Stella here! I wanted to do a short post — probably all of my posts are going to be short, because, let’s be honest, we all have attention disorders and don’t want to read much, amIright???– yes, a short post about a series I have been reading called The Serafina Series written by Robert Beatty. I came upon this series while I was in a Barnes and Nobel in NYC and was intrigued by the cover and blurb about the book.

While I do recommend all three books that are published, I most recently finished Serafina and the Splintered Heart. The series takes place at and around the Biltmore Estate during the height of the Gilded Age. Among the majority of author-original characters, you will find yourself familiar with the Vanderbilts and others that were present during that time.

The series continues to be a fun read with dark turns and suspense. The genre is fantasy with historical aspects sprinkled in. The heroes – Serafina and Braeden – are twelve years old, but don’t let that fool you! The vocabulary throughout the novel and the decisions and actions of the characters speak to their wisdom. They also encounter fierce and unforgiving villains which darkens the tone of the novels.

You should read this book if you:

1. Enjoy fantasy with some historical aspects
2. Enjoy characters with a strong sense of right and wrong
3. Enjoy characters that are devoted to family, friendship and loyalty
4. Enjoy animals

ex animo,
Stella

It’s the eighth episode of Required Reading With Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it’s worth its place in the canon.

In this episode, we look at Persepolis, Book One, Marajane Satrapi’s graphic novel depicting her coming of age during the Iranian Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s

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If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella), check out our Twitter feed at @reqreadingcast, or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com.

It’s the seventh episode of Required Reading With Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it’s worth its place in the canon.

This time out, we take a look at H.G. Wells’ seminal science fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, which is about an martian invasion of England in the late 19th Century.

Required Reading iTunes Page

Required Reading Podcast Page at Two True Freaks

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If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella), check out our Twitter feed at @reqreadingcast, or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com.

It’s the sixth episode of Required Reading With Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it’s worth its place in the canon.

This time out, we take a look at Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, a haunting tale of gothic romance set in early 20th Century England.

Required Reading iTunes Page

Required Reading Podcast Page at Two True Freaks

Direct Download

If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella), check out our Twitter feed at @reqreadingcast, or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com.

It’s the fifth episode of Required Reading with Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it’s worth its place in the canon.

This time out, we take a look at Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, his classic novel about Buck, a dog who is taken from his home and has to survive both in the wilderness and mistreatment by men in the Klondike Gold Rush of the early 1900s.

Required Reading iTunes Page

Required Reading Podcast Page at Two True Freaks

Direct Download

If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella), check out our Twitter feed at @reqreadingcast, or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com.

It’s the fourth episode of Required Reading with Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it’s worth its place in the canon.

This time out, we take a look at Le Petit Prince, or The Little Prince, the classic 1943 book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Required Reading iTunes Page

Required Reading Podcast Page at Two True Freaks

Direct Download

If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella), check out our Twitter feed at @reqreadingcast, or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com.

It’s the third episode of Required Reading with Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it’s worth its place in the canon.

This time out, we take a look at Maya Angelou’s landmark memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which explores her childhood and adolesence in Arkansas and in other parts of the South and Midwest during the 1930s-1950s.

Required Reading iTunes Page

Required Reading Podcast Page at Two True Freaks

Direct Download

If you like our podcast, feel free to like our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella), check out our Twitter feed at @reqreadingcast, or email us at requiredreadingcast@gmail.com.