this book is a collection of stories by authors i have read before, authors whose books i own but have never gotten around to actually reading, and authors i have never heard of before.and like all anthologies, this is a good way to get a crash course on the lot of them. but also true of anthologies, it is a mixed bag in terms of "their appeal to me," of course keeping in my mind that when authors are asked to write within a particular theme, it might not be a true introduction to their general

Today, I have to write a review I don’t really want to. See, there are negative reviews and negative reviews. Sometimes a negative review is really satisfying, because the book was, at least by your own estimation, perfectly horrid and/or rage-inducing. Times like today, though, the book is quite good in its own way, but that doesn’t happen to be a way that coincides so much with your taste. I always feel so bad when this happens with a review book, because I feel like I should have known better...

Somebody please remind me to never buy/read another collection edited by Kate Bernheimer even if it hits hard on one of my buzzwords. Apparently, her reading taste and mine are vastly different, as are our ideas of what a myth (or fairy tale, see My Mother She Killed Me...) retelling should be like. I like mine to be magical and epic, set in ancient times, she seems to like hers contemporary and bleak – which is fine, most of the stories in this collection aren't exactly bad, they're just not wh...

https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpres...This is one of the best collections of contemporary short stories I’ve read in ages. I love myths so the odds of me liking this book were pretty high. Usually anthologies have a couple of weaker stories in them that sort of blend in, unnoticed with the rest. This wasn’t the case for Xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths. Every story is fantastic. It was a sheer pleasure to read. Xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths covers an impressive range of styles and genres like a huge

Thanks, NetGalley!This is a short story collection of myths rewritten by a bunch (re: 50) of authors. I have a strong interest in mythology, so this seemed like a great idea. And certainly there were parts of it that were a great idea. But it's a big collection (50 stories and almost 600 pages); not every story was interesting or well-done. I will confess that I skipped through quite a few of the tales, especially if the original myth was one I didn't know (which accounts for a large percentage

i have a story in this book called "The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun." BUT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHY I'M GIVING IT FIVE STARS

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Which was, like, ages ago, and I read it and wrote a review, and then fell off the face of the earth in a pit of depression, so um, sorry! Also, this review contains spoilers!I should make a resolution of some kind to read more anthologies. That was part of the thought that was in my head when I requested a copy of this from the publisher to review: I should read more anthologies. I picked one up on a whim earlier this y...

I had high hopes for this book, a collection of modern takes on old myths. A few of the stories shined, but most of them were only ok, and a few I didn't even finish. Many of the stories were detached, ironic, and dark, but without the sense of grandeur and wonder of the original myths.Many of the authors drew on Greco-Roman mythology, but there were also stories from other traditions. In fact, my favorite story in the book was a retelling of an episode from the Mahābhārata. I've never read the

I am not familiar with all of the myths in this collection. However I did have an enjoyable time reading this book. To be honest I did not read all of the stories. This is one of those books that you can randomly pick a few stories to read at a time and go back to reference to other stories again and again. The stories in this book may seem like new twists on old, classic myth stories but they are not. Well not really in a way. They may be new from the ones you are familar with but the stories a...

thank you, penguin group!xo Orpheus is a potpourri of different takes on myths. Some are ordinary life mishaps and happenings that draw parallel from old folktales; some are direct takes on the myths in contemporary life with all the weirdness and magic incorporated; still others are jumble of all things new and old, magic and not, wherein it seems the authors themselves get hopelessly lost while telling the stories. In some forest, on a chariot, burning the world or fallen angels, stealing godl...

I read xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths, edited by Kate Bernheimer, last year, and am only getting around to reviewing it now. Usually I try to force myself to write my responses to what I’ve read no more than a week after I’ve finished it; I’m a fast, enthusiastic reader, but I have a terrible memory and will often struggle to recall plot points, or character names, or anything deeper than a surface recollection. (Is it true playing Sudoku helps improve memory? If so, I need to get on that…but I’ll

I'm a big fan of fairy tale and mythology retellings. I generally like to see different people's takes on these familiar tales, and how they might be affected by a modern mindset. So, when I saw this on NetGalley, I grabbed it for review. I was in no way compensated for reviewing this title, and the review copy is formatted to discourage duplication. I think I would be less disappointed if I'd paid money to read this. I wound up forcing myself to get through it so I could offer a fair review.Of

Anthologies are a different sort of beast from what I typically review. In fact, I rarely read anthologies. At least I haven't read one since my undergrad days and the cumbersome Norton anthologies that entailed. But xo Orpheus is far from the literary canon that usually is included in anthologies: fifty authors, fifty new takes on mythological tales. I personally love the idea of a short story anthology. The contributions are bite-sized meaning you can read one or two and walk away for a bit an...

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall:What a varied mix of stories, an eclectic reader's dream come true! From down-to-earth retellings of ancient myths to the truly bizarre, there is something for everyone in this collection. One is even in graphic novel format!For the first half of the book, I couldn't wait to find out what experience each story held. Each story encourages the reader to read the next, and I was devouring them. However, this is a fairly hefty anthology -