Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep

Tonight, we'll read the next part of, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. In the last episode, it's the New Year and Aronnax keeps himself busy studying on the submarine as usual. The Nautilus enters dangerous waters and gets stuck on a reef. Seeing as they're already stuck on land, Ned and Conseil convince Aronnax to ask Nemo to let them go ashore to explore, hunt, and reconnect with solid ground.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read a selection of mouse-featured Beatrix Potter stories, starting with “Johnny Town-Mouse” and followed with “The Tale of Two Bad Mice” and “The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse.” This episode first aired in March of 2021. Beatrix Potter was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist best known for her children's books featuring animals. Though Potter was typical of women of her generation in having limited opportunities for higher education, her study and watercolours of fungi led to her being widely respected in the field of mycology. In all, Potter wrote thirty books; the best known being her twenty-three children's tales. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the first part to the writing style guide “The Elements of Style”, written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, published in 1920. Strunk was a professor at Cornell University and wrote the book for use at the university. He is best remembered for the version of this guidebook, enlarged in 1959 by his student, New Yorker writer E.B. White. Now in its fourth edition, it is the most frequently assigned book on college syllabuses, and continues to earn both praise and criticism over a century after its first publication. This episode is guest narrated by Stephen Frost of Stereo Couture, who specialize in producing music, sound, and voices for animation. If you are interested in learning more, please go to https://stereocouture.com/ — read by J — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “Anne of Green Gables” the classic 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Written for all ages, it recounts the adventures of an eleven year old orphan named Anne Shirley on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way through life with two middle-aged siblings, the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “The Odyssey,” from the Samuel Butler translation, is one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. This episode first aired in March of 2021. “The Odyssey” is one of the oldest works of literature still read by contemporary audiences. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the decade of war itself, his journey lasts for an additional perilous decade. In his absence, he is assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must contend with a group of rude suitors competing for Penelope's hand in marriage. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read all about gemstones from the book “Jewels and the Woman” written by Marianne Ostier and published in 1958. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check out our other jewelry episode featuring this author titled “The Story of Jewels” which aired in November 2022. Gemstones are classified into different groups, species, and varieties. For example, ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire. Other examples are the emerald (green), aquamarine (blue), red beryl (red), goshenite (colorless), heliodor (yellow), and morganite (pink), which are all varieties of the mineral species beryl. Gemstones may also be classified in terms of their "water". This is a recognized grading of the gem's luster, transparency, or "brilliance". Very transparent gems are considered "first water", while "second" or "third water" gems are those of a lesser transparency. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the final part to “Winnie-the-Pooh” a children's story written by A.A. Milne and published in 1926. Pooh is naive and slow-witted, but he is also friendly, thoughtful, and steadfast. Although he and his friends agree that he is "a bear of very little brain", Pooh is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense. These include riding in Christopher Robin's umbrella to rescue Piglet from a flood, and discovering "the North Pole" by picking it up to help fish Roo out of the river In the previous episode, we finished chapter 9, in which piglet was entirely surrounded by water.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read a story called Charan, The Dancing Maiden, taken from the book “Korean Folk Tales” written by Im Bang and translated to English by James Gale and published in 1913. This episode first aired in March of 2021. Im Bang was born in 1640, the son of a provincial governor. He was a great scholar and a disciple of one of Korea's first famed writers. When he was eighty years old, he became governor of Seoul, and held other high cabinet positions as well. In 1722 he played a part in a disturbance of the government and was exiled to North Korea. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “The Dream” a 1924 novel by H. G. Wells about a man from a Utopian future who dreams the entire life of a 19th century Englishman named Harry Mortimer Smith. In circa 4,000 A.D., a biologist named Sarnac is taking a holiday among mountains and lakes with his lover, Sunray. With four other holiday travellers, they visit some 2,000-year-old "ancient remains that had recently been excavated" in a nearby valley. A little later, after a brief afternoon nap, Sarnac awakens from "a very vivid dream." The rest of the novel consists of Sarnac's recounting of the dream, with occasional discussion of its particulars with his companions. Sarnac's dream brings with it total recall of the complete life of Harry Mortimer Smith, from the point of view of the achieved Utopia of 2,000 years later.  — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we shall read the next part to “Pride and Prejudice”, written by Jane Austen. In the last episode, Elizabeth is shocked to read a letter with wretched news from home- her sister Lydia has run off with Wickham. This will cause scandal to befall not only Lydia but the rest of her sisters. Immediately after reading the letter, Darcy pays a visit and tries to comfort her. She is inconsolable. