1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at MJMuñoz.com. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Today we're doing something a little bit special. We're starting something new. 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,000 And I'm very excited about this. So I'll start it like this. 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Welcome to the Fortress of Fiction. As a master of middle grade, I am reading an assortment of modern and classic middle grade books. 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 Join me as I test their mettle and determine which stories are worthy of building up the fortress of fiction 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,000 and which stories belong in the dungeon. 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:39,000 So I started off my book, well, I started off this reading list by reading a modern book. 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,000 I had erroneously stated in my last episode where I was talking about how I can become the master of middle grade 9 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,000 by stating that the division was like 90s or so. 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,000 This book actually was written in 1975. Tuck Everlasting is the one I'm talking about first. 11 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,000 And I'll give you some information, some very neutral information that I had Claude or Frank help me come up with 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,000 just to give information about the book itself, because I have a very negative take on this. 13 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:11,000 And I don't want to be I don't want to color my discussion of the book too much by, you know, 14 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:19,000 coming up with my own description of the book and, you know, basic information to include about it. 15 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:25,000 So I'm just going to let my well, I'm just going to share with you what the I came up with. 16 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,000 So here we go. This should be as neutral and PC as you might want it to be. 17 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,000 So here we go. Here's some key information about the book. 18 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:38,000 Talk everlasting by Natalie Babbitt publication date, 1975. 19 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,000 OK, it's a year, not a date. That's all right. 20 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:46,000 Plot summary. Ten year old Winnie Foster meets the Tuck family who drank from a special spring that stops them from aging. 21 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,000 She must decide whether or not to drink from it herself and become immortal like them. 22 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:58,000 Themes, mortality, death, family, coming of age, morality, writing style, poetic and reflective, 23 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000 told primarily through third person narration from Winnie's perspective. 24 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,000 I disagree with that Winnie's perspective thing, but it is poetic. 25 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000 I was going to say lyrical, descriptive, natural imagery. 26 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,000 OK, moral content explores complex questions about life, death and what it means to live a full life 27 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:19,000 rather than romanticizing immortality promotes introspection and examining different perspectives. 28 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Controversial elements, some mild violence, including a man hitting his horse, references to jail and sentencing for crimes, but no graphic events. 29 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Age recommendation ages eight to twelve Newberry Honor Award winner considered appropriate reading for upper elementary school due to accessible writing style and themes. 30 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:50,000 And that's all the neutral boilerplate, I would say, like common perspective on the book. 31 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:55,000 So I'm going to say that this book, I would throw it in the dungeon. 32 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Natalie Babbitt, I feel badly about saying this, she very well may still be alive today. 33 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,000 And like my goal is not to attack people on this show. 34 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,000 My goal is not to attack or denigrate books or call for them to be banned or anything like that. 35 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:18,000 Although, well, yeah, that's not my goal, because I that's not really within my spectrum of values. 36 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:25,000 And that kind of idea makes me uncomfortable because I worry about that sort of thing being abused as it so often is. 37 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:31,000 And so anyway, I'm for things existing and for the market deciding. 38 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:36,000 And if your values align with mine, I would think you'd agree with me about this book. 39 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,000 I will go ahead and say things about it that I found objectionable, 40 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,000 but I will say the things I found about it that were commendable. 41 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,000 So first of all, so I kind of want to get this out of the way. 42 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:54,000 I will give you the top reasons I do not like this book and the reason I would throw it in the dungeon, so to speak, 43 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,000 which means like I will not recommend this to my children. 44 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 If one of them asked me about it, I will say, yeah, you don't want to read this. 45 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Certainly not at their current ages. 46 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:06,000 And I wouldn't really feel comfortable with anybody under like 15 reading this, 47 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000 depending on how sheltered they are or how worldly they are. 48 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,000 That age is going to slide. 49 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,000 So I'm not saying an ironclad. 