2017 Reads, Update #3

You can read my Plans for 2017, here, my 2017 first quarterly update, here, and my second quarterly update here.  

We are now well into the fourth quarter of the year and we need to take stock and look toward finishing up what we can for the year.  What was accomplished in the third quarter?  The Gospel of Mark, six Epistles from St. Paul, three full books (a travel book, a collection of Mother Teresa’s speeches, and a historical fiction) and five short stories.  I try to aim for a full book and two short stories per month, and if you consider each epistle about a short story and Mark’s Gospel about a novella, then I would say this was an above average read for the month.  I should also add that the epistles were in two different translations, so they could count as double.

Now that I am moderator at the Catholic Thought book club on Goodreads, my personal reading plans take a lower priority and I have to participate with the book club’s selections.  Reading through Paul’s epistles was always part of my plans, and I think I’m down to four left.  Given we are heading into the B liturgical year, which means Gospel readings will predominantly be from Mark at Mass, we decided to read Mark’s Gospel in its entirety at the book club.  We had a lively discussion, and I’ll post on the blog my part of the back and forth.  One definitely gets a different perspective in reading a Gospel through straight rather than the fragments one gets at Mass.

The 101 Places to Pray Before You Die is a book listing of the best places for Catholics to pilgrimage to in the United States.  It’s subtitled, A Roamin’ Catholic’s Guide, which is kind of clever.  The book lists by states, and each state has at least one such place, and of course it describes the place and tells you something about it.  I will try to write up a post on it.  I bet a number of people would be interested.  The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain was not a book on my original plans to read, but it got selected in the book club, and I didn’t mind actually.  I think I nominated it.  It fit with my overall plans of reading some French literature this year, and while Mark Twain is most definitely not French, Joan of Arc was and it helps understanding the French by reading on their most revered saint.  Heart of Joy: The Transforming Power of Self-Giving by Mother Teresa was completely not in my plans but it turned into a good devotional read.  I posted a number of excerpts.

The five short stories were varied.  “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner was head and shoulders above them all, Mavis Gallant and Saki both had fine stories.  I never heard of Edith Pearlman before, and her story (“Assisted Living”) wasn’t one to remember.  I had never read Ring Lardner before, and his story, “Zone of Quiet” wasn’t one for the short story hall of fame.  But it was entertaining.

There are also two books that I’m currently reading and nearly finished: Some Desperate Glory, an anthology of poetry from the First World War, and A Room with a View, a novel by E. M. Forster.

So, if I look back on the year, I’m at ten books (four of which are fiction), eleven books from the Bible, and eleven short stories.  How would I asses that?  With the books nearly complete, I would say I’m ahead of my normal book pace, but eleven short stories is well below my two per month.  Still the eleven books from the Bible is well above average.  Overall, I’m probably on my normal track.

So where do I go from here?

Certainly finish the Paul epistles, Augustine’s Confessions, and the two unfinished reads, Some Desperate Glory and A Room with a View.  I should be able to squeeze in one Shakespeare play, Henry VI, Part 1 and hopefully read one more major work.  If I do get to another major read, it will probably be Ford’s A Man Could Stand Up.  And of course try to cram in as many short stories as possible. 

That would make for a successful 2017.

Completed Third Quarter:

Letter to the Galatians, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Letter to the Ephesians, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Letter to the Philippians, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Letter to the Colossians, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

“Assisted Living,” a short story by Edith Pearlman.

“The Chosen Husband,” a short story by Mavis Gallant.

101 Places to Pray Before You Die: A Roman Catholic’s Guide, a non-fictional travel guide by Thomas J. Craughwell.

“Barn Burning,” a short story by William Faulkner.

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, a historical novel by Mark Twain.

Heart of Joy: The Transforming Power of Self-Giving, a collection of speeches from Mother Teresa, edited by José Luis González-Balado. 

First Letter to the Thessalonians, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

“The Music on the Hill,” a short story by Saki (H. H. Munro).

Gospel According to Mark, a book of the New Testament, Ignatius RSV translation.

“Zone of Quiet,” a short story by Ring Larsen.

Second Letter to the Thessalonians, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Completed First Quarter:

The Book of Ecclesiastes, a book of the Old Testament, KJV Translation.

The Book of Song of Songs, a book of the Old Testament, KJV Translation.

The Iman’s Daughter: My Desperate Flight to Freedom, a confessional memoir by Hannah Shah.

The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church, a non-fiction book by John L. Allen Jr.

The Book of Proverbs, a book of the Old Testament, KJV Translation.

Compassionate Blood: Catherine of Siena on the Passion, a non-fiction devotional by Romanus Cessario, O.P.

What Jesus Saw from the Cross, a non-fiction devotional by Antonin Gilbert Sertillanges, O.P.

The Wife of Pilate, a short novel by Gertrude von Le Fort.

Completed Second Quarter:

“The Magic Barrel,” a short story by Bernard Malamud.

The Book of Wisdom, a book of the Old Testament, Ignatius Translation.

“The Secret Sharer,” a short story by Joseph Conrad.

The Hunger Angel, a novel by Herta Müller.

The Book of Sirach, a book of the Old Testament, Ignatius Translation.

Vision of Fatima, a non-fiction book on his sculptures of Our Lady of Fatima by Fr. Thomas McGlynn.

“God’s World,” a short story by Najib Mahfuz. 

“Vitamins,” a short story by Raymond Carver.

“Bobcat,” a short story by Rebecca Lee.

Vol 3 of Les Misérables, “Marius,” a novel by Victor Hugo.

“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

Currently Reading:

Julius Caesar: Life of a Colossus, a biography by Adrian Goldsworthy.

Some Desperate Glory: The First World War the Poets Knew, a book of history and collected poetry by Max Egremont.

The Virgin and the Gipsy, a short novel by D. H. Lawrence.

A Room with a View, a novel by E. M. Forster.

Hildegard of Bingen: Selected Writings, a collection translated and edited by Mark Atherton.

The Confessions, an autobiography by St. Augustine of Hippo, translated by Phillip Burton.

Upcoming Plans:

 “Gods,” a short story by Vladimir Nabokov.

First Letter to the Timothy, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Second Letter to the Timothy, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Letter to Titus, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Letter to Philemon, an epistle from the New Testament by St. Paul, KJV and Ignatius RSV translations.

Henry VI, Part 1, a play by William Shakespeare.

A Man Could Stand Up, the 3rd novel of the Parade’s End Tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford.