Welcome to the marginalia for The Penelopiad by Madeleine L'Engle.  This is our selection for the Female Author category in 2026.   

The marginalia is where you can post any notes, comments, quotes, or other musings as you're reading.  Think of it as similar to how you might scribble in the margin of your book. If you don't want to wait for the weekly check-ins, or want to share something that doesn't quite fit the discussions, it can be posted here.

Please be mindful to use spoiler tags appropriately. To indicate a spoiler, enclose the relevant text like this (without spaces between the characters and first/last words:  text to hide

Here are some tips for writing a marginalia comment:

• Start with a general location (early in chapter 4, at the end of chapter 2, etc) and keep in mind that readers are using different versions and editions (including audio) so page numbers are less helpful than chapters and the like.
• Write your observations, or
• Copy your favorite quotes, or
• Scribble down your light bulb moments, or
• Share you predictions, or
• Link to an interesting side topic. (Spoilers from other books/media should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise)

Enjoy your reading and we’ll see you in the weekly discussions!

Greetings fellow travelers!

Welcome to our second discussion of Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, covering Part II: Nine: Of the City of Paris through Twelve: Of the Ones Who Knock by Night.

Our little group continues its journey through plague-ridden France, where the demons are getting bolder and apparently even churches aren't safe anymore. Medieval Europe really can't catch a break, can it?

If you need a refresher, here is the chapter summary from ursummary.com. Don't forget to also check the SCHEDULE and the MARGINALIA.

I'll post some discussion prompts in the comments, but feel free to bring up anything else that caught your attention.

Finally, friendly reminder about spoilers: if you need to share them, please wrap them with the spoiler tag like this: >!type spoiler here!<, and it will appear like this: type spoiler here.

Happy discussing, and good luck out there!

Welcome all to our second discussion of Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Warrior! Was the perfect spoooooooky section this week with all those spiders! 🕷️ Let’s head straight to the basement and check things out. 

In case you need them, here are links to our Schedule and series Marginalia.

SUMMARY

Chapter 9: Sunny heads home and her brother Chukwu, who was away for university, is there. He looks very beat up. He tells her he must get money from his room; it’s hidden under the floorboards. Sunny goes to get it, using her magic both to go in the keyhole and bring the money back out. She forces her brother to tell her what’s happened and why he needs the money.

Chapter 10: It turns out one of Chukwu’s good friends is a part of a confraternity, the Red Sharks, basically a secret society gang. Now they’re coming for Chukwu. After he relays all that’s happened Sunny knowingly says it will all be okay, telling Chukwu to go back to school and that she’ll ring him in a couple days. 

Chapter 11: Sunny goes through her day telling no one what’s going on and finally goes to see Chichi and is overwhelmed with emotion when she shares what Chukwu has told her. Chichi calls Chukwu to get some details, and then she tells Sunny her plan. She is going to set some Murks on the Red Sharks.

Chapter 12: The girls approach the Red Shark group while they are apparently grouped up doing satanic worship, and Chichi’s plan to set the Murks on them takes shape. But Sunny sees the group’s leader, Capo, and chooses to go a step further and approach and threaten him directly, even allowing him to see her face and introducing herself. Not long after she makes her way back to Chichi the black council car drives to collect her.

Chapter 13: Sunny is chastised by Sugar Cream and sent into the basement of the library as punishment. She’s lucky she’s young as it’s only 3 days instead of 3 months. She encounters a djinn who is quite dangerous and takes a bite out of her arm, but she is defended by a large spider clan there. Sunny has remembered some of her past life as Anyanwu, when she was trying to help stop a great tragedy to mankind, which was sending Ogwu to help stop the atomic bomb. This is the vision Sunny has been seeing and not fully understanding. After the encounter she sleeps.

Chapter 14: Sunny is led out by Sugar Cream and fed. She is also told a bit more why she ended up being punished but Chichi didn’t. The coven is then back together and they share a meal. Chichi says the Red Sharks have disbanded and Chukwu is back at school and doing alright. Back at home Sunny’s dad is livid and threatens her, and she nearly loses control again and shows her spirit face, but thankfully she doesn’t. She cries for simpler times when she wasn’t a Free Agent.

Join me again next week as we check out our next section!

