On Sharing Book Love With Non-Readers

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 2 Comments

Most of my family and friends are not readers. At least they are not readers like me. They don’t live with books touching every aspect of their lives. Some listen to audiobooks to fill their work days but don’t read at home. Some read when the mood is right, but not daily or even weekly. My family doesn’t read at all. My boyfriend only picks up books if they are biographies or memoirs of beloved musicians or comics. 

So I spend a lot of time talking to people at work about books, or members of my various book clubs to get new recommendations. But these people aren’t there for my 24/7 bookish lifestyle. 

I never expected more. I spend a lot of time listening to my best friend talk to me about K-Pop without having any real interest, but then she listens to me talk about books without any intention of reading. Sometimes being present is enough. 

Sometimes it isn’t.

I have friends I share book recommendations with. They are mostly those of the audiobook at work variety and we have a group thread dedicated to discussing out reading/listening. They helped me push through Call Down the Hawk. I had them read The Library at Mount Char. I am waiting for the day one of them pops in with a recommendation. Sometimes my favorite moments at work are those when we are hours deep into a story and everyone is screaming at a twist while real work, the things we are being paid to work on, sit waiting. It’s only ever a few minute break and never enough to pull us away from important tasks, but it keeps me grounded in my love of reading and gives me precious memories and conversation starters with friends. 

With family all I have are adaptations. My mother never read Jane Austen, but she has watched Pride and Prejudice with me. Whenever she sees a trailer that hints at a movie being based off of a book she’ll ask me if I have read it, and then if I want to see it. If I have read the book she’ll ask which was better, what changed and what elements she missed by not reading. I appreciate her connecting with me in this way, and the conversations are always meaningful. I get to really think on the difference between a book and its movie. Sometimes they are so different they cannot be compared, and sometimes one is obviously superior. Usually there is more grey. I went to school to be a screenwriter. I know that format changes meaning. Showing and telling and all of that. My mom makes me use that knowledge when I talk with her. For that and that alone I feel like I did not waste years on a degree I do not use. 

My boyfriend and I have a similar arrangement. He’ll watch adaptations with me, but he’s also around when I am listening to audiobooks in the kitchen, or as I browse the internet. He’s there when I have a migraine and need to be in a dark room but do not want to be bored. He’s heard pieces of stories and asked questions. He also lets me talk at him about my favorite books even if he has no intention of reading them. 

We started watching Outlander together, and now I am reading the books. I will get to fill in the plot holes not covered in the episodes. On vacations he helps me pick out bookstores to visit and generally enjoys when I take him to special collections or library branches. He likes seeing me in my element, and it is good to remember that doesn’t just mean with my nose in a book, but talking to booksellers and other librarians. He follows me to conferences and listens to me talk about sessions. He is learning about my profession like I learn about his.  

I’m glad I’ve found ways to share my bookish love for my friends and family in a way that isn’t just – read book, discuss book, read next book, repeat. Finding ways to connect family that has no interest in books with the stories I love is important, and it allows for enrichment in everyone’s lives. 

How do you share your bookish love with non-readers?

November in Review

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

November was a lot. Well, November is always a lot. My entire family celebrates birthdays between the last week of October and the middle of November. Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving happen. Work doesn’t stop. The days get shorter and the demands on time grow. I find myself yawning before Jeopardy is over and wanting to cancel plans to stay home in comfy pajamas instead of venturing out in the cold. 

In November I also found myself at the doctor’s office more than I like. As someone who is terrified of doctors on a good day, having a solid three weeks of pain, appointments, and calls to the triage nurse was a lot. Some of the pills I’ve been prescribed make me very sleepy. So for the last two weeks I have found myself on my couch binge watching Phase 1 of the MCU, a lot of Disney movies, Great British Bake Off, and Outlander. 

Or should I say I have found myself napping through all of those things…except Outlander. I’m pretty captivated by Outlander. 

In the middle of this I had 2 Thanksgivings on Thursday, one of which I helped cook as my mother recovers from wrist surgery. 

All of this is to say that November was a whirlwind. I mostly kept up with blogging. Reading happened, but mostly in the form of audiobooks. I have read the same 3 pages of Starless Sea in a prescription filled haze more times than I can count. I should be clear headed soon, and hopefully in less pain so I am hoping reading, real reading, comes back in short order. 

