Lenten Reading: The Big List of Fiction

This is a huge list to be sure. But it has some of the most thought provoking books I know They both entertain and inspire. It ranges from science fiction to mystery to Uncle Tom's Cabin. I've run the list before but have updated it.

Last year I read The Lord of the Rings beginning on Ash Wednesday and finishing on Holy Saturday. It was intense, both in my daily reading requirements and spiritually. It was the perfect accompaniment to Lent.

This year ... I'm still thinking but I am inclined to reread The Feast. My podcasting pal Scott is going to do that and it is really an appealing idea.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This was so much more than I realized it would be. Within this simply told tale are the stories of four people who go to a special cafe in order to time travel. The rules are strict, the time is very limited, and it seems impossible that they could accomplish much. However, each is surprised by what they find. And therein lies a wonderful, charming tale. 

My full review is here. Scott and I discussed this is episode 331 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast,

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Four women who need to get away from their regular lives and get their heads together rent an Italian castle with the promise of sunshine and wisteria. They don't realize why they so desperately need a change when they flee gray, raining London for sunny San Salvatore Castello in Italy. However, as they are surrounded by beauty their eyes are gradually opened.

This is one of those books that has a seemingly simple story but presents a lot in the layers of the story. My full review is here. Scott and I discussed this in Episode 350 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

 The Feast by Margaret Kennedy

This book starts out with a clergyman at a loss for how to write a eulogy for seven people who died in a hotel when a cliff fell on it and crushed it. We're then taken back to life in the hotel a week before the disaster. We get to know everyone and watch how their interactions change them (or don't). This book is not just about the mystery of who will live and who will die. It is also about spiritual realities by which these people live their lives.

My full review is here. Scott and I discussed this in episode 321 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

In the late 1800s two French priests are assigned to the New Mexico territory to minister to the neglected Catholic churches there. One is intellectual, the other is the salt of the earth. Both are friends and both are good Catholic priests. This is what one might call an episodic telling, much as are the Gospels. We see the lives of the priests, those they minister to, and the country itself which is as much of a character as any of the people. Cather wasn't Catholic but you'd never know it simply by reading this account which gets everything right — and gives a lot of food for thought along the way. Scott and I discussed this in episode 274 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell

Rembrandt, his father, and uncle are trying to undo a deal with the devil made by their loved ones. As they seek a champion, they must cope with a tricky requirement that they not stay in any place longer than 12 days.

Considerations of faith are handled both honestly and delicately in this book. The insights and observations throughout the book underlie the main story in a way that lends itself to considerations of gratitude, mercy, selfishness, sacrifice, and much more — all without being heavy handed.

My full review is here. It is is marketed to teens but I'm not the first reviewer to mention that label is too limiting because it is also a great read for adults.

Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods.

I've been jaded by the plethora of recent apocalyptic novels but this one is different. Perhaps the highest tribute I can give this novel is that when I finished I didn't want to read another book. To do so would sully what I'd just read before I'd finished thinking about it, as well as be unfair to anything that followed because it wouldn't be able to compare.

My full review is here. We also discussed this book in Episode 110 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. And also on SFFaudio where a lot of interesting fruitful topics came up.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Or, since Lent is only 40 days, at least the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. I was was blown away by how much the audio experience added to my understanding of the richness and depth of the story. Admittedly, it was also greatly helped by The Tolkien Professor's class sessions on this book. You will be hard put to find a better primer on sacrifice, redemption, and many other key lessons for Christian life. I think this may be the best book ever written. And you could do worse than to read The Hobbit for starters.

Joseph R's review is the best I've read if you'd like a more complete look at the novel.

Scott and I were joined by Seth Wilson in a two-part discussion of this novel at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast: part 1, part 2.

Christy by Catherine Marshall
I read this several times when I was in high school and college but hadn't encountered it for decades. It came to mind again when talking with my mother about books set in hardscrabble backgrounds.

I remembered it being really interesting about people in the Smoky Mountains in 1912 cut off from any outside civilization except for a few people who came in to try to help their poverty stricken situation. Including the 19-year-old young woman, Christy, who comes to teach the children. She is naive and from a well-to-do background so she's completely unprepared for what she finds.

I didn't recall it being so inspirational throughout. I wound up loving it so much that I could hardly bear to put it down. Scott and I discussed this in episode 355 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
A bedraggled, galley ship survivor, despite his best efforts to the contrary, finds himself in the middle of royal intrigue. If that weren't enough, he is also pulled into the the affairs of the divine as a result and this complicates his life as one might imagine. This is a land of various gods and strong, dark magic. It is, however, also a land where free will matters in the outcome of events.

Will Duquette calls this "theological science fiction" and I agree. The way that free will is intertwined with what the gods desire, as well as what is "right," is fascinating and a good way to examine our own motives the next time we turn away from what God may be asking of us. My full review is here. A Good Story discussion is at Episode 198.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry is an incredible Christ-figure as I discovered when I reread the series recently. Of course, this only works for those who have read the series before.

For more depth and as accompanying materials, readers may want to listen to Episode 26 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast where Scott Danielson and I discuss the book and the entire series from a Catholic point of view.

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
This extraordinarily sensitive and insightful portrait of religious life centers on Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman who leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community. That's the official description but it doesn't begin to cover the richly woven tapestry Godden weaves with nuanced personalities, mysteries to solve so that the order may continue, Philippa's internal struggles, and much more.

Again, Joseph R. has a wonderful review of the book. We also discussed  episode 97 at A Good Story is Hard to Find

Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger
This beautifully written historical fiction tells of Andrea Orsini, who is one of Cesare Borgia's most trusted political manipulators during the Italian Renaissance. This is a swashbuckler that simultaneously shows Andrea's transition of a human heart from greed to love, selfishness to sacrifice, and power grubbing to nobility.

Discussed in episode 13 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
A real page-turner which many think they know because the cultural references are so embedded in our society. However, if you haven't read this book then you don't know it at all. First and foremost, Uncle Tom actually is a Christ-figure, a living saint. No wonder he is misunderstood by so many.

Stowe does a good job showing many different attitudes toward slavery and how people excused themselves under the flimsiest of excuses. What is unexpected is how well she examines the varying levels of Christianity proclaimed and threaded solidly throughout the story.

Discussed in episode 114 of A Good Story is Hard to Find.

I read this aloud on my Forgotten Classics podcast with commentary. Yes, that's how much I love it.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

We all think of this as a classic horror story but there is much more to it. Look below the surface and you find a classic tale of unselfishness and doing God's will in order to rid the world of a monster who is a perversion of Christ.

Discussed in episode 168 of A Good Story is Hard to Find. Mythgard Institute (founded by Corey Olsen, The Tolkien Professor) has a superb series of classes on Dracula.

The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
These books seem an interesting blend of fiction and nonfiction to me. Lewis's imagination is vivid and fascinating. His tendency to have characters speechify leans to the nonfiction side. Taken as a meditative read, they would be very good for Lent, I'd think.

Out of the Silent Planet: Dr. Ransom is kidnapped by two men who take him to Mars as a sacrifice to the natives. Lewis was fantastically inventive about what the planet and living beings were like. I didn't know he had it in him.

Perelandra: Very different from Out of the Silent Planet while still showing C.S. Lewis's vivid and inspiring imagination. I am simply blown away by his vision of creation on Venus. Amazing insights as to battling evil, the dance of God's creation and plan, and our part in it.

