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

I see you there.  I think you love Beauty and the Beast tales just as much as I do.  They are fun, challenge the status quo, and scratch that inner call-of-the-wild itch we don't want to admit.   I read an interesting book that well articulated why I appreciate a Beauty and the Beast story over other selections.  Why I gravitate towards a werewolf or shifter romance for an easy weekend read. Hey you!  I'm not the only one!  Beauty and the Beast is a tale as old as time (see what I did there), showing up throughout the ages in various forms and myths.  The oldest version is likely " Cupid and Psyche " from the second century AD.  "The Woman Who Married a Snake" was another early version in Indian culture, shared orally and finally appearing in print in 500 AD (p 15).  Each age and culture has it's version of Beauty and her Beast.  And it turns out we love it just as much in today's culture. In The Meanings of "Beauty & the Bea...

Like many young girls in the 1980s, my love for fairy tales began with the Disney classics.  They are great, after all. My first favorite was Sleeping Beauty ... until Disney released Beauty and the Beast in November 1991, and I was hooked.  I loved Belle and the different kind of princess she brought to the classic mix.  She loved books and independence and deftly navigated those around her that didn't agree with her perspectives. I collected posters, the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack CD to memorize all song lyrics, figurines, dolls, you name it, I probably had it.  I really loved this movie… and I was a senior in high school.  We were not too cool for Beauty and the Beast . My high-school sweetheart liked to draw, and was a good artist.  For my birthday he drew a frame-worthy masterpiece of one of the ballroom scenes.  I loved it, and it proudly went to college with me.  I've saved the picture and toted it around with me for 30 years beca...