Episode 309: Our Literary Lives of 2025

The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford

Arts, Books, Education

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For this final episode of the 2025 season on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you a special year-end conversation with Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks all about their year in reading. Thomas talks about how most of his reading was tied to classes he taught. Cindy and Angelina talk about the reasons they didn't read as many books as they usually do in a year. They share some of their favorite non-fiction reads of the year, books that surprised them, and fiction highlights. In the course of the conversation, our hosts also make several points about reading in the literary tradition and avoiding public judgment of other people's choices in books.

The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is still on! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed.

Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks.

Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture."

To check out the full show notes for this episode, including all the books referenced, please visit https://theliterary.life/309.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is not just another book chat podcast.
0:21.6	Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well.
0:32.6	Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature.
0:40.2	Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. Each week, we will rescue
0:47.1	story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute. The literary life is for everyone because in the
0:55.9	words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into
1:02.2	reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world.
1:09.7	This is the Literary Life podcast.
1:34.5	Hello and welcome to this very last episode of 2025 of the Literary Life podcast.
1:40.0	I'm Angelina Stanford, and I'm joined not only by my usual Scrooge.
1:42.6	It's Christmas. I'll call you Scrooge. My usual Scrooge.
1:43.2	That's appropriate.
2:01.5	The mysterious Mr. Banks. But we also have an exciting special guest today. We have dragged Cindy Rollins out from the recesses of her sabbatical. Dragged her. She was not kicking and screaming. I will not pretend she was. But we've dragged her back in front of a microphone. Cindy, it's so good to have you back.
2:03.8	I'm so excited to be here.
2:07.2	I was just saying, who am I going to talk to what I read this year or two?
2:15.7	To us and all of our favorite friends, the 12 people who listen to this podcast, our closest friends.
2:18.8	Cindy, tell us what's been going on with you.
2:22.2	And then let's chat a bit because everyone's missed you.
2:24.1	And let's talk about what's been going on with you.
2:27.4	And then we'll start like officially with the commonplace quotes and stuff.
2:29.9	Yeah, I've just been busy.
2:31.6	Busy with grandkids.
	...

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