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight we'll read the opening to A Little Princess, a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, published in 1905. It is considered one of the top children's books in the US of all time, along with Burnett's other book, “The Secret Garden”. This episode first aired in February 2020. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to the 1940 mystery “Danger at the Drawbridge”, part of the “Penny Parker” anthology written by Mildred Wirt, also known by Mildred Benson. The first episode was “The Green Door” and aired on December 5th, 2022. These stories aren't consecutive so don't worry if you didn't hear the first episode. You can pick up on this one just fine! Along with being the heroine of the series, Penny Parker was a high school student turned sleuth who also sporadically worked as a reporter for her father's newspaper. Benson was a journalist and prolific writer, under many pseudonyms, who is best known for creating the Nancy Drew series. The author Benson favored Penny Parker over all the other books she wrote, including Nancy Drew. Her obituary quoted her as saying, " 'I always thought Penny Parker was a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is."  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. In the last episode, our narrator Arronax and his companions watch the underwater world float by, including some shipwrecks. Nemo appears after a long absence and tells Aronnax they're headed for the island of Vanikoro, the site of two famous shipwrecks back at end of the 18th century and early in the 19th century. We will pick up where Nemo and Arronax are discussing this.  — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “A treatise on the art of making good wholesome bread of wheat, oats, rye, barley” by Friedrick Accum, published in 1821. Accum was a German chemist, whose most important achievements included advances in the field of gas lighting, efforts to keep processed foods free from dangerous additives, and the promotion of popular chemistry. Following an apprenticeship as an apothecary, he opened his own commercial laboratory enterprise in London. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “Surprise House” written by Abbie Farwell Brown and published in 1917. This children's story depicts a legacy left by an eccentric old lady to her grand-niece. Brown was a prolific American author of children's stories and poems, who spent her entire life living in her family's Beacon Hill Boston home. Her family was at that time the 10th generation to live in New England. Brown also penned the official song of the “Girl Scouts of the USA.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “The Secret Garden”, a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett published in 1911. In the last episode, we delve into the concept of how thoughts, good or bad, have power to change one's experience of life. While Colin and Mary were filling their heads with happy magic and their lungs with moorland breezes, Master Craven was hiking across Europe and starting to find a change of heart as well. In a peaceful and quiet moment he remembers home and opens his mind to the possibility of good things again. He dreams his deceased wife calls to him to come home to the garden. And the next day, he heads home. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read a story from Hans Christian Andersen called “Little Thumbelina.” Thumbelina is about a tiny girl and her adventures with marriage-minded toads, moles, and doodlebugs. She successfully avoids their intentions before falling in love with a flower-fairy prince just her size. This episode originally aired in February 2021. Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805 to a shoemaker. An only child, Andersen shared a love of literature with his father, who read him fables and fairy tales. Together, they constructed panoramas and toy theatres, and took long jaunts into the countryside.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “A world of green hills : Observations of nature and human nature in the Blue Ridge” written by Bradford Torrey and published in 1898. The Blue Ridge extends as far south as Georgia and as far north as Pennsylvania. From there it dwindles to hills, however the band of ancient rocks that form the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and eventually reaches The Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont. This mountain range is known for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released by them into the atmosphere. This contributes to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their perceived color. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Winnie-the-Pooh” a children's story written by A.A. Milne and published in 1926. This collection of short stories features an anthropomorphic teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, along with his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. In the previous episode, we finished chapter eight, in which Christopher Robin plans to lead an expotition to the north pole and then we just started chapter nine, in which piglet was entirely surrounded by water.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, by listener request, we'll read the opening to Swiss Family Robinson, a novel by Johann David Wyss, about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Australia. This episode first aired in February 2020. Wyss, a Swiss pastor, originally wrote this book to entertain and instruct his four sons. Years later, one of his sons, persuaded his father to allow him to complete and edit the unfinished manuscript. It was published in Zurich in 1812. — read by M — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read from “Walker's Manly Exercises and Rural Sports” written by Donald Walker and published in 1855. Walker was a Victorian author of several books, including this one and Exercises for Ladies. He helped to introduce British society to an unfamiliar topic in the early nineteenth century: physical education. The birth of modern physical education teaching can be traced to teachers in the 1800s who focused on nurturing a child's ability to use their body for self-expression, in combination with approaches from the 1960s, which featured spatial awareness, effort, and relationships. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we shall read the next part to “Pride and Prejudice”, written by Jane Austen. In the last episode, Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner pay a visit to Pemberley and have an awkward tea with shy Miss Georgiana Darcy and conniving Miss Caroline Bingley. We will pick up right after Darcy has made an entrance. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read an excerpt from “In New England Fields and Woods”, written by Rowland Evans Robinson in 1896. This episode first aired in February 2020. Robinson was, in his time, one of Vermont's best known writers. 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 late winter-time section. You can find other episodes featuring Robinson by searching on snoozecast.com. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read from “Urania”, an early science fiction novel by Camille Flammarion and published in English in 1890. This excerpt depicts an imaginary voyage through the universe. The title of this books refers to one of The Nine Muses who presided over Astronomy. Urania's celestial glance was said to have inspired and directed the chorus of the Spheres. Nicholas Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer, prolific author and free thinker. Besides astronomy and science fiction, Flammarion was interested in exploring realms of consciousness and reality beyond our own. This is the second Snoozecast episode featuring Flammarion. You can also listen to “Mysterious Psychic Forces” from October 2022. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. In the last episode, Aronnax, Conseil, Nemo and another sailor from the Nautilus embark on their hunting expedition to the underwater forests of Crespo Island in their underwater suits. They see diverse landscapes and all sorts of creatures, and also, take a long nap before continuing their wondrous trek. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read a folktale called “Aponibolinayen and the Sun”, from the book “Philippine Folk Tales” published in 1916, compiled by anthropologist Mabel Cook Cole. This story originally aired on January 1st, 2021. This story comes from the Ting-yen or Itneg people, who live in a mountainous region in the Philippines. The Itnegs believe in the existence of numerous supernatural powerful beings. They believe in spirits and deities, the greatest of which they believe to be Kadaklan who lives up in the sky and who created the earth, the moon, the stars, and the sun. Tonight, we'll read about the sun in particular and how he came to be married to a special mortal woman with magical powers. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the second half to “The Final Problem”, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first half aired last week. As with all of our Sherlock series, this story contains some darker elements and themes that may not be appropriate for all listeners. In the first episode, Holmes is considering retiring from his private detective work, but learns about a criminal genius named Professor Moriarty, who orchestrates a huge amount of crime that happens in London and in Europe. Holmes set about gathering evidence to bring down the whole gang. The work of Holmes though, had not gone unnoticed by Moriarty, who threatens him to back off. Soon Holmes evades three attempts at his life before meeting up with Watson. Watson agrees to hide surreptiously in Europe with him while they wait for Holmes' plans for the police to catch the whole enterprise comes to fruition in a few days time. We will start back in the story on the train where Holmes is in disguise as an elderly Italian man and has narrowly avoided being caught by Moriarty. Holmes is now discussing the plan with Watson. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “The Secret Garden”, a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett published in 1911. In the last episode, Mary and Colin explore the many empty rooms of their manor on rainy days. Colin expresses his desire for his father to finally come home so he can give up the secret and reveal his newfound vitality. Colin has become so well that he starts to believe that the magic he has been espousing may be another word for God. Mrs. Susan Sowerby, Dickon's mother, also makes a surprise visit to their garden. They find her to be instantly trustworthy and charming.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening chapters of “New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future”, written by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett under the pen name “Mrs. James Corbett” and first published in 1889.  Categorized as “feminist utopian”, it was one element in the wave of utopian and dystopian literature that marked the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In her novel, Corbett envisions a successful suffragette movement eventually giving rise to a breed of highly evolved "Amazonians" who turn Ireland into a utopian society.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “The Final Problem”, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The second half will air next week. It is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes”. As with all of our Sherlock series, this story contains some darker elements and themes that may not be appropriate for all listeners. The story, set in 1891, introduces the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. It was intended to be the final Holmes story. Conan Doyle felt the stories were distracting him from more serious literary efforts and that this was the only way of getting his career back on track. "I must save my mind for better things," he wrote to his mother, "even if it means I must bury my pocketbook with him." Conan Doyle later ranked "The Final Problem" fourth on his personal list of the twelve best Holmes stories. