Aesop's Fables

Aesop's Fables
illustrated by Arthur Rackham

The Moral Of The Story Is...!

This is a book that has been sitting on my book shelf for some time now, and back in 2013 I began going through these stories as part of the Moral Of The Story challenge that I never actually got around to finishing.

Contained within these stories are a number of classic characters that have a familiarity about them, such as 'The Man', 'The Old Woman', 'The Fisher' and 'The Woodman'. However there are also a great many more characters in these stories that are animals of one sort or another, such as foxes, wolves, horses and mice. It is through these simplistic and uncomplicated character and animal archetypes that these stories are able to be understood for what they are without the complications that more complex human interactions can bring, giving the moral to each story a more powerful impact.

Aesop's Fables is a collection of 285 fables that are, if not actually written by Aesop himself, than are Aesop like enough to be attributed to him. As there are some who may argue the authorship of these fables the point is not who wrote these fables but the moral of these fables themselves. Although old in their origin, and at times dated in their context, the morals these stories offer are timeless as each has the potential to offer wisdom as well as whimsy to those who take the time to read them. These are stories not only to entertain both the young and old, but also to give one something to think about.

 

Aesop's Fables

Aesop's Fables

 

On sale: 08 September 1992
Price (AU): can be found Free online
ISBN: 9780517171981
Recommended age: all ages
In a word: Fables
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Faery Tales & Nightmares

Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

Wicked Faery Tales And Lovely Nightmares!

Between these pages lurk beings of harsh beauty and great terror. While one girl is born with Winter within her, another girl will dream the Summer into being. When one girl finds a new life in death another, girl will find a new identity in a woodland creature. And as one girl finds love can be both a blessing and a curse, another girl will learn that love can wait.

Entering a realm that has the potential to be a great nightmare or a fearful faery tale, there may be some familiar faces to guide you on your way. As some beings struggle to break the habits of a lifetime, they may instead find a stolen moment with the one they love. A struggling artist will find new purpose in life, a boy will find a new family and acceptance, and a couple will risk all for a chance at love.

Faery Tales & Nightmares are a mixture of short stories that are romantic, bloody and dreamy in their element. While some stories within are timeless in their faery tale quality, others stories are short tales that are apart of a wider series of books from the authors Wicked Lovely series. Despite having never read any of the Wicked Lovely books, these short stories are an enjoyably unique collection of love, magic and the darkness within.

Melissa Marr Webpage
Melissa Marr @ Harper Collins

On sale: 01 February 2012

Price (AU): $19.99
ISBN: 9780007456871
Recommended age: 13+
In a word: Faery Tales
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Green Monkey Dreams

Green Monkey Dreams by Isobelle Carmody

 

"So, You Seek The Key To The Dream Of Life"

  

The High Path is a road of sorrow. With all good intentions we are led on a path of sacrifice, hardship and loss only to find that in the end we are left alone in the world, separated from those we love through the choices we have made, and left to face the consequences of an unknown future alone. But even when all is lost the will to go on still remains.

The Way Of The Beast speaks to the darker side of our human natures. Beneath the smiles and kind gestures lurks a darkness that is capable of causing great pain to those we care for through broken promises, crushed dreams and shattered hearts. At times there are no answers, no prays heard, only the darkness and the lost innocence of youth.

The Worldroad teaches life lessons, and while some are able to inspire and bring hope, others maybe learned all too late. It is our choices in life that make us who we are, lead us where we are going and teach us what we need to know. There are no right or wrong paths, only choices that must be made.

Green Monkey Dreams is a beautiful collection of short tales that are full of hope, tragedy and bittersweet moments that haunt you long after their reading. A skilfully written collection of magical tales of the fanciful, the quirky and the everyday. Each story is a doorway to another land, another time or anther reality where everything is at once both new and familiar in just the same way that these stories are at once both unique and timeless.

Isobelle Carmody Webpage

Isobelle Carmody @ Allen & Unwin

On sale: 01 June 2012
Price (AU): $19.99
ISBN: 9781742379470
Recommended age: 15+
In a word: Fantastic
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Fantasy Art Journal

Fantasy Art Journal

"My Mind Is My Weapon... And A Mind Needs Books"

A place where dragons are rescuers, where trees talk, rings are all powerful and where anything you can believe in can become reality. This is a world where anything you can imagine can be unleashed with more then enough space to give home to all those creative ideas, thoughts, dreams and wishes.

Fantasy Art Journal is a charming and inspiring journal filled with a number of fantasy quotes that will stir your imagination. Comprising of blank, lined an graph pages, this journal will support you in any creative endeavour whether that is through writing, sketching, planning or any other form of creative expression you could think of. This is a special journal you should treat yourself to or buy for that someone special.

@ Thames & Hudson

On sale: 01 March 2012
Price (AU): $19.95
ISBN: 9781908150516
Recommended age: 16+
In a word: Journal
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Yellowcake

Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan

Short And Sweet!

The smell of a rose brings back a lost past; golden strands lead a prince to rescue his lover; two sisters are given an icy reception; a mother ascends to angelic status in front of her sons eyes; a daughter takes over the family business; a boy will discover the brutally in the workplace. This is just a taste of some of the tales that are waiting to be consumed within this delicious book.

