Maevyn’s Athenaeum

Happy Holidays from Maevyn's Athenaeum !  So many cultures celebrate a form of Christmas & many have folklore that exists before modern day Christianity.  I collected four stories from various cultures to read to you as a holiday gift.  When I was younger my sister and I would wake up energized and excited for the Christmas morning that was to come. We had to wait until the adults were fully awake, but could not go back to sleep ourselves. So we invented a little Christmas tradition of reading to each other from our book case, which at the time, was filled with children's stories. This is sort of the same, but instead I chose stories that may not be suitable for children's.  In this episode I read to you:  The Yule Cat Poem  The Little Match girl  The story of La Bafana  and The Snow Maiden  accompanied by the time lapse drawing of my holiday card for my patrons.  This is a Bonus Episode, not the regularly scheduled episode for the month! Come back on the 1st for the review of The Dreamer and The Marked by Airic Fenn.  If you want to support the podcast or my art please check out my Patreon at Patreon.com/TheHappiestPumpkin or Twitter, Instagram Tiktok and Facebook.  you can message me any of those platforms or email me at Maevynpaige@gmail.com to recommend books to me!

Novembers book was Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.  This book was recommended by Hina Rose a very close friend of mine.  Triggers in this book include:  Betrayal, Death, Discrimination, Murder, Violence and War  There are Fake Royalty Tropes and A Love Triangle Trope.  This is a lengthy episode, but i promise it is worth it!  My special Guest AJ put it very nicely, "if i had read this book 4-5 years ago when I was the same age as the characters I would have been obsessed with it." To which I agree, I loved the book, it sucked me in and wouldn't let go, but they were younger than me and thus did not fulfill the need I have to find characters to look up to.  Rated 5/5 because of how much I loved reading it.  Recommend a book, ask me questions, or apply to be on the next episode by emailing me at Maevynpaige@gmail.com. Please put in the subject section Maevyn's Athenaeum and your email will get sent to me immediately! Become a Patron Patreon.com/TheHappiestPumpkin [https://www.patreon.com/TheHappiestPumpkin] Decembers book / Episode 7 poll is up on my Patreon now! (Nov. 25 - Dec. 6)

This episode I tell Robert all about The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4826394.Grady_Hendrix?from_search=true&from_srp=true]  This book has a lot of triggers in it especially Rape, Gore, Racism & Misogyny. These topics may be upsetting to some, but we only talk about them briefly.  I wanted to read a vampire book for Halloween & you guys picked a great read, though it was very graphic. I got the spooky Halloween chills I wanted.  4/5 Stars for me, I would recommend this book to those with strong stomachs & the will to read through tough tragedy. This was a fun book & I enjoyed following patty and her book club through this adventure in their neighborhood. I really could've gone without the sexualization of the Vampire feeding. I want an explanation Grady.  Recommend a book, ask me questions, or apply to be on the next episode by emailing me at Maevynpaige@gmail.com. Please put in the subject section Maevyn's Athenaeum and your email will get sent to me immediately!  Become a Patron: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/TheHappiestPumpkin]!

I Don't Give a F*ck  This month I fly solo to bring you The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight. I have been reading this book for a long time, and it was well worth the read, I just wish I had done it sooner!  In this episode I go over the lessons I learned from this book, how I've applied it in my life and I demonstrate how it has influenced my spiritual practice.  Near the end of the episode I give a rudimentary meditation to envision your own Mental Home, if you get an idea of your Mental Space, please feel free to shoot me an email, it might just end up in the calendar (available December 1st).  If you want to recommend a book to me, and maybe be on the podcast, send me an email at Maevynpaige@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram

Book Bash!  This month I swapped books with Robert, good friend & Patron, He read The Fire Within by Chris D'Lacey & I was supposed to read Overlord... We'll get into that...  We also get our first real Book Bash on the podcast! Where I truly share my feelings on some really bad books. Yes I did revisit the Birthmarked Trilogy.  If you want to recommend a book to me, and maybe be on the podcast, send me an email at Maevynpaige@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram