REVIEW: With All Her Mind

Word on Fire has published yet another beautiful and wonderful book summoning individuals – this time, women – to a higher calling. Rachel Bulman is a speaker, writer, board member of the GIVEN institute and has been featured on Word on Fire’s YouTube channel.

Image Courtesy of Bookshop.org

Summary

With All Her Mind: A Call to the Intellectual Life is a collection of essays from 16 different women on different aspects of the intellectual life. This 126-page book succinctly suggests that any woman – whether she is a professor, business woman, or stay-at-home mother – has the potential to see the world around her and contemplate it through her feminine genius. Hence, 16 contributing writers offer their advice and set an example for the reader.

Features

Externally, this beautiful book features a hard, canvas cover with gold lettering and a dust jacket. Inside, its essays, averaging seven pages long, offer the reader a piecemeal bouquet of stories and experiences. While each writer has their own writing styles, all of the pieces are down-to-earth and pull the reader into the life of the individual author. While collections of essays can be droll academic experiences, these seem more like letters to the reader, encouraging her to dig deeper and become more than she thought possible.

What is The Intellectual Life?

What is the intellectual life? In a general sense, it is the ability to read, write, and think about ideas and concepts that one encounters. How does one achieve such a goal? To quote Rachel Bulman from the introduction, “What does pursuing the intellectual life look like for you? I think there are as many ways to answer this question as there are women in the world. But it will begin with the things that you live. It will set those things afire, and the flames will spread throughout your entire life” (p. xviii). In this book, each of the essays from a different author in a different place in their lives offers different, yet cohesive, advice on how any woman has the potential to cultivate her mind and allow it to shape the world around her. “Each essay intends to call us into femininity with a special emphasis on the rational, creative, powerful, and beautiful mind of the woman” (p. xvii).

Things I Loved:

• Small book

Because the writers are in all different stages of their lives, careers, and vocations, there is much wisdom to be gained by rereading this book over time. This is very possible based on its size and the overall writing styles that make it easy to consume in a short amount of time.

• Includes Short Bios of Each Contributor in the Back of the Book

I found it extremely helpful to go to the back of the book before (or after) reading an essay to get a little more information on the person who was writing. Since all of the essays were written in first person, it helped me get a much better mental image of who was talking to me. It made the reading experience more like a friendly conversation – a beautiful reprieve from the textbooks I was reading at the time.

Things I Didn’t Love:

• Neglects to Define “Intellectual Life”

When I am reading a book on a subject, I generally like to have the definition first. Even if I don’t understand it or it feels very general, I appreciate the feeling of having a direction to move towards – making the definition make sense. It would have been nice for Rachel to have included this in her introduction or in the forward.

• The Essays are Too Short

I know, I know, I just mentioned that it is a good thing that the book is short. However, as I read and got closer to the end, I felt like a little kid who is having too much fun on a quickly-ending field trip. While this downside left me hungry for another great read, it is sad to reach the end of a book I enjoyed so much!

In conclusion, I wholeheartedly believe that there is something in this book for every woman, but especially those who aspire to be writers, speakers, and leaders. While the intellectual life may sound daunting or dull to some, it can be as simple as being present in the moment, considering and understanding the world around me, and processing what my response should be. While the intellectual life can be more, who wouldn’t benefit from these skills? How much deeper would my prayer-life be if I better mastered these skills? I will conclude with the words of the publishing editor, “While this book invites all women to cultivate the life of the mind, I have a special hope these pages are read by young mothers, young career women, college students, and even high school students. May these younger minds have the courage to challenge our civilization to grow in knowledge and virtue and maybe even use this book as a guide in doing so”.

Get your Copy Today!

Word on Fire – $29.95 (Link)

The Catholic Company – $19.95 (Link)

Amazon – $24.95 (Link)