Would you rather:
- — eat magic beans or golden eggs?
Eggs
- — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?
Tower
- — be forced to spin straw into gold for hours on end, or dance every night until your shoes are worn through?
Spin. Was there ever any doubt?
Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with us, Elizabeth! For those of you who haven't read A Curse Dark as Gold (was there ever a better title?), Misty and Ashley both highly recommend it! And if you haven't read StarCrossed, here's your chance!
Misty's review of A Curse Dark as Gold | Ashley's review of StarCrossed ***GIVEAWAY*** Thanks to the awesome people at Scholastic, we have a beautiful finished hardcover copy of StarCrossed to give away to 1 winner!
To enter, answer this question: If you were to retell a fairy tale, what would it be and where/when would you set it?
Then, fill out this form.
International
Ends ~~May 5th~~ May 8th!
The Moon, Come to Earth

The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon
by Philip Graham is a travel book about a year he spent with his wife and daughter in Lisbon. On the surface, that is. When I began reading this book I was excited to read about Portugal, a place that has always mystified me. What I got instead was an amazing account on fatherhood, growing up, and finding yourself.
The book is a series of dispatches for McSweeney's and begins like a trip begins, how they go there. It moves to unpacking their items in their new apartment and on to exploring the nooks and crannies of Lisbon. Graham writes beautifully about the culture, inserting the Portuguese language at the most key of moments and speaking honestly about the good and the bad of Lisbon. He is definitely a narrator you can trust.
As the book moved on, for me, it became less about Lisbon and more about Graham's twelve-year-old daughter Hannah. She struggles at her first school where she knows none of the language and is bullied by other kids. After switching to a new school she finally starts to find her place and fit in, but only after a crash course in Portuguese and changing her eating habits. As a girl on the brink of adolescence she faces challenges that her parents do not face, and perhaps do not entirely see. Graham takes the blame too, he admits that taking his daughter to Lisbon might have been a bad idea. At the end Hannah does love Libson, and wants to return immediately, so there is a sense not all was lost.
Overall this was a fascinating book, one of my favorites I've read this year. It's a quick read and I truly think there is something in here for all of us.
Paperback: 168 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 15, 2009)
Language: English
I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.
FTF Guest Post with Enna of Squeaky Books!

Enna from Squeaky Books has returned this year to offer up another awesome Fairy Tale Fortnight post! Seriously folks, Enna is one of my favorite blogging people, and her posts always pretty much rock my face!:)
Hello fellow fairy-tale enthusiasts! My name is Enna Isilee from Squeaky Books and I'm SO excited to be back with FTF this year! Last year I posted about how fairy tales changed my life, and my top 14 fairy tale retellings. This year I'm back to talk to you about the 10 fairy tales that I haven't read and I just can't WAIT to get my hands on! Many of these have already been featured in Misty's "From the Vault" and "Coming Attraction" posts, but I'm going to put my spin on them AND give you a chance to win your choice of any of these books!
Let's start with some classics and then move into newer releases, shall we?
East
by Edith Pattou Release Date: 9/1/2003
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:I know, I know! How can I call myself a fairy-tale fan when I haven’t read East ? I ADORE Sarah Beth Durst’s Ice and I guess I have some kind of deep seated fear that one won’t be able to measure up to the other. I do plan to read this sometime soon, though. I need to get my hands on a copy for my library at least.
The Looking Glass Wars
by Frank Beddor Release Date: 9/26/2006
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:So Alice in Wonderland isn’t your typical fairy tale, but I’m still including it because I’ve heard this series is AWESOME (also, Once Upon a Time included Alice in Wonderland, so it totally counts). I got this book for Christmas, and hope to get around to reading it this summer.
A Curse Dark as Gold
by Elizabeth Bunce Release Date: 3/1/2008
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:I started reading this a few years ago, but wasn’t in the right mindset. The world and prose is really deep, and it’s certainly not a book you can read with half a brain. I’m afraid during the school year I have barely a quarter of a brain.
Sisters Red
by Jackson Pearce Release Date: 6/7/2010
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:For some reason I managed to check this out from the library, and forget about it until it was nearly due. I managed to read 20 pages and would have kept it past the due date (naughty me!) but my mother returned it! Since then I have purchased my own copy, but haven’t yet delved into it. I can’t wait! It’s about time that fairy tale heroines started kicking some werewolf.
A Long, Long Sleep
by Anna Sheehan Release Date: 8/9/2011
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:This one hasn’t been getting very positive reviews from what I’ve seen, but I still really want to read it. I mean, fairy tales IN SPACE?! Need I say more?
Cinder
by Marissa Meyer Release Date: 1/3/2012
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:Technically I’ve already read this book. BUT I’m still including it in this list because I LOVED it and I can’t wait for the next three books in the series. Scarlet (2013) features Little Red Riding Hood in France, Cress (2014) features Rapunzel on the Moon, and Winter (2015) features Snow White in the Sahara Desert! Awesome!
Princess of the Wild Swans
by Diane Zahler Release Date: 1/31/2012
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:What is it that makes swans so fitting for Fairy Tales? I just recently got my hands on this guy, and it seems like a short, sweet read. Perfect for a rainy day (I hope!).
Kill Me Softly
by Sarah Cross Release Date: 4/10/2012
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:I have just been LUSTING over this book for MONTHS. I’m on a very strict book-buying-ban right now, or else I would have this guy in my hot little hands instead of waiting for my library to finish “processing” it. We’ve heard of Urban-fantasy and Urban-paranormal books, but this is urban-fairy tales. I’m so there.
Shadows on the Moon
by Zoe Marriott Release Date: 4/24/2012
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:Also another book I’ve “technically” read, but I read the UK version. According to the author, the US version has some new haiku and things changed for authenticity! I have the audiobook for this one and I’m dying to dive in!
Princess of the Silver Woods
by Jessica Day George Release Date: 11/13/2012
Goodreads |Amazon
My Thoughts:Jessica Day George is a standard go-to for fairy tales. I loved the first book in this series (Princess of the Midnight Ball) and I’ve heard the others don’t disappoint! I’ve also heard you can read them out of order, but I could be mistaken. We’ve got a while to wait for this one, hopefully long enough for me to read Princess of Glass.
Giveaway time!
Since this giveaway is hosted by me, it'll be through rafflecopter and not the usual FTF form. Hope y'all don't mind! It just makes my life a little easier! Just follow the instructions below and enter to win! This giveaway is open INTERNATIONAL!
Psst! You have to actually come to the site to enter. You can't see the rafflecopter in a feed reader.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
All review content © Enna Isilee, Squeaky Books 2007-2012
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Iraq: Reports of third ancient site looted by IS militants

