The Time Has Come..

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
Lewis Carroll

The time has come !!..
It's finally here !!...
Carl's, Once Upon A Time Challenge is about to begin!!

Here are the Challenges you get to choose from: (There's something for everyone !)
The Journey
This is really as simple as the name implies and is to Once Upon a Time as the experience was to The Sci~Fi Experience. It means you are participating but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. All reading is a journey, perhaps none more so than reading fantastical fiction. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to at least read one book within the four categories during March 21st to June 20th period. Just one book. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.

Quest the First
Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

Quest the Second
Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology. This proved to be one of the more difficult quests last year merely because of the need to classify each read and determine which books fit into which category. I am not a stickler, fear not, but I was fascinated watching how folks worked to find books for each category.

Quest the Third
Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Love the story, love the films, love the idea of that magical night of the year and so this is my chance to promote the reading of this farcical love story.
Three is a magical number, a number of portent in fantastical tales, and so three quests seems about right.

There are so many fun reading challenges out in cyberworld.. but this one was the first one I had ever come across... and though I didn't jump right in and join it (I am not big at "joining" because then I start feeling obligated and the fun goes out of things) I did find myself reading ALL the reviews of books I had never heard of, and finding myself either buying or adding many MANY books to my Amazon wish list! (sheesh, like all things we enjoy one can easily get carried away!)
So,.. it took me all year to finally convince myself that joining did not mean that I HAD to do anything I didn't want to. If I were to say I'd read 5 books but by book 3 I though.. "nah, not for me".. no one was going to come after me to finish it lol... I still am not a "joiner" but there are times when things become a "no brainer" (duh).
Like for instance, I am going to be reading Fantasy books anyway so I'm not saying I'll do anything I wouldn't be doing anyway.. heh. This challenge is my "no brainer".. I could no more pass this challenge up than I could forget to go to sleep at night ! So... you bet your bootie I am joining Carl's Fantasy Challenge!!
I'm not sure just how many of the different challenges I will do but so far I can commit to (as I call it) the OBVIOUS.
I'll begin with The Journey, for this I had already picked up a Cornelia Funke book called Igraine the Brave. I started it last night but didn't get far (dancing with the stars came on) so I will let it sit on the shelf again until Friday March 21st so that I can use it for the first challenge, the category being "Fairy Tale"..


After that I plan a reread..
I don't think Carl would say that a reread wouldn't count, especially when I can say it's been at least 15 yrs (if not more) since I read these books. Sometime last year I replaced my paperback versions (which are turning tan from age) with new Hardbacks that were released by Wizards of the Coast. I call them "new" because, although the original books, in paperback, came out in 1984 the hardbacks began coming out in 2003.
So.. for Quest the First I will reread the first 6 Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
The cover art was done by Matt Stawicki, and is absolutely fabulous!

If I have time and if I can come up with something I think I'd like to read in Folklore and in Mythology I'll also do Quest the Second. (Hmmm, I wonder if the fairy tale and fantasy I am committed to counts on that one??)
So we are off and running with this great ONCE UPON A TIME challenge, beginning March 21st and ending June 20th.. lots and lots of time to read lots and lots of fabulous books!!