Unknown Friends

After reviewing 32 books since launching Unknown Friends in April, in this bonus episode I'm highlighting my very favorite books from the podcast's first season. Tune in to learn which 3 books get my highest recommendation, along with a few honorable mentions that I couldn't leave out. :)

As I plan for Season Two, I'm seeking your feedback, listeners! If you have a moment, I'd love it if you'd respond to this short survey about Season 1: https://forms.gle/TLdkKmAxYEzheVUTA

Thank you!

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this bonus episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

C. S. Lewis, in his 1945 novella The Great Divorce, uses a purely imaginative journey into hell and heaven to shine light on the essential choice we each face every day of our lives: Thy will be done? or my will be done?

(By the way, the name of the author whose terribly elaborate writing the Inklings read for fun is Amanda McKittrick Ros. Look up her novel Irene Iddesleigh if you want to be delighted at something.)

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

Anthony Doerr's enthralling novel set in World War II traces the lives of a German boy and a French girl and reminds us to notice and appreciate the marvels, natural and manmade, all around us.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

My sister LaRae joins me from the United Kingdom this week to discuss high literary modernism, Shakespearean tragedy, and more in Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

Though advocating many Christian values, Wendell Berry's 2004 novel Hannah Coulter lacks the essence of Christianity - close relationship with God - and instead embraces an almost pagan mindset of seeking fulfillment in earthly places and people.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

In his 1985 military science-fiction novel Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card follows a brilliant young boy as he trains to be a battle commander while struggling against his own capacity for violence.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

Kate DiCamillo's 2009 children's novel The Magician's Elephant follows its young hero, Peter Augustus Duchene, through a vibrant cast of characters all striving to find hope amid despair and truth among lies.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

Charles Dickens in his novel Little Dorrit, published serially from 1855 to 1857, presents a number of characters who are or imagine themselves to be victims--but their responses to hardship couldn't be more varied.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

In his classic 1952 novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway depicts in his austere but expressive writing style a deeply compelling central character, the unlucky but unconquerable old man Santiago.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com (where my Christmas plays are discounted this week!).

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!

Drawing inspiration from medieval animal fables, The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr. depicts a mythical war between good and evil, while exploring themes of self-pity and self-sacrifice reminiscent of Job and Jonah.

I'm Rachelle Ferguson of Kittywham Productions, and Unknown Friends is my weekly book review podcast, where I discuss classic and contemporary literature from my personal reading list. Visit the Unknown Friends homepage at www.soundcloud.com/unknown-friends.

While studying English and classical languages at Hillsdale College I founded my company Kittywham Productions, where I publish original play scripts and skits for churches, schools, homeschool groups, and Christian theaters. To learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.kittywhamproductions.com.

Get in touch on Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelle.ferguson

Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kittywhamproductions

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with your book-loving friends!