I managed to finish The Rosie Project for a book club meeting I had to miss due to an unexpected stop at Urgent Care. I also made it through Call Down the Hawk, which I reviewed for you last week. I enjoyed All of the Things I Never Told you and want Celeste Ng to be my new best friend, and sped through Eat Joy and thought of all of the ways food and words touch my life. 

I shared with you some mini reviews to kick off the month and continued my love of all things Ann Patchett with a review of Commonwealth. We chatted about Classics and Disney Adaptations. I confided in all of you my shortcomings with finishing series. I also encourage all of you to read unapologetically, and to encourage your fellow readers to do the same. 

Food and Fiction posts were a little sparse this month. I made Chai Snickerdoodles for a friend in need, talked about the importance of comfort food and comfort reads and then immediately followed that up with the easiest appetizer for all of your upcoming holiday get togethers. I’ll try to get real recipes up soon. If nothing else I will be sharing some fun ideas for Christmas cookies. I go all out with Holiday baking.

A Bookless Thanksgiving

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

I don’t have a traditional post for you today. Friday’s are usually about food and books and how the two relate (however strangely) in my mind. But Thanksgiving was yesterday.  My mom had surgery a few weeks ago and my father and I helped make dinner. I also ran to my boyfriend’s parents place for another meal full of turkey, stuffing and various other carbs. 

I made a lot. There were biscuits, and donut hole muffins. I made cranberry bread and rice crispy treats that looked like turkey legs. I helped with apple pie, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. 

I took no pictures. I lived in the moment. I had a really fantastic holiday. 

Often times real life is better than the books we read. Sometimes we forget that being present with the people we love is important. Thanksgiving, Christmas, the upcoming holiday season is a perfect time to remember that spending time with family and friends is what make life…well, life. 

So I’ll be back on Monday with a normal post. There will be more food and fiction musings on Friday. I’m heading hard into Christmas cookie season so loosen your belts for the next few weeks. The recipes will be worth it. Promise. 

I hope those of you celebrating had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are now enjoying a relaxing Friday. Unless you went out shopping, then I hope you didn’t run into any craziness and found all of the best sales!

On Reading Unapologetically

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 2 Comments

When I was in middle school I wasn’t very popular. I’m sure this isn’t a unique statement. Middle school is a rough time for everyone. The ages between 12 and 14 are rough. I was in a new school with more students and was having trouble finding a real friend group. However, I still had my books. I read and reread Harry Potter nonstop. I picked up the newest Tracy Chevalier novels and found a home with historical fiction. 

However, I also fell completely head over heels in love with chick lit. I’m not even sure if that is the term we use anymore? Is it women’s fiction? You know the type, love story, girl in some sort of dream job, meet cutes and misunderstands abound? The type of things Sophia Kinsella writes. These books gave me hope. I didn’t think I was a cute pre teen and was very shy. I was also pretty mature for my age and young adult fiction wasn’t the huge market in 2003 that it is now. 

So I read. I read through Meg Cabot’s adult books, because, of course, I also loved the princess diaries. I found books with similar covers and similar stories. I read through Nicholas Sparks back catalog and cried myself to sleep over more than one sad story. 

I wasn’t reading classics yet. I wasn’t aware of other fantasy. The few friends I did have did not read. My parents weren’t readers. I was guideless in bookstores and libraries. I was able to develop my own tastes. I didn’t care what anyone thought about what I read because for me reading was just fun, and why would anyone care?

And then people did care. A group of mean girls (who subsequently made our new math teacher cry multiple days in a row) decided the things I was reading were too risque. I was clearly fantasizing about bad things, which was funny to them as I was a mousy thing that no one would look twice at. It was the first time I had any real feedback into what I was reading and it was traumatic and horrible. I stopped bringing books to class and only read my love stories in the privacy of my bedroom. 

Come high school I decided I wanted to be more mature. I purposefully read Hemingway and Hugo. I looked down on those who read manga. I was a pretentious little shit. But I had friends again. And those friends did read. More than that, they didn’t care what I read. It took awhile but I did get back to a place where I felt free to read whatever I wanted.

Except my love of chick lit never really came back. I still felt too judged. I didn’t want to cry over love stories. I wanted to go on adventures and meet amazing characters. When I started blogging for the first time back in the mid 2000’s I was still too damaged to be kind and understanding. 

Over the years that has changed. I think Twilight has a lot to do with that. I never made it through all of the books but seeing the huge amount of internet backlash against young girls enjoying their lives hit me. They just wanted to read the things that made them happy. Who cares if that means Shakespeare, Danielle Steel, or Stephanie Meyers? There’s a love for reading that can develop in those formative teenage years. Why squash it because you think vampires and warewolves are dumb?

