It's the Simple Show. You've got episode 50.

Hi, I'm Tish Oxenwriter, and on The Simple Show, we talk about books, travel, and life at home.

In this episode, I am joined by my co-host, Haley Stewart.

Hello, Haley.

Hi, Tish.

Haley, tell us a little about who you are and what you do.

I'm a homeschooling mom of three, and I'm also a writer, blogger, and fellow podcaster.

My podcast is Fountains of Carrots.

And we also live in Central Texas, and my husband is a farmer.

And I, too, am a writer, and a mom also living in central Texas, and you can find me online

at theartofsimple.net. Now, this is a books episode, so we are going to talk about the holiday

classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I'm so excited about that. And we're also going to

talk about Home by Marilynne Robinson. Before we begin,

this episode is supported through our very own Art of Simple gift guide. You can head to theartosimple.net

slash gifts to see what we recommend this year for thoughtful, simple, ethically sourced gifts for

all ages on your list. Okay, so Haley, tell me why you chose

home for this chat. Many years ago, right after my first child was born, I read Gilead,

which is another of Marilynne Robinson's books. And I loved it like I've loved very few books in my life. And I think

it just hit me at the right time. I was a new parent. And the book is about an older man, like in his

early 70s, who has a younger child who's like seven years old. And so the book is kind of all the things he's writing down that he wants his child to know

because he's not going to get to see him grow up.

And at the time that I read it, I was on a flight from Texas to Florida to be with my mom

...