things she read » Events

bookish haul

Gricel — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:55:45 +0000

Book Fair time come again and this year’s selection of vendors (and events) proved to be a good one . Started my visit with some tasty macarons and stumbled across a great bargain stall… soon followed by several more bargain stalls.

Books await

Gricel — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:42:38 +0000

It’s Book Fair day! Though I am trying to restrain my book buying habit, today is the last day of the Miami International Book Fair and I cannot resist its lure. I will stick to a budget. I will not buy more than a couple of books. Must remain calm…

Booklovers Secret Santa 2010

Gricel — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:50:57 +0000

It’s back! The return of the Booklovers Secret Santa–hosted by The Neverending Shelf

I so enjoyed participating in last year’s exchange, I can’t wait for this year’s!

Bleak House Read-along

Gricel — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:30:13 +0000

And in another attempt to give Dickens a go… I have joined Amanda’s Bleak House Read-along over at The Zen Leaf.

‘Celebrating Georgette Heyer’ at Austenprose

Gricel — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:08:13 +0000

Join Laurel Ann, of Austenprose, and guests for a month of Georgette Heyer, starting on Sunday, August 1st.

‘Celebrating Georgette Heyer’ at Austenprose – August 1st – 31st, 2010 « Austenprose.

By the Seaside with Sanditon events

Gricel — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:56:17 +0000

The Sanditon group read event has commenced at Austenprose! See the event schedule here.

Sanditon Group Read at Austenprose

Gricel — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:01:34 +0000

Announcing ‘By the Seaside with Sanditon’ at Austenprose.

43rd Bookworms Carnival: Cupid & Psyche

Gricel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:21:48 +0000

While working on my master’s thesis, I became heavily immersed in mythology, fairy tales, and folklore. When Nymeth at things mean a lot announced that the 43rd Bookworms Carnival would be on mythologies and retellings, I knew that I had to participate.

Cupid and Psyche. Annie Swynnerton, 1891.

One of the myths that I became particularly attached to was the story of Cupid and Psyche.

Cupid and Psyche first appeared in Lucius Apuleius’ The Golden Ass (2nd century C.E.) and is considered one of the first literary myths (or fairy tales). The story is overheard by Lucius, the golden ass, as he travels to find a way to break the enchantment that keeps him in animal form.

The Tale

When Venus’s temple is neglected because her devotees are admiring the mortal princess Psyche, the vengeful goddess orders her son Cupid, god of love, to strike the beautiful girl with one of this golden arrows, so that she may fall in love with a hideous creature that will be set before her. Devoted son that he is, Cupid does as ordered but falls in love with Psyche himself. Suddenly, things get complicated.

Unwilling to lose Psyche, Cupid asks Zephyr to whisk his beloved away to his palace, where she will be wed to him in secret. The problem is how to keep it all from Venus?

Cupid marries Psyche, concealing his identity from her by cover of darkness and forbidding her from ever looking upon him. When Psyche’s jealous sisters learn of Psyche’s felicity, they convince her that she has married a beast too hideous to reveal himself.

Tempted by the mystery, Psyche lights a lamp while her husband sleeps and sees Cupid, who wakes as a drop of oil falls from the lamp.

All sorts of havoc ensues when Cupid flies off, leaving Psyche to deal with the fallout of his mother’s discovery. Determined to find her husband, Psyche successfully overcomes a set of Herculean challenges set by Venus, showing Venus that she’s more than just a pretty face.

—

Much of the criticism on Cupid and Psyche focuses on the matter of curiosity and the forbidden. Psyche is told to not look upon Cupid–What kind of power dynamic is that in a marriage?! But, behold, female curiosity at its best.

Like the story of Eve and the apple, you can read Psyche’s transgression in several ways. I choose to read it as Psyche’s desire to know. It’s a very powerful notion, to think of Psyche challenging Cupid’s mandate and taking control of the situation.

Psyche’s determination and steadfastness as she completes Venus’s impossible tasks reveal her mettle as a heroine; she undergoes a Hero’s Journey of her own and emerges triumphant. She’s no damsel in distress, Psyche.

—

While researching the story, I also had the opportunity to read Julius Lester’s amusing retelling of Cupid and Psyche:

Cupid: a tale of love and desire

It has been a while since I read it, but I do recommend it as an original take on the tale or as a starting point for research on Cupid and Psyche (Lester includes a great list of references at the back of the book).

You can find several versions of Cupid and Psyche online, but if you want to find an inexpensive copy with some decent explanatory notes, I recommend the Penguin Epics version. This is the one that I used when writing on the story.

Book Lovers Secret Santa

Gricel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:57:41 +0000

Today, I had a wonderful day and then I came home to find an even more wonderful surprise… my Book Lovers Secret Santa package had arrived! I love mail and I love books and I am so thankful for my Secret Santa

It hesitated for a moment, but decided to open it now rather than wait for Christmas… yes, I’m impatient, but my excitement could not be contained! Inside, I found a candy cane tube filled with Hershey’s chocolates (I’m a chocoholic, these will disappear quickly), a very pretty blue card, and two books:

Edith Pattou’s East, which I had been eyeing in the library just this morning, and a sweet little purple book titled Jane Austen’s Little Instruction Book, featuring highly edifying quotes penned by that gentle lady.

This was an incredibly thoughtful surprise Thank you Secret Santa!

on a side note… it’s snowing on WordPress.

Books Lovers Secret Santa is hosted by The Neverending Shelf.

Book Fair Day

Gricel — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:31:41 +0000

I always looked forward to the yearly book fair when I was a kid. My school hosted it in our library every fall and I could never go without buying a book or two and a bunch of bookmarks.

Of course, when I grew up, there were no more school book fairs, but a few years ago I started attending the Miami International Book Fair. It’s always a chance to find some new reads and great bargains, but this year’s fair was a bit disappointing. The selection was great, but the cultural events that were a not-to-be-missed part of the fair were well… missing.

The International stage and pavilions were replaced with discussion auditoriums, which is great, but there were already plenty of book discussion events to be had. The pavilions used to showcase arts and crafts, music, and all sorts of other interesting things from five countries selected for the year’s festival. Most of the entertainment provided was for children, which is great if you have kids, but there wasn’t much else for adults to do between browsing the stalls for books.

I still had a nice time, but I can’t say it was as fun as previous book fairs. I have to wonder if this is due to the financial difficulties that Miami-Dade College, the Fair’s host, has been experiencing?

I guess it was alright, thought I hope they are able to host the International pavilions again next year.

Regardless of the experience, I managed to bring home a nice little cache of books some of which I bought from the Friends of the Library group (can’t wait for their annual book sale, they had a great selection at their book fair stall).

My book stash:

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott

A Song for Summerby Eva Ibbotson

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

and a hardcover copy of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding (one of my favorite re-readables)