I also found myself defending Fifty Shades of Gray having never read the book. My mom and her friends read a copy and passed it around their group. The internet, and people in my library program, were incredulous.  I heard “trash” and “bad fanfiction” more than I could count. I thought it was fascinating and horrible that I knew so much about a book I hadn’t read. I also thought it was awful that mob mentality was again harassing new readers. Because that’s what I also saw in Fifty Shades – women who hadn’t read in years picking up a book and losing sleep over a story, women talking about their thoughts, waiting for the next book in a series. I saw women learning to love to read and society deciding that they were doing it wrong. 

So now I read whatever I want. I don’t care what people think anymore. My bookshelves are the first thing you see in my house. The house I bought with money I made by working with books. I try to read vicariously and indiscriminately. I sometimes pick up the latest love story. I’ll read about haunted libraries and far away places. I’ll also give the new popular novel a try. It doesn’t matter if it is getting flack, I just want the plot to sound interesting. 

I also want to defend the readers just finding their footing and readers who unapologetically love genre. Those who love romance novels and the readers who love Young Adult stories well into their 40s. Life is too short to shame people for the books they love.

Review: Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

If you were around on Friday you saw me proclaim my love for Maggie Stiefvater and The Raven Cycle.  It is a series that I not only finished (which is super shocking) but also completely adored and reread earlier this summer. 

The reread was in anticipation of Stiefvater’s Dreamer series. Ronan has always been one of my favorite Raven boys so upon finding out earlier this year that I would get to learn more of his story I flipped out and then immediately listened to all of the audiobooks with two friends. While I don’t have a lot of love for the audio version of one of my favorite series I’ll say that at least we all now say Gansey’s name the same way…but I digress… 

Call Down the Hawk came out at the beginning of the month and the buddy read started right back up. 3 of us spent a little under a week living in Stiefvater’s crazy world. I don’t think any of us looked up any type of plot description. We all just heard “Ronan” and “Series” and dove in. 

For those of you who need a bit of a higher selling point here is a brief plot – Ronan Lynch is in a bit of a funk. He’s experimenting with his dreams and missing his friends and his boyfriend. With the rest of the Raven Squad far away experiencing their first terms at University, Ronan is left with his brothers and a lot of time. Except trouble always seems to find Ronan. There are other dreamers about, and they could change everything for Ronan. The new voice in his dreams makes that clear. 

I did love the experience of being in Call Down the Hawk. This review is a few weeks late because my post Hawk thoughts are a little messy. The writing is still perfect. Maggie is a fantastic talent and her storytelling skills are among some of the best. However I leave my time with Ronan and Co. a little confused and a bit dissatisfied. 

So much of the experience of Hawk is made bright by a love of an already established character. While the new characters, especially Jordan, are really intriguing but her story feels very drawn out for very little payoff. That’s actually a great description for the whole book. Long, lots of short scenes that may or may not have a place in a larger narrative, very little pay off. 

One of the best parts of reading Raven Cycle was getting a complete story in each book, sure there as an overarching plot for the 4 books, but each novel felt like a complete story. Hawk is a part of a whole. It doesn’t stand on its own. It doesn’t provide answers, only questions. 

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I look forward to the impending sequels. But if you’re a reader like me who has a hard time finishing series and would rather get a bigger payoff at the end of your novel, this one may be a title to hold off on until the rest of the series is out. 

My Raven Boys and a Great Starter for Friendsgiving

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

I have a pretty solid friend group. Many of them jump on books I recommend. They love board games and comic book movies. Over the last decade I’ve had some familiar faces fade out, and new ones jump in to fill their place. That’s life, and sometimes it is sad. However my core group of friends is solid and I am proud to say that at 30 I see my most loved people more often than I did in my early 20’s. We make time for each other. We go to trivia every week and plan game nights on weekends. 

We also do things like Friendsgiving.  Last weekend my brother and future sister-in-law hosted our most filling annual tradition. I brought a ton of tasty treats, including my pumpkin spice puppy chow and famous biscuits. I also brought some zippy pigs in a blanket. I’ll have the recipe below. 

I’m talking about my friends this week as we lead up to US Thanksgiving. I like to reflect on the things I am thankful for, and this friend group is very high on the list. 

Who else is going to laugh at my bad jokes? Let me pick really cheesy movies?

Who else is going to read The Raven Cycle with me? 

