Today's reading is The Light Keeper's Box a traditional origin story about day and night from the Warao people of the Orinoca River delta in Venezuela.

This particular translation is from The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Carolyn McVikar Edwards; published by Marlowe & Company, 2000.

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Today's reading is an essay from Mary Oliver called "Bird". One cold Christmas morning she finds a injured gull and brings it home to live out the rest of his days.

Source: Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver; published by Penguin Press, 2016

A father writes a series of letters to his son in the hopes of easing their separation.

Source: For Joshua: An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son, by Richard Wagamese; published by Double Day Canada, 2002.

The Stealing from Wizards series by R.A. Consell is so good that I'm sharing another excerpt. This time it's from the third book, Kidnapping, which was released on November 1, 2023.

The books tell the story of a young boy named Kuro. He has been raised in squalor and neglect by a rather wicked wizard who has groomed him to be a thief. Early on in the first book, his fate turns towards more hopeful happenings and he is sent to a school for magical children. His story continues with him discovering true friendship as well as crafting a chosen family.

In this third book we're getting closer to discovering the truth about Kuro's real heritage and in the reading I share today we witness Kuro meeting three magical weavers who connect deeply with him and create a tartan to represent his homelands.

You'll find accompanying contemplative prompts for today's reading at my ⁠website⁠.

And—this is ridiculously exciting—for a limited time you can listen to the first two audiobooks in the Stealing from Wizards series for FREE! Wow. Click thru to Ryan Consell's website to listen.

Stealing From Wizards: Volume 3: Kidnapping is written by R.A. Consell and is self-published by the author, Ryan Consell (November 2023).

The other self-published books from the Stealing From Wizards series are Volume 1: Pickpocketing (October 2019) and Volume 2: Burglary (June 2021).

I hope Ryan continues to write either in this series or another. I'll read them.

FYI: This is the last episode of this series and I'll return with a new series after a rest. Thank you for listening and engaging. It's always a delight chatting with others who love reading fiction as much as I do. Thank you.

This book draws from the thematic threads of the German folktale about Rumpelstiltskin, that magical little imp who makes a horrific deal in exchange for his ability to spin straw into gold.

For me, the stories in Spinning Silver are about finding and making manifest one's golden brilliance. It's about not being afraid of your power and allowing yourself to be fully present in your gifts.

I read an excerpt from the end of chapter six where Miryem encounters the otherworldly Staryk king for the second time.

Accompanying contemplative prompts for this book can be found at my website.

Spinning Silver written by Naomi Novik and published by Del Ray, 2018. Naomi Novik is the author of many other novels, Including Uprooted (which is perhaps an origin story of Baba Yaga), a series about dragons, a series about a secret magical society, and numerous other stories.

This delicious retelling of the classic Hamlet, is a familiar tale of deception riddled with class, court, and gender politics. It's told from the point of view of the narrator whose identity is not revealed until the final pages of the book. It's a good reveal!

I read an excerpt from the opening chapter of the book.

Accompanying contemplative prompts for this book can be found at my website.

The Raven Tower is written by Ann Leckie and published by Orbit of Hachette Book Group, 2019. Other novels by Ann Leckie are Ancillary Justice.(2013), Ancillary Sword (2014), Ancillary Mercy (2015), Provenance, (2017), Translation State (2023), and numerous short stories.

This book is the first in a series of three and tells the story of a young boy named Kuro. He has been raised in squalor and neglect by a rather nasty wizard who groomed him to be a thief. Kuro is quick-footed for speedy get-aways and is well-practiced at blending into his background while being unobtrusive.

Early on in the book, his fate turns towards more hopeful happenings and he is sent to a school for magical children. His story continues with him discovering true friendship as well as crafting a chosen family.

I read an excerpt from the opening chapter in the book. Stealing From Wizards: Volume 1: Pickpocketing is written by R.A. Consell and is self-published by the author, Ryan Consell (October 29, 2019).

The other self-published books from the Stealing From Wizards series are:
Volume 2: Burglary (June 28, 2021)
Volume 3: Kidnapping (November 1, 2023)

This book tells the story of William Bellman from childhood through his life until old age. It's a ghost story of sorts and for me, it is about those losses, shocks, and traumas that colour our perspective of reality and alter our trajectory. I read an excerpt from Chapter 12 of the book. Bellman & Black is written by Diane Setterfield and published by Third Draft Limited, 2013. Other books by Diane Setterfield are The Thirteenth Tale (2008) and Once Upon a River (2018). I wish she would write some more books.