If you had any doubts as to whether or not God has a sense of humor, listen to the story of how today’s guest and I met. Today, Brenda and I talked all things books, and we got to do a little literary matchmaking.
Some of Brenda’s Childhood favorites:
- The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
- Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The American Girls Collection Books
- The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin
Brenda’s current reader profile:
- 70% fiction to 30% non-fiction
- fiction is mostly historical (favorite period is early to mid 20th century)
- Nonfiction is mostly parenting, biography, or memoir
- almost all e-books, mostly from the library
Topics covered:
- how Brenda makes reading happen as a mother of 3 young children (Libby, by OverDrive on the phone)
- how she finds the books she reads
- how we feel about being a “book breaker-upper” (and how Brenda wishes she were different in this regard)
- Brenda’s current roadblocks to having the reading life she wants
- how she feels about her endings and what she needs in her characters
Literary matchmaking with Brenda (format unabashedly borrowed from the What Should I Read Next? Podcast by Anne Bogel)
- Favorites
- All-time favorite: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
- The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
- 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling
- All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- What wasn’t for her
- Yes Please by Amy Poehler
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- Current reads
- What she wishes was different in her reading life
- More memoir and biography
- Spiritual reading (along the lines of Small Steps for Catholic Moms by Elizabeth Foss and Danielle Bean)
My Recommendations for Brenda:
- Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doer
- My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (Anne Lamott is my spirit animal)
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta by Mother Teresa and Brian Kolodiejchuk
- Jennifer Fulwiler
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- Something Other Than God
- One Beautiful Dream (releasing 5/1/18) I pre-ordered my copy on Amazon and can’t wait to read it!
Brenda’s Recommendations for me:
- 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
- Saint John Paul the Great: His 5 Loves by Jason Evert
Closing Questions:
- Go back in time. What advice do you have for new mama Brenda?
- What’s something (big or small) that’s making your life easier lately?
Questions for you, listener:
- A Series of Unfortunate Events – what do you think about these books? Have you read them? Have your children? Would you recommend them for your kids?
- What do you think of my book recommendations for Brenda? Do you have any titles to add to my list?
- Do you celebrate May Day? What does your family do?
- Don’t you think Jennifer Fulwiler should add Lincoln, NE to her book tour for One Beautiful Dream? Me too!
For those who asked about it, here is the First Communion Novena we prayed with Jane leading up to her big day.
Get in touch! Send questions or topic suggestions my way. As always, you can e-mail me at podcastATcatherineboucherDOTcom or find me on Facebook or Instagram
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