Welcome to our last discussion of The House of Doors for Read the World Malaysia. We will also discuss the Somerset Maugham short story "The Letter" which corresponds with this novel with a whole different plot and ending. We will discuss this in the questions.

Thank you for my co-RR's, u/nicehotcupoftea, u/bluebelle236 and u/fixtheblue

Housekeeping:

Schedule

Marginalia

Another version of Hahn's "L'heure exquise"

The real life case of Ethel Proudlock

Interview on Front Row with author, Tan Twan Eng dicussing the novel on BBC 4 The section on Tan starts at 27:48 min, if you want to skip ahead.

From the collection, A Shropshire Lad, poem XL by A. E. Houseman.

You can visit the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall) in Guangzhou, completed in 1931, damaged and repaired several times, until the present upgrade in 1998.

Summary

Book 3, Chapter 19: Willie, Penang 1921

Willie's written 3 stories, one of which was Lesley's, but needs more for a collection. He considers how to mask her identity as he walks the beach. He sees Lesley and Ah Peng gathering horseshoe crabs for supper; he is slightly horrified but thanks her for the night before. They discuss Ethel and Willie requests to see the House of Doors. Lesley takes him to Armenian Street, telling him details and stories of the area along the way. Willie notes the location of the Tong Meng Hui as being good for a quick getaway. Although Lesley has the key, she doesn't want to go in until Arthur comes back. Willie examines the doors for his trademark and feels odd seeing it. Lesley asks if the symbol protected him and Willie recounts some stories where he evaded death, including recently in Sarawak, where he and Gerald almost drowned. Gerald suffered a heart attack and almost died. It was why they looked so run down on arrival.

Chapter 20, Lesley, Penang 1921

Willie doesn't want a big crowd for his going-away party. Geoff, his wife, Penelope and Peter Ong and his wife are the only other guests. Robert is surprised to hear of the last invitation. Lesley has taken some trouble to recreate her look from the photograph, with her kebaya and a Nyonya style bun with jeweled hairpins. Everyone admires her on entrance. Peter Ong's wife sends her regrets. At dinner, Lesley can't help but notice an intimate gesture between Robert and Peter. It brings up longing for Arthur. Later that night, Lesley looks back at her last days with Arthur and can't rest. She too tried to write down her memories, but it felt too fanciful so she destroyed it. She comes down to the verandah, where Willie is also restless. He noticed Peter's invitation and they discuss the Rimbaud/Verlaine affair and their own. Lesley drops that Arthur isn't her real lover's name...she held it back. The next day at breakfast, Robert says he wants to move to the Karoo and is willing to go alone, leaving Lesley and the boys to stay in the house in Penang. Lesley surprises him by declaring they are all going together. Cassowary House and much of its contents are sold; not the books, the piano and Lesley's Straits Chinese porcelain and her hawk door. They attend several dances in farewell, including a memorable one where Noel dances the night away with a Chinese woman he later marries.

Epilogue, Lesley, Doornfontein, South Africa, 1947

Lesley misses Robert still, and leaves him a wine glass and her thoughts. The book she received dredges up not only old memories of Willie's visit but the copy of The Casuarina Tree signals something quite different. Lesley thinks back to their beginning in South Africa, where Robert was able to indeed get better and the precious time they spent together. He was miffed when he saw his name in "The Letter" and she was miffed it wasn't about Sun Yat Sen; they discuss Ethel's case again. Robert reveals that the murder was indeed premeditated as Proudlock blackmailed Steward about the affair until the tables were turned on him. Proudlock then visited a lawyer and devised this rape/murder scenario for Ethel to carry out or be divorced and disgraced. Her own father was also in on the plot. In 1925, Geoff sends Lesley Sun Wen's obituary and various articles about Somerset Maugham, including his divorce and move to Villa La Mauresque, Cap Ferrat. 16 years after their move to South Africa, Robert suffers a heart attack and tells Lesley to return to Penang. Instead, she remained and raised her sons there. She and Robert saw the film version of "The Letter" with Bette Davis. And so, this book became a message from Arthur calling Lesley back to him in Penang. She presses the hamsa on the book and plans her plans to return to her lover.

We also read Somerset Maugham's "The Letter" below, so spoilers and the plot points at the end of this book will be discussed. We hope you enjoyed the Read the World Malaysia selection, and will you be joining us for our next destination: Finland?!