That Hideous Strength: It is a testament to Lewis's imagination and writing skill as to how different all three of the books are in this trilogy, while simultaneously all carrying out the same basic theme. No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien loved them. This book left me striving to be a better person, to be truer to myself, as did the other two. Not many other books really leave one feeling that way.

Discussed in episodes 202, 204, and 206 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Uncle Tom's Cabin and Achieving Your Goal

There’s no happy ending ... Nevertheless, we might well say that is exactly Harriet Beecher Stowe’s point. In 1852 slavery had not been abolished. Slaves were still on the plantations and many of them were in the hands of people like Legree. Her book was written to shame the collective conscience of America into action against an atrocity which was still continuing. So a happy ending would have been, frankly, a lie and a betrayal. ...

Most of the charges are basically true. Stowe did stereotype. She did sentimentalize. She offered a role model which later offended African American pride. On the other hand, what she did worked. She wasn’t trying to provide a role model for African Americans. She was trying to make white Americans ashamed of themselves. ...

Perhaps the short answer to her critics is to ask, “Do you want glory, approval, all those good things? Or do you want to achieve your goal?”

Thomas A. Shippey, Heroes and Legends

Shippey only had a half hour discussion of Uncle Tom as a hero and so he glossed over some of the things with which one could take issue in his statement. For example, I'd say that Stowe was trying to provide a role model for all of us, often in the slaves she wrote about, but you have to look at it with a Christian focus to see that clearly.

That aside, I love his defense because I love the book so much. Without context it is easy to cast stones at anyone. And we're all in that glass house where we don't want the stones cast back at us. Our lives and viewpoints have context which we'd like understood also before we are judged.

Your friends may use the word obsessed ...

Cull duplicates. If you have two copies of a book, keep the prettier one. If you can't bring yourself to get rid ofyour duplicates, buy a third copy. When it comes to books, two is the loneliest number. Multiple copies of a single title are acceptable. Many many multiples are preferable to two or three; excess makes you look interesting. Your friends may use the word obsessed, but they can't deny your obsession is interesting.

Anne Bogel, I'd Rather Be Reading

I do have duplicates, and more than two, of several books. To be fair, most of those are because I like different translations, such as for Dante's Divine Comedy. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is because I have lightweight paperbacks for reading in bed, a one volume version that has notes written in it (yes, I know, notes), and a third with Tolkien's own illustrations throughout. I can't guarantee I won't buy another one with Alan Lee's illustrations — if I can find such a thing or afford it — but that's for the future to worry about. I also confess to duplicate copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Dracula because one copy has notes in it.

 And, of course, the Bible for different translations or commentaries. But the Bible is in a category all its own.

Cheese Pennies and Classic Chess Pie

 When my book club gathered to discuss Uncle Tom's Cabin I wanted to do a bit of a theme for refreshments. Researching classic Kentucky dishes (that's where Tom's story begins for us, on the Shelby's farm) I found Cheese Pennies and Chess Pie come from way back. The pennies are cheese crackers and the chess pie is very lemony, without being a lemon pie!

I'm just sure that's what Aunt Chloe would have served to the Governor when he came for dinner. Try them and see what you think!

What's your hurry?

“What's your hurry?"

"Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in," said Miss Ophelia.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

What I'm Reading — Scalawags, History Changers, Philosophy, and Knights

THE EIGHTH ARROW: Odysseus in the Underworld
by J. Augustine Wetta O.S.B.

Condemned to burn in the eighth circle of Dante’'s Hell, Odysseus, legendary thief and liar of Homer’'s Odyssey and Iliad, decides he is going to break out. His adventure begins with a prayer to Athena Parthenos, who appears to him bearing gifts: his armor, his famous bow, a mysterious leather pouch, and seven unusual arrows. She then sends him on a quest through the Underworld along with Diomedes, his friend from the Trojan War who had been sharing in his eternal punishment. To complete their escape, the goddess warns them, they must recover their squandered honor and learn to use “the eighth arrow”.

I can't recall who recommended this book to me (it may have been the author, actually) but the Kindle sample was good enough to get it onto my wish list whereby it found its way into my birthday gifts. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. A determined scalawag (that's Odysseus) and his loyal friend tackle their task with bravado ... and sometimes they actually make progress! Having read a fair number of mashups with characters working their way through Dante's Inferno, this is measuring up very well.

BRAVE COMPANIONS: Portraits in History
by David McCullough

Profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition.

Different as they are from each other, McCullough’s subjects have in common a rare vitality and sense of purpose.

Another birthday gift, from my mother who saw McCullough's latest (Pioneers) on my wish list and, like the subjects of this book, went her own way. Tom's been recommending this one for a long time and now that I've begun I don't know why I didn't read it earlier. These really are fascinating people and McCullough presents them so well. Including Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of my beloved Uncle Tom's Cabin!

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST: An Introduction to Catholicism
by Thomas Joseph White

The Light of Christ provides an accessible presentation of Catholicism that is grounded in traditional theology and engaged with a host of contemporary questions and objections. Inspired by the theologies of Irenaeus, Thomas Aquinas, and John Henry Newman, and rooted in a post-Vatican II context, Fr. Thomas Joseph White presents major doctrines of the Christian faith in a way that is comprehensible for non-specialists.

Not for beginners, despite the title. If you want a good dose of philosophy with your Catholic faith then this is for you. Our parish is doing a five-week class on Edward Feser's Five Proofs of the Existence of God. Looking for something lighter than that, but still with intellectual depth, I noticed this title continually popping up in my searches.

It is exactly what I wanted. I even made it through the proofs for God with a fairly clear head ... though the discussion of the Trinity caused my brain to have to shut down for a little while. It's been a long time since I've had to think in such a different way. All this is without ignoring the questions that Catholicism raise in modern life. Truly this is a great book so far ...

ADVENTURE CAPITAL (Black Ocean #9)
by J.S. Morin

You may recall I mentioned buying the 85-hour long, 16 book series Galaxy Outlaws from Audible when it was on sale. Space opera and scalawags. With heists and adventure everywhere you look. What's not to like? Just letting you know in case they piqued your interest too!

LE MORTE D'ARTHUR: The New Retelling by Gerald J. Davis
by Thomas Malory, Gerald Davis (Translator)

The perfect read along to go with Mythgard Academy's free class, at least if you don't want to read it in a very old translation. By the time I finish listening to the classes, I'll have about 70 hours invested. That's just how entertaining I find the Mythgard classes.

My book club read this in a different translation long ago. And I wasn't hardy enough to make it through. But reading along with the Mythgard classes is, as usual, a much more enlightening experience. And this translation makes it much easier to get through the text. (It doesn't hurt that it is just $2.99 on Kindle.)

Breathless encounters with the classics

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities.
With Illustrations by H. K. Browne. 1859. First edition

For of all my discoveries, nearly the most breathless was Dickens, himself. How many of the educated can ever suspect the delight of such a delayed encounter? I think we owned a Collected Works when I was a child. But I had tried David Copperfield too early and had believed all my life that he was not for me. One night last winter I was sleepless and somehow without a book. From our own shelves I took down Little Dorrit, which people tell me now is one of the least beguiling of the lot. But Keats first looking on Homer could have been no more dazzled than I first poring on my Boz. I felt as a treasure-hunter might feel had he tripped over the locked chest that belonged to Captain Kidd.