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Winnie-the-Pooh” a children's story written by A.A. Milne and published in 1926. This collection of short stories features an anthropomorphic teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, along with his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. In the previous episode, we read the second half of chapter seven, in which Kanga and Roo came to the forest, and Piglet had a bath. Then we started chapter eight, in which Christopher Robin plans to lead an expotition to the north pole. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read The Trees of Paradise, an excerpt from “Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics” by Richard Folkard. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “The Palace Under the Waves” found in the book “Swiss Tales” published in 1920. We will also read a story called “The Fairy in the Cuckoo Clock.” The first story features undines, a category of elemental beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern literature and art through such adaptations as Danish Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid". Paracelsus believed that each of the four classical elements – earth, water, air and fire – is inhabited by different categories of elemental spirits, liminal creatures that share our world: gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders respectively. He describes these elementals as the "invisible, spiritual counterparts of visible Nature ... many resembling human beings in shape, and inhabiting worlds of their own, unknown to man because his undeveloped senses were incapable of functioning beyond the limitations of the grosser elements. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we shall read the next part to “Pride and Prejudice”, written by Jane Austen. In the last episode, Darcy suddenly appears while Elizabeth and the Gardiners continue to explore the grounds of his home Pemberley. He joins them in their walk, proving remarkably polite. Elizabeth is immediately embarrassed but Darcy tells her that he has just arrived to prepare his home for a group of guests that includes the Bingleys and his own sister, Georgiana. He asks Elizabeth if she would like to meet Georgiana, and Elizabeth replies that she would. After Darcy leaves them, the Gardiners comment on his good looks and manners, so different from the account of his character given by Elizabeth. — read by V — Take the stress out of mealtime with America's #1 meal kit service. Go to https://hellofresh.com/snoozecast21 and use code SNOOZECAST21 for 21 free meals plus free shipping! Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “Across Asia on a Bicycle,” published in 1894 and written by Thomas Allen and William Sachtleben. This episode first aired on January 13, 2021. This book is made up of a series of sketches describing a bicycle journey around the world and specifically across Asia. Allen and Sachtleben set a record for the longest continuous land journey ever made around the world. The day after they graduated college in St. Louis, Missouri, the two friends set out on their journey. Almost three years later, they rolled back into New York on their wheels, having, as they write, “put a girdle round the earth.” — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “Dr. Vermont's Fantasy”, written by Hannah Lynch and published in 1896. Lynch was an Irish feminist, novelist, journalist and translator. She spent much of her working life in Paris, having also lived in both Spain and Greece. Lynch then returned to lecture in Ireland and was a part of the Paris salons of the Belle Epoque as well as the Irish Literary Revival in Dublin. read by 'N' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. In the last episode, Aronnax receives an invitation to go hunting in Nemo's "forests of Crespo Island" the next morning. Conseil and Ned are invited too. At breakfast, Nemo explains to Aronnax that these forests are underwater and that he has designed special suits for them to walk around down there freely. We will pick up with them getting changed and prepared for their expedition. read by 'N' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland A.D. 1803”, a travel memoir by Dorothy Wordsworth. This episode originally aired in 2020. Wordsworth's six-week, 663-mile journey through the Scottish Highlands with her brother William Wordsworth and mutual friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge has been called a masterpiece and one of the best Scottish travel writings during a century which saw hundreds of such examples. Dorothy wrote Recollections for family and friends and never saw it published in her lifetime. The three travelers were important authors in the burgeoning Romanticism movement and thus the trip itinerary was in part a literary pilgrimage to the places associated with Scottish figures significant to Romanticists. Dorothy's descriptions and judgments of the countryside and landscapes were a mixture of her own personal aesthetics and the in-fashion aesthetics of the sublime, beautiful and picturesque—in fact, Recollections is considered today a classic of picturesque travel writing. Venturing to Scotland in 1803 was not an easy trip and the thirty-year-old Dorothy would experience much of the rougher nature of Scottish life: a depopulated rural land due to industrialization and emigration, along with rough roads, coarse lodgings and sometimes meager food. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “Pop Corn Recipes” by Mary Hamilton Talbott, published in 1916. Corn was domesticated about 10,000 years ago, in what is now Mexico. Archaeologists discovered that people have known about popcorn for thousands of years. Fossil evidence from Peru suggests that corn was popped as early as 4,700 BC. Through the 19th century, popping of the kernels was achieved by hand, on stove tops. During the Great Depression, popcorn was fairly inexpensive at 5–10 cents a bag and became popular. Thus, while other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for many struggling farmers, including the Redenbacher family. The snack was popular at theaters, much to the initial displeasure of many of the theater owners, who thought it distracted from the films. Their minds eventually changed, however, and Popcorn became more profitable than theater tickets.