2022 Reads, Plans and First Quarter

This is probably the latest I’ve ever put out my plans for the year.  It’s so late I’m going to include my first quarter reads, even though the first quarter isn’t complete yet. 

First there are a couple of re-reads.  Brant Pitre’s remarkable Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary and Elizabeth Lev’s How Catholic Art Saved the Faith.  Both books were read last year but I will be leading the Adult Faith Formation class at my parish going through these two books.  So I am reading them again along with the class. 

Also currently reading is St. Augustine of Hippo’s City of God.  This is being read in my Catholic Thought book club at Goodreads.  We had read the first half (Books I thru X) last year and we are reading the second half (Books XI thru XXII) this year.

Two other books I started reading since January are Philip Bochanski’s Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers and A.G. Sertillanges’ The Intellectual Life. 

There are a number of books that are half read and need to be completed: K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner, How Dante Can Save Your Life by Rod Dreher, and The Divine Office For Dodos by Madeline Pecora Nugent.  Hopefully I can push through these and get them read.

My Lenten reads, which I’ve now started are Walking with Mary: A Biblical Journey from Nazareth to the Cross by Edward Sri and The Timeless Dominic: A Commentary on the O Lumen by Richard T.A. Murphy, O.P.  Both are devotional books with the Murphy book using the Dominican prayer “O Lumen,” a traditional prayer to St. Dominic, as the inspiration to walk through St. Dominic’s life.

The two fictional reads I plan on reading are Stendhal’s The Red and the Black, and Alice McDermott’s Charming Billy. 

My Biblical reads will start from the beginning again with The Book of Genesis since I completed the Bible last year.  This is Year C in the Church lexicon, so I will read The Gospel of Luke.  I would also like to read St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans and The Book of Revelation.

Of course I will read as many short stories as I can.  I’ve already read four.  And the monthly Magnifcat devotional magazine is a fixture.

I don’t know where else the book club will take me, but as you can see I have my hands full already. 

 

First Quarter:

Magnificat, January 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“The Traveler,” a short story by Wallace Stegner.

“The Curtain Blown by the Breeze,” a short story by Muriel Spark.

Magnificat, February 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“Chef’s House, a short story by Raymond Carver.

 “Petrified Man,” a short story by Eudora Welty.

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah, a non-fiction book by Brant Pitre.

 

Currently Reading:

 Magnificat, March 2022, a monthly Catholic devotional.

The Intellectual Life: It’s Spirits, Conditions, Methods, a non-fiction work by A.G. Sertillanges, O.P.

Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: Ancient Advice for the Modern World, a non-fiction book by Philip G. Bochanski.

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, a Non-Fiction book by Tyler Kepner.

How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art, a non-fiction book by Elizabeth Lev.

 

Upcoming Plans:

Walking with Mary: A Biblical Journey from Nazareth to the Cross, a devotional by Edward Sri.

The Timeless Dominic: A Commentary on the O Lumen, a biographical devotional by Richard T.A. Murphy, O.P.

Dove Descending: A Journey into T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, a Non-Fiction book by Thomas Howard.

The Divine Office For Dodos: A Step-By-Step Guide To Praying The Liturgy Of The Hours, a non-fiction guide by Madeline Pecora Nugent.

How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem, an autobiographical reflection by Rod Dreher.