Phyllis McGinley

I found this quote in a good piece about not being able to understand the classics until we are adults by Tod Worner at Word on Fire. Phyllis McGinley, whose wonderful book Saint-Watching I have loved for some time, echoes precisely my own adult encounter with Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. I still remember how thrilled I was to see how many of his books were there for me to discover. I went on to read all of them.

It is interesting to think about the classics that I've grown to love as an adult since Uncle Tom's Cabin awoke me to the possibility that maybe classics weren't boring. That was in 2006. From there I went to the afore-mentioned A Tale of Two Cities, The Lord of the Rings, Dante's Divine Comedy, C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, and Kim. All are books that I approached with the trepidation borne of early failed attempts. Some I had to approach with audio, print, and commentaries. But I kept going and there was something very worthwhile in them all.

The latest in that struggle was Brideshead Revisited which my book club just discussed this Monday. I do not yet love it, but I now appreciate a book I had cast away twice earlier with distaste. I know I will reread it and can foresee a future where I might love that work. Once I was finished, I appreciated the struggle itself and the fruit it yielded. There was a real sense of satisfaction in working through a challenge successfully. What I found in each was something that enriched my life and mind in new and exciting ways.

All of this is to say that when I feel a book challenge circling my mind I no longer duck and weave to avoid it. I wait to see if it will settle and then approach the book with a certain anticipation, both of the struggle and of the achievement.

Next up? Well, I have been thinking about Augustine's City of God an awful lot over the past few months ... and also Crime and Punishment. We shall see if either of them settles down to roost.

All the Things I Never Knew About Uncle Tom's Cabin

This is the original review from when I first read Uncle Tom's Cabin, way back in 2006. Since then I've read it several more times, even going so far as to narrate it with commentary on my Forgotten Classics podcast.

I'm a little more than halfway through yet another time and have been struck anew by how many psychological types Stowe worked into this exciting cliffhanger. It is also my current inspirational reading as you are never going to get more discussion of Christianity in a novel than in this one.

As always, I want to share something that's brought me so much pleasure, so I'm rerunning my original review below.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

I never knew that it was such a page turner! About halfway through the pace picked up so that I was avidly reading whenever I had a chance to see if George and Eliza would shake off their trackers, Uncle Tom would make it back to his family, what it would take to make Topsy reform and much more. How about that crazy Cassy, hmm? And poor Emmaline ... would someone save her before Simon Legree got his filthy hands on her? Wow!

I never knew that Uncle Tom actually was a Christ-figure, a living saint. No wonder he is misunderstood by so many. They are not getting the whole picture.

I never knew that so many sorts of people were represented throughout the book. The language can be rather stilted due to the style of the times but Stowe did a good job showing many different attitudes toward slavery and how people excused themselves under the flimsiest of excuses. One expects the broadly painted very good and very evil owners but not the more shaded in-between characters.

It was fascinating toward the end of the book to see where many of the slaves wound up. One could discern what Stowe's ideas of a solution for the slavery problem were and, indeed, it was even more interesting to read her afterward where she discusses it specifically.

I thought that Stowe included herself in the book as the maiden aunt from New England who thought she understood the problem until she came up against Topsy who demanded that she put her whole heart and soul into realizing that the slaves were real people. Rose saw her as Mrs. Shelby, the kindly wife of Uncle Tom's original owner, who as soon as she got a chance absolutely did the right thing.

I am quite grateful that Rose read this book and pushed it on me. Highly recommended.

Lagniappe: The Baby or the Books?

Though I wouldn't go so far as to say that my library — a mere agglomeration of pulp, glue and ink — means more to me than living, breathing human beings, it's a near thing. I'd certainly rescue the baby, not the Mona Lisa, from a burning house. But that baby had better grow up to find the cure for cancer ...

Michael Dirda, Browsings

Almost the perfect quote. Though when it went from books to the Mona Lisa it lost the logic string. But the sentiment works ... and I've got to admit that my "you've got 15 minutes to abandon your house forever" has me, Tom, the dogs ... and then the contents of my "favorites" bookshelf.

Some people have a "go bag."

I've got a "go bookshelf."

And I've had it for a while.

I mean. You've lost your house. Wouldn't you need to read something like The Lord of the Rings or Uncle Tom's Cabin or Jane Eyre? I'm just sayin' ...

Book Love: Dragons and the Napoleonic War — Naomi Novik

I've begun reading a series that I'd avoided until I saw Scott Sigler talk about it on GoodReads.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik is the first of the series. It takes the idea of "what if" there were dragons during the Napoleonic Wars. We follow a Naval lieutenant who is forced through unforeseen circumstances to be partnered up with a dragon.

I'm tired of alternate histories. I'm tired of dragons. I never cared much for the Napoleonic war. So you may understand why I was avoiding the books. The part that made me sample the book, however, was Sigler saying that the author tells the story absolutely from the 18th century sensibility that the people would have had back then. Because another thing I'm tired of is people using alternate histories to push their own ideas of how our swingin' modern times would've made everything better if only they'd have been more enlightened in the past.

Novik perfectly juggles all those elements while telling a great adventure story. The dragon part is handled really well (no telepathy, for example). Though they can talk it isn't weird. They just become characters.

The idea of how air battles would have changed the war is interesting. (Not that I know about that particular war, but I can tell things are being changed around.) I also really like the ingenuity shown in having the dragons not only fight but carry their crew, who have rifles and bombs to do their own damage. I admit, I tend to skim the battle scenes but there is plenty to read about besides the war.

Novik is not only good at historical realism but she has logically extended the concept of how dragons would change things in a lot of directions. For example there are all sorts of dragons from small to huge, stupid to smart, pleasant to cunning. Different breeds of dragons have different skills, many of which reflect bits of our folk stories about dragons.

As our heroes travel on diplomatic journeys and get caught up in battles, we see that the ways the dragons are treated reflects the societies they encounter. Novik's got the British Empire to work with and she uses it to good purpose.

Best of all is the relationship between Captain Laurence and Temeraire. It allows the author to explore ideas and society as the experienced naval captain is forced to learn the ropes in the Aerial Corps and also explain the world to his quickly growing young dragon partner. We learn to love both of them.

Plus Novik is just darned good at writing exciting yarns.

The library has these available as ebooks and I've been tossing them back like popcorn. There are eight books in the series, with seven published and the last one due out next year.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Captain Laurence of the HMS Reliant captures a French frigate which has an unexpected treasure aboard: an unhatched dragon egg. You don't even need to guess who the dragonet picks for his partner,. We knew that going in.

Laurence is removed from his orderly naval career and thrust into the Aerial Corps to learn airborne battle. Just how flexible is Laurence? Because these airboys aren't much good with formality. Good thing he's got Temeraire which more than makes up for anything he suffers.


Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Laurence and Temeraire are part of a diplomatic mission the court of the Chinese emperor. Huzzah! China (and Chinese dragons) in 1800. It's hard to get more exotic than that. And a nemesis is acquired.

On the way, Temeraire is exposed to human slavery and this takes his philosophical musings on an unexpected path which opens up the whole abolition conversation, which was in full swing in Great Britain at the time. Very interesting.



Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

On the way back from China, Laurence and Temeraire are ordered to swing through the Ottoman Empire to pick up some unhatched dragon eggs to bring home to Britain. The Silk Road! Istanbul (harems!).

On the road back through Prussia, they are diverted to help with the war and for the first time I enjoyed reading the battle scenes. Maybe it's because I have a crush on the King and Queen. Can they be my rulers?

Of course, the nemesis is wreaking as much trouble as possible. Grrrrr.

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

In the heart of deepest Africa Novik flirts delightfully with the shades of H. Rider Haggard and Zulu. That's the middle of the story, however, with the beginning and end solidly holding down the Napoleonic war setting.

By this point in the series the abolitionist movement is as much of a theme as the Napoleonic threat. What makes an individual a person instead of a thing just can't be avoided (as my beloved Uncle Tom's Cabin reminds us). I read a review where someone remarked that Novik "like all modern authors" couldn't resist including 1960s style civil rights topics. To read the book this way is to do a real injustice to the actual history of the abolition movement in England.

Novik does explore the topic from a range of views, which is something the dragons allows most interestingly since most people believe them to be something like well trained dogs. But it is well done and adds some needed depth to the story, in my opinion.

Well Said: What's Your Hurry?

“What's your hurry?"

"Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in," said Miss Ophelia.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

I'm rereading this for the fourth time as I prepare for an upcoming episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find. Still loving it all the way.

Miss Ophelia and Topsy's relationship is one of my favorite parts of the book.

I listened to a number of audio versions before taking myself back to the one I did myself at Forgotten Classics. I was gratified to find that the reading wasn't half-bad; in fact, no worse than the best of what I could find on Audible. Plus the commentary was comparable to that of Heather Ordover at CraftLit.

It sounds as if I'm patting myself on the back, I know. The truth is that enough time has gone by (7 years) that I can listen to it objectively. I'm just pleased I did the job well. And can enjoy it myself from the "outside," as it were.

The 10 Books That Have Influenced Me Most

The Christian Century magazine asked a lot of famous people "What books did most to shape your vocational attitude and your philosophy of life?"

Here is C.S. Lewis's list, which he didn't explain.

Of course, being a list-loving gal, I wrote down my own, which I will explain. (In order of how they occurred to me.)

1. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
   The story of Bilbo trying to pick the troll's pocket directly influenced me going to read aloud to my mother-in-law. (It's a long story, but that example made me realize that bravery is learned and you have to begin with small efforts.)
   
2. The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
   The fact that it is a rattling good yarn is, of course, the first attraction. I've never read such a work on the power of mercy, love, and justice. Ever. I never used to be able to pick a favorite book. Now I can and this is it.
   
3. Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
   A fantastic soap opera, full of cliff hangers, and with a wonderful Christ figure. I reluctantly read this at my daughter Rose's urging. I'd thought of classics as being boring (with the notable exception of Jane Eyre). Afterward, I thought that if this classic was so good perhaps I should try another. So I picked A Tale of Two Cities up and found ... a love of Charles Dickens and the classics awaiting me. I haven't looked back. All thanks to Uncle Tom's Cabin.
   
4. A Father Who Keeps His Promises (Scott Hahn)
   The first serious theology book I read after my conversion. It taught me how to see below the surface of Scripture to the different levels of meaning. This changed not only how I read Scripture but how I watched movies and read books. It opened my mind to greater possibilities in each story.
   
5. Catholic Christianity (Peter Kreeft)
   When I'd joined the Church I had serious reservations about Catholic teachings on many social issues, among them abortion, gay marriage, and the death penalty. When I figured I'd better learn why the Church taught what she did, this book was just being published. Divine Providence? Possibly. Kreeft's inescapable logic is what reconciled me to those teachings, which I eventually was able to embrace.
   
6. The Hiding Place (Corrie Ten Boom)
   This may be the most inspirational book I've ever read. Every time I read it I come away resolving to be a better Christian, a better person.
   
7. The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis)
   The newest addition to my list. I just read this a few weeks ago. I've never read anything that so vividly made me understand how necessary it is to make daily sacrifices to toughen myself up in order to make it to Heaven. Also, it gives a wonderful interpretation of Purgatory which has greatly inspired me.
   
8. Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton)
   The book that taught me to look critically at the "truths" business and science tell us. And a rattling good yarn. If you've only seen the movie, you're missing the whole story. The book is much better. I reread this often just for the fun of it.
   
9. The Stand (Stephen King)
   Good and evil are real and here is how they manifest themselves in the world. As with so many others, a rattling good yarn that I've reread many times for the sheer pleasure of it.
   
10. In Conversation with God (Francis Fernandez)
    This is more properly a series of seven devotionals, with entries for every day of the liturgical year as well as two volumes devoted to special feast days. I discovered these soon after I converted and reading them daily for at least four years was deeply formational. I cannot recommend these books too highly. The one most people have tried is the Lent/Easter book but the one I began with was for this time of year. I soon bought all the others.

Note that this is different than top 10 favorite books. That list will be coming soon!

I don't need an excuse to make a list, but that's a good 'un!

Seven Continents Book Challenge — UPDATED

Via Melanie Bettinelli, this seemed like fun.

Keep in mind that "favorite" is often a shifting term for me. I have a hard time pinning things down to one favorite.


1. What is your favourite book set in Europe? Who is your favourite European author?

Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger

J.R.R. Tolkien

2. What is your favourite book set in North America? Who is your favourite North American author?

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Can't really lock an author down as "favorite" — just for the moment let's go with Walter Tevis who wrote the truly amazing Mockingbird.

3. What is your favourite book set in South America? Who is your favourite South American author?

I got nuttin'.

UPDATE: Via J. Balconi at The House of Nonsense, I realized I actually have read a book setin South America — and I liked it! The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.

4. What is your favourite book set in Asia? Who is your favourite Asian author?

Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was which the author very kindly allowed me to read on Forgotten Classics.

Madhur Jaffrey

5. What is your favourite book set in Australasia? Who is your favourite antipodean author?

UPDATE: How can I have forgotten that The Rosie Project is both about a New Zealand couple and by a New Zealander, Graeme Simsion? So much so that we discussed the book on A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Father Paul Glynn who wrote A Song From Nagasaki and The Smile of a Ragpicker

6. Have you ever read, or do you know of, any books written by authors in Antarctica/ the Arctic?

UPDATED: Joseph at Zombie Parent's Guide points out "Brother Guy Consolmagno lived in the Antarctica for a while and I've read a book by him that partially covers his time there, though I don't think he wrote it while he was there." And I loved Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial by Brother Guy and Joseph Mueller.

And I had the honor of virtually meeting Brother Guy when he chose a book for A Good Story is Hard to Find discussion. So that's a double Antarctic connection!

7. Who are your favourite African authors & books set in Africa?

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Elspeth Huxley

I realize what this list really shows is how little actual fiction I read and how much genre / memoir / cookbook reading I do.

I regret nothing!

Your turn ...

Well Said: Of course, in a novel people's hearts break ...

Of course, in a novel, people's hearts break, and they die, and that is the end of it; and in a story this is very convenient. But in real life we do not die when all that makes life bright dies to us. There is a most busy and important round of eating, drinking, dressing, walking, visiting, buying, selling, talking, reading, and all that makes up what is commonly called living, yet to be gone through; and this yet remained to Augustine. Had his wife been a whole woman, she might yet have done something—as woman can—to mend the broken threads of life, and weave again into a tissue of brightness. But Marie St. Clare could not even see that they had been broken. As before stated, she consisted of a fine figure, a pair of splendid eyes, and a hundred thousand dollars; and none of these items were precisely the ones to minister to a mind diseased.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

I am reading this for the third time, which allows me to pursue it at a very leisurely pace and simply enjoy it. Stowe was such a great writer in the Dickensian style I love. I like even more that she and Charles Dickens were great admirers of each others' writing. This book does contain a great deal of heartbreak, suffering, and hypocrisy. However, it is interwoven with a great deal of humor and insight that leavens the whole, makes it timeless, and a real pleasure to read.

