2024 September Reading Challenge

[Elizabeth]

Hello all,

I can't believe it's almost September! September 29th is Broadway Musicals Day, which means your September Challenge is to read something that relates to the theater. That could mean reading an actual play, like Shakespeare comedy, Twelfth Night, or tragedy Hamlet, or a different play. Here's a searching hint, use the keyword search for Drama and limit the format to books on our catalog!

You could read a fictional book that takes place at a theater, like this mystery Ill Met by Murder or this romance To Marry and to Meddle, or this one A Play for Revenge.

You can also read a nonfiction title about the theater like Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway, The Tony Awards: A Celebration of Excellence in Theatre, The Essentials of Theater: A Guide to Acting, Stagecraft, Technical Theater, and More, or Hamilton: The Revolution.

I know we have a lot of audiobook listeners too, so you can also listen to a radio play. In Libby, just do a keyword search for Radio, and a lot of our awesome radio plays are available. There's older ones like Great Radio Science Fiction, or Radio Treasures The Shadow, or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Primary Phase Special.

For some fun background noise, check out our musical playlist on thecountylibrary.org/Spotify.

Have fun!

[Debbie]

Thank you! Sounds like fun. I was going to ask but I got distracted by a cat and a nap. We both took a cat nap. He's still asleep,

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Oh fun!

[Brittany]

This is perfect! I'm currently working on a Shakespeare challenge to read all his plays. I will be reading Henry V.

[Clancy]

I'm going to read Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost

[Teresa]

I read Stage Fright On A Summer Night, from the Magic Tree House series. 2 kids time travel to 'Merry Olde England' and William Shakespeare puts them in his play at the Globe Theatre.
I prefer the Magic School Bus, which I originally confused this for.

[Greg]

I read Making It So by Patrick Stewart, star of both Stage and Screen.

[Elizabeth]

Greg wrote: "I'll be reading
Making It So
by Patrick Stewart, star of both Stage and Screen."

I NEED to read that!

[Linda]

Teresa wrote: "I read Stage Fright On A Summer Night, from the Magic Tree House series. 2 kids time travel to 'Merry Olde England' and William Shakespeare puts them in his play at the Globe Theatre.
I prefer the ..."

That sounds fun. I like Magic Tree House books.

[Linda]

I am going to read

[Carolyn]

This topic is convenient this month since I'm just back from my annual Southern Utah theater trip with one of my sisters. I am reading Stage Fright on a Summer Night after seeing it mentioned here the other day. I can get through that quickly, and and then I will see what else comes up this month.

[Brittany]

I read Henry V by William Shakespeare. It was fine, not my favorite of his plays.

I also read Poetry for Kids: William Shakespeare. It brings together some of the best passages of Shakespeare with gorgeous illustrations. Definitely recommend! It was delightful.

[KazuChris]

I recently read Henry V by Shakespeare. I'll be completely honest, as a huge history fan. I was quite disappointed with how the battle of agnicourt was potrayed.

[Carolyn]

i finished "Stage Fright on a Summer Night" soon after posting about it the other day. It is focused on a different play, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a brief reference to "The Winter's Tale" which I had seen a few days before (the bear).

[Em]

I completed The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis. It follows two women active in the theater and their struggles during the House Unamerican Activities Committee time period.

[Elizabeth]

Is anyone going to listen to a Radio Play? So many good options!

[Deborah]

Elizabeth wrote: "Is anyone going to listen to a Radio Play? So many good options!"

I would like to but I am having trouble finding them on libby.

[Debbie]

Deborah wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Is anyone going to listen to a Radio Play? So many good options!"

I would like to but I am having trouble finding them on libby."

On YouTube, you can find radio dramas at the Old Time Radio at https://www.youtube.com/@oldtimeradio11
You could also do a search for "old time radio dramas". Or if you know the name of a specific one, you could try it's name with "radio drama" added. Such as Witness for the prosecution radio play or The Shadow radio dramas. Or maybe use "drama" instead of "play". If you want comedies, use comedy instead of drama.

Good luck and thanks for your question. I have now found what I'm going to do. A radio play called Rope. Originally a play, it was modified slightly to become the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope which starred James Stuart. I had been stumped and you've solved my problem!

[Elizabeth]

Deborah wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Is anyone going to listen to a Radio Play? So many good options!"

I would like to but I am having trouble finding them on libby."

