Bargain Ebook: The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry, which some reviews have compared to Cinderella, is currently $4.88 as a Kindle book. I downloaded it myself, although I haven't read it yet. It's $7.99 in paperback. so that is a goodly savings and a way to read Berry's backlist. She has been on my "be aware" of list which is the same as the TBR (to be read) list, I guess, but with a SurLaLune influence. A good portion of my pleasure reading has nothing to do with SurLaLune. I can't do this every minute of the day. Really. I don't. :) Her latest book, Secondhand Charm, is also on my TBR list.

Here's the book description if you are interested:

When a mysterious piece of jewelry and a strange visitor arrive in the jewelry shop where she works for her evil aunt, Lucinda's course takes a surprising turn. With the help of the Amaranth Witch, a young (and harmless) con-artist, and a prince, Lucinda uncovers secrets about her own royal past. A strong seller in hardcover, this original fairytale marks an exciting debut from a lyrical new voice.

Per usual, the review from Booklist is more descriptive and helps to convey the Cinderellesque qualities:

Intriguing characters, fine plotting, and a richly worked narrative carry the reader into Lucinda’s vaguely medieval world. Orphaned as a small child when her wealthy parents were killed in a carriage accident, Lucinda has grown to the age of 15 as the maidservant in her goldsmith uncle’s home, suffering abuse at the hands of his wife. Life changes quickly for Lucinda after her uncle dies when she attempts to complete an errand to return a strange glowing stone to a woman locally known as the Amaranth Witch. A street thief, the local Prince Charming, a goat with the manners of a loving dog, and an evil chief justice are among the characters who complicate and enrich Lucinda’s life as she discovers her own past and the otherworldliness of Beryl, the amaranth lady. Tamora Pierce fans will particularly appreciate Berry’s smoothly rendered first novel, where magic and historically accurate courtly rites are balanced with Lucinda’s maturing sense of independence, fate, and self.

Berry is compared most often with Jessica Day George, author of Princess of Glass and Princess of the Midnight Ball.

Another Article About Fairy Tales at the Movies

A few excerpts from Live-action fairy tales are ripe for plucking by adult filmgoers by Susan Wloszczyna at USA TODAY:

Want to see a bedtime story, not just hear one?
The kind of yarn with a big, bad wolf, a jealous queen or a wicked witch?

Hollywood certainly hopes so. Apparently, grim times at the box office call for Grimm-inspired adventures. With movie attendance in a slump, studios are attempting to lure filmgoers back into the dark of the multiplex forest with, of all things, a fairy-tale revival.

and

In the pipeline are no fewer than three Snow Whites, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton (premise: the grown-up tormented siblings are out for revenge) and Jack the Giant Killer, a twist on Jack and the Beanstalk directed by Bryan Singer of X-Men fame.

Other variations on popular fables include a Tim Burton-directed Maleficent, a Wicked-style takeoff on Sleeping Beauty that focuses on the evil queen and is a role that Angelina Jolie has been circling; Oz: The Great and Powerful, a story about the origins of Dorothy's wizard with Sam Raimi behind the camera; and Tink, with Elizabeth Banks as Peter Pan's pixie pal.

and

"The good news is that these movies can be done without rights," says Roth, who is also behind Oz: The Great and Powerful. "The bad news is they can be done without rights. Anyone can do them." Besides his Universal release, Relativity's Snow White project directed by Tarsem and Disney's kung-fu Snow and the Seven are in various stages of development.

But as countless screen adaptations have proven since the dawn of cinema, fairy tales are nothing if not infinitely malleable. The former Disney chairman says this Snow White will be a swashbuckler, more in the style of Pirates of the Caribbean. The plot: The evil queen sends a huntsman out to bring her the heart of Snow White. Instead, he ends up joining forces with the princess against her stepmother. Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds have been in talks to star.

