The Literary Life Podcast

On this week's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks wrap up their discussion of George Eliot's Silas Marner . In this episode, Angelina reveals her light bulb moment connecting this story with Shakespeare's play, The Winter's Tale . Thomas talks about the changes in Silas as he has integrated back into the community through his love for Eppie. Cin...

Welcome to this episode of The Literary Life Podcast, in which our hosts discuss George Eliot's book Silas Marner , chapters 10-15. Thomas kicks off the discussion by highlighting the character of Dolly Winthrop. Angelina talks about Silas Marner opening himself to grace in these chapters. She also points out the way that Eliot uses Godfrey's character to point out our own potential lack of moral...

On today's episode of The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks continue their discussion of George Eliot's Silas Marner , covering chapters 4-9. They talk about the problems facing the Cass family and their tense relationships, examine George Eliot's treatment of Silas Marner's victim-hood, reflect on the changing times of the Victorian period, and Thomas breaks...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks dig into George Eliot's Silas Marner . Today's discussion gives us an introduction to George Eliot and covers the first three chapters of the book. Thomas shares a little historical context for the setting of Silas Marner and how that affects the interpretation of this book. Angelina points out the ways in wh...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are excited to bring some special guests in to speak to the literary life of the educator Charlotte Mason. Along with Angelina, Thomas and Cindy, we also have Donna-Jean Breckenridge and Karen Glass of the AmblesideOnline Advisory . They start off by sharing some biographical information about who Charlotte Mason was and her background. Karen also talks a...

Today's book discussion on The Literary Life podcast centers around the book 84, Charing Cross Road . Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks share their first experiences reading this book of letters between Helene Hanff and Frank Doel. Cindy talks about her deep identification with Helene the first time she read 84, Charing Cross Road and how much she dreamed of going to England. Angel...

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks discuss the importance of reading old books. They begin the conversation by addressing head on the idea that old books are irrelevant. They touch on the fact that when we use the phrase "old books" we mean not just any piece of literature from the past, but those which have stood the test of time. Don't forget to...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, our hosts explore the popular Agatha Christie mystery novel, Death on the Nile . This discussion will contain spoilers, so if you haven't read or listened to the book yet, stop this episode! But before we get to the book chat, we want to announce that our brand new The Well Read Poem podcast is now live! Also, head over to HouseofHumaneLetters.com to check o...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are excited to delve into the literary life of the mysterious Mr. Banks! But before we get started, we do want to let you know that we have posted the reading schedule for January-March, and you can view it on our Upcoming Events page. Also, Blue Sky Daisies Publishing is running a fun contest for kids involving our new Commonplace Books, so you will want...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are bringing you our year end review of our own reading lives. Angelina kicks off the conversation by asking Thomas and Cindy how they would describe their reading lives this year. They talk about their favorites and highlights in books this year, as well as a few books that fell flat for them in 2020. They share about some authors they had not read befor...

Today on the podcast, your hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks take a deep dive into the Literary Life 19 Books for 2021 challenge! This episode is full of ideas and book suggestions to help inspire your #LitLife192021 reading, so be sure to scroll down in your podcast app to view the comprehensive book link list! They not only give reasons behind each category and suggests for...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we wrap up our series on George MacDonald's Phantastes . Today Angelina, Cindy and Thomas discuss chapters 20-25. Thomas opens the conversations giving his impressions of the ending of this fantasy. Angelina talks more about the symbolism of death and rebirth, as well as the themes of the quest, the shadow self, and the presence of more dual images. Cindy sh...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, our series on George MacDonald's Phantastes continues. Today Angelina and Cindy discuss chapters 15-19. But before they get started, they announce the upcoming reading challenge for next year, the Literary Life 19 Books for 2021 challenge! Also, we are pleased to be bringing you Literary Life Commonplace Books , perfect for recording what you are reading, as...

