The Bibliovore's Wife

I love reading, and can't recall a time when I wasn't interested in reading! How did this happen? How can I make it happen for Child(ren)? Can this be generalized to children of less-nerdy parents? Come along with me as I explore these questions in this week's post. My Reading Journey As readers of The Renaissance Biologist know, I was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school, and sent to a private pre-kindergarten for one year. From what my parents tell me, I showed awareness of and interest in books from around 2 years old, having a stack in a strategic location for a particular 3-year-old milestone. I don't have specific memories of using a phonics or other program, but given that my mother previously worked in the school system as a reading specialist, my guess is that she combined lap-based reading aloud with phonics training. My earliest memories of independent reading are in a corner of my parents' living room, by a wall full of bookshelves, with up...

Husband, Child, and I have been in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) for almost two years as of the writing of this post. One of the interesting things we learned about the denomination is its emphasis on having a "wide tent" in worship. What does this mean? What is Anglicanism, Anyway? A simple definition of Anglicanism is the broad Christian tradition originating in England (consistent with the word's etymology) and identifiable as similar to today's church body starting in the Protestant Reformation. That said, depending on location the various branches of Anglicanism, practices and doctrines can vary quite widely, so long as each congregation holds to the Thirty-Nine Articles and uses the Book of Common Prayer for individual, family, and corporate worship. What do the Thirty-Nine Articles Teach? The Articles (which have varied in number over the years) are an outline of Anglicanism's core doctrines--those without believing and agreeing with which o...

Do you use audiobooks, or wish you did? Before a few years ago, I was of the mindset that audiobooks were a "lazy" option. Then Child came around, and I realized that the only way I could keep up with my reading addiction while integrating parenthood was to allow at least some personal audiobook use. In the spirit of Mortimer Adler's classic, How to Read a Book , I present you with How to Use Audiobooks (especially if you're a potential or current home educator). Why Should(n't) You Use Audiobooks? There are practical and philosophical reasons to consider whether or not to use audiobooks for yourself or for your family members. I'll consider a few reasons to  use them and a few reasons not  to. There's a whole debate in other circles about the proper role of technology in a Christian's or generic human's life, which is beyond the scope of this post. Good Reasons Audiobooks can help you get through more material than you would be able to get through...

It had been quipped on social media that my generation (Millennial) should really be called the Hobbit generation, in small part because a film adaptation of said book came out when we were still at theater-going age. Indeed, one of the few movies I saw in theaters before college was Two Towers. I re-read both Hobbit and Lord of the Rings last year, and wanted to reflect more on the former. As a reminder, here's the general outline of this post: I will . . . Contextualize the author's writings as a whole (bibliography) Bring the author's major ideas to the present day Comment on major sections of the book, or important chapters, depending on organization **Pin 1: Literary Themes in The Hobbit **Pin 2: The Hobbit Within Tolkien's Universe Tolkien's Other Writings The Tolkien Society  has a complete list of his written and edited/contributor books. Since there are around 60 of them, I will list just a few here. Translations of Old English and Middle English texts, inc...