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 AmblesideOnline Advisory board. Angelina starts off the conversation asking Wendi about her reading life beginning with her childhood memories of reading. Wendi talks a little about how books helped her survive and heal from the trauma of living in an abusive situation. They also discuss what the difference was for Wendi in leisurely reading and reading for school. Wendi shares some of the reasons she began homeschooling her own children, as well, and how she kept reading voraciously even after she became a mother. Angelina and Wendi talk about the brain and changing your reading habits to digest and enjoy more challenging books. Wendi shares how she built a library while one a military budget and moving frequently. They talked about too many things to mention in this summary, but you can scroll down for the many book titles mentioned in this episode! Commonplace Quotes: “We’re all fools,” said Clemens, “all the time. It’s just we’re a different kind each day. We think, I’m not a fool today. I’ve learned my lesson. I was a fool yesterday but not this morning. Then tomorrow we find out that, yes, we were a fool today too. I think the only way we can grow and get on in this world is to accept the fact we’re not perfect and live accordingly.” Ray Bradbury Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value. Charlotte Mason Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth, a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with tremendous difference–that it really happened–and one must be content to accept it in the same way, remembering that it is God’s myth, where the others are men’s myths. That is, the pagan stories are God expressing himself through the minds of poets, using such images as he found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through real things. C. S. Lewis If Only I Were King by A. A. Milne I often wish I were a King, And then I could do anything. If only I were King of Spain, I’d take my hat off in the rain. If only I were King of France, I wouldn’t brush my hair for aunts. I think, if I were King of Greece, I’d push things off the mantelpiece. If I were King of Norroway, I’d ask an elephant to stay. If I were King of Babylon, I’d leave my button gloves undone. If I were King of Timbuctoo, I’d think of lovely things to do. If I were King of anything, I’d tell the soldiers, “I’m the King!” Book List: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas Gene Stratton Porter The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton Jane Austen The Little Prince by Antione de Saint-Exupéry The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson The Heroes by Charles Kingsley The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham Kim by Rudyard Kipling The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Rescuers by Marjorie Sharp The Borrowers by Mary Norton Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Booth Tarkington Ben Hur by Lew Wallace The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major Thornton W. Burgess 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 https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at http