This is the group that got me through Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Blue’s journey. We still say things like “The trees speak latin.” 3 of us binge read Call Down the Hawk when it came out 2 weeks ago. 

A few days ago I told you how I am bad at finishing series, except when someone will hold me accountable. These are the friends that held me accountable. They let me stay excited about the house on Fox Way and Cabeswater. I got to theorize about the three sleepers. It felt like we were on our own Sleeping King™ adventure. We may not have gone to a fancy prep school together, were no longer in high school, and were not destin to kill the people we kiss but we were able to imagine ourselves in this story. 

It helped that the Raven Boys plus Blue are a really solid friend group. They spend a ton of time together. They trust each other, mostly. Secrets are rare, but exist. Tension happens, but will be resolved. There are crushes and right person wrong time happenings. They’re also dealing with crazy cool supernatural things. With the help of each other skeptics become believes and everyone reaches a version of their best self. 

Also, I would like a robobee. 

The Gansey, Blue, Ronan, and Adam also have small traditions of breaking bread. For the longest time I wanted to write this post with a recipe for pizza, in honor of their first meeting. However the more I thought about it and the closer it got to my annual friendsgiving celebration I realized that pizza is great, but shareable snacks, customizable for a crowd was the real answer. 

These zippy pigs in a blanket are pretty classic. I’m not reinventing the wheel. Much like my favorite king hunters I do not have a ton of free time. I like to make quick appetizers that are easy to snack on and super addictive.  My one fun addition is seasoning. For Friendsgiving I used 4 different spice mixtures, some personal favorites, some requests from my friends who have grown to love these little salty snacks. I used a lovely Ras el Hanout mixture, a generous heaping of cajun seasoning, garlic salt, and everything bagel seasoning on alternating pieces. The effect was a flavor bomb in each bite, and something special for everyone.

The recipe is super easy and super versatile. You can add any type of seasoning you like or leave them plain. It takes all of 20 minutes to roll everything and bake. They’re always a huge hit.

Ingredients:
2 canisters crescent roll dough

2 packages lil’ smokies cocktail sausages

Your favorite seasonings (like garlic salt, cajun, italian, ranch)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Open crescent roll containers and cut dough into inch and a half long strips. I like to take the preshapped triangles and just cut them out of that shape. They do not have to be perfect. 

Roll dough around sausage and set on baking tray. Once tray all trays are full top with favorite seasonings and bake for 12 minutes. 

Enjoy!

I’m Not a Closer: On Reading (or Not Reading) Book Series

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

I’m many things. I read across genres. I run and participate in book clubs. I cook. I have a mild Disney obsession. 

However, I am not a closer. I’m not really a fan of endings. This makes me a really annoying person to play games with. I will drag out play longer than necessary. I will also be upset when I lose because of this.

I’m not claiming to be perfect here. 

I’m the same way with books. Not individual books, mind you. I like the journey of stand alone books. I love seeing story threads woven together and seeing how a beginning, middle, and end make a full story. 

But I’m also not a patient person. I don’t do well with book series. Outside Harry Potter there are only a handful of series I have been able to finish, and that is mostly due to the fact that they were all published at the time I started the first book, or would be finishing up during the time I was reading the series. 

For Instance, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a great series. I can promise you I would not have finished the series if the 3rd book hadn’t come out the week I started the series.  I probably wouldn’t have finished The Raven Cycle if I didn’t have real life friends also obsessed with the series. I finished Divergent during a week I was snowed in and still on winter break. 

The formula here is really Sarah + Interesting Book + Additional Waiting Time = No Dice

I never finished the Lunar Chronicles. I have no interest in the Hunger Games Prequel. Twilight? The Grisha Trilogy?  I haven’t even finished the 2nd Crescent City book. I only had to wait 5 months between reading City of Lost Fortunes, insisting all of my friends read it, wishing I lived in New Orleans, and then being completely flaky and only reading about 100 pages of Gather the Fortunes. 

Most of my abandon books are sequels. 

I don’t know what it is. I remember plots fairly well. I don’t mind rereading books, so the idea of rereading a series to keep things fresh in my head before starting a new release should be a joy. I just can’t bring myself to do it.  

This is on my mind as I start The Book of Life – the last book in the All Souls trilogy. I found the second book, The Shadow of Night a bit like pulling teeth, but if you pulled teeth in 16th century England and there were also witches, which is to say interesting but painful. I haven’t finished a real series since my grad school days, and that was only because I had reader friends there to pull me across the finish line. This is my own personal marathon. No one will know if I fail but me and my bank account. 