Iraq's government is investigating reports that the ancient archaeological site of Khorsabad in northern Iraq is the latest to be attacked by the Islamic State militant group.
The foundations of an ancient palace in the Assyrian city of Khorsabad which
has reportedly been looted and destroyed by Islamic State militants near
the Iraqi city of Mosul [Credit: Polaris]
Adel Shirshab, the country's tourism and antiquities minister, told The Associated Press there are concerns the militants will remove artifacts and damage the site, located 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Mosul. Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdish official from Mosul, told the AP that the militants had already begun demolishing the Khorsabad site on Sunday, citing multiple witnesses.
On Friday, the group razed 3,000-year old Nimrud and on Saturday, they bulldozed 2,000-year old Hatra — both UNESCO world heritage sites. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called the destruction a "war crime," and a statement by his spokesman on Sunday night said Ban was "outraged by the continuing destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq" by theIslamic State group.
Khorsabad was constructed as a new capital of Assyria by King Sargon II shortly after he came to power in 721 B.C. and abandoned after his death in 705 B.C. It features a 24-meter thick wall with a stone foundation and seven gates.
Since it was a single-era capital, few objects linked to Sargon II himself were found. However, the site is renowned for shedding light on Assyrian art and architecture.
The sculptured stone slabs that once lined the palace walls are now displayed in museums in Baghdad, Paris, London and Chicago.
The Islamic State group currently controls about a third of Iraq and Syria. The Sunni extremist group has been campaigning to purge ancient relics they say promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. A video released last week shows them smashing artifacts in the Mosul museum and in January, the group burned hundreds of books from the Mosul library and Mosul University, including many rare manuscripts.
At a press conference earlier Sunday, Shirshab said they have called for an extraordinary session of the U.N. Security Council to address the crisis in Iraq.
"The world should bear the responsibility and put an end to the atrocities of the militants, otherwise I think the terrorist groups will continue with their violent acts," he said.
Author: Sameer N. Yacoub | Source: Associated Press [March 09, 2015]
September TBR aka I caved to Misty & Allison

I vlogged again! And it's terrible!: P I was so tired while doing this one, that I trip over my tongue all the time, and the syncing is off (like always) but I still kinda like it So... Here it is!
I've linked the bloggers I mentioned, but I mention a lot of books and I'm too lazy to link them all... So they are mentioned by title, not author and no links.:)
Bloggers:
Misty @ The Book Rat
Allison @ The Allure of Books
Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books
Books-
If I Tell
Willow
Raven
Daughter of the Forest
Shut Out
This Thing Called the Future
Variant
Other
My Beating Teenage Heart
Born of Tyranny — Port of Errors
Far From You
The Sky is Everywhere
Shadows on the Moon
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
The Mockingbirds
Warm Bodies
Going Underground
Dark Eden
Sleight
But I Love Him
Some Girls Are
Love Story
The Near Witch
Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List
Sean Griswold's Head
One Night That Changes Everything
Forbidden
Yes, I am fully aware that I'm a little bit crazy... : P We'll see how I do!
Tales of a Female Nomad

