Episode 155: The “Best of” Series – The Literary Life of Wendi Capehart, Ep. 69
Today on The Literary Life Podcast, we have another installment in our “Best of The Literary Life Podcast series. This week’s replay is a special chat our hosts Angelina and Cindy had with Wendi Capehart. Wendi passed away in 2022, and this episode is in honor of her memory. Wendi was an adventurous mom of many and lived throughout Asia for many years. She spent the last several years enjoying the life of an at-home librarian, caring for her disabled daughter, and cherishing time with her 15 grandchildren. She also served on the AmblesideOnline Advisory board since its founding.
Angelina starts off the conversation asking Wendi about her reading life beginning with her childhood memories of reading. Wendi talks a little about how books helped her survive and heal from the trauma of living in an abusive situation. They also discuss what the difference was for Wendi in leisurely reading and reading for school. Wendi shares some of the reasons she began homeschooling her own children, as well, and how she kept reading voraciously even after she became a mother.
Angelina and Wendi talk about the brain and changing your reading habits to digest and enjoy more challenging books. Wendi shares how she built a library while one a military budget and moving frequently. They talked about too many things to cover in this summary, but you can scroll down for the many book titles mentioned in this episode!
Listen to The Literary Life:
Commonplace Quotes:
“We’re all fools,” said Clemens, “all the time. It’s just we’re a different kind each day. We think, I’m not a fool today. I’ve learned my lesson. I was a fool yesterday but not this morning. Then tomorrow we find out that, yes, we were a fool today too. I think the only way we can grow and get on in this world is to accept the fact we’re not perfect and live accordingly.”
Ray Bradbury
Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value.
Charlotte Mason
Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth, a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with tremendous difference–that it really happened–and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God’s myth, where the others are men’s myths. That is, the pagan stories are God expressing himself through the minds of poets, using such images as he found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through real things.
C. S. Lewis
If Only I Were King
by A. A. Milne
I often wish I were a King,
And then I could do anything.
If only I were King of Spain,
I’d take my hat off in the rain.
If only I were King of France,
I wouldn’t brush my hair for aunts.
I think, if I were King of Greece,
I’d push things off the mantelpiece.
If I were King of Norroway,
I’d ask an elephant to stay.
If I were King of Babylon,
I’d leave my button gloves undone.
If I were King of Timbuctoo,
I’d think of lovely things to do.
If I were King of anything,
I’d tell the soldiers, “I’m the King!”
Book List:
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason
The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs
Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
The Little Prince by Antione de Saint-Exupéry
The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson
The Heroes by Charles Kingsley
The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Rescuers by Marjorie Sharp
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major
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Connect with Us:
You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at Angelina Stanford – House of Humane Letters.
Find Cindy at MorningTimeforMoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at Cindy Rollins – Writer. Check out Cindy’s own Patreon page also!
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