We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode. As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes.  Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. 3:45 - Putting the Book Into Context The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Published Sept. 29, 2009 by Minotaur Books 4.20 rating on Goodreads Seasonal setting - Autum Book Awards: Anthony Award for Best Novel in 2010 Critic Reviews Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny 10:50 - The Setup 16:22 - A Deeper Exploration Setup and first paragraph First paragraph hooks the reader so completely  Reminds Meredith of the Vera series by Ann Cleeves The pacing of the novel The deliberate pulling away from the “quaint village mystery” Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree Quality of writing itself - if it could be written as a whole series in today’s publishing Themes: human behavior, conscience, Thoreau’s Walden, contentment, fathers p.172 quote about conscience p. 298 quote about happiness p.175 quote about Walden P. 495 quote about fear and contentment The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny Side plot with Jean-Guy and the notes left by Ruth Zardo The Oddness Factor (is usually in superlatives but gets talked about early in this episode!) The Ending 1:15:31 - Superlatives Biggest Flaw Character MVP p. 403 Favorite Character Biggest loser Best food description Fear Factor 1:29:47 - Within the Series Is this book skippable? Favorite Quote (gets asked after the skippable portion so I added it here for time stamp sake) 1:34:08 - SPOILERS AHEAD HERE Next episode’s read: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL is brought to you by our anchor store, An Unlikely Story. Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Roxanna | Kaytee Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!