Episode 42: Reading in a Time of Crisis
In light of the recent changes to all our lives, The Literary Life crew is breaking from the previously announced schedule to discuss the importance of stories in times of crisis. But first, we want you to know about a special gift from Cindy Rollins. You can download a PDF copy of her Handbook of Morning Time for free by visiting her shop here. You can also purchase the replays of the Re-Enchanting the World online conference at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.
Angelina talks about the impulse of humanity to turn to stories during time of upheaval and plague. Cindy points out the need we have for an ordered universe, and that this is one of the things good books provide. Together with Thomas, they discuss how important it is to find stories that reassure us that there is order and redemption to come. They also give some recommendations for personal reading as well as family read-alouds for these challenging times. Finally, our hosts give us an update with how they are doing with their own 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge lists.
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Commonplace Quotes:
An important part of a child’s education is storytelling, since good stories excite the imagination and strengthen the bond between parent and child.
St. John Chrysostom
It is in the essential nature of fashion to blind us to its meaning and the causes from which it springs.
Edwin Muir
Unless the writer has gone utterly out of his mind, his aim is still communication, and communications suggests talking inside community.
Flannery O’Connor
Sonnet 6
by William Shakespeare
Tir’d with all these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm’d in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And guilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill,
And simple truth miscall’d simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.
Book List:
The Company They Keep by Diana Pavlock Glyer
Tolkien: Man and Myth by Joseph Pierce
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tokien
Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
The Kingfisher book of Tales from Russia by James Mayhew
Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor
Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John
The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis
Few Eggs and No Oranges by Vera Hodgson
Cider for Rosie by Laurie Lee
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
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Connect with Us:
You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/
Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy’s own Patreon page also!
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