This week on The Literary Life podcast, we have a very special 200th Episode for you! Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks are joined by their Patreon Friends and Fellows for a live episode recording to launch the 2024 Reading Challenge! This year’s challenge theme is “Book of Centuries” and features a timeline of literary periods from which you can choose works to read throughout the next year. The discussion featured suggestions for each literary period and century, and you can get the complete list of book and author suggestions right here. (Due to the length of this list, we will not be adding hyperlinks this week, so please see the document to find any book titles and authors you want to explore.) As usual, there will also be a kids’ version of the reading challenge!

To download a PDF version of the adult reading challenge, click here. To download a PDF of the kids’ version, click here.

The House of Humane Letters is currently having their Christmas sale until December 31, 2023. Everything is now 20% OFF, so hop on over and get the classes at their best prices now. In addition to the sale, you can also sign up for Atlee Northmore’s webinar “A Medieval Romance in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: How to Read Star Wars.”

Cindy is also offering at 20% OFF discount throughout the holidays. Use coupon code “advent2023” on MorningTimeforMoms.com/shop until January 2024.

Commonplace Quotes:

Chaucer had the rare gift of an author of liking people he did not respect.

G. K. Chesterton, from Chaucer

Modern education promotes the unmitigated study of literature and concentrates our attention on the relation between a writer’s life, his surface life, and his work. That is the reason it is such a curse.

Madeleine L’Engle, from Walking on Water

A very famous writer once said, “A book is like a mirror. If a fool looks in, you can’t expect a genius to look out.”

J. K. Rowling

Whitsunday

by George Herbert

Listen sweet Dove unto my song, And spread thy golden wings in me; Hatching my tender heart so long, Till it get wing, and fly away with thee.  Where is that fire which once descended On thy Apostles? thou didst then Keep open house, richly attended, Feasting all comers by twelve chosen men.  Such glorious gifts thou didst bestow, That th’earth did like a heav’n appear; The stars were coming down to know If they might mend their wages, and serve here.  The sun which once did shine alone, Hung down his head, and wisht for night, When he beheld twelve suns for one Going about the world, and giving light.  But since those pipes of gold, which brought That cordial water to our ground, Were cut and martyr’d by the fault Of those, who did themselves through their side wound,  Thou shutt’st the door, and keep’st within; Scarce a good joy creeps through the chink: And if the braves of conqu’ring sin Did not excite thee, we should wholly sink.  Lord, though we change, thou art the same; The same sweet God of love and light: Restore this day, for thy great name, Unto his ancient and miraculous right.

Books Mentioned:

200th Episode Literary Life Book Suggestions

Support The Literary Life:

Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support!

Connect with Us:

You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/

Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CindyRollinsWriter. Check out Cindy’s own Patreon page also!

Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let’s get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB