The Worlds of Ashley Stangl

This has been an interesting reading year. I read over 90 books (most of them short, as I struggled to keep up with my Goodreads Challenge), but I was in a bit of a reading slump for a good portion of the year, and had trouble finding books that really kept my interest. I'm linking up with the Broke and the Bookish for this week's topic of "Top Ten Books Read in 2016" . I was a bit afraid that 2016's lack of reading enthusiasm meant I wouldn't find ten books that rose above the others. Instead, I had the opposite problem, and couldn't narrow it down to only ten. So instead, you get my Top 12 books of 2016. Listed roughly in the order I read them: Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery One of L.M Montgomery's lesser-known works, and in my opinion, one of her best. After Jane's parents separated, she went to live on the Canadian mainland with her mother in her grandmother's dreary house. When Jane is invited to spend the summe...

Halloween's ended, Thanksgiving has passed, and now we're well into December and its Christmas preparations. I've got my Christmas shopping done, and I hope to find a little bit of time in the next few weeks to curl up by the tree with some Christmas-themed books. I've already finished a few of them, but I still have a decent-sized list that should carry me through to Epiphany. The Grift of the Magi: A Heist Society Novella by Ally Carter I've aged out of the target audience for these books, but I was still excited to stumble unexpectedly upon a new Heist Society novella, showcasing a new adventure for Ally Carter's team of teenage thieves in which they try to steal back a Faberge egg that's been stolen from a charity right before their Christmas auction. The story's frothy and unrealistic and would probably work better as a TV episode than as a book, but it was still nice to get back in with the characters. Some Christmas Stories by Charles Dic...

A few weeks ago, Jenelle Schmidt announced a Spooky Story Challenge for Halloween. I am the world's biggest wimp when it comes to scary stories, but I thought this sounded like a fun way to stretch some new writing muscles. I've delayed (I wrote one story and hated it, and waited a while for a better idea to come to me), but now, in the last few hours before the deadline, I've come up with this little thing. This story was partially inspired by Jenelle's prompt of It was under the bed/in the closet. Now that I've written it, part of me thinks it's too silly, and part of me thinks it's too dark, but I'm going to be brave and post it anyway. It's definitely different from anything else I've written. Enjoy! And be sure to follow the link to read the other spooky stories!                                    ...

I've decided to take the plunge and join in on Top 10 Tuesday. Top 10 Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish , and today's topic is to list books that you read because of book blogs, hype or recommendations from friends. I have lots of books that fit this category, because I'm much more likely to read a book if I hear someone else praise it first--and this method has helped me find most of my favorite books.  Little House on the Prairie- This was the book recommendation that shaped my childhood. My mother had loved the TV show when she was growing up, and encouraged me to read the books. I started with Little House on the Prairie , since that was the one the TV show was named after, and I read the entire series multiple times through my childhood. Ella Enchanted- For a time, this was the cool book for every girl at my elementary school. It was my first encounter with fantasy world-building, and the book stuck in my imagination. Several years later, it serv...

So....a month ago, I reviewed the other two books of this series, and indicated that this review was coming soon. Unfortunately, a complication known as Real Life interfered with my plans, and took away my blogging time. Today, I've decided to ignore Real Life long enough to get this review written. It'll be short and sweet, just like this book. Goldheart is a retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" starring Elaine, an off-screen character mentioned in Traitor's Masque. Elaine is a quiet, timid girl who would like to ignore the rest of the world and paint in solitude. Unfortunately, her father's death leaves her in financial difficulties and forces her to work as a portrait painter. A wealthy, demanding businessman commissions Elaine to paint a portrait of his wife, and locks her in his mansion until she creates the perfect masterpiece. Soon, Will, a friend of the businessman's son, learns about Elaine's plight, and helps her to overcome the difficulties of...

After finishing Pirouette , the third book in Kenley Davidson's Andari Chronicles series, I immediately rushed to pick up the first book, Traitor's Masque . This is a retelling of "Cinderella" set in the kingdom of Andar, and since magic isn't introduced to the series until Book 3, this story has atmosphere more similar to a gentle historical romance than to a fantasy novel. But there's still a hefty dose of political intrigue to ensure us that it's set in the same world and to keep it from being a run-of-the-mill "Cinderella" retelling. Our main character is Trystan, the spoiled daughter of a deceased lord, who escapes from her stepfamily by going out on horseback rides. One day, she starts a friendship with a kind young man, but they both keep their personal lives secret, and doubt that the relationship can lead to any romantic hopes. Then the crown prince, Ramsey, announces that he's holding a masquerade ball that will help him to ...

 To the lover of fairy tale retellings, Amazon is both a gold mine and a minefield. Self-publishing has made hundreds of new novels about the classic stories available, and nearly every major Western fairy tale has several novels available. Sadly, many of them offer little more than a half-hearted expansion of the fairy tale. I've learned to hope for little more than a generic, vaguely pleasant reading experience.  The Andari Chronicles by Kenley Davidson might be self-published fairy tale retellings, but they're  far from generic. Indeed, these books aren't only rich and immersive fairy tale retellings, they're some of the best books I've read this year, and I inhaled the series in less than a week.  To keep this from turning into a monster post, I'm going to post about each book in the series individually, in the order that I experienced them. Though it's the third in the series, I started with Pirouette , which is a version of "The Twelve...

Now that July is behind us, I thought I'd do a bit of a wrap-up of the media I've consumed this month. There's something about July that makes fiction especially enjoyable for me. A book or show that would be enjoyable at any other time of year becomes an obsession if I discover it in July. There's just something about this time of year that makes me more likely to delve deeply into fictional worlds and characters, and I have a few new obsessions to share. White Collar   This USA show has been on my radar for a long time. I figured I would like it, because I love stories about art thieves.  But when I watched the pilot on Netflix, it was more than just enjoyable. It was EVERYTHING I LOVE and it SPOKE TO MY SOUL. Neil is a delight--the charming, clever and snappily-dressed criminal who breezes through life on one scheme after another. His dynamic with Peter, the cop who worked for years to catch him and now has to solve mysteries with him, is fantastic. Plus, the...

Five Magic Spindles has launched! I am officially a published author! I keep thinking I'll get used to that idea, but each step in the process has felt unreal. Now it's undeniable. "Out of the Tomb" has been published in a book--something I never thought I'd say when I started this story. Almost exactly a year ago, I stumbled across a Kindle sale for a novella collection called Five Glass Slippers . As a lover of fairy tale retellings, I thought the book was ingenious--five versions of "Cinderella", all gathered under one cover, each highlighting the original tale in a different way. It was the fastest purchase I've ever made, and one of the best. All the stories were enjoyable and unique retellings that captured my imagination. Then, at the back of the book, I found a single, fateful page: an announcement of a contest to fill a similar volume with retellings of "Sleeping Beauty". I'd never considered writing for contests before,...