Welcome to the April Theme read and mini-challenge!

May Theme is A Book You Started Once

Is there a book on your shelf that you started once but just didn’t finish? Now’s the time to pick it up!  You can tell us about it on our Goodreads Discussion this month or in the comments.

Last month I read East of Eden which I had started in high school but I just really didn’t get it.  I’m glad I picked it up now because I did get it this time and I loved it.

May Mini-Challenge – Soundtrack Your Book!

Pick any of your books on your shelf – one you’ve read this year or one you want to read this month – and pick a song that goes with it! Easy right? Leave your song choice in the comments or in the May mini-challenge thread in the Goodreads group.

I read Life in the Pit last month which was a cute romance about a girl who loves to play the cello.  So I had to pick a song by Yo-Yo Ma because he is THE cello player.  This is the Bach Cello Suite No.1 Prelude.  It’s heavenly.

Hope you all have a great May!

My first post for my Classic Double Challenge this year! This challenge is hosted by One Librarian’s Book Reviews.  My goal for this challenge was to compare the re-telling to the original and see how much was the same or different.  Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson was a retelling of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.  *There are some spoilers for both of these books.*

I found these books to be vastly different and I much preferred the original Peter Pan in this case.

Read my review of Peter Pan

Read my review of Tiger Lily

Similarities

- Violence is common in the lost boys.  They treat it like it has no consequences or that it’s just a game.

- There is a dark undertone in both that I found unexpected, though Tiger Lily was somewhat darker and dealt with more issues than Peter Pan (like rape and acceptance in a culture).

- They both have fairies and mermaids.

- There are pirates and tribes in both stories.

- A few details are the same like a crocodile swallowing a clock, Captain Hook losing his hand (though the reason behind him losing his hand is very different in Tiger Lily), and the bird nest floating on the water.

Differences

Peter Pan

- Set in a magical world that is part imagination and part real.

- Peter never grows up.

- The pirates, tribes, and lost boys constantly hunting each other is a game.

Tiger Lily

- The world is literal and scientific.

- Peter grows up.

- The pirates have a truce with the tribe so there is no constant hunting-each-other game.

- Captain Hook doesn’t lose his hand to Peter Pan. He lost it in a factory accident. (Making it realistic also made it kind of ridiculous in my opinion.)

Welcome to the April Theme read and mini-challenge!

April Theme is Modern Reads (1990′s and later).

So go grab a newish book off your shelf and join in the discussion! You can tell us what you are reading in the comments on this post or at the Goodreads discussion.

I’m going to pick Life in the Pit by Kristen Landon because it looks cute, short and she’s a local author!

April Mini-Challenge – Pick my Read!

This month, you can have a fellow dusty bookshelf challenger pick the book for you to read this month.  If you want to participate, head on over to the Goodreads thread.  There will be more people participating over there and then you won’t have to check this post 20 times to see if someone picked a read for you .

Hope you all have a great April!

If you’ve read any of your Dusty Books in the past two months, leave the link in the linky below. I’d love to read them! You have all month to link up all your reviews thus far. Direct links only, please. Thanks!

Welcome to the March Theme read and mini-challenge! I’m really sorry that I didn’t get to post February’s mini-challenge and theme.  Instead of changing the schedule, I decided that it was best to just skip it this time.  But I’ve got some fun things going on for March!

March Theme is biographies.

So go grab a biography off your shelf and join in the discussion! You can tell us what you are reading in the comments on this post or at the Goodreads discussion.

March Mini-Challenge – Swag Swap!

We did this last year and it was a huge hit.  I’m glad to say that I’m bringing it back again!  The idea behind this event is to get some new bookmarks to use while reading those dusty books by swapping bookmarks and other book related swag with someone.

So here’s how it works.

• Click the link at the bottom of this post and fill out the form before March 15.
• You will be assigned a swapping buddy by March 20. (This isn’t anonymous – if you don’t send anything, they will know who you are!  The person you send something to is the person you will be receiving something from.)
• You can send your swapping buddy some of your extra bookmarks and other book related swag, a postcard, or a homemade bookmark (YA FRIENDLY PLEASE).
• You have until March 31st to get your swag in the mail.
• You may be assigned someone who lives internationally from you.  I am not asking you to send big, expensive packages.  Postage for an international letter from the U.S. is about $1 – it’s even less for a postcard.
• You must be a part of my reading challenge or Dusty Bookshelf Goodreads Group to sign up for this swag swap. (You should join the group – it’s totally easy and then you can swap bookmarks with someone!)
• You must be at least 13 years old to sign up.

Sign up for the Swag Swap

Have a great March everyone!