Catholic Readers discussion

It's here!



I'm up for 31 books, up from 29 last year. It's not enormous, I know, but slow and steady wins the race :)

How about you? Do you have a list of books you'd like to read in 2014, or will you just grab the book that attracts you most once you've finished another?

Are there any particular topics you'd like to read (more) about this year? A particular saint's life? A certain point of moral theology?

Share as much as you'd like here! Let's find out what our 'To Read' thoughts are :)

24 up from 22

I'm starting with Jesus Shock because it was a parish Christmas gift. Good!

Your parish gives books as Christmas gifts? Where is this place I need to move to? ;)

Our parish started the 'tradition' with Matthew Kelley's "Rediscover Catholicism" last year. I really felt challenged by that book and renewed the practice of Friday abstinence as well as the practice of reading the daily readings before going to Church each Sunday. Also taking notes during the homily of points that strike me. [The practice of the daily readings has now become nearly an every day occurrence for me.]

If you are ever in Aiken, SC, look us up at St. Mary's.

I read about 6 or 7 books a year which I think is pretty good considering I am a homeschooling mom. I was thinking like to read good book about Padre Pio. Does anyone have some suggestions?

I enjoyed Ruffin C. Bernard's "Padre Pio: The True Story". Very good.

But if you only plna to read 6-7 books, consider "Jesus Shock" by Peter Kreft. I've read it in 2 days and its sets your heart on fire -- as well as scare's you about your weaknesses.

Lisa wrote: "Your parish gives books as Christmas gifts? Where is this place I need to move to? ;)"

Our parish (Sts. Peter & Paul in Winter Park, FL) just gave out Matthew Kelly's Rediscover Catholicism as a gift to every family that came to Christmas Eve/Day Mass.

This is the first year we've ever done this. It came out to about $3,500 to do it, and it basically came about because our Men's Club and Women of Purpose ministries attended one of Matthew Kelly's talks at another parish, the attendees read his book, and thought it would be a good idea to give this as a gift from the parish to the parishioners. The funding came about as several ministries (the two I mentioned, plus Filipino-American club and one other... I think Religious Ed.?) chipped in together from their annual budgets.

It was a great sign of faith that these ministries gave up $500 or $1000 of their budgets (i.e., money that was already intended for e.g., the Men's Club's new deep fryer for the Lenten Friday Fish Frys). It speaks a lot to the impact of that book on the attendees and ministry members.

We are doing a follow-up on the gift this Lent, where people who have already read the book will be heading up book discussion tables during Lent. Should be interesting to see how this goes...

Denise wrote: "I read about 6 or 7 books a year which I think is pretty good considering I am a homeschooling mom. I was thinking like to read good book about Padre Pio. Does anyone have some suggestions?"

Yes! May I suggest, 'Padre Pio and America', by Frank M. Rega? It is excellent!

Last year I read a lot of books but didn't record any of them in Good Reads. So this year I'm challenging myself to list them as soon as they're read. My personal challenge is 100 books -- which is not as challenging as it might sound because I often read kid's books which are very quick reads.

Our parish is reading The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. Our priest is having a weekly class on each chapter. My goal for the year is to read some of the books I already own. I listen to Catholic radio and podcasts and keep hearing about more books I just have to have.