Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the opening to "Riverby" by John Burroughs. The section is titled "Among the Wild Flowers". John Burroughs was an American nature essayist, active in the U.S.conservation movement. Burroughs accompanied many personalities of the time in his later years, including Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Ford (who gave him an automobile),and Thomas Edison. According to Ford, "John Burroughs, Edison, and I made several vagabond trips together. We went in motor caravans and slept under canvas."Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to "Sketches of Gotham: A Collection of Unusual Stories Told in an Unusual Way", written by Owen Gould Davis in 1906. Davis was an American dramatist. In 1919, he became the first elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America. He penned hundreds of plays and scripts for radio and film. Before the First World War, he also wrote racy sketches of New York City high jinks and low-life like this one under the pen-name. Ike Swift.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll be reading the third part to "The Princess and the Goblin", a children’s fantasy novel, published in 1872.  One of the most successful and beloved of Victorian fairy tales, George Macdonald’s. "The Princess and the Goblin" tells the story of young Princess Irene and her friend Curdie, who must outwit the threatening goblins who live in caves beneath her mountain home.When we left off, the Princess had met a mysterious old woman introduced to her as her grandmother. The Grandmother keeps magical pigeons and eats their eggs. When the princess goes back downstairs to her nurse-maid, she doesn’t believe the Princess’s tale to be true. We will start again at the beginning of Chapter 5. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll be reading the next section of the classic children’s story "Heidi", published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. It is a novel about the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care in the Swiss Alps. "Heidi" is one of the best-selling books ever written and is among the best-known works of Swiss literature. We will pick up where we left off, at the start of chapter 5. In the last episode, it is the middle of winter on the mountain. Peter gives Grandfather and Heidi the idea that she should visit his grandmother. Grandmother is grateful for the company, and Heidi inspires her Grandfather to help repair the Grandmother’s cottage. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read "The Golden Mermaid", a story found in Andrew Lang’s The Green Fairy Book. In this story, a beautiful mermaid falls in love with a prince. But it’s not The Little Mermaid, it’s different. We promise. Because she’s golden. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read an 1888 excerpt titled T"he Banshee", written by D. R. McAnally Jr., and compiled later into a book called "Irish Wonders, Tales of Ghosts, Giants, Pookas, Demons, Leprechawns, Banshees, Fairies, Witches, Widows, Old Maids & Other Marvels of the Emerald Isle." -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight we’ll read an excerpt from the book “Abigail Adams and Her Times”, by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards. Richards wrote more than 90 books including biographies,poetry, and several for children. Her father was an abolitionist and her mother wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read the next part to "Pride and Prejudice", part to the 1813 romantic novel of manners Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, starting with Chapter 7. 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 previous episode, the relationships between Jane and Elizabeth Bennet and the Bingley sisters develops as the girls make their formal visits.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to "The Secret Garden",a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in 1911. Set in England, it is now one of Burnett's most popular novels and seen as a classic of English children's literature. During Burnett’s life, The Secret Garden was overlooked but the book has risen in prominence as more scholarly studies have been done on children’s literature. If you enjoy The Secret Garden, be sure to listen to "A Little Princes"s on Snoozecast, also written by Burnett. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we'll read excerpts from Candy-Making Revolutionized: Confectionery from Vegetables by Mary Elizabeth Hall, printed in 1912. Hall wrote that her hope was that through this book “the more vegetable candy is made, the less unhealthful confectionery there will be consumed." -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read the fifth chapter of “Little Women” by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868, titled “Being Neighborly”. 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.In the previous chapter, Burdens, the holidays are over and the girls return to their work, and to the burdens of life. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the opening to "Greyfriars Bobby", a 1912 novel by Eleanor Atkinson based on the true story of the dog Greyfriars Bobby. This novel is written from the point-of-view of the dog, Bobby, and uses Scottish dialogue as the novel is set in Edinburgh,Scotland. The book is written from the mind of a dog, which makes every-day events strange —the opening line references a church clock as a "time-gun", for example. -- Read by 'M'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read excerpts from “Oregon, Washington And Alaska: Sights And Scenes for the Tourist” written in 1890 by E.L. Lomax. Officially incorporated in 1851, Portland grew steadily, forming an identity as an industrial trading town. Up into the 1890s,Portland hosted the Pacific Northwest's largest port, only to be surpassed later by Seattle. -- Read by 'N'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to "The Scarlet Pimpernel", a historical fiction novel by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. The novel is set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The title is the nom de guerre of its hero, a chivalrous Englishman who rescues aristocrats before they are sent to the guillotine. Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life: apparently nothing more than a wealthy fop, but in reality a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking escape artist. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the opening to "A Little Princess", a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book 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". -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

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. 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. -- Read by 'N'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we'll read "The Juno," a Snoozecast original. In this story, an unexpected guest causes a stir aboard a tall ship bound for Antarctica. Told through journal entries written by the ship's fictional navigator, this tale is inspired by the Ross expedition. The voyage lasted from 1839 to 1843 and made substantial contributions to the fields of botany and zoology. It proved to be the final significant voyage of discovery powered only by sail. -- Read by 'M'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the second part to "My Father’s Dragon", written by Ruth Stiles Gannett in 1948. We released the first episode quite a while ago so you may need to scroll back a ways if you want to listen to that first. The novel is about a young boy, Elmer Elevator, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon.We will start at the beginning of Chapter 5, where the boy has finally made it to the island, where he encounters a pack of hungry tigers. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read a letter Thomas Jefferson sent to Maria Cosway in 1786. Jefferson, a widower, met Cosway, who was married, while travelling in France and was rather charmed by the Italian-English artist. In this letter, a sorrowful Jefferson pines for her and imagines a debate between his head and his heart. He writes, the only “effective security against such pain of unrequited love, is to retire within ourselves and to suffice for our own happiness.” -- Read by 'M'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

Tonight, we’ll read the fourth chapter of “Little Women” by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868, titled “Burdens”. 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.In the previous chapter, Meg and Jo attend a party, and Jo gets acquainted with the Laurence boy, aka Laurie. -- Read by 'V'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)