I got some wanderlust from my dad and I took a travel writing class last year, so I was really intrigued by Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World
, one of the few full length travel narratives I've seen written by a female. To add to my interest, one of my good friends from high school really liked the book so I knew it had to be pretty good. Rita Golden Gelman has reached a turning point in her life. She is living with her husband in California, but they no longer love each other and she hates their modern lifestyle. Her children are on their way to college and she doesn't feel like they need her anymore. Her career, a children's book author, doesn't require her to stay at home. When she and her husband decide to take a break she goes south of the border to Mexico for an intensive Spanish class and finds that she loves traveling. After that trip she changes her life and has no permanent address, she lives on a small amount of money, travels, and meets new people.
The bulk of this book takes place in Indonesia and in my opinion it could have only taken place in Indonesia. Her time in Mexico shows us where her nomadic journey began, but her random trips in the United States and Canada could have been much shorter. Indonesia was really the only place where Rita got to know the people around her and really participated in the culture. I really liked the places Rita went to in the book, but she didn't get to know hardly anyone so it was basically just a book about everywhere she went in this time span and everything she did.
I wanted to like this book a lot. I love the idea of just packing up your stuff, taking off, and seeing the world in your own way. Rita's voice got in the way though. The book is written in the present tense, which lends itself to "I did this, I see this, I hear this" writing. She spends so much time talking about what she did that you don't ever get a good feeling of what the culture is like. She spends at least 100 pages in Indonesia but I didn't come away from the book with any different perspective on it. And that's not totally necessary for me to enjoy a travel narrative. The Moon, Come to Earth didn't change my perspective on Portugal, but it did make me think about travel in a way that I wouldn't have without the book. That was not the case with Tales of a Female Nomad. Honestly, I thought Rita was a little self-centered and while I enjoyed reading about a few of the amazing things she did, there was always this nagging feeling in my head that the way she was telling them just wasn't right. This book could have been awesome, but it ended up just being okay.
I give this book a C.
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Fairy Tales I Can't Wait to Read

This post is just me casting lonely puppy dog eyes at fairy tales, both released and announced that I'm itching to get my hands on. There's a lot of them, but this is in no ways an all-inclusive list. There are a lot of really great looking retellings that got left behind, simply because the post was so long. For that same reason, all that's included about each title is a tiny bit about why I want it so bad.
Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriot — If you haven't yet picked up on how much I want this book, I don't think you've been paying attention. I loved Zoë's previous novels and this retelling of Cinderella fascinates me. This is probably my most highly anticipated of all the books on this list.
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce — The companion novel to Sister's Red, which I loved (my review) , this is Pearce's version of Hansel and Gretel. But, just as Sister's Red was unlike any Little Red Riding Hood story I've read before, Sweetly promises to be just as original, and just as fabulous.
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier — I loved Marillier's writing in Wildwood Dancing (my review) and Cybele's Secret. I'm eager to read more of the fairy tale retellings that she has written. Heart's Blood is the one that I used as my example, but really, any of her books I've no yet read would fit there.
Thornspell by Helen Lowe — I haven't read too many retellings of Sleeping Beauty but it's one that, in my experience, often does very well on the retell. I've had this one on my tbr for a while now, and can't help but think that it's getting time to take it off.
Dread Locks by Neal Shusterman — The first in his Dark Fusion trilogy, this promised to be a very unique and twisty version of Medusa. The series also retells Little Red Riding Hood and The Ugly Duckling.
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab — The cover is beautiful and haunting, and the synopsis sounds like it comes from a fairy tale. But it is instead a wholly original story, a new fairy tale. And I for one, cannot wait to read it. (Thank you Victoria for the correction. My apologies for having it wrong before.)
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey — This is the first book in her Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and it's the one I've chosen to represent Lackey in general. I've heard a lot of great things about her writing in general and about this series in particular, and it is one that I am eager to read.
Birdwing by Rafe Martin — This is the book that has, perhaps, been on my list the longest without having been read. Birdwing is a retelling of The Six Swans (or The Wild Swans etc.) but it is the story of the youngest brother, the brother who was given the shirt with only one finished sleeve. What was his life like, with one arm and one wing? This idea fascinates me, because I've thought about that before, and I would love to see where Martin takes this story.

White as Snow by Tanith Lee — There is a whole fairy tale series where several writers grouped together and all (somehow) decided to tell their own tales. White as Snow is one of them, as is Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, which is definitely a book worth reading. I'd love to go through and read each of the books in this series. They all seem fascinating.
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson — I really enjoyed Tomlinson's The Swan Maiden and was excited to see that she had another fairy tale retelling coming out. I can't wait to see what she does with this story. It's a lesser known tale, and one that is a little bit... weird (gems or snakes falling from your mouth every time you speak?!) and it's one that could very definitely be fascinating on the retell.
So there it is — a very small grouping of fairy tales that I'm insanely anxious to read. Have you read any of them? What did you think?! Any you recommend more than others? Any you are adding to your own TBR?