BookTag: Mythology & Folklore

Since the 4th grade, mythology has been one of my favorite topics, and I love learning about different people, cultures, and ideas. 

I believe I have an enormous repertoire of Creation Myths, folklore, and fairy tales from around the world, so in this Tag I'd like to not only share YA mythology/folklore but mythology for all ages!

Click here for image source. 

Three relatively recent Egyptian Myths I've read include The Chaos of Stars, The Red Pyramid, and Reawakened. Out of these three, I have to say that both The Chaos of Stars and The Red Pyramid had more mythology, content-wise, than Reawakened. However, Reawakened is by far my favorite of these three, because it had awesome characters and vivid descriptions of places in Egypt.   

  

Click here for image source. 

Akbar and Birbal is one of my all-time favorite folktales- I came across it first when I was about 10 years old, and to this day, it remains a cherished part of my childhood. The Mahabharata is a famous Indian epic that I encountered at the same age as I did Akbar and Birbal. It is culturally, socially, and historically one of the most important epics of India. The Tiger's Curse is the first YA book I have ever read that contained Indian mythology, and it is well researched and it describes a lot of beautiful places in India. 

  

Click here for image source. 

I NEED more Norse Mythology. The movie Thor was ok, but it did nothing to satisfy my curiosity about the nuances of Norse mythology. Then came along Valkyrie Rising which filled me with a burning desire to know more about Valhalla, about Valkyrie, and about Loki. Know any good books on Norse mythology? If you do, please recommend below in comments.     

Click here for image source. 

Chinese folklore is fascinating. Eon is a favorite!! I love the world Alison Goodman built and the descriptions of dragons were DIVINE. Another important Chinese cultural book (it's not mythology or even folklore, but its representative of classical Chinese culture) is The Art of War which is THE book that inspired modern tactics/ strategies. It's inspirational, useful, and if I was ever stranded in the middle of a battlefield, I would pick this book over any weapon. The Empty Pot is a childhood read, and it teaches an important lesson about honesty. Although I read much more Chinese folklore as a child, this is the one I remember best. 

  

Click here for image source. 

This sub-genre of mythology is by far the most popular, and I give some credit to Rick Riordan's wonderful books. The only original Greek epic I've read is The Odyssey, and I absolutely loved it:) Edith Hamilton's Mythology was an EXTENSIVE trove of all types of myths and creation stories- it was beautiful and I consumed the whole book in a span of a few days. 

   

Click here for image source. 

Arabian mythology is beautiful. With descriptions of starry nights, deserts, and food, Aladdin is the movie that introduced the many wonders of this sub-genre. My absolute current favorite book this year is vacillating between The Queen of Shadows (not Arabian mythology) and The Wrath and the Dawn. The Wrath and the Dawn is stunningly written and is based on Arabian Nights. One story from the Arabian Nights, called Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is also a favorite. 

 

Emma @smartbookclub, I Tag you!

T13: Classics

Classics (aka books I had to read for school) are simultaneously the best and worst of fictional books. I have such ambivalent feelings towards classics- I absolutely hate having to read them, but while I'm reading them, or after I'm done, my entire perspective on life shifts just a little. Below is my list of compelling classics. 

Click on the title for more information. 

 A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

“When you will not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in--that's stronger. It's a good thing not to answer your enemies.” 

Odyssey by Homer

“Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.” 

Oliver Twist by Charles Dicken

“Some people are nobody's enemies but their own.” 

1984 by George Orwell

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

“Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.”

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

“We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”

Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 

"Ah, if he could only die temporarily!”

Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien 

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Anthem by Ayn Rand

“I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom.”

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done--then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.”

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”