Maybe this time will be different. But maybe not. So I’ll pour one out for all of the series I wasn’t able to finish. I’m sure you were great. I’m sure I’ll add more of you to my list of DNF titles and nod in a very faux knowing fashion when you come up in library conversations. It’s okay. I’ll just fake it till I make it, or google the ending…

Review: Eat Joy: Stories & Comfort Food from 31 Celebrated Writers

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

I’ve always had a complicated relationship with food. I Like to eat, which is probably a well known fact here at this blog by now. I’ve also had a lifelong battle/complex with my weight. I read other food blogs, cookbooks, and magazines for fun and regularly earmark recipes I will never make because they require too much butter, too many carbs, something I am currently not “supposed” to have if I want to fit into my jeans and look okay in pictures.

I am aware this is a toxic mindset, but it is hard to undo 30 years of societal pressure. Lately I’m working on eating cleaner without losing flavor. It is a lot of veggies, plain greek yogurt, and homemade granola. I’ve only had a few meltdowns over wanting Mac and Cheese. I’m still working on balance, but I feel healthier. 

I say all of this because reading Eat Joy reminded me of the big moments food plays in everyone’s life. It reminded me of the comfort food I made in college – bowtie pasta, sauteed apple and onion, honey, mozzarella, and kielbasa. It wasn’t healthy and was kind of weird but I made it whenever I was sad, overwhelmed, or really any strong emotion. I didn’t really know how to cook then but understood a few flavors I did enjoy. I used those to create my own safe space. 

Eat Joy also reminded me of my grandma’s sweet potatoes – the only thing she used her stove for in the last years of her life, and only because my mom and I enjoyed them. It reminded me of the coney restaurant by my house and their chicken strips and all of the friends I have laughed and cried with over crispy fries, and the diner where I would meet my family for breakfast most weekends in my early 20’s. 

It wasn’t always the best food, but it as the food I needed. Now when I taste those chicken strips, or try to recreate my grandmother’s sweet potatoes I’m transported back. I have changed my college comfort food to have a more middle easern kick, but I still have a tasty comfort food full of apples and honey and savory elements. 

Eat Joy is full of stories like these. They are better written by authors you already know and love. These essays focus on celebration and grief. They show how that even when we aren’t trying the food we eat is helping to define us. Eat Joy showcases something I truly believe in as well, that food is to be shared. I’m an acts of service kind of person, and cooking for those I love is one of the biggest ways I showcase respect and affection. This appears in countless stories in this collection. 

Some essays are funny, some are hard to read. They’re like life. Each comes with a personal recipe, some as funny as their authors, some percices like a chef. 

I tried to write a conventional review of Eat Joy but I didn’t think it would land. Instead, if you find yourself thinking about tasty traditions during the holiday season, I encourage you to pick up this short collection. It’s great for a long afternoon relaxing, reading over lunch breaks when you really just want to be home, or on a flight on your way to see family or make new and delicious memories.

Comfort Reads, Comfort Food

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

We had a lot of snow this week. Like 8 inches. It is very cold. I’m a fan of winter, but we are still a solid month away from me being okay with the wet white stuff covering my yard, driveway, route to work…Alas I don’t get a say. The weather will do as it likes, I suppose. 

I do get a say in my reading. When the go and gets cold the cold go inside and read. For me, comfort reading takes many forms. Fluffy romance novels that leave my heart fluttering, old children’s books that remind me that hope is easy and adventure is possible, and 1500’s historical fiction.

I am such a historical fiction nut. I grew up reading about other times and wishing I could travel back. Then I remembered vaccines and toilets and french fries exist in my current time and everything is good. I’ll stick to reading about Victorians, wars, and royals. 

And boy do I love to read about Royals. The Plantagenet and Tudor era in the UK is my jam. I find the family drama fascinating and the political climate ruthlessly delicious. I first found my love of this era with Phillipa Gregory. She is so prolific that I have most of a shelf dedicated to her work. I have read from Edward IV through Elizabeth I with her. I’ve gotten to spend time with amazing and prolific women who only exist as historical footnotes in most peoples minds. I really appreciate that her fictional work is well researched, and that she chooses to highlight powerful women in a time where women are thought to be powerless.

The adaptations of her works are pretty fun too. I really enjoyed The Other Boylen Girl and The White Queen/White Princess. The Constant Princess is now on my watchlist and I miss my Starz hookup. Too many streaming services, not enough $$$ and all that. 

