Y is for IcY

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

You can read reviews for from previous years for this letter here, here and here, and my year-end reviews here, here, here, here and, most recently, here and here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

I decided to cheat a bit with this one, going with a letter in the author’s name.

About the Book

Rebel Folklore: Empowering Tales of Spirits, Witches and Other Misfits from Anansi to Baba Yaga by Icy Sedgwick

Meet 50 of the darkest, strangest and most complicated folktale characters and discover how these flawed heroes and relatable villains of ancient stories remain relevant to our lives today.

Rebel Folklore gathers 50 of the darkest and most complicated folktale characters from around the world, showing readers why we should care about the rebels and misfits of ancient stories.

Folktales were humble stories, passed down generations by those on the fringes of women, peasants, outcast groups. Across the world, these ancient stories are filled with strange characters, complicated figures who hold up a mirror to the world that dreamt them up. From outspoken women cast as witches to anti-authority figures denounced as criminals, flawed heroes to relatable villains, Rebel Folklore celebrates 50 of these misfits and what they mean for us today.

Whether it’s Muma Padurii, the Romanian forest witch who terrorizes trespassers to protect the environment, La Cegua, the horse-headed woman who haunts unfaithful men, or Robin Hood, everyone’s favorite lawless activist, we can learn a lot from the rebels of days gone how to speak out, embrace our flaws, and be unashamedly ourselves – even if that means being a cannibalistic swamp witch.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

It’s one of those folklore books you read cover-to-cover while making notes of what would make a great story. I liked how each folklore figure is introduced with an evocative description, followed by their origins, and how they still play an important part today.

Though I knew most of these figures from my own foray into the realm of folklore, the way the author presents them makes me want to re-read everything about them.

A great resource and a fun read for a rainy day.

My Book

Special Edition of Irascible Immortals: Radioactive

Remember that you can request all of my books from your local library!

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*