Snoozecast

Tonight, we’ll read the opening chapter to “Little Women” by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868. Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her sisters.

Alcott wrote the books over several months at the request of her publisher. She later recalled that she did not think she could write a successful book for girls and did not enjoy writing it. "I plod away," she wrote in her diary, "although I don't enjoy this sort of things.” The book's immediate success surprised both her and her publisher. 

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read a story called "The Blue Parrot", taken from The Olive Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and H. J. Ford, and published in 1907. The story originated from a French book of tales titled Contes de Fée from the late 1700s. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read the opening to "Afloat and Ashore" a nautical fiction novel by James Fenimore Cooper, published in 1844. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

Set at the turn of the 19th century, the novel follows the maritime adventures of Miles Wallingford Jr., the son of wealthy New York landowners who chooses to go to sea after the death of his parents. 

The novel is partially autobiographical, in part by Cooper's own experiences as a sailor. Throughout his career, Cooper wrote profusely with the objective of countering European prejudices and nurturing an original American art and culture. 

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the opening to "The Woman in White", written in 1859 by Wilkie Collins. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels, and an early example of detective fiction. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

Modern critics and readers regard it as Collins's best novel, although at the time of publication, critics were generally hostile. The novel opens with Walter Hartright, a young art teacher, who encounters a mysterious and distressed woman dressed entirely in white, lost in London; he is later informed by policemen that she has escaped from an asylum. 

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read the second and final part to the classic tale "Beauty and the Beast", taken from the Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, published in 1889. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

When we left off, the merchant and father to Beauty was caught picking a rose from the Beast’s garden as a gift to Beauty. In punishment, the Beast demanded that the father bring back one of his daughters. 

The catch was that she must choose to come willingly. Of course, the kind-hearted Beauty offers to go despite the sacrifice it entailed. Father and daughter arrive at the Beast’s castle and are about to meet him. 

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we bring you “Sunday Dinner” a Snoozecast Original. In this story, experience visiting an old friend’s cozy farm home and the comforting meal prepared and enjoyed inside. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

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Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the third part to the 1813 romantic novel of manners "Pride and Prejudice", written by Jane Austen. The novel follows Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and eventually comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. 

In the last episode, discussion of the ball continues when the daughters of the Bennets' neighbor visit. The oldest daughter, Charlotte, is Elizabeth's close friend, and commiserates with Elizabeth over Mr. Darcy's snub. 

Charlotte acknowledges, however, that Mr. Darcy's family and wealth give him the right to be proud. Elizabeth agrees, noting that her resentment of his proud nature stems from his wounding her own pride. We will pick up at the start of chapter 6. 

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read the opening chapters to "Doctor Dolittle", written in 1920 by British author Hugh Lofting. The full title being, “The Story of Doctor Dolittle, Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts”. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

It is the first of Lofting’s "Doctor Dolittle" books, a series of children's novels about a man who learns to talk to animals and becomes their champion around the world. It was one of the novels in the series which was adapted into the 1967 film "Doctor Dolittle". 

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We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read another excerpt from “In New England Fields and Woods” written by Rowland Evans Robinson in 1896. Robinson was in his time one of Vermont’s best known writers. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

This collection of short essays follows New England's changing seasons and moods in all its natural beauty. This particular selection is part of the November and December time of year. 

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Tonight, we’ll read Thanksgiving recipes and sample menus from a magazine called "American Cookery", published in 1921. This periodical was formerly titled less succinctly “The Boston Cooking-School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics. 

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