This offering of short stories is an interesting mix of something's sweet, something's sour and other things bittersweet. For within these ten stories are weaved a wide variety of ingredients including elements of fairy tales, Bible stories, myths, fantasy and science fiction. But while some stories may leave you felling unsatisfied, others are a delight to devour, standing out for their slices of originality, their quickly capturing taste and their shore fire recipes of timeless themes.

Yellowcake is a collection that clearly highlights the differing forms of a short story, accentuating a wide variety of themes, subjects and styles. Each story presented is as unique in its language as it is in its writing style and is recommended for more mature readers due to its complexity in both. With the nature and form of short stories being here expand there is plenty to contemplate, however there is work to be done in drawing out each stories meaning, but easily grasped in each story is the emotional reactions they evoke.

Margo Lanagan Webpage

Margo Lanagan @ Allen & Unwin

On sale: 01 March 2011
Price (AU): $19.99
ISBN: 9781742374789
Recommended age: 15+
In a word: Short Stories
Re-read it: possibly
Recommend: possibly
Star rating: three out of five
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Zombies vs Unicorns

Zombies vs Unicorns
by Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie)
& Holly Black (Team Unicorn)

Which Team Are You On!

How many times have you asked yourself 'which is the better creature, Zombies or Unicorns?' Now you can wonder no longer as this anthology puts that question to rest, or slays it with a sharp pointy object depending on your view point. Then again it may just dig up a whole pile of gross human remains which only goes to spark this debate once again.

Zombies, although only born in more recent times, have a wide reaching appeal. But not all zombies are slow mindless creatures, although some certainly are, as some are calculating and resourceful who are able to blend in to the world around them for the most part, that is if they can control their desire for that culinary delicacy that is human brains.

Unicorns have always existed either as symbols of purity and hope or as vicious blood thirsty killers. But even while ripping your heart out these unicorns are still able to fart rainbows and sparkle with magic. Their impossible existence is always questioned but their ability to charm has never failed, well not on anyone still living.

Zombies Vs Unicorns answers the age old question 'would you rather be killed by a Unicorn or loved by a Zombie?' As surprisingly it is the Zombie stories that are more to do with love and the Unicorn stories that are more to do with death. Even though I have long been an admirer of Unicorns with their intriguing nature and timelessness I must admit that Zombies are very compelling and haunting. Decide for yourself which creature reins supreme and read this book.

Justine Larbalestier Webpage
Libba Bray Webpage
Cassandra Clare Webpage
Alaya Dawn Johnson Webpage
Maureene Johnson Webpage
Carrie Ryan Webpage
Scott Westerfeld Webpage

Holly Black Webpage
Meg Cabot Webpage
Kathleen Duey Webpage
Margo Lanagan Webpage
Garth Nix Webpage
Naomi Novik Webpage
Diana Peterfreund Webpage

Justine Larbalestier & Holly Black @ Allen & Unwin

Zombies vs Unicorns

On sale: 01 November 2010
Price (AU): $18.99
ISBN: 9781742375502
Recommended age: 14+
In a word: Zombies/Unicorns
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: four out of five
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Lips Touch Three Times

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo

Soul Stealing, Soul Saving, Soul Searching!

Three stories of a kiss that had the power to change lives.
Three stories of souls that learn what it is to love.

Goblin Fruit.

Kizzy is exactly the kind of girl that is easily picked on by pretty girls with gorgeous boyfriends. She is exactly the kind of girl that will never fit in, with her strange family customs and superstitious ways. She is exactly the kind of the girl the goblins crave.
All her life Kizzy has wanted. She has wanted with a passion all that she does not have and would give anything to have it. But would she really give everything? Kizzy has the knowledge that would save her, but will she ignore it risking everything for a single kiss.

Spicy Little Curses Such As These.

Estella was only a young bride when she became a widow. Overcome with grief, Estella had made a decision to travel to Hell, literally, to win back her love who was so cruelly taken from her. However it was too late and she could not save him.
It was the first of many journeys for Estella into Hell, for although she had failed to save the man she loved she had instead been given a purpose. She was to save the souls of the innocent, but somehow she finds herself the deliverer of a murderous curse that will change one girl's fate forever. A curse spurred on by a kiss.

Hatchling.

Esme and her mother lived a life straight from the pages of a fairy tale. Esme was taught to dance like a faerie, climb trees like a squirrel, and sit so still that birds would perch on her. But as magical and beautiful as their peaceful life was it would be shattered each night with nightmares hiding very dark secrets.
Like Esme, her mother Mab had a dreamlike childhood that then turned into a nightmare. But some nightmares you can not escape from no matter how far you run. As a lifetime of memories is hidden in the mists the only hope may be a lover's first kiss.

Lips Touch: Three Times and magical things happen; though these are not always good things. A beautifully haunting book of doomed lovers and lost souls. This is a masterful collection of stories that are accompanied by the most gorgeous otherworldly images.