50 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Nobody can read this. 51 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,000 You know, I'm an adult. I was able to read it. 52 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:23,000 It felt very disturbing and it felt very creepy and it felt very weird in some places. 53 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,000 Again, I was going to describe the writing style as lyrical. 54 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:33,000 It's very like the weird romance stuff. 55 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:40,000 Like it's very romantic in that in the way it describes things and like the languages. 56 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,000 It's lofty, but it's still accessible. 57 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,000 Like it makes nature feel beautiful. 58 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,000 It makes the world feel beautiful and it makes life feel beautiful. 59 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,000 Life and death and the change in the cycle. 60 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:57,000 There's an illustration or a metaphor about how everything is a wheel. 61 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,000 The sun is a wheel. 62 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:05,000 The sun is the center of the wheel of well, it says the sun is the wheel of the calendar. 63 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,000 The sun is the center point, the fixed point that the calendar rolls around. 64 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,000 But also I thought it was going to go astronomical, but she went with the calendar instead, 65 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,000 which is something a little more mundane. 66 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000 But still, it works astronomically as well. 67 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:26,000 There's a couple of other things, but like a wheel and a cycle and this image is used to relate to several things in the book. 68 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,000 It is interesting and it's done well. 69 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,000 I'm not doing her justice. 70 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,000 I'm not doing bad, but just as in describing how well she wrote the book. 71 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:46,000 But the reason I say definitely no kid under like 15 ish and again depending is because basically you have a 17 year old boy. 72 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:57,000 He looks like he's 17 years old, but he's actually one hundred and seven because of this water of immortality that he and his family were, you know, drink from eighty seven years ago. 73 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,000 And he basically flirts on and hits on a little girl. 74 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 And I forgot to mention this. I was thinking about this earlier. 75 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,000 I actually read this book in school. 76 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:14,000 I don't remember the oldest I was because I got kicked out of this school or pulled out because of failing a bunch of classes, which I'm not proud of. 77 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,000 It's just a fact. It was like 12. 78 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,000 So I remember it very well. That's why I was like 12, maybe 11. 79 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,000 So like 12 or 11. So a little bit older than the protagonist. 80 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:28,000 One, I did not remember how old she was in this book, but I knew it was weird that the guy was 17 and she was like a kid like me close to my age. 81 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:41,000 And he was he basically says, hey, when you get old enough, drink from the water and you can marry me and we'll just have an adventure and live life and never have to grow old and all sorts of stuff, which is a little weird, a little weird. 82 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,000 So and he's only known her for a day. 83 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:52,000 Like, just thinking more analytically about this. 84 00:06:52,000 --> 00:07:01,000 Why wouldn't tuck find a 17 year old girl who he likes and tell her, hey, me and my family, we're special, we're different. 85 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,000 By the way, I just need to make a quick amendment. His name isn't tuck. 86 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,000 He's Jesse tuck. So it's the tuck family. 87 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:12,000 Like, Pawtuck is just called tuck. Then it's May's ma and yeah, me. 88 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:19,000 That's her actual name. And then the sons are Jesse and the other one. 89 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:25,000 So anyway, it's just it's weird because like, you know, she's a little girl. 90 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:35,000 I don't mean I was in school with girls at the time when I read this book and I knew that girls and, you know, as a boy, too, around the same age. 91 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:44,000 I understand like, oh, that person's attractive like that, you know, teenage girl is really beautiful or a girl saying, oh, that teenage boy, he's so good looking or whatever. 92 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:55,000 That's fine. But like, Jesse tuck is described as beautiful and like little 10 year old Winifred, like it falls in love with him basically, or at least is infatuated with him. 93 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:04,000 And like she considers very much doing this thing, becoming immortal and living with him forever. 94 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:13,000 And it's just like, I don't know, the way it's put forth is really like it's really creepy, honestly. 95 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,000 And I'm not going to let myself get hung up on this, but like it just feels kind of gross. 96 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,000 And that was the strongest thing I remember. I remember this guy, like a creeper with a girl. 97 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,000 And like, it's really weird how he like wants her to be immortal with him. 98 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:33,000 And I was going to say it would make a lot more sense if she was like 16 or 17 and like she had the choice more immediately. 