Gregory’s books are like comfort food. They’re addicting. I crave the settings and the characters. I sneak pages in between meetings and waiting for friends at restaurants. They make me read in a way I don’t much anymore. It’s a careless kind of reading, a get to the end but wait don’t forget to savor this moment kind of reading. 

It’s the type of reading that reminds me of cider mill donuts. Here in Michigan they’re a big deal. Lines at cider mills can be awfully long. You could wait upwards of half an hour just to get a sniff of the cinnamon sugar and apple cider. Then once you  have the warm donuts in your hand you have to be careful. They’re seasonal, and that line is still long. They’re a treat, but they are the definition of comfort food. Soft and warm, doughy, full of fall flavors and love. 

This week I didn’t bake for you. I went to one of my favorite cider mills after a particularly weird work trip. I drank cider. I took small bites of the best doughnut ever in my car and let the spices and deep fried goodness warm me on a cool day.  

There are a million recipes for donuts like these online. I don’t fry things in my house so I am woefully unprepared to point you in a tasty direction. I just know the baked ones don’t quite seem up to snuff. If you’re looking for a real treat search for german cider donuts. Less cinnamon sugar, more spice, and a little bite. 

Really, they’re everything you want in fall. Well, everything minus a really good book.

Adaptation and Disney

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

I, like many people, spent a lot of time yesterday with Disney+. First waiting for the app to download, then for Disney to get its crap together and actually load anything. I browsed for a while and found some childhood favorites. 

This wasn’t a surprise. I have always been a disney lover. Before Disney+ was even an idea I was holding massive marathon with friends with the goal of watching all available films in chronological order. (I made it to Meet the Robinsons. I think that’s pretty good record in a non Disney streaming service world.) The surprise for me was the amount of adaptations I found. Some are well known, others are a bit more of a surprise. 

Today I wanted to bring a few to light, just in case you wanted to check out the source material before you start your own Disney binge. This is by no means an exhaustive list, I just want to point out some adaptations that may be less well known. 

Lady and the Tramp – This classic (and now live action movie) is at the helm of all the Disney+ marketing, but did you know it was based off a short story that appeared in Cosmopolitan by Ward Greene. Happy Dan, The Cynical Dog made its debut in 1945 and ten short years later we had our beloved Lady and Tramp. 

101 Dalmatians – It is no surprise that Disney loves adaptation. Many of their early films were stories reimagined from popular works. 101 Dalmatians was original a 1950’s era children’s book. I think it is better on screen with talking puppies, personally, but fully expect to read the source material at some point in my life. 

The Lion King, The Lion King 2 : Simba’s Pride, The Lion King ½: I’ve told you all how I love Shakespeare, right? I’m pretty sure that has come up more than once…Anyway, Lion King is straight up Hamlet. I know this isn’t shocking news. Most of us were aware of this in our high school English classes. However, fewer people notice that Lion King 2 is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, and even few get that Lion King ½ is a very fun adaptation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. All are worth reading. I promise. Maybe with a rewatching of Lion King as a reward at the end? 

Mary Poppins – Duh! I’m sure all of my bookish readers went in search of the original Mary Poppins books after Mary Poppins Returns came out last year. If not I promosie the books, while not as fun or sweet as the movie, are solid children’s stories that are worthy of a read. 

Bambi – Stay with me here. Bambi is based on an Austrian novel called Bambi, a Life in the Woods. It was translated into English in 1928 and became a classic early Disney movie in 1942. I can’t speak for the book, but I will tell you Bambi is a much less upsetting movie as an adult. Give it another shot. Sometimes it is even funny! 

Winnie the Pooh – You probably know that Pooh bear was featured in a very well loved children’s book by A.A. Milne, but did you know that he was also a real stuffed bear beloved by Milne’s son? Today you can find Pooh and friends at the New York Public Library’s main branch in the children’s department. They look well loved, but happy in their new version of the hundred acre wood. I grew up on Pooh’s adventures, and read his books countless times. The first thing I searched for on Disney + was my favorite bear, and am going to go to relive my childhood with the New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh tonight. 

Honorable but obvious mentions: Huck, Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Sword and the Stone, Inspector Gadget, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Big Hero 6, The Black Cauldron…I could go on and on….

Are you also super stoked to do a Disney deep dive? Did I miss obscure adaptations that you think are worth calling out? Let me know! I’ll talk Disney all day, every day!