Marie St. Clare was spoiled in the true sense of the word through complete indulgence. Stowe's comments and examples find vivid echoes in the behavior of heedless parents and spoiled children today. Entitlement is no new thing and it is shown in all possible ways here, including those which make the reader laugh. I mean to say, the mind that conceived of putting Marie St. Clare up against Miss Ophelia, a no-nonsense Vermonter, is a mind that understands humor.

Also, I think of the conversation about books to take on a long trip (yes, for a Holy Land Pilgrimage ... it's on my mind!) and I look at this little, light version and smile. It is a Collector's Library edition. I love little books and this series fills the bill. They are generally inexpensive, between $5-$10, hardback with a ribbon marker and gilt edges, and 4" x 6". This 644 page book weights only around 11 ounces, making it a perfect bedtime book and easy to slip into my bag during the day in case I am stuck in line somewhere.

U.S. Enters "Brave New World" With Refusal to Ban Sex-Selection Abortions. Me? I Aim to Misbehave.

I'm getting my thoughts straight and I was trying to keep it to myself and I was trying to keep it short.

I can't.

==============

I was stunned yesterday when the House rejected a ban on sex-selection abortions.

I thought: "Where are we? China?"

Then: "We have actually turned into Brave New World. In the United States."

I had to sit down to absorb this.

I thought: "This is the legacy we are leaving Hannah and Rose. To grow up in a world where Brave New World isn't a fantastical, dystopian, super-depressing piece of fiction. Where it is real and they have to help fight it."

I think it was then that tears actually came to my eyes.

It melded together:

• A paper proposing use of the term ‘after birth abortion’ to refer to the killing of both disabled and apparently healthy new-born babies published recently in the Journal of Medical Ethics (There is a follow up piece here. Links via the excellent The Catholic Laboratory podcast).
  
  
• Hearing BBC news announcers ask people to call in with reactions to a proposal that doctors assume that people are happy to donate their organs unless they make the effort to opt out. I thought it was a joke, but no.
  
  
• The couple who sued their doctor for "wrongful birth" after their daughter was diagnosed during a prenatal screening as not having Down Syndrome.  And won.
  
  
• The Pre-Persons by Philip K. Dick, imagining a future where abortion is legal until the soul enters the body, which is specified as the moment a person has the ability to do simple algebra.
  
  
• What my grandmother, Thelma, would say about all this. She'd have a word for it. "Evil."
  
  
• The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara where I just read about Southerners talking about states' rights versus a Northern commander telling some mutineers that "freedom is not just a word." And "What we're all fighting for, in the end, is each other." (States' rights are important to be sure but not when they are used to hide shameful behavior behind.)
  

Then I thought of Firefly where we are given a picture of the government running roughshod over all but the rich and privileged. "I aim to misbehave" floated into my mind.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: ... Someone *has to* speak for these people. Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave.

I am not good at misbehaving but the prevailing standards are such that one must hardly do more than speak plainly to do so or to bring up voting issues to friends who do not share the same beliefs.

No more runnin'. I aim to speak plain.

Someone *has to* speak for the innocent being slaughtered.

Do not refrain from speaking at the crucial time, and do not hide your wisdom. - Sirach 4:23

I don't know how wise I am. But I do know what is true.

And that the easiest way to know and to tell what is true is to "explain as you would a child" as Galaxy Quest makes clear.

Jason Nesmith: Mathesar, there's no such person as Captain Taggart. My name is Jason Nesmith. I'm an actor. We're all actors.

Sarris: He doesn't understand. Explain as you would a child.

Jason Nesmith: We, uh, we pretended. ... We lied.

I'd forgotten that this fight to save lives is so similar that fought in the Civil War. The same dissimulation by those who want to ignore humans treated like animals, like possessions for the convenience of the powerful.

We've been lied to so long that most of us believe the lie to be truth. 

I honor those 20 Democrats who voted for the ban and shame on you who voted against it. I've seen the arguments and they are specious. You'll say and do anything to keep power.

And we let you. We vote you in by lying to ourselves that other things matter more than the dead little ones.

I've read Uncle Tom's Cabin. I recognize you from that book. You'd do well to read it.

======================

This isn't much of a misbehaving. Yet. But it begins with me getting my thoughts straight and then facing again the fact that we are soldiers.

I am fasting and praying today in mourning for the little ones killed, in hope for us alive to take on the fight, in charity for the deceived ones to wake up and recognize the lies, in love for our country ... and in trust that God hears the cries of the oppressed.

I think I may have to do so for the remaining Fridays of my life.

It aint' much. But it's a start.

"Well, I don't want to preach to you. You know who we are and what we're doing here. But if you're going to fight alongside us there's a few things I want you to know.

He bowed his head, not looking at eyes. He folded his hands together.

"This regiment was formed last fall, back in Maine. There were a thousand of us then. There's not three hundred of us now." He glanced up briefly. "But what is left is choice."

He was embarrassed. He spoke very slowly, looking at the ground.

"Some of us volunteered to fight for Union. Some came in mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many of us came...because it was the right thing to do. All of us have seen men die. Most of us never saw a black man back home. We think on that, too. But freedom...is not just a word."

He looked into the sky, over silent faces.

"This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. I don't...this hasn't happened much in the history of the world. We're an army going out to set other men free.

He bent down, scratched the black dirt into his fingers. He was beginning to warm to it; the words were beginning to flow. No one in front of him was moving. He said, "This is free ground. All the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by what your father was. Here you can be something. Here's a place to build a home. It isn't the land--there's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me, we're worth something more than the dirt. I never saw dirt I'd die for, but I'm not asking you to come join us and fight for dirt. What we're all fighting for, in the end, is each other."

Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels

Gulliver's Travels, Socratic Method, the Interwebs, and That Big "Light Bulb" Moment

I have been interested for some time in the Ignatius Critical Editions series. This interest began when I read Uncle Tom's Cabin and then later was researched the book for reading it aloud on Forgotten Classics. I was intrigued by this description.

The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. While many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and postmodernism, this series will concentrate on tradition-oriented criticism of these great works.

I was not really sure what "tradition-oriented criticism" meant but I thought it would be interesting to  compare with the other materials I came across. [Turns out they are talking about traditional classical education style materials.] However, I wasn't sufficiently impelled me to pursue a copy at the time because there was so much material to cover for UTC.

I never could shake the series from the back of my mind, however, and recently got the Ignatius edition of Gulliver's Travels because my interest was piqued upon having a discussion on an SFFaudio podcast where one of the participants claimed it was a celebration of existentialism. That was far from my understanding of the book. Satire, yes. But existentialism? I last read Gulliver's Travels when in high school (on my own though, with no deeper understanding than that of enjoyment). This critical edition with several essays and some excellent contextual information seemed just the ticket for revisiting the book with a critical eye as to just what Swift was really talking about. I also got the study guide which looks very interesting at first glance.

This has proven incredibly fruitful from the beginning .... and I admit that I am just getting started by perusing various essays and the study guide. Understanding the context in which Swift wrote is invaluable in having a proper perspective on whether we can trust Gulliver as a narrator. Additionally, without knowing about the real world events with which Swift was in heavy debate, we can't properly understand the four countries that Gulliver visits.

