Retell Me a Story: Welcome and Giveaway!

I'm so thrilled to finally be kicking off Retell Me a Story, a celebration of all things retelling! I've got some really fabulous guest posts from authors and bloggers, not to mention reviews and other retelling goodies to share. I hope you'll stop by every day this week to enjoy the fun and to feed your love for retellings. Check back shortly for my first guest post of the week.  But first, a little introduction:

Why Retellings?

Back in November 2011, I began to notice that there seemed to be an upswing of retellings hitting my radar. And not just fairy tale retellings, which are always available. No, there were more classic books and mythological stories making a fresh appearance. I've always been a big fan of classics, though I've really neglected reading them of late. I was really excited to see these often loathed classic books wearing shiny new faces that might actually attract new readers. Thus, my idea for a reading challenge, the Classic Double Challenge, was born. This challenge encourages people to read a retelling (or otherwise related book) and its "classic" predecessor. It is my way of encouraging myself and others to not only enjoy those fancy new retellings, but give some love to those dusty older classics as well. And from there I thought, why not have an entire week dedicated to celebrating retellings? I'm hoping this celebration will light the fire under you to read not only a retelling, but also the original story that was its inspiration.

But enough of the boring stuff, let's start this celebration off right with a giveaway of some retellings!  I'm not usually a fan of earning extra points, but in this case I'll make an exception or two. Everyone gets one free entry, but you can earn one extra entry by joining the Classic Double Challenge and one extra entry by commenting (in a meaningful way) on any of the posts for the Retell Me a Story event this week. Only one comment will count, but do feel free to comment as much as you like :)  Here are the prizes you can choose from (and I can finally open it to international readers!):

The Turning by Francine Prose (HC or ARC)
The Humming Room by Ellen Potter (ARC)
The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler (PB)
Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler (HC)
Catherine by April Lindner (ARC)
Sweet Venom by Tera Lyn Childs (ARC)
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (ARC)
Ten by Gretchen McNeil (HC)
International prize: One book worth up to $10 from Book Depository (must be a retelling of some kind)

The first winner will get to pick two books, the second will get to pick one book, and if I get enough entries I'll add a third winner who will get to pick one book.  All you need to do is fill out the form below before next Sunday, January 20.  Thanks for joining in the celebration and I hope you will enjoy Retell Me a Story! (Giveaway closed: Winners chosen)

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage