Let's Talk Books

A friend of the MiL's (hi, Mikey!) apparently mentioned that I haven't talked much about what books I've been reading lately.

Well! Allow me to remedy that!

Here they are:

Secular on top, religious on the bottom, because why not?

I didn't actually intend to get that many religious books. This seems to be my tradition now for Lent, though, as I did the same thing last year kind of on accident.

He Leadeth Me is by the same priest who wrote With God in Russia. My sons really enjoyed that one, as did I, so I thought we'd try his other book. I haven't read it yet.

Seasons of the Soul was recommended by our priest. I  haven't read that one yet, either.

I'm part of the way through A Canticle for Liebowitz, though I'm not sure if I'll finish it. It's a novel that takes place at a monastery in the future after a nuclear exchange. A. bought it and read it, as did one of the boys. Both of them said it was okay, though not great, and that's what I'm thinking so far.

I did read the Mother Teresa book. That was a challenging one. I'm not sure I would recommend it to a lot of people--it's pretty startling and depressing in some ways--but it certainly made me think, and I'm not sorry I read it.

I haven't read Go Set a Watchman yet. That one I bought mostly for the boy whose favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. I may save it for his Easter basket.

I read pretty much every Agatha Christie book when I was in middle school, I think. Ten Little Indians is one of my favorites. The youngest boy saw me reading it and asked me about it. I'll give it to him next, and probably his older brother would like it, too.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite new authors. I don't like most modern authors, especially those who write romcoms, but she's good. Her books are like literary junk food without being stupid and irritating, which is more than I can say for the majority of books in that genre. Hello, Stranger is one of her newer books. I read it in about two hours and liked it very much.

An American Childhood is by Annie Dillard. I was not familiar with her as an author. This was the book I bought at the antique shop during my overnight in town. It's just what it sounds like: The story of her childhood growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. She was an unusual child, but her childhood was in many ways very typical of the time. I enjoyed it, although I don't think I'll seek out anymore of her books.

Ditto Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamund Lehmann. She was a prolific author in the 1930s. The book was good enough that I finished it, although I didn't find it all that gripping. It wasn't really about anything significant. In that way it reminded me of Jane Austen. I looked up the author's other books, and the others are apparently much less innocent than this one, so I probably won't read any more by this author.

There! That's what I've been reading lately, or am about to read. How about you?