This week on The Literary Life podcast, our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks continue their series on George MacDonald's Phantastes , covering chapters 10-14. Angelina and Thomas open the book chat talking about disorientation and how MacDonald is using the mirror images to help us enter into Anados' feelings. Some of the topics covered in these chapters are disenchantment a...

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and the second episode of our series on George MacDonald's Phantastes , covering chapters 5-9. Angelina and Thomas kick off the book chat sharing some thoughts on the Duessa-type character in this section. Cindy mentions the connection she made to James Russell Lowell's poem, "The Vision of Sir Launfal." They go on to discuss the parallels between this sec...

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and the beginning of our series on George MacDonald's Phantastes . Before our hosts, Angelina, Cindy and Thomas begin the book chat, though, we wanted to let you know about some Advent and Christmas resources ready for the upcoming holiday season. As mentioned before, Cindy's new edition of Hallelujah: Cultivating Advent Traditions with Handel's Messiah is...

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins tackle the topic of fairy stories, discussing the what, why and how of reading them. Angelina shares the distinctive characteristics of fairy stories in contrast to other types of stories, such as myths. They deal with the question of whether fairy tales are "escapist", the influence of the Grimm brothers scholarly work on int...

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts Angelina and Cindy chat with Cindy's longtime friend and, according to her, the "smartest woman on the internet," Wendi Capehart. Wendi is an adventurous mom of many and has lived throughout Asia. Now she lives the life of an at home librarian caring for her disabled daughter and spending time with her 15 grandchildren. She also serves on the Ambleside...

This week on The Literary Life Podcast we have our final installment of the series on C. S. Lewis' masterpiece Til We Have Faces. This week, our hosts finish up with Part 2, Chapters 1-4. Opening the conversation, Angelina shares some of her feelings on just having finished the book. She points out the importance of understanding the Cupid and Psyche myth. Cindy brings up the concept of a "sin-eat...

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast! This week, our hosts are covering chapters 16-21 of C. S. Lewis' masterpiece Til We Have Faces . Also, to celebrate Cindy's re-release of her book Hallelujah: Cultivating Advent Traditions with Handel's Messiah , she is doing a social media giveaway over the next four weeks. To enter to win a copy, post about the book release with hashtag #hallelujahadven...

Today on The Literary Life, our hosts discuss chapters 12-15 of C. S. Lewis' masterpiece Til We Have Faces . Don't forget that Thomas will be teaching a mini-class series on Shakespeare's Roman Plays in October. You can find out more and register at HouseofHumaneLetters.com . We are giving away one spot in the class to someone who shares about the class publicly on social media and tag it #houseof...

This week on The Literary Life, we continue our series on C. S. Lewis' masterpiece Til We Have Faces , and our hosts discuss chapters 8-11 today. Before we get started, we want you to know there is still time to sign up for Cindy's Morning Time Q&A on September 23. Register at CindyRollins.net today! Also, Thomas will be teaching a mini-class series on Shakespeare's Roman Plays in October, and you...

Today on The Literary Life Podcast our hosts Angelina, Cindy and Thomas discuss chapters 6-7 of C. S. Lewis' mythical retelling Til We Have Faces . Before we get started, we want you to know about Cindy's Morning Time Q&A on September 23. Register at CindyRollins.net . They open the discussion this week talking about Lewis' writings on love and jealousy. Angelina points out similarities to this st...

Welcome back to our series on C. S. Lewis' mythical retelling Til We Have Faces here on The Literary Life Podcast. Today Angelina, Cindy and Thomas discuss chapters 3-5. Angelina opens the book chat with an exploration of the tensions that are becoming evident in this first part of the book. Cindy talks about the character of the Fox and our changing perspective on him as the story develops. Thoma...

On this week's episode of The Literary Life, our hosts Angelina, Thomas and Cindy have a special guest on the podcast. Gina Dalfonzo is an author whose work has been featured in First Things, The Atlantic, Christianity Today, The Weekly Standard, National Review, The Gospel Coalition, and more! Gina has written a new book called Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers an...