If you do a keyword search for "radio" in Libby it brings up a lot of regular books that have radio in the title, like Ghost Radio, and Radio Silence, but if you keep scrolling, you'll run into titles like these:

Radio Treasures: The Shadow
Great Radio Horror
Great Radio Detectives
Mutual Radio Theater
Great Radio Comedy
Great Radio Science Fiction
Monk's Hood
The Best of BearManor Radio
Classic Radio's Greatest Comedy Shows, Vol. 1
Gunsmoke: Around Dodge City

They're in there, I promise!

[Elizabeth]

Debbie wrote: "A radio play called Rope. Originally a play, it was modified slightly to become the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope which starred James Stuart..."

That's one of my favorite Hitchcock films!

[Debbie]

I listened to the radio play of Rope: A Play by Patrick Hamilton ( Review ) on YouTube, Old Time Radio channel . I was delighted that the main character was portrayed by Sir Alan Rickman.

[Deborah]

I just finished Jane Austen: The BBC Radio Drama Collection for this challenge. I highly recommend it.

[Elizabeth]

Debbie wrote: "I listened to the radio play of Rope: A Play by Patrick Hamilton ( Review ) on YouTube, Old Time Radio channel . I was delighted that the main character was portra..."

Oh cool! A whole Radio Channel. I will explore it when I am not at work!

[Elizabeth]

Deborah wrote: "I just finished Jane Austen: The BBC Radio Drama Collection for this challenge. I highly recommend it."

I MUST listen to this. I love all of those actors, and I love Austen, so really, I should definitely do that!

[Darin]

I'm going to try "Mutual Radio Theatre." I was going to do "Great Radio Comedy," but I might not get it in time for this challenge.

[Stephanie]

Elizabeth wrote: "Hello all,

I can't believe it's almost September! September 29th is Broadway Musicals Day, which means your September Challenge is to read something that relates to the theater. That could mean re..."

Ha! It's not a book, but it feels relevant.... I've been listening to a podcast called Off Book: an improvised musical podcast and it's fantastic hearing folks who are comedians/musical nerds come up with off the cuff musicals full of interesting characters and dynamic plots! One episode even featured an actress who played as the 9th Elphaba in Wicked and she talked a little bit about her experiences, which was wildly illuminating to me!
This is a fun challenge -- I'll have to look up some books! and radio dramas are always a fun way to experience stories.

[Elizabeth]

Stephanie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Hello all,

I can't believe it's almost September! September 29th is Broadway Musicals Day, which means your September Challenge is to read something that relates to the theater. ..."

If you think it counts, it can count! It really is theater, and about theater, so ... if you want it to count, it can. :)

[Ellen Nicole]

What are your thoughts on counting ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel- it’s dystopian but follows a traveling group who are performing Shakespeare plays. So there’s not really a single stage or theater- but i feel it has that concept of the ‘All the world’s a stage’. If we feel that counts- I finished that book on September 10th. 🙂

[Linda]

Finished . It was a fun read. Now I need to go watch the movie again.

[Carolyn]

Ellen Nicole wrote: "What are your thoughts on counting ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel- it’s dystopian but follows a traveling group who are performing Shakespeare plays. So there’s not really a single stage..."

I haven't read it, but from what I know about it, "Station Eleven" totally counts!

[Elizabeth]

Ellen Nicole wrote: "What are your thoughts on counting ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel- it’s dystopian but follows a traveling group who are performing Shakespeare plays. So there’s not really a single stage..."

If you think it counts, it counts!

[Elizabeth]

Can you all believe it's September 20th? Because I can't!

Make sure you post what you read/listened to for this challenge before the end of the month, to be entered into the prize drawing.

[Darin]

I finished listening to “Mutual Radio Theatre.” I kind of liked it! I also kind of liked the commercials - just interesting to me.

I did get the one that was comedy, but after listening to a little of it, I just wasn’t into it, I guess. Got to be in the right mood, maybe.

[Teresa]

I listen to Old Time Radio plays in October, for the scary stories. The commercials are funny.

[Elizabeth]

Nice! There is something nice about listening to old radio shows. I recently enjoyed listening to Great Radio Science Fiction. The first radio show Dimension X was so creepy, and exciting, and a little bit sad.

[Darin]

Oh! I will have to try the Science Fiction one - I think I’ll like that.

[Elizabeth]

Last day! Let me know if you finished this month's challenge!

[Elizabeth]

Brittany is our prize drawing winner for September’s reading challenge for reading Henry V by William Shakespeare.

Congratulations!

P.S. My apologies for the delay in selecting a winner.

[Brittany]

Woohoo!

[Debbie]

Way to go, Brittany!