#TopFive Books About…#Mermaids That I Want To Read

Here we are, on week 3 and I have AMAZINGLY managed to keep up!

For almost a month!

How about that?

Unless you are reading this on the wrong date/time in which case I have messed up and am behind again!

This week’s focus is on…. Mermaids.Or MERMAN!!!

Or men.

Whichever!

I have plundered my bookstacks and racked my brains to bring you 5 books on mermaids , or which feature mermaids, for you to enjoy.

Inspired by the prompts from Amanda at Devouring Books,(check her posts and links out, she’s great!) we are currently…

HERE-

• 2/1/20 — Dystopian Books
• 2/8/20 — Mental Illness
• 2/15/20 — Books about Mermaids
• 2/22/20 — Books about Spies
• 2/29/20 — Books inspired by Mythology

These are books I have either in the book piles , or on my to-get list, all are very different takes on illusion, transformation and feminism. The original story, by Hans Christian Andersen,‘The Little Mermaid’, is a lot darker , with deeper undertones than the sanitised Disney version, and a very different ending. The premise is that of a legendary creature, who bargains with a higher power to gain her legs for love. The following books deal with illusion, horror, artifice and the reclaiming of the myth through prose and poetry.

1) The Museum Of Extraordinary Things’ by Alice Hoffman

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle.

One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River. The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice.

When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? And coming from the author of ‘Practical Magic’, I get the feeling it will be pretty special!

2) ‘The Mermaid’s Sister’ by Carrie Ann Noble

Another book which has lurked on my kindle for too long, now is the time to tuck into this gorgeous looking fantasy!

There is no cure for being who you truly are…

In a cottage high atop Llanfair Mountain, sixteen-year-old Clara lives with her sister, Maren, and guardian, Auntie. By day, they gather herbs for Auntie’s healing potions; by night, Auntie spins tales of faraway lands and wicked fairies. Clara’s favorite story tells of three orphan infants—Clara, who was brought to Auntie by a stork; Maren, who arrived in a seashell; and their best friend, O’Neill, who was found beneath an apple tree.

One day, Clara discovers shimmering scales just beneath her sister’s skin: Maren is becoming a mermaid and must be taken to the sea or she will die. So Clara, O’Neill, and the mermaid-girl set out for the shore.

But the trio encounters trouble around every bend. Ensnared by an evil troupe of traveling performers, Clara and O’Neill must find a way to save themselves and the ever-weakening Maren.

And always in the back of her mind, Clara wonders, if my sister is a mermaid, then what am I?

3)’The Pisces’ by Melissa Broder

An original, imaginative, and hilarious debut novel about love, anxiety, and sea creatures, from the author of So Sad Today.

Lucy has been writing her dissertation about Sappho for thirteen years when she and Jamie break up.

After she hits rock bottom in Phoenix, her Los Angeles-based sister insists Lucy housesit for the summer—her only tasks caring for a beloved diabetic dog and trying to learn to care for herself.

Annika’s home is a gorgeous glass cube atop Venice Beach, but Lucy can find no peace from her misery and anxiety—not in her love addiction group therapy meetings, not in frequent Tinder meetups, not in Dominic the foxhound’s easy affection, not in ruminating on the ancient Greeks.

Yet everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer one night while sitting alone on the beach rocks.

Whip-smart, neurotically funny, sexy, and above all, fearless, The Pisces is built on a premise both sirenic and incredibly real—what happens when you think love will save you but are afraid it might also kill you.

It’s a very different novel, one that has pretty much divided those who have read it and intrigued enough for me to buy, then shelved it because goddamn if people won’t stop writing, just for a little, so that us readers can catch up! (I jest!)

4) ‘The Mermaid’s Voice Returns In this One’ by Amanda Lovelace

Goodreads Choice Award-winning poet and USA TODAY bestselling author Amanda Lovelace presents the mermaid’s voice returns in this one — the third and final installment in her “women are some kind of magic” series, featuring a foreword from Lang Leav and 13 guest poems from leading voices in poetry such as Nikita Gill, KY Robinson, and Orion Carloto.

The mermaid is known for her siren song, luring bedroom-eyed sailors to their demise.

However, beneath these misguided myths are tales of escapism and healing, which Lovelace weaves throughout this empowering collection of poetry, taking you on a journey from the sea to the stars.

They tried to silence her once and for all, but the mermaid’s voice returns in this one

I am genuinely very much looking forward to reading how Amanda takes this approach and applies it to poetry, and how it links to the other 2 books in the trilogy, from an anthology approach with guest writers.

And finally….

5)’Into The Drowning Deep’ by Mira Grant

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price…

Mira Grant has been a writer who has been recommended over and over down the years ,and I am quite keen to expereince her take on what moves below the surface……

And there we have it!

5 very different books which deconstruct, and then re-animate, the mermaid myth in poems, post-modern feminist literature, horror, folk lore and transformation. I look forward to any recomemndations you may have about books on mermaids which take Hans Christian Andersen’s tale and transform it into an entirely new type of monster.Keep checking back over the course of the day, as I will link this post to the other bloggers who are joining in with their Top 5’s.

Links-

Amanda @ Devouring Books-https://devouringbooks2017.wordpress.com/2020/02/17/top-5-books-about-mermaids-i-want-to-read/

Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog –https://crooksbooks.blog/2020/02/15/under-the-sea-top-5-saturday/

Alissa @ Alissa White’s Book Reads –https://allisawhitebooks.wordpress.com/2020/02/15/5-books-with-mermaids/

Dini @ Dinipandareads – https://dinipandareads.home.blog/2020/02/15/top-5-saturday-books-about-mermaids/

Nen and Jen @ Nen&Jen –https://nenandjen.com/2020/02/15/top-5-sat-mg-mermaid-madness/