The Borrowed Rose: Beauty and the Beast Book Recommendations and Retellings

Fellow princesses, princes and other self-ordained royalty, I'm thrilled for the new year!  It's my favorite time of year - that feeling of new beginnings and new thoughts for the year is exciting! Word of the Year Every year I chose a theme word as an exercise to focus my intention and check-in throughout the year. In 2025 my word was WONDER.  2025 was a heady year of change and blessings.  More than I deserve and more than I expected.  We changed jobs, moved cities, moved homes, lost our fur kid, reconnected with friends, traveled to new destinations and overall, the year was wonderous (with the exception of losing our girl, though we knew it was coming.  Can you ever be ready for that?).  My intention was to appreciate the wonder each day - with new eyes, fresh appreciation to the Creator of the universe, and overall rather, be in awe.  It's been great.  I'm in awe and endeavor to stay in awe. For 2026, I've settled on ENJOY.  I started wi...

I see you there - You planful readers, you, who make meticulous TBR (to be read) lists, create lovely bullet journals with color-coded pictograms, and actually stick to their reading lists. I really want to be one of you. But… I'm not.  I'm not swayed by bookstagrams and I'm way out of book fashion.  I'm 100% mood reader. I love my organized library wall of books and my toppling stacks of TBRs.  I aspire to be intentional and organized, and then we roll into the weekend and I want a cozy romantasy or spicy shifters.  We're back to the work week and I start two chapters into a non-fiction book that will be transformational, I'm sure, then back to what I was reading before the weekend mood ripped me away. Ok, I'm just gonna own it… and I have a few confessions. I Cheat on My Books Yes, I'm saying it out loud. Normal mode:  I read a fiction book and a non-fiction for development.  I will also likely be reading something for my morning quiet time routine....

I've been thinking about this list for a while and having trouble making a commitment. As I reflect on the books I read in 2023, there are no titles that continued to visit me throughout the year - you know, those stories and characters that pop into your mind at random times or that you find yourself mulling over when you first wake up.  Sometimes I even think, how would "so-and-so" character handle this situation.  Oh, you don't do that?  That's weird. Even so, I read some great books in 2023. tea & books are always a good idea; image by Wallace Chuck via Pexels Favorite Books of 2023 (in no particular order) As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone An interesting and lovely way to write a sci fi novel.  I loved the style and the story.  This is probably my favorite of the year. The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni The Last Queen was a historical imagining of th...

Happy New Year, 2020! Last year I decided to track what I read each month.  As I review the list, I realize that I don't have quite as much diversity in my genre selections as I'd like.  So this year, I'm taking a new approach to grow the variety of genres that I ingest.  Sure, I'll still throw in random picks, because, you know, you get an itch for a particular something every once in a while. I have a monthly list of books I'll be tackling for general fiction and a few "business" selections.  I also have 12 Beauty and the Beast choices, that I'd love to share with you.  I typically lean towards retellings that are fantasy in nature. This year, I'd like to read a few retellings that are yes, fantastical, because the fairy tale is that, but in a different setting--contemporary, for example. So, in no particular order: updated 6/28/20 Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay - read Masque by W.R. Gringell - read Lord of Scoundrels by Lor...