 

Laini Taylor Webpage

(illustrator) Jim Di Bartolo Webpage

Laini Taylor @ Scholastic

On sale: 01 March 2010
Price (AU): $29.99
ISBN: 9780545055857
Recommended age: 14+
In a word: Kiss/Soul
Re-read it: yes
Recommend: yes
Star rating: five out of five
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Sookie Stackhouse - A Touch Of Dead

SOOKIE STACKHOUSE:
A Touch Of Dead by Charlaine Harris

Sookie's Quick Bites!

A Touch Of Dead is a collection of five short stories from the Sookie Stackhouse series that has been published here together for the first time.

Fairy Dust. (takes place after Dead To The World)

Claudine enlists Sookie's help to find a murderer. A fairy has been murdered and only Sookie has the skills to discover who murdered the fairy, and why? But will she be able to discover the truth before the fairies decide to take matters into their own hands?

Dracula Night. (takes place before Dead As A Doornail)

Eric is excited, it's his favourite time of the year, and a huge party has been planed for the event. Sookie has received an invitation to a birthday at Fangtasia, but it is not Eric's, its Dracula's, and rumour has it this year he just might show up...

One Word Answer. (takes place after Dead As A Doornail)

News of Sookie's cousin Hadley arrives in the form of a demonic lawyer, and he's not alone; he comes with vampires. Sookie is about to discover what has become of Hadley, she is also set a task that seems almost impossible to her. But is this one offer she can't refuse?

Lucky. (takes place after All Together Dead)

A mystery has landed on Sookie's doorstep in the form of an insurance agent with magical powers. It's a simple case, or so detective Stackhouse and her partner inspector Broadway thought. But even with a telepath and a witch on the case, they are going to have to be more then good to crack this mystery, they are going to have to be lucky.

Gift Wrap. (takes place before Dead And Gone)

Sookie has accepted the fact that this year she is spending Christmas alone; or so she thought. Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to make this Christmas one Sookie will never forget; but will it be the killer Were on her doorstep, the naked man in her living room, or the surprise guest for dinner that is the most memorable this Christmas?

This book is invaluable to any Sookie Stackhouse fan, and if you're not a fan you should be. So many hidden gems from the Sookie Stackhouse universe are revealed as we learn all those glorious bits of inconsequential snippets of the lives affecting our heroin, Sookie. These are the background stories that enrich the series, a must read.

 

Charlaine Harris Webpage

Charlaine Harris @ Hachette

On sale: 01 October 2009
Price (AU): $29.99
ISBN: 9780575094437
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Short Bites
Re-read it: probably
Recommend: to those reading the series
Star rating: four out of five
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Faeries Gone Wild

Faeries Gone Wild by MaryJanice Davidson,

Lois Greiman, Michele Hauf & Leandra Logan

Faery Lust and Mortal Love!

Tall, Dark and Not So Faery by MaryJanice Davidson

Scarlett is on a mission. A very important mission. A mission from the King, and she will let no one stand in her way. Unfortunately for Scarlett it is not a person that is hindering her, but a large, heavy, wooden door that is constantly closing in her face. If she can just get through that door, Scarlett would discover a strange and odd mix of individuals, she would make new friends, find old family and quite possibly fall in love... But only if she can get through the front door first.

Pixie Lust by Lois Greiman

Avalina has entered the Mortal world for one reason only, to search for a rare plant, a Fern. But this is no ordinary Fern, at least not to a Fay, for it is believed to hold medicinal properties, and Avalina, being a Fern Fay, is determined to find it. What she didn't count on was finding William. Only the fickle and decadent flower faeries entered the Mortal world to consort with men. So why then all of a sudden is Avalina acting just like the silly flower faeries she has so little respect for, and is being with William really worth all the trouble?

Dust Me, Baby, One More Time by Michele Hauf

Sidney may be leading a double life, but both lives are as straight-laced as you can get. By day she is Sidney Tooth, librarian and Reverie local, keeping very much to herself. By night she is the Tooth Faery, silently entering homes and exchanging teeth for coins. Nothing can upset Sidney's work routine, nothing that is except Dart. Sidney may not have time to sleep, but is she willing to make time for Dart Sand, the Sandman?

A Little Bit Faery by Leandra Logan

Tia Mayberry has never quite fit in to the Enchanted Realm. Everything about her just seems wrong compared to the elegant faeries that call the Enchanted Realm home. So Tia has decided to try her luck in the Mortal Realm, she is leaving the Isle of Man for the Isle of Manhattan. But will her luck be any better among the humans, and will she be able to overcome her secret past to find happiness in the future?

In these four stories you will find naughty tales of pixy lust and adoring fables of faery love. Highly imaginative and vividly romantic, these stories are not for the faint of heart; these are definitely faery-tales for adults only. If you love faeries and love love, you will love this book.

 

MaryJanice Davidson Webpage

Lois Greiman Webpage

Michele Hauf Webpage

Leandra Logan Webpage

MaryJanice Davidson et al @ Pan Macmillan

 

On sale: 01 August 2009
Price (AU): $12.99
ISBN: 9780312945688
Recommended age: 18+
In a word: Lust/Love
Re-read it: possibly
Recommend: possibly
Star rating: three out of five
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