However, it was when reading the Study Guide's introduction, Why a Great Books Study Guide?" that a big light bulb went on for me.

This manner of learning is greatly facilitated when the reader also engages in a dialectic exchange—a live conversation (in person or now online)—with other readers of the same books, probing and discussing the great ideas contained in them and, one hopes, carrying them a few steps further. This method of learning is often referred to as the Socratic method, after the ancient Athenian philosopher Socrates, who initiated its use as a deliberate way to obtain understanding and wisdom through mutual inquiry and discussion. This same "questioning" method was used by Christ,* who often answered questions with other questions, parables, and stories that left the hearers wondering, questioning, and thinking. He already knew the answers, as Socrates often did. The goal was not merely indoctrination of the memory with information, facts, and knowledge, but mind- and life-changing understanding and wisdom.

This may seem blindingly obvious to many but for me, as I said, it was a new idea in terms of my own participation. I suddenly realized that the internet and podcasts especially had plunged me head-first into mind-broadening inquiry through dialogue and considering other's questions or information. A few examples that sprang to mind:

• Heather Ordover at CraftLit is the one who began it all for me with her thoughtful commentary on classics. Heather gives background, thematic information and more, and then plays a few chapters of the classic under discussion in each episode. She is a teacher who loves facilitating conversation with her many listeners. They in turn give plenty of feedback and raise thoughtful questions of their own. Thanks to Heather, I revisited the dreaded Scarlet Letter that high school had ruined for me ... and found it to be good. Very good. Right now, in going through A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, Heather is raising significant points about satire and the necessity for readers' to remember that the protagonist is not the author and not necessarily trustworthy. These points are especially timely for me as they will weave into my reading of Gulliver's Travels, which is just such a story.
  
• SFFaudio from Scott Danielson and Jesse Willis is a spot where I actively am engaged in Socratic method as I often participate in their "read alongs" where a few people connect via Skype to discuss a book that everyone read. Those who read science fiction know that more likely than not the good reads also are discussing larger issues. They are not afraid to delve deep into themes and how they resonate through life today. In fact, it was a discussion of Mindswap by Robert Sheckley that led me to pursue Gulliver's Travels and the existentialist claim. If that isn't an example of mind broadening, I don't know what is. Plus, their other episodes are just as likely to open larger vistas as they interview audiobook producers, narrators, authors, and anyone else of interest who comes their way.
  
• ChopBard (the cure for boring Shakespeare) from Ehren Ziegler is a newer addition to my podcast listening but I now have a completely new way of thinking about Shakespeare, thanks to Ehren's enthusiasm and practical comments as we proceed act-by-act through these great plays. I have listened to Hamlet and am about halfway through Romeo and Juliet (the play he began the podcast with). First, Ehren provide the context and translation we need in modern times (warning: Romeo and Juliet deserves an R rating if you are reading it right). More importantly, he uses the works themselves to delve deep into people, motivations, and big issues of love, existence, happiness, and suchlike. This necessarily makes listeners ponder and respond, leading again to Socratic method in my own thinking about how this is communicated not only in these great works but in others I have read, and in my life itself.

All this is by way of recommending that you sample the Ignatius Critical Editions, into which I am now digging with even greater enthusiasm. In fact, they have Macbeth available and ChopBard will be covering that after the next play (which will be The Tempest, beginning Oct. 27... hey, that's today! ... c'mon Ignatius, get me something on that play!). These books are the perfect gateway into enjoying classics, whether for the first time or rereading, and having at least one "light bulb" moment on the way.



*I suppose we might also call this the rabbinical method as well as Christ was following that teaching method.

I now break into the Lenten contemplations to talk about me, Me, ME!

Actually, about Forgotten Classics, but that's really the same thing as we all know.

quelle erksome has begun a fan group on Ravelry (like Facebook for knitters and crocheters where I have only a slight presence ... again, much like Facebook!). She says that she finds herself, "... every week getting into blistering one-sided debates over plot, characterisation and supposition."

Clearly she isn't the only one because I have found, to my delight, the idea that Stella's grandfather in The Uninvited is talking about putting her into a mental institution began quite an intensive discussion. As well as theories of who is haunting and why, they have been examining women's rights in Britain in the 1930's as well as past and present requirements for being committed to a psychiatric institution. Heavens to Betsy, I can only imagine the depths these folks would have delved into during our reading of Uncle Tom's Cabin if they are getting all this out of The Uninvited.

The group is called Forgotten Yarns (nice word play, right?) and you can get more info and links by clicking through to erksome's place.

Who Remembers the "Dante to Dead Man Walking" Reading List?

I didn't until just this week. Maybe because the list below was finalized in a post from December 2006. Also because I got tired of having to always read books from that list, veered away "just for a little while" and then, like Hansel and Gretel, never found my way back. At any rate, I am going to reinstate this goal. Briefly, for those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, I read and reviewed (not entirely approvingly) Dante to Dead Man Walking: One Reader's Journey Through the Christian Classics by Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. Then I examined the list, took votes from people and recompiled the list, while adding others' recommendations below. The post below was the result.

I am pleased to see that I actually had knocked off a few of the books just through my own reading. Huzzah!

I'm also taking the liberty of updating my comments somewhat. It has been three years, after all. New comments will be italicized.

Please chime in anew with comments and suggestions and we'll continue that long ago conversation with this post.

=================

Below the list of books suggested by the author with numerous revisions. Books with red titles are not gonna be read by this reader. I am putting what I am substituting instead.

I'll be updating the list with reviews and links as I work my way through the books. The link will be in the sidebar with what I'm reading currently.

1. The Book of Genesis: Originally I crossed this off my list as I did a Bible study of this that was a real eye opener. However, I'm now reading Robert Alter's translation which is fascinating.


2. The Book of Job: *sigh* ok but I am dreading it. The sadness, the complaining, the moaning ... I'm only going through with reading this one because it's in the Bible. Otherwise, it would be off this list so fast!


3. The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel by Robert Alter: I'm now a firm Alter fan and am really looking forward to this.


4. The Gospel of Luke: studied this several times.


5. The Gospel of John: studied this several times.


6. The Confession by St. Augustine: I have taken three runs at this and always gotten bogged down by the self-pitying chapters about being beaten by tutors and other various problems of growing up. However, I see that Librivox has this. That might be the help I need to push me over that hump.


7. Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri: I read the John Ciardi translation. Hell and Purgatory gave me much food for thought but I found Heaven deadly dull. Steven Riddle comments likewise.


8. Butler's Lives of the Saints by Michael Walsh: I planned on reading this and then realized that my relative lack of enthusiasm is because I have read four or five good books about lots of saints already, some of them quite large and comprehensive (though I know this is the most comprehensive). However, I am more interested at this point in holiness demonstrated through people I haven't heard about a dozen times already ... so I am going to substitute African Saints: Saints, Martyrs, and Holy People From the Continent of Africa by Frederick Quinn. And, wonder of wonders, our library actually has this book!
   
   UPDATE: after picking up African saints and looking through it, I sent it back to the library. The author, an Episcopal priest, had chosen the people that he felt should be saints. Which is all fine in its own way but when it came to seeing St. Augustine, his unknown consort, and their son all as saints together, I drew the line. I have read quite a few good saint books and don't really need to read more as I'll continue picking them up as I come across them. Therefore, I declare this section closed!


9. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis: several versions of this are available on mp3, one is at Maria Lectrix. No problemo.


10. The Idea of a University by Ven. John Henry Newman ... at the risk of sounding like Homer Simpson, "Booooring!" Instead I am reading Newman's Apologia as many people suggested. JM commented,
    

    "Newman is never a breezy read, but he can be very rewarding. If you are going to read only one thing, read the Apologia. He wrote it to defend himself (specifically) and the Catholic Church (generally) against the charge of having little regard for the truth, and in doing so, revealed the how and the why he converted. Amazingly, it worked.

1. Walden by Henry David Thoreau: *sigh* ok, but I'm not looking forward to it. I think that someone advised reading it without looking into any introductions or notes so that I get the basic Thoreau unfiltered ... that is an excellent idea which I will follow for more than this particular book.


2. The Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln's my hero; can't wait!


3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: a classic I've been meaning to read for a long time; can't wait.
   
   Just got the free audiobook download for this and listened to the first half hour to get a feel for it. Imagine my surprise when it proved to be very interesting. So I'll be doing this the audio way.


4. The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux: it didn't grab me but, again, everyone can't love every single saint


5. Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams: can't wait!


6. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton: another one that I've tried to read several times. Chesterton is just too smart for me. It was suggested that Chesterton's fiction might be an easier way to go but I really can't stand the Father Brown books (for one thing if I can figure out a mystery practically as soon as it begins then it never was much of a mystery in the first place) and I've never been interested in any of his other fiction. However, I just remembered that Everlasting Man was suggested as a substitute and I've always been interested in reading that so I'm going to go that route. If I can get through Everlasting Man then I'll take another shot at Orthodoxy ... perhaps I'll be used to Chesterton's style and able to progress further then.


7. Dubliners by James Joyce: I don't like the whole idea of reading James Joyce but ... what the heck. Ok James, surprise me!


8. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset: never heard of it before now so why not. Cautions have been given that some translations are much better than others so if one seems awkward to read, stop and get another.
   
   Webster Bull has been pushing this book the way that I push In This House of Brede on people. I actually picked up the first of this trilogy from the library to dip in and see how it seemed. Another that seemed interesting from a sampling so I'm looking forward to it more than I would have otherwise.


9. Therese by Francois Mauriac: Based on Steven Riddle's comments, I will go with Tangle of Vipers by the same author instead of Therese.


10. Death Comes for the Archbishop: this book has been recommended to me many times by people I trust. Also picked this up from the library as it has been on and off my list several times, long after I forgot this list ... it looks interesting. And short!
    


11. Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly: my review is here


12. Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography by Albert Schweitzer: sure, why not.


13. The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos: sure, why not.


14. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene: an alcoholic priest in Mexico; gee there's so much to love about this story. No wonder I've avoided it like the plague all these years. Look's like it's time to pay the piper; I'll give it a shot


15. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West: never heard of it before now so why not.


16. Brideshead Revisisted by Evelyn Waugh: aaargh! I'll finally be forced to read this book. All I can say is I hope it isn't another Helena (which I detested and yes I know it's a classic, etc.).


17. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alex Paton: never heard of it before now; sounds interesting so ok


18. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton: Tried twice, hated it. Yes, you heard me. Hated it. Based on Steven Riddle's comments I am going to substitute Waters of Siloe which I've never heard of ... which in itself adds a certain amount of interest.
    
    The advantage of waiting for several years is that then you might have an audio recording come up from someone whose skills are unparalleled at narration ... which would be James Campanella at Uvula Audio. I will give The Seven Story Mountain another shot that way.


19. Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: I had no strong feelings one way or the other but JM's thoughtful comments changed my mind to a different work by Bonhoeffer. "In my opinion, what B. wrote that the world and modern Christians most need to hear is in The Cost of Discipleship. In it he takes apart “cheap grace” and sent me, for one, looking for the real thing."
    
    On the other hand, Steven Riddle warns: ... while the message is valuable, you'll have to insulate yourself against a large amount of anti-clericalism and anti-Catholic diatribe that permeates the beginning of the book. I never made it through that...


20. The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day: having now read her diaries "On Pilgrimage" I am now looking forward to this.


21. The Family of Man by Edward Steichen: photographs, interesting idea. Why not?


22. Divine Milieu by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.: originally I was looking forward to this but continuous negative commentary coupled with a few things that came up in scripture study from obvious Chardin supporters made me change my mind. There is no connection at all but I am going to substitute Rumer Godden's Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy. Godden is every bit as difficult to read as Flannery O'Connor in that she looked unflinchingly at the unpleasant truth of human actions. However, her style is so much more attractive to me at the same time that I can take it more easily from Godden. This is one of hers that I haven't read yet.
    
    UPDATE: read it and here's the review.


23. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.: a sci-fi classic that I can't remember if I've ever read ... can't wait!
    
    UPDATE: I am very disappointed in myself but I just could not get into that book for love or money. I left it unfinished.
    
    UPDATED AGAIN: I now find out that there was a long-ish short story by Miller and that the book was finished off by someone else. Aha! The story ended just where I wanted it to ... with the little monk presenting the drawings and then planning to go back to where the bandits were. A much more Christian take than what I read in the novel.


24. Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers: never heard of it before now so why not.


25. The Other America by Michael Harrington: the poor in America ... I've only read about this issue until I'm practically blind. I don't think so. Again, with no particular connection in this substitution, it was suggested that I read The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom. Reading the summary it looks as if the "true" part of the story is not actually true but it sounds as if the story itself is still quite worth reading.


26. The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis: LOVE C.S. Lewis; can't wait!


27. The Historic Reality of Christian Culture: A Way to the Renewal of Human Life by Christopher Dawson: no strong feelings one way or the other so why not.


28. The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor: sure, why not.


29. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.: I originally wasn't going to read this but the comments were so overwhelmingly positive that I am putting it back on the list. I'm trusting y'all on this one!


30. Everything That Rises Must Converge, "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor: dreading it, afraid of O'Connor, but also looking forward to what I might learn ... in a weird way. Having read the biography "The Abbess of Andalusia" I am now really interested to see if I can get more out of the stories than I would have before.


31. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley: I'm kind of interested in Malcolm X after listening to Rose talk about him when studying him in American history. Also I really enjoyed reading Roots by Haley so I'm looking forward to a well told story.


32. Silence by Shusaku Endo*****: no way. If only Schroth hadn't said it was the most depressing book he'd ever read. I don't think so. I'm open to suggestions for substitutions, preferably fiction. This is how much I trust Steven Riddle. I will give it a shot based on his comments and strong recommendation.
    
    UPDATE-MY REVIEW: After our Catholic women's book club did an end run by selecting the book to read ... I was forced to confront this book. Simply put, this is Christianity in a nutshell. An amazing book that provides so much food for thought. The tale of a 17th century Jesuit priest as he is smuggled into Japan to serve the Christians under persecution, is discovered, and undergoes the ultimate test of faith. Endo, writing for the Japanese, is examining the questions of how Christianity must adapt to be truly meaningful to the Japanese and also the question of what Christian faith truly consists of. He leaves these questions open enough that there was a considerable amount of debate at our book club and almost everyone had a insight that was fascinating. The author's considerable talent holds us far enough away from the details of persecution to allow this to become an intellectual consideration while still being a personal experience. An extraordinary book that I am glad I read.


33. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation by Gustavo Gutierrez: just as I am profoundly disinterested in movements like Opus Dei because I ... well, I just don't care ... I feel the same way about liberation theology. Erik suggested the Don Camilio books by Giovanni Guareschi. I never heard of him but found that these are children's books ... which luckily our library has in English translations. I figure that several of them will equal or exceed the amount I actually would have read of anything about liberation theology.
    
    UPDATE: found and read the first couple of books ... hilarious and in a strange way I think they probably are a good view to something like liberation theology because of Don Camilio's constant battles with communists who are also friends and part of the community to which he must minister.
    


34. The Fate of the Earth by Jonathan Schell: right, because I've never read anything about how we might blow up the earth before now. I don't think so. March Hare says, "Instead of "The Fate of the Earth" try "Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart. It's a novel and a classic (IMHO). I think his scenario of how civilization will end is much more plausible than anything I've read lately--and Stewart wrote this book in the 1940's, I believe!" And so I will.
    
    UPDATE: Tried Stewart and was unimpressed. However, I must add that, without any faith attached, "Greener Than You Think" was an amazing sci-fi book that I came across at Librivox which had the virtue of examining humanity and flagrant ignoring of the consequences of messing with our ecosystem through the eyes of a do-anything-for-a-buck, clueless salesman. Based on that I am declaring this book category closed.


35. The Love of Jesus and the Love of Neighbor by Karl Rahner, S.J.: I don't like a single thing that I'm hearing beginning with accessibility and going on from there. Therefore, I will take a suggestion from the strongest anti-Rahner voice in the crowd ... which would be Georgette ... and reading The Hidden Power of Kindness -- by Father Lawrence Lovasik. She says,

    "This is the clearest and most practical and simply-written spirituality for lay folks ever written! If you have trouble with the spiritual classics written BY nuns and monks in cloister, FOR nuns and monks in cloister (mostly), like The Seven Story Mountain, by Merton (he got weird towards the end of his life but this book is excellent, though hard for most lay folks to engage), or The Dark Night of the Soul, by St John of the Cross (also WONDERFUL but obscure), or St Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle (which I am sorta getting into now, but still very sublime)----then The Hidden Power of Kindness is definitely for you. I think it should be required reading for all Catholics! It is basically the Gospel put into practical step by step 'how to' terms! Brilliant!

36. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza: Oh, hell no! (stolen from Tom at Disputations) Per Erik's suggestion, I'll be reading Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone.


37. Black Robe by Brian Moore: if Schroth wanted me to read this he shouldn't have mentioned the extensive mutilation and torture spread throughout the book. No thanks. I'll go with Steven Riddle's suggestion of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Moore instead.


38. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States by Helen Prejean: I was ready to read this until comments by Erik and Tom of Disputation's comment rang true here for me ... I already am against the death penalty at least in countries with adequate resources for incarceration like ours. Also I've been getting these quite detailed emails about how that book is all wrong anyway ... either way I am off it. I was thinking about Walker Percy but a lot of confusion in that area leaves me bookless again. I am going to veer in a completely new direction ... let's see how this flies. Belief in God in an Age of Science by John Polkinghorne.


39. The Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd: Peter Ackroyd's a great author; can't wait!


40. All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time by Robert Ellsberg: one of the first books I bought after becoming Catholic. It took me a while to notice that the saints Ellsberg includes aren't all canonized or even Christian but it's a good book anyway.

Schroth's Extras:

1. The First Jesuits by John W. O'Malley, S.J. ... this one's been on my "to read" list for a while


2. History of Christianity by Paul Johnson ... this one's been on my bookshelf for a year; this is just the thing I need to make me pick it up and read it.

In the Wings:

These are suggestions that I want to hang onto in case I just can't make progress on one of the above books ... ready made substitutes in an easy to find place! Some ideas found their way onto my regular "to read" list before I decided to keep extras here ... rest assured none have been lost.

1. Dietrich von Hildebrand-- Georgette says: "He is a genius theologian and very reliably orthodox. His wife, Alice von Hildebrand, is also a genius in her own right. I have read many articles and excerpts from their works, but not any one book in particular in its entirety--yet. It takes concentration to read them (as with any philosophical or theological work--for me at least!), but worth the pay off. "
   
   Jeff Miller recommends, " 'Transformation in Christ' I can't heap as much praise on this book as I would want. I think it will be one day fully recognized as a spiritual classic. His wife wrote an biography of him that is truly fascinating called Soul of a Lion. His conversion is detailed in there since he is a convert who grew up in a family of agnostic artists. Pretty much all of his brothers and sisters ended up converting to the Catholic Church. His time where he was working against Hitler is also quite interesting and he was even listed by Hitler as one of his greatest enemies. The story of his narrow escape from the Nazi's is also pretty exciting.


2. Abandonment to Divine Providence by Father Pierre de Caussade: Georgette says ... "is another spiritual classic which is sublime but VERY simplistic in its approach-- it is a wonderful spirituality. This one is a bit more mature spiritual nourishment, but when you are ready for it, it is outstanding. This book, I should add, contains the basis for the spirituality of the newest doctor of the Church, St Therese of Lisieux (aka "The Little Flower")."


3. Erik suggests the Book of the New Sun which, rather confusingly, seems to be found in two pieces, each consisting of two books: Shadow & Claw: The First Half of 'The Book of the New Sun', Sword & Citadel: The Second Half of 'The Book of the New Sun'.


4. War and Peace by Tolstoy


5. Alicia suggests: "I would actually recommend Madeleine L'Engle's paraphrasing and fictionalization of parts of Genesis -
   
   • And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings, 1983
   • A Stone for a Pillow: Journeys with Jacob, 1986
   • Sold Into Egypt: Joseph’s Journey into Human Being, 1989"
   I can't believe I forgot Madeleine L'Engle ... not Catholic but some very fine Christian writing coming from her in both fiction and nonfiction.


6. Steven Riddle recommends: Zaccheus Press has produced a very nice volume, Our Lady and the Church by Hugo Rahner. Tom, at Disputations, posted a review some time ago. I have read the book and didn't get as much out of it as he did, but I have to confess lingering protestant problems with Our Lady. However, seems appropriate to suggest it as your choice on this feast day.
   
   Jeff adds: "I would second Our Lady and the Church by Hugo Rahner. I really enjoyed it. I haven't read any of his brother Karl's books since I heard some parts of them were problematic. Though some good orthodox Catholics recommend some of what he writes."


7. Julie at Adoro te Devote says, "Alice von Hildenbrand...read her "The Privilege of being a Woman". Fascinating, not very long...and you will literally ABSORB it."


8. Rick Lugari: I know we've talked about Dr. Warren Carroll's History of Christendom series before. It's an excellent and I would count it as mandatory reading for any Catholic


9. My own recommendations for others would include:
   
   • Uncle Tom's Cabin
   • Who Moved the Stone
   • In This House of Brede: one of the most perfectly written books ever. I always was fascinated by Catholic characters and this shows them probably the best of any I've ever seen. The very real and imperfect people (Dame Veronica anyone?) in this religious community come up against struggles even in their cloistered environment ... which is set against a wonderful overall story.
   • Catholic Christianity which is the book that made me into a fully devout Catholic. Despite its size I was so fascinated when I began reading that I finished it in four days. Kreeft explained all the logic behind controversial Church teachings so well that I understood all I needed to in order to support the Magisterium.