Likely Stories - The Wishing Game

As a child of the 80s and 90s, I grew up watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory—no, not the more eccentric remake with Johnny Depp, but the classic, heartwarming version with Gene Wilder. This book is written as an homage to that film and is a masterful work of nostalgia, a story within a story, full of riddles, games, and wishing with all your might.

Lucy Hart used to read Jack Masterson’s books when she was a young girl and became so enraptured with the magical, fictional world he created that she ran away to his mysterious home on the self-titled Clock Island, so she was devastated when he suddenly stopped writing. Now, years later, Lucy is a grade school teacher, and Jack announces a contest in which a select few adults can win the chance to receive the only copy of his forthcoming book.

Lucy is determined to be one of those lucky ones so that she can have enough money to adopt the little boy in her class who has stolen her heart. As Lucy returns to Clock Island, she meets the other players and discovers a series of enigmatic riddles and challenges in which they must compete. She also meets the irritating (and yet very alluring) book illustrator, Hugo.One by one the players are eliminated by the competitions and puzzles until just a few remain. Lucy has to face all her fears in the course of her time on Clock Island, but when her greatest fear is losing the one person she loves most, she will have to make difficult choices to win the ultimate reward.

This book was near-perfect for me; it was in my top 3 best books of 2023. The level of detail is unmatched—Shaffer wrote multiple excerpts for the fictitious books Jack Masterson authored, and many of the puzzles or challenges the contestants participate in are also ones the reader can play along with while you read. There are well-written relationship tensions on multiple fronts, and each pairing is developed and beautiful. The story mirrors the plot of Willy Wonka while still standing on its own merits, but the biggest praise I can give it is that is provides that undefinable emotion you get when you read a really terrific book—it just makes you feel the warm fuzzies all over. I think this one will stand the test of time for me, it truly is everything you could wish for.

RECENT EPISODES OF LIKELY STORIES

Likely Stories - The Librarian of Burned Books

I love books about books. Really, who wouldn't want to be a librarian holding the multiverse together, as in The Invisible Library series? And so many give great us reading lists as a bonus.

Likely Stories - Demon Copperhead

Hello. My name is Douglas Henry, Dean of the Honors College at Baylor University.Last year, Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead. Inspired by Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, Kingsolver lays bare the woeful lives of orphans in drug-addicted America.

Likely Stories - Never Let Me Go

During the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, some people learned to make sourdough, and some learned to paint. Me? I read books. I'm Emma Weidmann, the Arts and Life Editor at the Baylor Lariat, with this week's edition of Likely Stories on KWBU.

Likely Stories - The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the nineteen thirty-six Berlin Olympics.

Harrison Otis says of The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the nineteen thirty-six Berlin Olympics, "...this is more than a sports story. It’s a window into American life during the Great Depression. It’s a story about Hitler’s rise to power. It’s a story of the men and women from Washington whose friendships and conflicts are the real heart of the book...".

Likely Stories - Normal People

Why hello there, I’m Malcolm Foster, Operations Assistant at KWBU, habitual collector of books and lifelong lover of compelling storytelling. Today I want to talk about a body of work that captured both my head and my heart. A book that I still find myself thinking of years after my first read through.

Likely Stories - Starter Villain

Hi, and welcome to Likely Stories. I’m Paige Connell, and I teach 9th grade English at Midway High School. Today I want to talk about one of my surprise favorite books of 2023, Starter Villain by John Scalzi.

Likley Stories - The Last Days of Letterman: The Final 6 Weeks

It took me a lot longer to read The Last Days of Letterman: The Final 6 Weeks, than it should have. It’s not a very long book, just over 300 pages, with more than 100 photographs. But I found myself turning again and again to YouTube to watch a clip of something that was mentioned in the text.

Likely Stories - The Displacements

Of all the books I have read recently, the one I have recommended to the most people is “The Displacements” by Bruce Holsinger.

Likely Stories - Devotions

My name is Heather White. When I am not managing my household and caring for my young children, I teach art and art history classes here in Waco. Today I am recommending the book “Devotions” by Mary Oliver

Likely Stories - Klara and the Sun

Hi, and welcome to Likely Stories. My name is Harrison Otis, and I'm a graduate student in the English department at Baylor University. Today I'm reviewing Klara and the sun, the 2021 novel by the British author Kazuo Ishiguro.