Matilda Bone

Author: Karen Cushman

First line: Matilda stood before the scarred wooden door and stared at the bright-yellow bone painted there.

Why you should read this book: Cushman returns to the Middle Ages with the story of a young orphan raised by an indifferent priest to read and write Latin, equate enjoyment with sin, depend on hagiography for life lessons, exhibit obnoxious piousness, and consider herself above the gross material world. When she is dropped off, more or less without explanation, and forced to become an apprentice to Red Peg the Bonesetter, Matilda finds herself woefully unprepared to function in the real world or accept the friendly overtures of the common, sausage-eating people she meets. The young girl must shake off her elitist upbringing and discover who she really is, or doom herself to a life of painful isolation.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You require a houseful of servants to attend to worldly concerns like laundry and marketing so that you can devote yourself entirely to higher callings.

From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers

Author: Marina Warner

First line: In her first anthology of fairy tales, Angela Carter included a story from Kenya: while a poor man's wife in the village thrives, the Sultana in the palace grows thinner and scrappier by the minute.

Why you should read this book: It's a far-reaching scholarly examination of the place of women as tellers of tales as well as the characters within tales, with great emphasis on the voice and the power inherent in communication. Historical research reveals the transmission of cultural knowledge and ways in which personal control is expressed or contained through speech, varying throughout time and geographic location. Almost impossibly detailed in scope, this book spans from the oldest recorded stories to modern film interpretations, examining the prejudices and secrets of every story and every storyteller.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think the Disney version should be the only version.

Spinners

Author: Donna Jo Napoli

First line: Late afternoon heat strokes the young man's belly.

Why you should read this book: Love! Betrayal! Insanity! Textiles! An affair gone wrong transforms an optimistic tailor into the twisted, obsessive Rumpelstiltskin, condemned to watch from afar the daughter only he knows is his. When the girl grows up to be a talented spinster and is exploited by the drunken miller and then the king, Rumpelstiltskin lurches into action, intent on claiming the love he lost long ago.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You feel that people who have premarital sex deserve to die in childbirth or turn into angry, outcast dwarfs.

The Midwife's Apprentice

Author: Karen Cushman

First line: When animal droppings and garbage and spoiled straw are piles up in a great heap, the rotting and moiling give forth heat.

Why you should read this book: From a worthless, unwanted beggar sleeping in a dung heap, Beetle takes the slow journey to self-actualization through the questionable charity of Jane the Midwife, a cold but fair practitioner of the birthing arts. Renaming herself Alyce, she struggles with her own fears of failure and sense of worthlessness, more than once rendered helpless in situations where her knowledge might triumph, were it backed by self-esteem. Beautifully written and beautifully researched, this book creates a realistic slice of medieval life from the perspective of the lowest rung on the ladder.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are horrified even picturing a girl who has never in her life bathed or washed her hands assisting at a birth.

Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays

Editor: A. C. Cawley

Quote: Everyman: O Death, thou comest when I had thee least in mind! In thy power it lieth me to save; Yet of my good will I give thee, if thou will be kind: Yeah, a thousand pounds shalt thou have, And defer this matter till another day.
Death: Everyman, it may not be, by no way.

Why you should read this book: It's chiefly relevant to those interested in the history of English theater, or Christian thought, or medieval culture, and yet there's a lot to appreciate in these lay versions of religious stories, written by local poets and performed in the street by common laborers.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Calling a character "Everyman" is a little too blunt for your tastes.