Snow & Books

....How much snow are we really going to get?  My kids go to schools in 2 different counties.  One closes 2 hours early; the other has only cancelled afterschool activities.  I'm fine with that---otherwise I wouldn't be able to pick them both up simultaneously.

....Here's my To-Be-Read (TBR) shelf, or desk, as it were.

From left to right, they are:

Les Misérables, Victor Hugo.  I also discovered it is free on Kindle, so that's the one I'm actually reading.  It's much easier on the wrists!

Kindle.  That's my pink-covered Kindle next to Les Mis.  It contains a LOT of books, as you might expect.

Small Steps for Catholic Moms, Elizabeth Foss & Danielle Bean.  This is one of those books that you read daily with a prayer, a thought, and an action.  I try to read it at night, for the next day, and in the morning.

The Love Dare, Alex Kendrick.  I can't tell you much about this one.  I won it at a Mom's brunch where the focus was on marriage.  I've read only the first couple of "dares" and they do make a difference!  :-)

Extreme Makeover: Women Transformed by Christ, Not Conformed to the Culture, Teresa Tomeo.  I started reading this for a book club, but I didn't finish it in time for the meeting.  I'd really like to finish it because I hadn't gotten to the part where we try to fix the problem! 

Gilead, Marilynne Robinson.  This one was recommended by my son Brendan.  He loved it; I've read a little, and I haven't really gotten into it yet, but it did make me laugh out loud a few times!

Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux, Heather King.  Another one that needs to be finished.  {There's a theme here.  Maybe "finishing what I start" should have been another new Year's Resolution.}

The Life of St. Philip Neri, Gallonio.  Since he's Pip's patron saint, I'd like to read more about him.  I've read this one, but Gallonio was one of his pupils, so I think it will be good.

Edith Stein: The Untold Story of the Philosopher and Mystic Who Lost Her Life in the Death Camps of Auschwitz, Waltraud Herbstrith.

The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton.  I started this one...ahem...years ago.  I'm over half-finished.  I was enjoying it; I don't know why I stopped, unless I was just distracted.  As I get older, I begin to suspect that I have some mild ADD.

The Life of Faustina Kowalska, Sr. Sophia Michalenko.  I've read (most of) the Diary; I think this will be interesting.

The Way of Perfection, Teresa of Avila.  This is going to be the book that I take with me to weekly Adoration.

The Diary of a Country Priest, Georges Bernanos.

In this classic Catholic novel, Bernanos movingly recounts the life of a young French country priest who grows to understand his provincial parish while learning spiritual humility himself. Awarded the Grand Prix for Literature by the Academie Francaise, The Diary of a Country Priest was adapted into an acclaimed film by Robert Bresson. "A book of the utmost sensitiveness and compassion...it is a work of deep, subtle and singularly encompassing art." — New York Times Book Review

Mr. Blue, Myles Connolly.

J. Blue is a young man who decides to take Christianity seriously, not as a chore but as a challenge. He spends his inherited wealth almost as soon as he gets it. He lives in a packing box on a New York City rooftop. He embraces the poor as his best friends and wisest companions, distrusts the promises of technology (except for the movies), and is fascinated by anything involving the wide expanse of God’s universe. He is the ultimate free spirit, it seems; but what is the source—and purpose—of his freedom? This novel about a contemporary St. Francis figure has delighted and inspired countless readers since it was first published in 1928.

A Child's History of England, Charles Dickens.  It looks deceptively small in that little, Everyman's edition, but the print is microscopic and the margins are small.  It's probably every bit as big as Les Mis down at the other end!  Meg had to read several excerpt from this for school, and I sort of fell in love with it.  I had to get it from the library.  Once it came, I realized that it was going to be too hard to read, but that it's also available for free on the the old Kindle.  So, it's on the shelf (for now) for show, but it's really hiding in my Kindle.  I've been reading that every night and enjoying it---though not making much progress.

G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, Dale Ahlquist.  A good introduction to Chesterton, but I'm dying to get past this and read his works.  To that end, I download a whole bunch that are free on Kindle!

Also not on the list are all the books that will be assigned this year for my book club.  I'm sure I'll let you know as I get to them.

For now, my morning spiritual reading is the Sermons of the Curé of Ars.  The first one, about Lukewarmness, was scary.  :-)

What do you think?  Have I bitten off way more than I can chew?  I think I have to start this project by getting over the idea that reading time is wasted time.  I certainly don't believe that where my kids are concerned.  I probably do other things that are worse time-wasters than read. Ahem.  

My brother tells me that I used to get in trouble as a child for reading too much.  I guess they wanted me to spend more time outside playing, certainly not watching tv.  I don't remember that at all.  Though I do remember devouring books that were definitely above my maturity level.

What are you reading?  Care to add to my list?  LOL.