99 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:38,000 And, you know, why didn't the author just do that? Dang. That's really weird. 100 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:46,000 Anyway, that's that's just like a super odd choice to me because it makes it so uncomfortable and it feels so predatory in a lot of ways. 101 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:54,000 And that's that's really not good stuff. So, yeah, I would say like it's unhealthy, especially for today in today's day and age. 102 00:08:54,000 --> 00:09:05,000 Like this guy, you know, he's 104, but he's presenting as if he's 17. So it's like, well, you know, I'm 40, but I want to go and try to keep this family friendly as possible. 103 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:11,000 I don't think anything I've said is too too much for discerning family to listen to. 104 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:22,000 But just you have people lying and pretending that there's something that they're not and using that to deceive people and take advantage of them. 105 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:33,000 And it almost feels like what Jesse is and how he does things is setting the reader up to be OK with that, even though ultimately spoilers, spoilers, spoilers. 106 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:43,000 Winifred does not take the opportunity to drink from this fountain of youth and live forever with the Tuck family or at least Jesse Tuck. 107 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,000 She doesn't she chooses not to do that, which is good. 108 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:52,000 So it's not like the book is telling the readers that that is what they should do. 109 00:09:52,000 --> 00:10:01,000 And we're not saying that children won't be won't face similar, I don't know, quandaries, temptations, 110 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:07,000 you know, big moral decisions in their lives, like the older you get, the more important the decisions you make are. 111 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:18,000 But it's just kind of glossed over and I don't know how useful that is. And going back to this idea of, you know, 112 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:23,000 is this fiction worthy of being a building block in this fortress of fiction? 113 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:31,000 Like, I think fiction should build people up. I think the stories that we tell are I think storytelling is fundamental to what we are as human beings. 114 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:37,000 There are several like, I don't know, like six good reasons I could give right now, but I won't. 115 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:45,000 It just I think that's true. I think a lot of work and research and I don't know. 116 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:52,000 Philosophizing has been done about this idea, and I agree with I agree with a lot of what has been said and I won't make those arguments. 117 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,000 I'm not prepared to make those arguments at this time. 118 00:10:54,000 --> 00:11:06,000 However, I prefer to say that because I believe story is so important and that it has such a profound effect on people that I think we need to be especially careful. 119 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:12,000 With the types of stories we tell our children and with how we tell those stories. 120 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:23,000 And I firmly believe that stories should be written in such a way that they can be enjoyable by all ages and that all ages can take different things away from them. 121 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:33,000 And I'm not saying that you can't write, read or enjoy books that are specific to you and your niche. 122 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:43,000 But I believe specifically because children are this blank slate to some extent, or at least they're this blank slate. 123 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:53,000 And they have an ability to be influenced that we should be especially careful with what we might give them to be influenced by. 124 00:11:53,000 --> 00:12:03,000 And that if a child were to read something like this, I would worry what it would do to them. 125 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,000 Now, what does it mean that all the kids at my Catholic school read this at a certain age? 126 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,000 I'm not sure. You know, how did this book influence them? 127 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:19,000 Again, I don't know. There's a line in the book in the very beginning, actually, like the prologue that basically makes it sound like sometimes when it's summer, 128 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:28,000 you're not responsible for your actions because it's just too hot and August is too strong and you're not really responsible for your own actions. 129 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,000 You are compelled to do things. You know, things happen a certain way. 130 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:38,000 And that's not true. I mean, obviously there are things that are beyond your control. 131 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:49,000 However, there is a concept, at least in the world of men now, that is this I can't remember if it's utter ownership or ultimate ownership or something about ownership, 132 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:54,000 where you just like take total ownership of everything that happens in your sphere of influence. 133 00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:02,000 And you say this didn't happen because I failed to act or this happened because I made this choice. 134 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:08,000 And I think that's a good thing. I think that's something powerful and profound. 135 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:18,000 And it's a very useful way for men and women and even kids to look at the world so that they have to face the fact that their actions have consequences. 136 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:29,000 And I think something in the way that line was written by Babbitt just struck me as, oh, she's saying that you don't need to be responsible for your actions. 137 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:39,000 And then the story kind of bears that out to some extent, except it also makes arguments to the opposite. 138 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,000 You are responsible for your actions and that your actions do matter. 139 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:48,000 And the consequences of your actions are everlasting, much like the Tuck family. 140 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,000 And it's I know it's a really weird, bizarre blend of things. 141 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:58,000 And I don't really understand. Like, I don't know what the criterion are for the Newbery Award to be given out. 142 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:05,000 But I believe I read a bunch of her, not a bunch, like a good handful of Newbery books in the schools I was in. 143 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,000 And I believe I know this is one of them. 144 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:13,000 And I can't remember what others were. But I'm just thinking, how how did this get passed? 145 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:26,000 A bunch of adults to give to children because of how like weird it is and how odd it is, even if the ways it talks, like even if the writing is beautiful, which it mostly is like, I'd say like 80 percent of it's like really, you know, 146 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,000 written in a really lovely way. The craft of it is good. 147 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,000 The word smithery, if you will, is really entertaining. 148 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:51,000 But like the moral implications of things and the lack of like full, robust conversation about sensitive topics or like looking at things in a more than a one sided simplistic. 149 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Like it presents all these very it presents very complex ideas and concepts. 150 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:05,000 But because Winnie is a 10 year old girl, it gives them to you like at her level and it only deals with them at her level. 151 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:10,000 And it doesn't really deal with them beyond her level, which I think is kind of necessary. 152 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:17,000 And I don't know exactly other than making different choices, not telling the story this way and changing it up. 153 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,000 I don't know how else you make that OK. 154 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:34,000 And I therefore I wouldn't write this kind of story at this, you know, at this level or towards this audience because it just seems inappropriate out of place a little too much. 155 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:41,000 And yeah, that's why I mean, I'm not going to keep this thing in the dungeon forever. 156 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:48,000 It's it doesn't belong here, I think. I don't see I guess I don't see how this would benefit somebody. 157 00:15:48,000 --> 00:16:01,000 What do you mean by that? I think the Hobbit reading through the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings will have a lasting won't not even a lasting necessarily, but it will have a positive. 158 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:12,000 Reaction or not a positive. It'll have a positive impact on the reader. It will be inspiring. It will lead them to think about things in a different way and to consider 159 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:19,000 just consider how they conduct themselves. This book is not able to do the same thing. 160 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:26,000 I think I didn't like it as a kid. I was frustrated and confused by it. I thought it was kind of gross then. 161 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:40,000 And it just it made me feel like uneasy now. Maybe it's because I'm a father of girls and like I wouldn't want them being presented by the same situation, even though like so, you know, 162 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:48,000 when he gets kidnapped in this book, sort of, but not like I even hesitate to call it kidnapping. She definitely gets taken by the tux. 163 00:16:48,000 --> 00:17:01,000 But it's understandable. And like the conversation about how necessary a part of death or a part of life death is and how it is part of this cycle in the circle. 164 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:08,000 Like, it's a really interesting conversation. But like, hey, my son is trying to get you to marry him, which the dad didn't know about. 165 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:14,000 Like that's not addressed. So it's like, I don't know. It's very strange. It's very strange. I don't like it. 166 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:25,000 It made me uncomfortable as a kid and it makes me uncomfortable as an adult with my own kids. And I'm older than or my eldest is older than I was at the time that I read it. 167 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:32,000 And I still think, yeah, I would not I would not recommend this book to anybody. Really. Again, I'm not calling for it to be banned. 168 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:40,000 I'm not calling for it to be maligned. I'm not saying it's, you know, groomer. And, you know, I'm not saying any of those negative things. 169 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:46,000 I'm just saying I don't understand what the point is. I don't understand what the utility is. 170 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:57,000 And I'm shocked that it's so well received. I even looked on early on in life. 171 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:04,000 I found resources like folks on the families, you know, kids plugged in online is what it's called. 172 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:10,000 And there's another offshoot of that, I think. And it's where parents and kids will review all sorts of things and give their perspectives on it. 173 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,000 And I was surprised by how many people were positive about this thing. 174 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:23,000 And again, there were a few people who were definitely with me thinking that the whole Jesse and Winnie relationship dynamic was super bizarre. 175 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:32,000 So, yeah, I know it's it feels like it's almost written with a child like me of a day, which I don't know how old bad it was when she wrote this. 176 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:39,000 But it's I wouldn't imagine that she was young and just yeah, this is like a never recommend book, in my opinion. 