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “The Secret Garden”, a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett published in 1911. In the last episode, Dickon teaches Colin strengthening exercises. We get to see the happenings at the Secret Garden through the eyes of the Robins on their nest. And the staff at the Manor grow increasingly perplexed by Colin and Mary's healthy transformation. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “Treasure Island”, by listener suggestion, an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. We first aired this on December 28, 2020. “Treasure Island” is a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold." Its influence is enormous on popular perceptions of pirates, including such elements as treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen bearing parrots on their shoulders. — read by M — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read poems from “North of Boston” a collection from Robert Frost first published in 1914. Most of the poems resemble short dramas or dialogues. It is also called a book of people because most of the poems deal with New England themes and Yankee farmers. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech, Robert Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the early 20th century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. Frequently honored during his lifetime, Frost is the only poet to receive four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. Read by 'N' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Winnie-the-Pooh” a children's story written by A.A. Milne and published in 1926. This collection of short stories features an anthropomorphic teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, along with his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. In the previous episode, we read the second half of chapter six, in which eeyore had a birthday and got two presents. Then we read the first half of chapter seven, in which Kanga and Roo came to the forest, and Piglet will, apparently, have a bath. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “Balsam Fir”, a Snoozecast original. This episode originally aired on December 23, 2019. Experience tromping through an evergreen tree farm to pick the perfect tree to bring home.  — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to “A Christmas Carol” a novella by Charles Dickens originally published in 1843. The story recounts how Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser, is visited by the spirits of Christmas and is in the process, transformed. Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols, and newer customs such as Christmas cards and Christmas trees. It captured the zeitgeist of the mid-Victorian revival of the Christmas holiday. Dickens had acknowledged the influence of the modern Western observance of Christmas and later inspired several aspects of Christmas, including family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games and a festive generosity of spirit. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we shall read the next part to “Pride and Prejudice”, written by Jane Austen. In the last episode, Elizabeth leaves on her summer holiday with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Their tour of Derbyshire takes them near Pemberley. Mrs. Gardiner suggests they visit the estate. Elizabeth consents to go only when she learns that Darcy will not be there. — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read “The Gift of the Magi” a short story by O. Henry, followed by the poem “The Night Before Christmas.”  Published in 1905, this O.Henry story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. “The Night Before Christmas” is formally titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and written by Clement Clarke Moore, anonymously published in 1844.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read from “Lessons in Chalk Modeling, the New Method of Map Drawing” written by Ida Cassa Heffron and published in 1900.  Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. It is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. One such concept, the first law of geography, is "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical sciences." read by -V- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. In the last episode, Captain Nemo and Professor Arronax smoke seaweed cigars together as they chat in the saloon. Nemo explains that the Nautilus is the perfect ship both due to its electrical power and the fact that, travelling below the surface of the water, it is unimpeded by things like storms, just as he is rich enough to be unimpeded from financial constraints. As “captain, builder, and engineer” of the vessel, Nemo has utmost faith in it. — read by N — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by our Patreon Supporters and by heavenly bodies.  Tonight, we'll read the opening to The Influence of the Stars published in 1904. It was written by Rosa Baughan, the eldest daughter of an eminent London newspaper man. She soon established a reputation of her own - as one of the most intriguing spiritualists in Victorian Britain. In her short life, she published more than twenty titles devoted to graphology, divination and astrology.  This episode first aired on November 20, 2020.  — read by V — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, we'll read the opening to the 1940 mystery “Behind the Green Door”, part of the “Penny Parker” series written by Mildred Wirt, also known by Mildred Benson. Benson was a journalist and prolific writer, under many pseudonyms, who is best known for creating the Nancy Drew series. Along with being the heroine of the series, Penny Parker was a high school student turned sleuth who also sporadically worked as a reporter for her father's newspaper. The author Benson favored Penny Parker over all the other books she wrote, including Nancy Drew. Her obituary quoted her as saying, " 'I always thought Penny Parker was a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is." read by -V- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices