A Christian Guide to the Classics by Leland Ryken

Dana says: This is a great little intro to reading the classics as a Christian. I am extremely grateful for Leland Ryken who has authored a number of books on the topic of literature from a professional (he was a Professor of English for more than 45 years) and Christian perspective. This book addresses a number of fundamental questions and ideas such as misconceptions about classics, what is a classic, why should we read the classics, how not read a classic, how to read a classic, what is a Christian classic, what is a secular classic, and speaks about the greatest classic of them all: the Bible. Ryken's passion for the classics and the importance of reading them is contagious. My only complaint is I wish the book would have been longer!

The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer

Dana says: This is the first book I have ever read from Susan Wise Bauer who seems to be a very accomplished super woman of sorts. This book is about applying the methods of classical education to reading, in particular ways in particular genres. This book had me at page one and held me throughout. Wise Bauer is an excellent writer and teacher and I devoured and enjoyed all that she teaches about reading in this book. In part one she talks about classical education, the art of reading, and keeping a reading journal. Part two is dedicated specifically to the reading of novels, autobiography, history, drama, and poetry with an appropriate annotated reading list in each chapter. I learned so much in this book and especially enjoyed the short histories she gave on each genre. I also came away feeling confident to try some works I have previously assumed too hard for me to read. If you love to read, love to read about reading, and want to become a better reader overall this book is a must!

Spiritual Autobigraphies

Augustine is the first writer to answer that annoying question: Who wants to hear about my life, anyway?  For Augustine, as for Margery Kempe, Teresa of Avila, John Bunyan, Thomas Merton,  and an unbroken line of spiritual autobiographers who stretch  right up to Charles Colson, the answer is: all those, who like me, are sinners (by any measure, a wide intended readership).  If the purpose of autobiography is to point sinners to grace, the autobiographer can be humble and self-centered.  Minute, individual self-examination (a most satisfying activity) has enormous importance to thousands of readers.  After all, the same divine image sleeps in them; they must perform the same self-scrutiny and encounter the same God.  

                                                   
                                                   -Susan Wise Bauer, The Well Educated Mind

The Book Club Companion by Diana Loevy

Dana says: I am always looking for ideas to improve and enrich book my Ladies' Book Club! This was a quick and easy read as most of it is short overviews of books the author recommends for book clubs. I really appreciated that she gave the overviews without spoilers as this is often not the case. The author also had other fun things in the book to help make book club meetings themed and memorable according to the books you're reading (cocktail recipes from the books, menu ideas, meeting place ideas, etc.). The book was divided up into different chapters by genres of books with a list at the end of each chapter of books your book club might be reading according to what was published each decade over the past ten decades. I did find a few books that interested me but her book recommendations were heavy on contemporary writers which I am not much interested in. She did give some advice on hosting and leading discussions which I found helpful. 

More Than Words

Matt says: This is an interesting book because it is about authors who have had profound influence on current writers. There were a hand full of authors that appealed to me. Some of the best essays were about authors that brought alive the mundane and ordinary to show God's common grace. Some of the essays were disappointing (esp on Dostoevsky). Overall a pretty good book.

Dana says: My second time with this book. It was interesting to note which parts struck me the first time reading it and which parts struck me this second time. Over all I got more out of this second reading because I read much more literature now than I used to. This book includes a wide variety of writers from different denominations within Christianity (both in the authors who write the essays and the writers they are writing about) and some can be challenging depending on what denomination you come from but all are thought provoking. I wish essayists coming from a Reformed background would have been included, such as Leland Ryken and Gene Veith.

My favorite chapters this time were the ones on Kierkegard, Thomas Merton, John Milton, Hans Christian Andersen, and Tolkien. But just as in my first reading my favorite of of all essays again was the one by Yancey written on John Donne- worth the price of the book alone.

The Complete Idiots Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism by Steven J. Venturino

Dana says: Caveat Emptor- Its almost unfair for me to rate this book as I found much of it to be over my head. When I bought it I thought I was basically buying myself a lit 101 class in book form but after having finished it I saw that I took the wrong class!

The first part defines literature theory and literature criticism and then defines things such as theme, form, plot, motif, narrators, characterizations, imagery, and figurative language. All good stuff.

The second part moves on to discussing how we read and takes a look at the different schools of thought- New Criticism versus Old Criticism, Russian Formalism, and Reader-Response Criticism and then ends with Aristotle and neoclassicists. All very interesting.

The third part is where I started to get lost. The best way I can describe it is to say parts 3-6, which is the remainder of the book, is like reading about how people read and interpret books through their particular worldview. Plato is discussed first and then it goes on to the Romantics, Marx, Freud, Saussure, Feminists, Gender and Queer theory, Ethnic studies, Disability Studies, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Psychology, Cultural Studies, Historical Studies, Post-colonial Criticism, and then ends abruptly with Ecocriticism. Most of these sections were quite philosophical to me and hard to understand. But the gist of it to me seemed like all these critics are reading all these things into books whether the author meant it or not.

The overall worldview of this book is quite different from my own and I disagreed with the vast majority of it. However, this was for the most part an interesting read and opened my eyes to a number of things I was quite unfamiliar with. My favorite part of the book was definitely the chapter dealing with Aristotle and his views on reading, in particular on reading for fun and intellectual profit and his teaching on catharsis. I am in hearty agreement with Aristotle and his friends who believe that "when it comes to imaginative literature, our time is best spent with works that both delight and instruct." The chapter on Aristotle alone was worth the price I paid for the book.

The Book Group Book by Ellen Slezak

Dana says: Found this for a buck at the Friends of the Pima County Library sale. How timely! The book consists of about 25 essays written by people who are in book clubs all over the country and then several reading lists from these groups. I was shocked to find out that most of the people who are involved in book clubs are women and even more shocked to find out that most of the book clubs (at least the ones represented in this book) read women authors exclusively or feminist writers only. To borrow a phrase from the 80s- gag me with a spoon! Even though I think this way of reading is stupid I plowed through the book in a few days and did glean a few good ideas out of it for my own book club.

Reading Between the Lines, A Christian Guide to Literature - Gene Edward Veith, Jr.

Matt says: This is a very interesting book by a very interesting author. At first glance it looks like another book that is intent on reinforcing the "Christian ghetto" but even a cursory reading or a knowledge of the author would prove the book to be much more interesting. It is mainly an overview of literature from the perspective of a Christian thinker. This includes the dominant cultural philosophies that birth literature, genres of writing and their historical beginnings and significance, as well as specific examples of literary expression from both Christian and non-Christian writers.

I found one of the most interesting parts of the book was the discussion on comedy v tragedy. A comedy is a story of unfortunate events that eventually lead to a happy ending. As Christians we can view our lives through this lens knowing that the end of the story has already been written and finishes with glorious joy in heaven. Now we can see that all these "tragedies" along the way are not to be taken quite so seriously. For those who believe life ends in nothing, there is only ultimate despair and life becomes about living for the maximum personal pleasure. This is tragic in the end.

This is an excellent book and should be read.

Dana says:  Another fantastic book by Veith!  He is one of my favorite writers. I can't read enough enough from him. This particular work was really helpful for me as my own education regarding literature, how to read and understand it, is quite limited. I learned so much from this book I wish I could take a semester or two from Veith who is a professor of literature at Patrick Henry College. I loved the beginning chapters on the importance of reading and criticism, the forms of literature and all the examples and recommendations in the book that he gives. His treatment of obscenity, pornography, vulgarity, and profanity in the chapter on vicarious experience and sin were very interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read broadly and to people who want to learn more about reading literature.