Advertise on podcast: The Re-Enchantment Book Club

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan travel to the misty moors of Devonshire with Sherlock Holmes and discuss making sense of the world, mystery formulas, wrestling with unsearchable things, seeking vs. speaking Truth, leaving room for mercy, and the bogginess of mushrooms.   What We’re Reading: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy  Reading for the Love of God  by Jessica Hooten Wilson The Second Mountain by David Brooks   Follow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reenchantmentbookclub   Send us an email with a question/comment at: [email protected]    Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan pay a visit to Prince Edward Island and discuss the human need for beauty, the role of delight in an enchanted worldview, the scope for imagination, seeing through to what things could be, apprehension vs. comprehension, and Big Feelings.   What We’re Reading:   The Feast by Margaret Kennedy The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez   Other Mentions: After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre “God’s Grandeur” and “Pied Beauty” by Gerard Manley Hopkins   Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reenchantmentbookclub   Have a question or comment? Send us an email at: [email protected]   Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan take some time to respond to listeners’ questions. They discuss the story of their own friendship, book recommendations for younger readers, the power of annotation, discerning helpful vs. harmful content in literature, whether Christian fiction is obligated to overtly evangelize, book vs. film adaptations, and whether you should make yourself read that super-long classic novel.    What We’re Reading: Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson  Red Harvest by Dashiel Hammett  Killer Angels by Michael Shaara No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton  Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro   Young Reader Recommendations: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park  Peace Like a River by Leif Enger  The Giver by Lois Lowry Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt  The Little Prince by Antoine de Sainte-Exupery The Wind and the Willows by Kenneth Grahame   Jordan & Brendan’s nostalgic middle grade books: Redwall by Brian Jacques Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer Harry Potter series by JK Rowling  Holes by Louis Sachar  Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli  Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG by Roald Dahl  A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osbourne  Goosebumps series by RL Stein  Animorphs series by KA Applegate Follow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reenchantmentbookclub   Have a question or comment? Send us an email at: [email protected]

In this special 25th episode, Jordan and Brendan go head-to-head in a fantasy draft to assemble an elite team of titles from all of their previous episodes, selecting for categories that include best Narrator, Character, Setting, Style/Form, ‘Beach Read,’ ‘Desert Island Book,’ Most Enchanting, Most Light, and Most Heat. Feel free to vote for who assembled the better “team” via DMs on Instagram or through our official gmail!   Follow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reenchantmentbookclub   Send us an email with a question/comment for our upcoming Mailbag Episode: [email protected]

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan foray into the world of Russian lit to discuss the danger of categories, Death as the great equalizer, evaluation by the world’s economy, living & dying well, the paradoxical complexity of Tolstoy’s work, and whether stew is better on the second day.   What We’re Reading:   The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr Phantastes by George Macdonald Custodians of Wonder by Eliot Stein   Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan go through the wardrobe to discuss the deep magic of sacrificial love, the awakening of the imagination, Lewis’s iconic imagery, resurrection beauty, the renewing power of awe, the questionable allure of Turkish Delight, and their favorite “goosebump” moments. What We’re Reading: The Odyssey by Homer Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson The Dynamics of Spiritual Life by Richard F. Lovelace   Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss Great American novels, the desire for immutable justice, the inconsistency of moral judgment, the need for our immediate worlds to be put right, and the fact that on a map, small places add up to a big place.   What We’re Reading: The Word in the Wilderness by Malcolm Guite This is Happiness by Niall Williams A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the power of music, the problem of pain, where we go to deal with suffering, the communal experience of lament, the cisterns we choose over the fountains of living water, showing up for the ones we love, and whether beer is in fact meant to be served cold.   What We’re Reading: The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell    Other Mentions: Jeremiah 2:13 REBC Episode 9 “The Gilded Six Bits” REBC Episode 2 “A Lesson Before Dying”

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss an abundance of rabbits, the power of myth, how the telling of stories shapes us, the value of ennobling tales, whether this book is actually for children, and an unfortunate excess of rollicking.   What We’re Reading: The Divided Soul by Heidi White The Unselected Journals of Emma Lion by Beth Brower Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë   Other Mentions: Psalm 104   Next episode we will be discussing Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin. We hope you join us! Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this special New Year episode, Jordan and Brendan examine the poems “Alive Together” by Liesel Mueller and “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. They discuss what it means to marvel, the power of providence, the possibility of “missing out”, struggling to be who we are called to be, the paradox of oneness with Christ, the lilting magic of sprung rhythm, and the playfulness of God.   What We’re Reading: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson Time of the Child by Niall Williams The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Rise & Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman   Other Mentions: Poetry 180 by Billy Collins Jordan’s poets: Mary Oliver, Jane Kenyon, Ted Kooser, Li Young Lee, Denise Levertov, Jim Harrison Brendan’s poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Emily Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Richard Wilbur George Macdonald - “The New Name” (from Unspoken Sermons)

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan board the Hogwarts Express to discuss the deep magic of God, worldbuilding, finding our place in a larger story, British sweets, and whether Americans find the word “Philosopher” archaic. All topped off with an irresponsible number of references to Stephen King for an episode about a children’s book.   What We’re Reading: For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann  The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare Pet Sematary by Stephen King   Other Mentions: John Calvin’s sensus divinitatis   Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan take up residence in Port William and discuss Membership, steadfast Love, what it means to live and die in the same place, visions of the Good Life, and the power of particular Fidelity. All of which is catfish optional.    What We’re Reading: A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought by Marilynne Robinson   Next episode we will be discussing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. We hope you join us! Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

The Lottery In this episode, Jordan and Brendan debate what defines a Dystopia; they also discuss the day they’ll beat their swords into plowshares, the shadow side of redemptive reality, the human capacity for violence, the “what the heck is going on here” feeling, an ill-fated cupcake, and the counter-catachesis of the Christian life.     What We’re Reading: So We Read On by Maureen Corrigan That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis   Other Mentions: The Twilight Zone Black Mirror Dystopian Fiction   Next episode we will be discussing Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. We hope you join us!   Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the nature of dignity, the soul-crushing need to justify your existence, the cost of disordered loves, ambiguous epiphanies, the inherent value of humanity, the classist admiration for English lords, and whether or not they would have made good butlers.   What We’re Reading: The Cost of the Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer  The Chosen by Chaim Potok The Second Coming by Walker Percy   Other Mentions: Tom Waits - “Ruby’s Arms” Luke 11, Matthew 23 Unreliable Narrators Foils   Next episode we will be discussing The Lottery  by Shirley Jackson. We hope you join us! Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan gush over the scarcity of admirable literary heroes, the value of patient writing, the struggle to understand the world, the tension between perishable beauty and the far side of eternity, the power of sacramental blessing, and the art of peeling onion layers.   What We’re Reading: A River Runs Through It by Norman McLean Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart by Russ Ramsey True Grit by Charles Portis Other Mentions: John Calvin - Institutes of the Christian Religion  Epistolary Novel Form  Romans 7:18-20   Next episode we will be discussing The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. We hope you join us!   Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra