Bargain Ebook: Splintered by A. G. Howard

It's a new month and there is a new bunch of Amazon's Ebook Monthly Deals, $3.99 or Less available. There are not any directly fairy tale related books this month, but there is one that some may consider so. I say this because the book is inspired by Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Pop culture considers Alice a fairy tale although it isn't technically--but Disney made it into a movie and it left fantasy fiction status in many minds thusly.

I debated sharing here, but really, the cover for Splintered by A. G. Howard is just too eye-catching not to share. I know if I still shopped in bookstores regularly, I would pick up this book every time to consider it although I am not a big fan of Alice in Wonderland interpretations.

So for the month of March, or until quotas are met, Splintered by A. G. Howard is $3.99 in ebook format. It's been in the $10 range since it's 2013 publication date so this is a nice price drop.

Book description:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl's pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers--precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now. When her mother's mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice's tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice's mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Advertising: Banquete Hot Sauce and Fairy Tales

Fairy tales and hot sauce. Rather obvious and very tacky, but thought I'd share anyway. Although I am making them smaller than usual.

Life is sometimes sweet, sometimes not.

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, San José, Costa Rica
Creative Directors: Marvin "Pra" Leiva, Philippe Quillery
Art Directors: Freddy Mendez, Daniel Castillo
Illustrators: Freddy Mendez, Daniel Castillo
Published: September 2010

Via Ads of the World.

Advertising: Gandhi Bookstores: Find Your Book

Gandhi Bookstores: Find Your Book

(LRRH is reading Steppenwolf and Alice is reading Timothy Leary's LSD. That's funny.)

Credits:

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, México
Chief Creative Officer: José Montalvo
Executive Creative Director: Miguel Angel Ruiz
Creative Director: Agustín Vélez
Art Directors: Gabriel Martínez, Demian Nájera, Iván Carrasco
Copywriters: Gabriel Martínez, Demian Nájera, Agustín Vélez, José Montalvo
Illustrator: Ricardo Salamanca
Photographer: Iván Belaustegui / NT producciones

Via Ads of the World.

Alice's Adventures at eBook Treasures

This is slightly off topic, I guess, but this recent article caught my interest and then my imagination: British Library releases rare titles as ebooks by Shane Redmond.

The British Library has made Lewis Carroll’s handwritten and illustrated version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland available as an enhanced ebook.

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Also available are Jane Austen’s History of England - a 1791 work that the author completed when she was just 15 - and William Blake’s Notebook. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Arundel is also available and includes the ability to flip Leonardo’s mirror writing.

Jamie Andrews, head of English and drama at the British Library, said the release of Lewis Carroll’s manuscript would give people the chance to explore a book that is so fragile that very few people are allowed to view it.

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The British Library’s eBook Treasures series is being produced by Armadillo Systems and the Library plans to release 75 titles over the next two years, allowing readers to explore some of the world’s most rare works.

The Library also has some apps, including one summarising British Library Treasures and another that contains scans of 19th century books from the Library’s collection.

Mr Andrews said the availability of the ebooks would be ideal for scholars, not all of whom are able to travel to London to view the original works for themselves. “It will democratise research,” he said. But he added: “There are still many important reasons why you would want to see the physical object.”

The eBook Treasures website is available here.

So essentially this is a few steps above what we can find at such wonderful online book collections as at Google Books, Internet Archives and Gutenberg. These are the types of developments that make me a fan of modern technology. As someone who has been hunting rare books for years more for content than the object, I am thrilled. Yes, the object is a wondrous thing, but the information inside is what continues my work. No, I'd rather not be limited to a Mac app, but that will eventually expand, too.

So what fairy tale/folklore books would be on your wishlist for a collection like this?

More Medical Disorders With Fairy Tale/Folklore Names

SurLaLune reader Meghan sent me an email yesterday in follow-up to my post about the Sleeping Beauty sleeping disorder.

Here is what she sent, slightly edited. Thanks Meghan for answering my call for a list like this!

I recently read your blog post about Sleeping Beauty syndrome, and I actually have a short list of medical conditions with fairy tale names.

1. Rapunzel syndrome--a rare condition where sufferers consume their own hair (Trichophagia). Because the human body cannot digest hair, it collects in the stomach/bowels/colon as a ball, known as a trichobezoar. The syndrome sometimes occurs alongside trichotillomania (the compulsion to pull out one's hair).

2. Cinderella complex--Ascribed to women who have a fear of independence, and a desire to be taken care of by others. This is not wildly accepted as a complex, but is used as an explanation as to why some women stay in dysfunctional relationships. To be honest, I'm not sure why it's called Cinderella syndrome.

3. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, also called Todd's syndrome "is a disorienting neurological condition that affects human perception. Sufferers may experience micropsia, macropsia, or size distortion of other sensory modalities." Read more on Wikipedia.

4. Ondine's Syndrome, or Ondine's Curse--People stop breathing when they sleep, it's a rare and very dangerous form of sleep apnea. Read more on Wikipedia.

I can add one more--Sirenomelia, commonly known as Mermaid syndrome, "a very rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving them the appearance of a mermaid's tail." More on Wikipedia.

Anyone have any more?

Alice and Dorothy: Makeup Releases

Okay, I admit it. I don't consider Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz to be fairy tales, just popular classic novels that are suffused with fantasy and some fairy tale tropes. I equate them more to Lord of the Rings and Narnia than Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. I'm not saying this to open debate. Just to state my own leanings.

However, popular culture--and a good many of you--disagree with me. And I admit I am drawn to the imagery as well as surveying both stories' influence on pop culture, thanks perhaps more to both stories repeated interpretation in film, too. (Once again, influence does not a fairy tale make. Star Trek and Star Wars have managed similar influences, too, IMHO.) I doubt Oz would be so popular today without Judy Garland's full color adventure on film. Experience backs me up on this. I have only met a handful of people in my lifetime who have ever read Baum's Oz series or even The Wizard of Oz alone, but rarely have I met someone who hasn't seen the film repeatedly.

That said, I will cover Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz here when something catches my fancy. And here's some fun stuff recently released--all makeup themed today--in honor of releases of new films (Tim Burton's upcoming Alice especially), anniversaries of old films (70th of Oz film), etc.

First the nail polishes:


This was a rerelease of a very popular collection released several years ago by China Glaze. Fun names include Ruby Pumps (red), Dorothy Who? (blue), Good Witch? (pink), Ten Man (silver), Cowardly Lyn (gold), and C-C-Courage (purple). This is available in stores currently or online such as at Transdesign (not a SurLaLune affiliate).


This is a Spring 2010 release by OPI. Off with Her Red! and Thanks So Muchness! are the reds. Absolutely Alice is the blue. Mad as a Hatter is a glitter with a rainbow of colors despite its appearance in images.

And finally, this one was shared by Natalya. Her email is what convinced me to go ahead and post about the polishes, too, something I had been debating for a while.


This is clever. Very clever. Released this Friday by Urban Decay. I'm a sucker for pop-up books and this is tempting although I can't wear eye shadow due to several allergies, especially to nickel. But the box is so pretty...too bad there isn't chocolate inside instead!

And speaking of pop-ups, Robert Sabuda has OF COURSE interpreted both of these stories into pop-up books. See The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-up and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation. I really wish he would do some fairy tales....