Since I'm starting a book club soon at my church I decided to pick this one up to read through and review. This one is definitely from a Catholic perspective but as a non-Catholic Christian woman I found a lot of good information and encouragement in this book. It is a book written by women geared towards women.

I really liked the quotes from famous individuals such as C.S. Lewis and Pope John Paul II that were disbursed throughout the book. They reinforced some of the ideas that the authors presented. I liked how the authors laid out each chapter and had questions to ask yourself at the end of the chapter to encourage thought about the ideas presented in the chapter. This book definitely reinforced the idea that bringing women together around books can encourage great conversations and develop strong relationships. I also liked how they reinforced the idea that not all books need to be finished to participate in their book discussions and gave tips to women looking to get back into reading.

There is a lot of great literature out there, even modern Christian fiction which brings real life challenges and applications to our lives, but the authors focused on novels that are considered great fiction reads such a "Dante's Inferno", "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Don Quixote" which are excellent books but I would also have liked to see encouragement on reading some of the more recently published works that are out there. This was my one negative thought on the book but it's a big one because being well read doesn't always pull from a list of traditionally great novels - there are so many great books out there in general and I had hoped to see Christian fiction mentioned since this is a Catholic/Christian group of women reading books. I agree that these great works of fiction can allow anyone to grow and examine themselves, but as an avid Christian fiction reader I had hoped to see encouragement to read those books mentioned.

Overall this book is a great resource to encourage women to read more and gave me ideas to start my own book club with a few friends from church. I recommend this as a resource to encourage anyone, particularly women to read more. It gives a lot of good tips for reading and how to carve out time to read and retain what's being read.

Thank you to Ave Maria Press for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinion expressed are my own.

The Well-Read Life: Nourish Your Soul through Deep Reading and Intentional Friendship by Marcie Stokman and Colleen Hutt is a book that provides helpful information on the importance of reading well. Which I find to be of importance, so I am glad the ladies wrote a book about it! The authors run an online and in-person national book club. This is a book that not only shares the benefits of reading but also steps in how to read deeply. This book was an enjoyable read for me, as I agreed with all they were saying about our culture today and what is happening to our minds because of the internet and lack of deep reading (ability to comprehend and focus). The authors provided some great questions to ponder on throughout the book and action steps at the end of each chapter, which were helpful for me to take my reading deeper.

So if you have been lacking in reading books or are in a slump, this book will be an encouraging help to get you back to reading. I loved that the authors shared some of their favorite books throughout, along with why and what they have learned through the books they have read. However, it made my to be read book pile bigger, but I won’t complain. I am always on the hunt for the next good book to read!

Here are some of my highlights:

Something’s been missing in my life. I want more than shallow surfing, enticing influencers, and an endless to-do list.
You deserve to become well-read, not only for your own growth and happiness but for your children, your family, and for society. Technology is changing our society’s very definition of what it means to be read.
We read deeply not for information but for transformation and wisdom. Strengthen your mind. Enrich your soul.
Reading great and worthy books is one way to feed our mins and souls with goodness, truth, and beauty.
We begin to assume that scrolling headlines, scanning news bits, and tapping screens is reading 0 and it is. But it is not reading for meaning.
The capacity of books to spark a fire in us, to move us to action and bolster courage, was confirmed once again.
Today, we are outsourcing our thinking to pundits and not taking the time to fill our souls with texts necessary for human flourishing.
Literature shows us that a particular person who lived in a different moment of history, who had different religious beliefs or a different family structure, can nonetheless share something in common with contemporary people living today.
Reading and discussing literature together can be a simple yet powerful way to build social connections that are necessary for spiritual growth, good mental health, and personal happiness.

One thing to note, they are Catholic, so you will come across some Catholic references, but that didn’t affect me and what I have learned from this book. Also, it doesn’t release until September 13th, but that will be here before you know it. I do recommend this book to all book lovers or want to be book lovers, so go put it on your list!!

This book was absolutely beautiful! It was just so touching, and the words were just incredible. I loved the concept of the book, and would say this could be used for helping so many in slumps. I just cherished every word. Very well done!

From the minute I saw the enticing title, I knew this was a book that I had to read. The Well-Read Life: Nourish Your Soul Through Deep Reading and Intentional Friendship is as delightful as a cup of your favorite breakfast beverage at the dawn of the day.

Authors Marcie Stokman and Colleen Hutt have created a work which paints a lovely portrait of a life lived well through the reading of classic literature. But they are not promoting reading as a solitary enterprise--rather, they encourage individuals to come together to discuss their reading in an atmosphere of acceptance and discovery.

I was not aware of the Well-Read Mom phenomenon until I read this book. When I checked out the website I was shocked to learn how many Well-Read Mom groups are flourishing in my state, some of which are filled to capacity.

The book succeeded in piquing my curiosity about the classics and how I might fit them into my hectic life. It is a credit to the authors that their enthusiasm for great literature is so contagious!