Kindred Spirits Book Club

We're popping in to let you know that we are hard at work on season 5! We are giving you a sneak peek to the season ahead so you can get to reading!

Kindred Spirits Book Club joins forces with The Auntie Bulletin for a lively Substack Live conversation about the many “aunties” in Anne of Green Gables—from Marilla to Aunt Josephine to Miss Stacey—and how nontraditional families can offer love, guidance, and community to a child. We share favorite moments from the books, swap stories about real-life aunties, and explore the lasting impact of these relationships. If you loved hearing from Lisa Sibbett of The Auntie Bulletin, check out her substack for more of her amazing writing about the communities we build for ourselves. You can also see the video of our conversation there as well! If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

It's the last episode of Season 4 and we’re back from the Stratford Festival and diving headfirst into Anne of Green Gables—the play! We dive into everything we loved, from the production’s inventive stagecraft to the standout performances. And of course we share the moments that made us laugh, cry, and geek out with other Kindred Spirits. Whether you’ve seen the show or just wish you had, this episode is your front-row seat. And we wrap up this final episode of Season 4 with our recommendations for summer reading! Inspired by: We are inspired by summer reading! Kelly recommends: Rilla of Ingleside to get a jump on our 5th season! Also, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore for a juicy, thrilling read, James by Percival Everett for a beautiful and heartbreaking reimagining of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective, and Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz for a book within a book twisty mystery. Ragon recommends: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst for a cozy fantasy world, Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn for the adventures of retired female assassins, and Buried Deep by Naomi Novik for a collection of wildly diverse fantasy short stories by one of our favorite fantasy writers. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

It’s the penultimate episode of this season and we are geeking out about Anne of Green Gables with Briana Corr Scott, whose gorgeous illustrations bring Anne to life in a new book for children - on shelves now! We discuss Briana’s work as an artist, collaborating with a descriptive writer like LM Montgomery, and how we use art and literature to understand our own lives. KSBC and Briana are also joining forces for a giveaway - be sure to check us out on Kindred Spirits Book Club Instagram to enter! Inspired by: Ragon is inspired by the book vases at Biblio Bloom to hold all your summer flowers. Kelly is inspired by the Handwritten Classics edition of Anne of Green Gables by Barbara Heller with hand-folded letters tucked inside! Briana is inspired by vintage shopping and WE are inspired by her gorgeous art that you can find on her website. Check it out to buy her beautiful prints, cards and other items. You can also find her illustrated books at Nimbus Publishing, and look for her new illustrated Young Readers edition of Anne, as well as the beautiful bind-ups of Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea and Anne of the Island/Windy Poplars. You can also follow Briana on Instagram at BrianaCorrScott to see more of her lovely work! If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Felicity King in The Golden Road inspired today’s episode about unlikeable girls in L.M. Montgomery’s fiction. We talk about what makes these girls and young women challenging, why we often end up liking them anyway, and what we think Montgomery was doing by including depictions of girlhood that break the mold. Inspired by: Kelly is inspired by the podcast Novel Pairings and their current read along of Emma, by Jane Austen. Ragon is inspired by the new musical Clueless currently on the West End in London. But if you can’t get there, you should rewatch the 90’s classic Clueless the movie. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Curtains up, Kindred Spirits! We went to the prestigious Stratford Festival to attend the opening of the new stage adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and had a magical time. Join us to hear about our whirlwind trip, our first impressions and review of Anne of Green Gables (spoiler-free), and our interview with a true Kindred Spirit: Caroline Toal, who plays Anne in the new production. Caroline is thoughtful, funny, and truly understands Anne, and we can’t wait to introduce you to her. See Anne of Green Gables at the Stratford Festival for yourself! If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

While many of L.M. Montgomery’s novels depict romanticized childhoods, perhaps no book is more wistfully nostalgic about a childhood on Prince Edward Island than The Golden Road. We discuss the characters' transition from childhood to adulthood, the ways their childhood was captured in real time and in memory, and our own nostalgia for golden moments of youth. Inspired by: Kelly is inspired by: the old-fashioned art of flower pressing! You can use a kit or go old-school and just use a heavy book! Ragon is inspired by: the show The Residence on Netflix for some quirky detective hijinks. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Picking up where The Story Girl left off, The Golden Road continues the story of the King cousins and their friends as they begin to grow up, and slowly grow apart. Today we are recapping the final book in the duology, with its many moments of humor, sweetness, and heartache. Inspired by: Kelly’s fancy cookie jar. Kelly is inspired by: Poor Cecily’s hair woes and recommends Angel Rinse by Kevin Murphy for seriously deep conditioning that doesn’t weigh down fine hair. Ragon is inspired by: The Solar Smart Birdfeeder by Evergreen for watching bird friends! If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

A new Anne of Green Gables is coming to the stage! We are delighted to present our interview with Kat Sandler, the playwright behind a new theatrical adaptation of Anne, premiering at the Stratford Festival this month. Kat, Ragon, and Kelly talk about the challenges and delights of adaptations, updating beloved stories, and giving yourself permission to “go full cheese” after spending time with Anne. Go check out Anne of Green Gables at the Stratford Festival! If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

In a special Podcast Swap episode, we are sharing with you an episode from the fantastic limited series podcast Story Girl: The Life of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Discover the life and legacy of L.M. Montgomery in this insightful 7-part podcast, in which we explore her childhood, literary journey, and the timeless impact of Anne of Green Gables on generations of readers. Listen to the entire series here. We are sharing Episode 2: The Road To Anne from Story Girl. In this episode, Maud attends teachers college, gets engaged and falls in love (not necessarily in that order). She also begins writing the novel that will change her life. Written & Hosted by Ryan Barnett Produced by Ryan Barnett & Sonia Gemmiti Associate Producers Maia Foster-Sanchez & Kristi Prophet Recorded by Tyler Rauman This series features interviews with Kate Macdonald Butler, Kate Scarth, Jessica Young, Laura Robinson & Yuko Matsumoto. Additional voices by Candace Amarante & Matthew Barnett A Knockabout Media Production Story Girl was made possible thanks to funding from the Government of Canada.

Faith and Una Meredith, Mary Vance, Sara Stanley, Felicity and Cecily King – all of these girls have different relationships with housekeeping and cooking, and PhD candidate Ariel Little is here to tell us all about it! We speculate about how the characters might show up on social media, the way that housekeeping reflects power and authority in Montgomery’s work, and why cleanliness was so important to the Victorians. If you want to read some of Ariel Little’s writing, she’s published this article, Under the Moon's Healing Influence: George MacDonald's Literary Re-envisioning of Women's Health and also has a chapter in this new book, Beyond Little Women, edited by Lauren Hehmeyer. Inspired by: Ragon is inspired by: Fourteen Talks By Age Fourteen by Michelle Icard and Finding The Magic In Middle School by Chris Balme. Kelly is inspired by: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Ariel is inspired by: The Sanitary Arts: Aesthetic Culture and the Victorian Cleanliness Campaign by Eileen Cleere and Architecture in the Family Way by Annmarie Adams, as well as The House Of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Whether they are giving their own church sermons or looking at a picture of God, whether trying not to giggle in church or debating the ethics of prayer, the kids of The Story Girl engage with religion and morality constantly. Today we get into why religion figures so prominently in their lives, and also discuss the invention of Sunday schools. Digressions include prayer to lesser known saints and our recent experience with a one day choir! Inspired by: Kelly is inspired by the Belief-O-Matic quiz which could possibly helped Peter with his Methodist vs. Presbyterian dilemma. Ragon is inspired by the One Day Choir at the Gaia Music Collective for a spiritual musical experience. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Adolescent identity and values take center stage in this episode. The themes beautiful, clever, and good reappear in The Story Girl as archetypal girls. We talk about beautiful Felicity, good Cecily, and the brilliant Story Girl in today’s episode, and why these girls feel like they can only be one of those things. Inspired by: Kelly is inspired by the late lamented Bath and Body Works Juniper Breeze and recommends its sophisticated modern counterpart Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt scent. Ragon’s signature middle school scent was Love’s Baby Soft Rain and so recommends Clean and Clean Rain by Clean Beauty Collective if you want the same vibe. Ragon also recommends tubing mascaras including Thrive Causemetics Lash Extensions mascara, Milani Highly Rated Lash Extensions mascara, and e.l.f. Lash XTNDR mascara. Alice recommends Trader Joe’s Brazil Nut Body Butter but you’ll have to find it in stores in the summer! Sorry to folks who don’t have a Trader Joe’s! If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

The Story Girl is one of L.M. Montgomery’s most charming books, full of witty dialogue, playful antics, and wistful nostalgia. We are kicking off our discussion of The Story Girl with a recap of all the characters, hijinks, and stories that make this book shine. We also discuss the LA fires, which had a huge impact on the podcast, and recommend some ways to support the girls who inspire us. Inspired by: Ragon is inspired by Girl Scouts! Buy cookies whenever you see a Girl Scout selling them or you can donate to Girl Scouts as an organization. Kelly is inspired by Altadena Girls, a girl-led program to support girls affected by the Eaton Fire. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Kelly and Ragon welcome L.M. Montgomery scholar and curator Emily Woster, Phd to the pod! Emily tells us all about L.M. Montgomery’s reading life–what books she loved growing up, what influenced her books, her active reading style and her unique writing process. And in true kindred spirit fashion we nerd out about our influential reads and Emily’s family legacy of Anne fandom! The Anne Manuscript for high quality scans of LMM’s original handwritten manuscript and notes. The L.M. Montgomery Bookshelf where you can find scans of books from LMM’s library including some of her own notations in the books and Emily’s information and notes about history and context of these books! An amazing resource! And you can follow Emily on bluesky for updates about her work. Inspired by: Kelly is inspired by: Graphic bookends from the Container Store. Ragon is inspired by: Dragon Bookplates and Personalized Library Stamps . Emily is inspired by: Wonderworks: Literary Invention and the Science of Stories by Angus Fletcher and Story or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life by Lisa Cron. And a bonus of the Library Kit from Knock Knock. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

