I Stayed Up Late to Talk About Dad With You

Mary reads The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915).    Read along here .

Mary reads The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915).  Read along here . 

Mary reads The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915). We hope it will transform you!   Read along here . 

Ally reads the last chapter of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ally reads a chapter a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ally reads a chapter a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ally reads a chapter a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.   This one is short and intriguing.

Ally reads a chapter (or two) a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ally reads a chapter (or two) a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ally reads a chapter a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Ally reads a chapter a day of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Mary reads the short story Papa Panov's Special Christmas by Leo Tolstoy.   And with that, Mary is signing off for 2021! We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. 

Mary reads The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe (1850). Though Poe did not write any stories specifically set around Christmas (that I could find - please send us the name if he did!), this semi-ghost story is in keeping with the relatively unintentional Christmas Eve ghost story theme we have going. I also chose it because I thought it might fit into the type of ghost story Jerome K. Jerome had s...

Mary reads the short story A Scot's Christmas Story by George MacDonald.   Read along here . 

Mary reads the short story The Burglar's Christmas by Willa Cather (1896). This short story was published by Cather in The Home Monthly under the pseudonym Elizabeth L. Seymour.     Read along here .

Ally reads the short story "Christmas Eve" by Washington Irving, which appeared in The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, along with Rip Van Winkle and Sleep Hollow. Irving's portrayal of Christmas in England was very influential in the development of American Christmas traditions.   This is Ally signing off for the year. Mary will pick up next week with a few more Christmas short stories and then we...

Ally reads the essay "Christmas" by Washington Irving, which appeared in The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, along with Rip Van Winkle and Sleep Hollow. Irving's portrayal of Christmas in England was very influential in the development of American Christmas traditions. We'll have another one of his Christmas stories tomorrow.

Ally reads the novella Told After Supper by Jerome K. Jerome, which was published in 1891.   Part 3 of 3.   This is a funny one.

Ally reads the novella Told After Supper by Jerome K. Jerome, which was published in 1891.   Part 2 of 3.   This is a funny one.

Ally reads the novella Told After Supper by Jerome K. Jerome, which was published in 1891.   Part 1 of 3.   This is a funny one.

Ally reads The Red Room, a short story by HG Wells, which was published in 1896.   This isn't technically a Christmas story, but Wells didn't write any Christmas-themed stories (that we could find), so we are substituting a ghost story. Apparently telling ghost stories around the fire was a British Christmas Eve tradition. 

Ally reads Christmas Storms and Sunshine by Elizabeth Gaskell, a Christmas short story which was published in 1848.

Ally and Mary stay up late to share their thoughts on O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.    

Mary reads the concluding chapters of O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (1913).    Read along here .

Mary reads a few chapters a day of O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (1913).    Read along here .