We’ve got a lot of different things planned for the coming year. Interviews that we are setting up. Finishing the Seven Deadly Sins podcast series. More Negatron. Other things that we aren’t ready to talk about because they are still up in the air, and if they happen we’ll tell you about them.
But one thing we need to start talking about now, because on January 1 the year of Lewis is GO!!!
It’s the year of C.S. Lewis! 115 years ago this year, C.S. Lewis was born. 50 years ago this year, he died. C.S. Lewis is someone who had a profound impact on all three hosts of Strangers and Aliens. It would be safe to say that the podcast would not exist without C.S. Lewis, but the impact goes far beyond that.
So here is how we are making this year the Year of Lewis:
1. Special Podcast episodes: We will be doing a handful of C.S. Lewis-focused podcast episodes, some with guest hosts!
2. The S&A Book Club: We will be reading through one of C.S. Lewis’ fiction books every month. The schedule will be posted below and each book will be given its own page that we can use to discuss the book through the month. January is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. There will also be “extra credit” books, which will be nonfiction books by Lewis that are related thematically. For January, that will be Mere Christianity.
3. Guest bloggers: We are looking for guest writers who have ideas about C.S. Lewis they would like to share with the world. If you have an idea for an article or review or anything related to C.S. Lewis, we would love to consider it for our blog. Also, if you are or know an artist who has drawn some C.S. Lewis inspired artwork, get in contact with us — we’d love to spotlight you in a blog post!
4. More that we haven’t thought of yet!
Here’s our schedule for the reading:
January: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe — Narnia (extra credit — Mere Christianity)
February: Out of the Silent Planet — Space/Ransom trilogy (extra credit — The Discarded Image)
March: Prince Caspian & The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — Narnia (extra credit — none, since we doubled up the books)
April: Screwtape Letters (extra credit — The Four Loves)
May: The Silver Chair — Narnia (extra credit — The Problem of Pain)
June: Perelandra — Space/Ransom trilogy (extra credit — Introduction to Paradise Lost)
July: The Great Divorce (extra credit — Reflections on the Psalms)
August: The Horse and His Boy — Narnia (extra credit — Letters to Malcolm)
September: That Hideous Strength — Space/Ransom trilogy (extra credit — The Abolition of Man)
October: The Magician’s Nephew — Narnia (extra credit — Miracles)
November: Till We Have Faces (extra credit — Surprised By Joy)
December: The Last Battle — Narnia (extra credit — The World’s Last Night)
Our discussion will mainly focus on the fiction books, but we included the “extra credit” books for people who want to dig deeper into the books of this amazing storyteller and thinker. These nonfiction works have thematic links to the fiction works of that month.
We hope that, in one way or another, you enjoy exploring C.S. Lewis’ writings with us . . . whether you just choose to listen to the podcasts (don’t worry — this hasn’t suddenly become the C.S. Lewis show — we’re still going to be doing our regular mix of episode topics and interviews), or you choose to only read the books you haven’t read yet, or you choose to read them all, or you choose not to read the books becuase you already did. The bottom line is we want YOU to join the conversation — and there is a LOT of conversation to have when discussing C.S. Lewis’ works!
All of these books should be readily available from your local library. And you can also order nearly all of his books from Amazon (and if you order anything from Amazon after clicking on a link from our blog, you actually are helping support Strangers and Aliens and our operating costs!) — his books can be found here.
Finally, one of Dr, Jayce and Ben’s favorite devotionals is A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works
We hope you join us in enjoying the exploration, discovery, and re-discovery of C.S. Lewis’ writings!
This month’s books:
Ordering through Amazon supports Strangers and Aliens.
C.S. Lewis art by Tim Baron: http://www.timbaron.com
Leave a Reply