Favorite Books
Step into my world and see what makes me feel enchantment! It is quite fitting that my first word was “Book” because I adore books! I’ve collected books my whole life and of course I’ll never read all of them, but I can dream about doing so! Here is a grouping of favorite books of mine: some are ones that I mention in my classes (both online and self-paced) and those tend to be non-fiction texts more than fiction. I also include here favorite novels and other texts that I return to again and again. Lastly, I include my own books, for those who are interested in my publications. I hope you enjoy looking at some of my favorite books, and please click through if you’d like to purchase any of them for yourself or request them through your local library! Amazon items are affiliate links, but otherwise, so if you purchase any of the books by clicking through, you will help support my small business!
The Shape of Water
If you’ve seen this “fairy tale for troubled times”, you’ve GOT to read the book. It adds so much extra detail and an interesting point of view addition that is NOT in the film!! This adaptation is by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus.
Crimson Peak (Novel)
This novelization of the film Crimson Peak by Guillermo del Toro is well worth the read. It is filled with lots of extra details and elements of backstory that enrich the tale. Make yourself a cup of tea and curl up on a snowy or gloomy day to enjoy this book.
Fairy Tales Reimagined: Essays on New Retellings
Although readers and filmgoers are strongly familiar with Disney's sanitized child-centric fairy tales, they are quick to catch on to reworkings of classic tales into a contemporary context. The rise is such retellings seems to indicate that readers are hungry for a new narrative, one that hearkens back to the old yet moves the storyline forward to reflect conditions of the modern world. No mere escapist fantasies, the reimagined fairy tales of the late 20th and early 21st centuries reflect social, political and cultural truths. Sixteen essays consider fairy tales recreated through short stories, novels, poetry, and the graphic novel from both best-selling and lesser-known writers, applying a variety of perspectives, including postmodernism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, queer theory and gender studies.
Beyond His Dark Materials: Innocence and Experience in the Fiction of Philip Pullman
Beyond the His Dark Materials series lies a vast fictional realm populated by the many diverse character creations of Philip Pullman. During a more than 30-year career, Pullman has created worlds filled with quests, trials, tragedies and triumphs, and this book explores those worlds. The picture books, novellas and novels written for children, adolescents and adults are analyzed through the themes of innocence and experience. The journeys Pullman sets his characters on teach them that one must embrace change, loss and suffering to grow in wisdom and grace.