What’s this? A messy love quadrangle? You know Kelly and Ragon are all over that! We channel our best Normal Gossip podcast inspiration and dive into our discussion of the self-sabotaging lovers of Rainbow Valley! We ask such questions as “What’s Ellen’s deal anyway?” And “Wait, do we agree with Norman Douglas?” And most importantly “Who should we cast in our movie version of this story?” On a more serious note, if you’d like to help Kelly rebuild after losing her home in the terrible Eaton fire, we have a fundraiser to support her as she begins the overwhelming task of recovering. And if you would like to help Los Angeles recover from the horrific wildfires, here are some places that are doing good work: World Central Kitchen is feeding people on the ground in Los Angeles. LA County Fire Department is doing heroic work and we aren’t done with the fires. Pasadena Humane Society is caring for the wild animals and pets lost or injured in the fire. Baby2Baby provides disaster relief to families and children in poverty impacted by the fires. Give Directly is fundraising to provide direct cash support to those in most need after the fire for shelter, food, clothing. Inspired by: This whole episode was inspired by one of our favorite podcasts Normal Gossip. Kelly was inspired by the 1995 Persuasion adaptation and the miniseries based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. Ragon was inspired by the classic rom-com While You Were Sleeping and the time travel romance in About Time . If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

We are continuing our Rainbow Valley discussion and focusing on the Meredith children’s impulsive hijinks and the way the adults around them react, or don’t react, to their shenanigans. We take John Meredith to task, break down how the patriarchy has helped enable this situation and learn a little about what parentification is and why the Meredith kids are poster children for it! Inspired by: Kelly is inspired by Normal Women by Philippa Gregory. Ragon is inspired by All The Rage by Darcy Lockman and Fair Play by Eve Rodsky. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

L.M. Montgomery scholar Maryam Khorasani joins us for a discussion of Rainbow Valley itself as both a physical place and a state of mind, drawing on our own childhood experiences and analyzing the characters' interactions with the natural world. We also discuss themes of childhood, imagination, friendship, and the transition to adulthood and are inspired by books with strong senses of place and third spaces. Inspired by: Ragon is inspired by A Kind Of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan and by The Whalebone Theater by Joanna Quinn. Kelly is inspired by The Eyes And The Impossible by Dave Eggers. Maryam is inspired by The Fall Of The House Of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. You can find our guest, Maryam Khorasani on instagram as Maryam9756 or through her email at ma.khorasani@ufl.edu If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

In preparation for our Rainbow Valley mini-arc, we are recapping this lovely book on today’s episode. We’ll introduce you to the Blythe children’s new friends, the Meredith children and Mary Vance, and tell you all about their adventures and hijinks. We also touch on the historical context of the book, which is set in the years leading up to World War I, wonder where Shirley Blythe is in all this, and share some of our favorite easy recipes! Inspired by: Ragon is inspired by Smitten Kitchen's Pizza Beans for a comforting hearty meal. Kelly is inspired by Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes for an easy Italian dinner. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.

Today’s episode features an interview with an extraordinary L.M. Montgomery scholar, Dr. Laura Robinson. We discuss Robinson's background, her favorite Montgomery books and characters, and her work with the L.M. Montgomery Institute. Then we dive deep into the untold stories of Anne of Ingleside – why this book feels a little darker, and the storytelling risks L.M. Montgomery was able to take in writing this book. You absolutely do not want to miss this fascinating conversation with a leading Montgomery expert! We got a lot of wonderful resources from our conversation with Dr. Laura Robinson, if you’d like to check those out here! L.M. Montgomery Institute is a wonderful hub for so many resources! The Anne Manuscript lets you view a virtual copy of the original manuscript, and you can see all the edits, notes and annotations. The Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies lets you read wonderful scholarship and other writings related to all of L.M. Montgomery’s books. If you want to get a free logo sticker from us, either leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or share your love for the pod on social media! Send us a photo of your share or review at either our email: kindredspirits.bookclub@gmail.com or on our KindredSpirits.BookClub Instagram.