Tangled Stats

  

I don't know about you, but I've been curious about Tangled's numbers. After all, this is what will influence whether or not Disney will eventually return to some animated fairy tales (live action ones are in development) which has been upsetting some folks. From Examiner.com: 'Tangled' triumphs worldwide with $395 million -- and climbing:

Of all the movies that were thrown at audiences in the Hollywood holiday theatrical push, so far Disney's Rapunzel-based Tangled ranks No. 1 worldwide at the boxoffice.

Boasting international boxoffice receipts of $214.02 million and $395 in ticket sales worldwide, The Numbers reports that the animated tale is expected to climb to well over $500 million -- and the film has yet to open in the UK, Japan, Spain, and Scandanavian countries and other parts of the world.

And that still doesn't include DVD and Blu-ray sales. The film is slated to release on March 29th, by the way. This also means that Tangled will come close to doubling or even more than doubling the worldwide tickets sales that Princess and the Frog made, once again not including home movie sales for either. Tangled has already surpassed the latter's full gross including DVD sales.

And, no, the comparison didn't include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. But the numbers are impressive.

Caperucita Roja by Beatriz Martin Vidal

Several months ago, I posted about a new book, Caperucita Roja (Red Riding Hood) by Beatriz Martin Vidal along with several illustrations. I didn't have any print information at the time and there was interest in it, so I am posting it here now. Unfortunately for most SurLaLune readers, the book is only available in Spanish at this time and not listed in most English language bookstores online. Vidal kindly sent more information on the book:

The publisher is Oxford University Press España. Here's the link:

http://www.oupe.es/es/Literatura/CuentosMaravillosos/caperucitarojanacional/Paginas/caperucitarojanacional.aspx

According to Vidal, there will be an English version sooner or later, but for now you can hopefully find it somewhere online.

More Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Unsurprisingly, Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein is making its publicity rounds in media channels. Yesterday ParentDish had an interview with Orenstein about the book. I found one part interesting:

From New Book 'Cinderella Ate My Daughter' Looks at Effect of Girly-Girl Culture by Ted Henderson:

PD: How can an alert parent counteract the cultural influences of things like Disney princesses?

PO: Parenting is always present tense. I wanted to give parents a toddler to tween arch, but these issues are ongoing. You're not going to be able to avoid these images. They're everywhere. You can't walk into a store without being bombarded by them.

And you can't constantly say "no" to your daughter.

That's one of the reasons I called my book "Cinderella Ate My Daughter," which is obviously very overblown and over-the-top. I believe in fighting fun with fun.

In my previous post, I gave the book an overall positive review, so that is not what this post is about. My question is whether anyone here found the title to be "obviously very overblown and over-the-top" and "fighting fun with fun?" Yes, it is humorous but I don't know how many casual shelf browsers will pick up on that especially considering the book blurbing. Hmmmm....

No big deal, but marketing always fascinates me as well as the topic of this book. I have certainly received enough questions and queries on the topic over the years, so I am interested to see how the book sells and what the overall response to it will be.

New Book: The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale

The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale by Ying Chang Compestine is a new book which celebrates the Chinese New Year which falls on February 3rd in 2011. The original story borrows elements from Jack and the Beanstalk and The Gingerbread Man with several twists and final message about the joy of generosity.

Book description from the publisher:

When a boy goes to the market to buy food and comes home with an old wok instead, his parents wonder what theyÕll eat for dinner. But then the wok rolls out of the poor family's house with a skippity-hoppity-ho! and returns from the rich man's home with a feast in tow!

I didn't want to save this one for February 3rd for then it would be too late to really use the story for the holiday. The bright and colorful illustrations are fun. It has been well-reviewed so far, so it sounds like a great way to discuss the holiday with the children in your life.

Now Live: SurLaLune Book Club January 2011: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

I'm a day late, but I finally created a thread for discussing this month's SurLaLune Book Club discussion. You can visit it here: SurLaLune Book Club: January 2011: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce  The board does require registration but you can use an alias if you prefer. The registered user feature is necessary to help control spammers. So head on over and join the discussion. This is our first month and I am expecting a huge learning curve on my part, so bear with me as we figure out how to make this work.