Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Sorcery and Cecelia started out as a letter game between Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. What results is a charming delightful fantasy romp through Regency England. Wrede’s character is Cecelia, a young woman writing to her cousin Kate who is currently having her season in London (she is still in the country). Together the two young ladies foil a dastardly magical plot and manage to find true love in the process. An atypical regency romance with a little magic and mystery thrown in for good measure. There are two other books in the series The Grand Tour and the Mislaid Magician, but I do not find them to have the charm of this first book. Mostly because I feel they were trying too hard with the next two :).

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Masters of the Universe is one of those movies that is so incredibly stupid it’s actually kind of fun. It tells the story of He-Man who has come to earth in order to retrieve a magic “portal key” that was lost in a hasty retreat from the evil Skeletor. They happen upon two earthlings Julie and Kevin who help them in their epic quest. Of course everything turns out all right in the end. By the Power of Grayscull!
A fun fact is that Kevin goes onto play Tom Paris on Star Trek Voyager.

The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs

In the land where Aren lives, magic has been banished. But Aren herself has a magical sight that she cannot control. She sees things, horrible things, and tries to keep her visions  to herself. For to reveal that she has magic can bring only death.

But soon the bindings holding back to the magical aspects of the land weaken and many creatures thought long gone resurface. To top all of it off, the Blood Mage, the villain of this book, finds out about the loosening magic and comes to investigate. Aren must make a deal with the hob if she wants her village to survive. It is a great book.

Solace by Celistial1

This story is a one shot, but it is beautiful in its imagery. It tells the story of Bard and his children after the Battle of the Five Armies movie. Poor Bard has been run ragged by the demands of everyone around him and doesn’t have the time he needs to rest and make sure that his children are safe and secure. Celestial1 has given us a clear picture of a tender family moment that I actually would have liked to have seen in the actual movie. Although I enjoy BotFA for what it’s worth I still hold out that we spent way too much time with crazy Thorin and annoying Alfred. I would have liked to have seen more scenes like this in the movie J. If you’re interested in reading this fanfic you can find it at https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10968050/1/Solace.

The Easter Bunny is Comin to Town (1977)

The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town is a Rakin Bass production and is a direct sequal to their movie Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Fred Astaire the mailman even returns to tell children the story. In a similar fashion of Santa Claus, the little rabbit Sunny leaves his home where he has been raised to bring happiness and in this case colored eggs to the nearby Town. There is even an old bear that resembles the Winter Warlock that at first hinders Kris but ends up helping him in the end. The story is a cute one and well worth a watch on an Easter Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIx2xmXbP08

Grimm (2011-2017)

Grimm is a television show that just finished its sixth and final season on the 31^st of March. The story follows Nick Burkhardt, a homicide detective in Portland, Oregon, who discovers that he is descended from a long line of “Grimms” (taken from the Brothers Grimm). Grimms see the world as it really is, full of supernatural monsters hiding in plain sight. Fairy tales were a way to tell people about these monsters in a way that they could accept. Nick and his partner Hank solve murders in this supernatural community. They are aided by Monroe, a blutbad or wolf, and his later wife Rosalee, a fuchsbau or fox. I liked the stories that focused on a mystery more than personal problems. But overall the series was very good.  

Beowulf

Beowulf is one of the few remaining Anglo Saxon stories. It tells the tale of the great hero Beowulf who has to defeat three monsters in his lifetime. Our story begins with the monster Grendel who is terroizing the people of Hrothgar. Beowulf arrives from his homeland and manages to kill Grendel with his superior strength. Then Grendel’s Mother arrives. Grendel’s Mother seeks revenge for the death of her beloved baby boy. Beowulf manages to defeat her as well. The last monster Beowulf faces is a dragon, much later in life. He does manage to defeat the dragon, but the dragon defeats him as well and a great funeral pyre has to be built for the great hero. The story is fun and shows how man can overcome even the most deadliest of obstacles. What I think is interesting is that until J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his revolutionary article Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics not many people studied Beowulf just for its own sake. Many people only used it as a way to study Old English. As one of the first truly English epics, it deserves to be studied in its entirety.