Episode 203: Our Literary Lives of 2023

On The Literary Life today, Angelina, Cindy and Thomas recap their reading from the past year. They first share some general thoughts on their year of reading and what sorts of books they completed. Other questions they discuss are on what books surprised them, what “low brow” books they read, and more! Come back next week for a preview of all the books we will be covering in the podcast in 2024. Stay tuned to the end of the episode for an important announcement! Cindy is currewntly offering at 20% OFF discount throughout the holidays. Use coupon code “advent2023” on MorningTimeforMoms.com/shop until January 2024. The House of Humane Letters is currently having their Christmas sale until December 31, 2023. Everything pre-recorded is now 20% OFF, so hop on over and get the classes at their best prices now. You can now also sign up for Atlee Northmore’s webinar “A Medieval Romance in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: How to Read Star Wars.” If you missed it, go back to last month’s episode to get all the information about our 2024 Reading Challenge, Book of Centuries. Commonplace Quotes: Life was a hiding place that played me false. Lascelles Abercrombie, from “Epitaph” But if man’s attention is repaid so handsomely, his inattention costs him dearly. Every time he diagrams something instead of looking at it, every time he regards not what a thing is but what it can be made to mean to him, every time he substitutes a conceit for a fact, he gets grease all over the kitchen of the world. Reality slips away from him, and he is left with nothing but the oldest monstrosity in the world–an idol. Robert Farrar Capon, from The Supper of the Lamb Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about. There is a certain kind of person who is so dominated by the desire to be loved for himself alone that he has constantly to test those around him by tiresome behavior; what he says and does must be admired, not because it is intrinsically admirable, but because it is his remark, his act. Does not this explain a good deal of avant-garde art? W. H. Auden, from The Dyer’s Hand On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again by John Keats O golden-tongued Romance with serene lute! Fair pluméd Syren! Queen of far away! Leave melodizing on this wintry day, Shut up thine olden pages, and be mute: Adieu! for once again the fierce dispute, Betwixt damnation and impassion'd clay Must I burn through; once more humbly assay The bitter-sweet of this Shakespearian fruit. Chief Poet! and ye clouds of Albion, Begetters of our deep eternal theme, When through the old oak forest I am gone, Let me not wander in a barren dream, But when I am consumed in the fire, Give me new Phoenix wings to fly at my desire. Books Mentioned: English Literature in the 16th Century by C. S. Lewis The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers The Trumpet Major by Thomas Hardy The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott The Victorian Cycle by Esme Wingfield-Stratford The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson The History of Tom Jones, Foundling by Henry Fielding The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great by Henry Fielding The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith The Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell Coming Up for Air by George Orwell The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell Our Island Story by H. E Marshall English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. Marshall 1066 and All That by Sellar and Yeatman Dave Berry Slept Here by Dave Berry The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P. D. James Lady Susan by Jane Austen The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley The Color Purple by Alice Walker World Enough and Time by Christian McEwen An Anthology of Invective and Verbal Abuse edited by Hugh Kingsmill Encyclopedia Brown books by Donald J. Sobol The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Woman in Me by Brittany Spears Sackett Series by Louis L’Amour The Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour Madly, Deeply by Alan Rickman Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar Spare by Prince Harry (not recommended) Sir John Fielding Series by Bruce Alexander Literary Life Commonplace Books Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe 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