These books were all read for courses during winter semester 2013 (January to March). ‘Why I picked it up’ notes the department of the course that the book was read for.
- Worldviews, Religion and the Environment: A Global Anthology edited by Richard C. Foltz
- Published: June 2002
- Genre: Non-fiction, anthology
- Why I picked it up: Religion and culture course
- Rating: 3 stars
- My Thoughts:
- Good collection, lots of variety, but assumes you know a lot about certain subjects – a lot of things in the articles about the Abrahamic traditions went over my head. I would’ve liked more explanatory commentary by the editor. I read this book for a basic religious studies course, though, so this book would probably be a great read for someone more familiar with religious studies or particular traditions – the book covers a lot of religions and worldviews, one could probably easily find articles relevant to their own specific focus.
- Fairy Tale Films: Visions of Ambiguity by Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix
- Published: August 2010
- Genre: Non-fiction, original anthology
- Why I picked it up: Women and gender studies course
- Rating: 4 stars
- My Thoughts:
- I liked the variety and scope of the articles in this book – the intersections of the two subjects (gender studies and fairy tale films) provides for some really intriguing discussions. I particularly liked the article about Ever After; I wrote a paper stemming from my own response to that article.
- The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
- Published:
- Genre: Fiction, anthology
- Why I picked it up: English course (topic: fairy tale adaptions)
- Rating: 2-4 stars
- My Thoughts:
- Unfortunately, I feel like this was one of those books ‘ruined’ for me by school – well, not ruined, per se, but I couldn’t truly enjoy it because it came during the hectic rush and my response was ‘AUGHH, I have to read another book when I have all this work to do?!’ and I couldn’t really get into it. I skimmed most of it, didn’t find the stories too intriguing but I did like the general premises. I’m not really a fan of ‘sexy fairy tales’, but that isn’t quite exactly what this collection is, though I’m sure many would argue that – essentially, I’m giving the book 2 stars based on my first encounter, but I think in a more favourable situation I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more. Hopefully it will see a reread in the future!
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