177 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,000 If anybody asked me about it, I would definitely warn them away from it. 178 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:50,000 So that's about all I have to say. I don't know if the rest of the of the series will be like this. 179 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:55,000 I mean, I hope I have a lot more positive interactions with these books than negative interactions, 180 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:03,000 but I'm going to give honest interactions or honest reactions to them. And yeah, I can't predict whether or not the positive or negative. 181 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,000 But I will be honest and I will let you know my full thoughts on it. 182 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:14,000 And I would like to know if you like Tuck Everlasting, if you've read it either. 183 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:20,000 Well, if you've read it and you have thoughts on it that are corresponding to mine or contrary to mine, 184 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,000 I would like to hear them and have a conversation about it. You know, what are your thoughts on this thing? 185 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:31,000 And what I guess what use it? What good is it? And does it need to be a good? Does it need to be good? 186 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,000 I guess because some I argue doesn't need to be good. Just needs to be entertaining. 187 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,000 It was it made me so uncomfortable. I couldn't be entertained. 188 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,000 Basically his is how I felt a lot of the time. So like it almost felt like I shouldn't be reading. 189 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:49,000 It almost felt wrong in some way. And yeah, definitely not for this market. 190 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,000 It was like a teen book. It was like if it was a YA book, I could sort it like to me. 191 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,000 If it was appropriate for a younger young adult, I would think that would be fine. 192 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:04,000 But it seems to be fairly widely categorized as middle grade. 193 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000 And that just feels wildly inappropriate to me. 194 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,000 So I'm done talking about Tuck Everlasting for now, as far as what I have to say. 195 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:17,000 I did put out a call for people to give feedback and their thoughts on the book and I didn't receive anything. 196 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:22,000 So I'm going to put out the call for the next book early, which is right now. 197 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:28,000 I'm going to be talking about Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, which I think is the actual title. 198 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,000 If not, maybe it's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I don't know. 199 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,000 Through the Looking Glasses second book, I'm only talking about the first book where she goes down the rabbit's hole. 200 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:42,000 And Alex's Adventure in Wonderland. No, that's the other one. Anyway, Alice in Wonderland, the first one by Lewis Carroll, 201 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,000 where she goes underground and counters the Queen of Hearts and other things. 202 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:53,000 And I will be talking about that book. And I do invite people's comments and you can leave those on the blog 203 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,000 and anywhere else where you have access to this recording this episode. 204 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:04,000 And yeah, I'd love to hear from people and have a conversation about these books because, well, conversations are always better. 205 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,000 It's all as you'll hear me say in a moment or two. And yeah, that's about it. 206 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,000 So I think these book chats are a cool thing to do. 207 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:18,000 I think the fact that these books are so short offers people an opportunity to jump on them and get the audio books, 208 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,000 which is basically what I'm going to be preferencing stuff with audio books. 209 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:27,000 And if anything, well, I think I have a list already, but I'll adjust it as I need to if there are things that don't have audio books. 210 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:34,000 So I have a little bit of homework to do on my end to make sure my whole big list has audio books so that I don't screw things up. 211 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,000 Because I want to do them in chronological order. Basically, I'm doing the classic books first, like Tuck Everlasting, 212 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:45,000 and then the modern books first, like Tuck Everlasting, and then the classics, which are the old, old books like Alice in Wonderland, 213 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:51,000 which is from, well, the late 1800s, I believe. If I'm wrong, I'll correct myself in the notes for it next time. 214 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:56,000 But you'll get to hear that in the future. So until then, adieu. 215 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,000 I hope you enjoyed that. Subscribe to keep up with me. 216 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,000 Like and share to help me reach more people like you. 217 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,000 And go to MJMunoz.com to find your next favorite thing. 218 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:12,000 And don't forget to let your voice be heard. Stories are always better when you're part of the conversation. 219 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,000 Until next time, be well. This is MJ signing out. 220 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:44,000 This has been a Story Over Everything production.