Summer Reading
Just in case anyone has been wondering why I haven’t posted on this blog in over 18 months, I’ve been focusing on another project – writing a book, actually. I’m working on the final chapter now; then there are just a few small holes to patch and the final editing. The end is in sight. My plan was to finish the book before picking up blogging, but the Spirit has prompted me…
Summer is here, the kids are out of school and people are looking forward to vacations – fun in the sun, and maybe relaxing with a good book. My friend Laura recently mentioned Stephen King’s recommended summer reading list. No doubt, lots of people will be reading and talking about the books on his list, and I’m sure they’re all entertaining reads.
But in addition to all the fun and fantasy, why not include a few choices that will feed our souls? Maybe you’re thinking, “Borrringgg…” Not necessarily. And on that note, I’d like to offer Darrell’s counter-cultural summer reading list (Christian culture as opposed to popular culture): seven interesting selections with substance.
Between Heaven and Hell
Peter Kreeft
One of four fiction titles in this list, this book is based on a very interesting fact: on November 22, 1963, three famous men – C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley – all died within a few hours of each other. Kreeft imagines their conversation when the three meet up in Purgatory. Very entertaining and at the same time profound. I loved this book!
MOTHER TERESA: Come Be My Light
Edited and with commentary by Brian Kolodiejchuk
The personal letters of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta provide an intimate look at one of the most widely known disciples of our time. Each of us is a called to respond to the grace of God, but for most of us, He gives us a lot of freedom in deciding how we will serve Him as individuals. But a chosen few are called in a very specific and unmistakable way. The writings of Mother Teresa reveal the private struggles of a little woman from Yugoslavia who became the “Saint of Calcutta.”
Three Philosophies of Life
Peter Kreeft
The only writer to make this list twice, I confess he’s my favorite author. I’ve never had any formal education in philosophy, but having read over a half-dozen of Peter Kreeft’s books is probably better. Dr. Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College, calls Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs “the most profound books of philosophy I’ve ever read.” He reveals that in these three books, we have a great epic played out in our hearts and lives, and an “essential summary of the spiritual history of the world.” These books explore the most important questions we can ask: What is life under the sun for? Why must we suffer? And it reveals the final answer. It’s a short book, only 140 pages, but profound, and I highly recommend it.
The previous three selections are books I have read and recommend. These next four titles are the books I myself plan on reading this summer.
The Death of a Pope
Piers Paul Read
This newly released book looks to be a really good political thriller.
“Piers Paul Read has managed to combine sheer storytelling power with great learning and insight about the inner workings of the Church to fashion an entertainment of the highest order. If John le Carre took on Vatican politics, his book of suspense might aspire to be much like this one.”
--Ron Hansen
“If you love the Catholic Church, you will probably love this book whether or not you love a good story. If you love a good story, you will probably love this book whether or not you love the Catholic Church. But if you love both the Church and a good story, you will certainly love this book.”
--Peter Kreeft
MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE
Graham Greene
Based on Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote, two friends tilt at modern-day windmills. I’ve read one other book by Greene, The Power and the Glory, about a hunted priest in Mexico: it was interesting, but, at times, I struggled not to put the book down; however the ending was incredible, inspiring and well worth it. I decided to consider Monsignor Quixote based solely on this recommendation: a Spanish priest and the local Communist “take off on a road trip into idealism (for they are both idealists) and, at the end, find something like revelation.” I read the first two pages of the book on-line and was laughing out loud.
Our Lady of Kibeho
Immaculée Ilibagiza
In 1994, a bloody genocide left more than a million dead in Rwanda, Africa. In Left To Tell, Immaculée shared how she and seven other women survived by hiding together in a cramped bathroom for 91 terrifying days! Thirteen years earlier in 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary began appearing to a group of children in Kibeho, Rwanda with messages of a looming holocaust, which could be averted if the people of Rwanda would only open their hearts to the love of God. In Our Lady of Kibeho, Immaculee tells the story of Our Lady’s apparitions to the young visionaries – the only Vatican approved apparitions in Africa. My friend Sue recommended this book to me: “I could not put the book down…you’ll love it.”
Out of the Silent Planet
C.S. Lewis
There was a period as a young man when I was very into science fiction; I read hundreds of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert A. Heinlein, Piers Anthony and others. Now I find out that one of the most influential Christian writers of the twentieth century also wrote science fiction! As a boy, I loved C.S. Lewis’s fantasy series The Narnia Chronicles, and I loved reading them again as an adult: tales of four children transported to a world of fauns, centaurs and talking beasts, laced with insights into truth. Out of the Silent Planet is the first book in Lewis’s The Space Trilogy. Recommended by a friend: “In addition to telling a good story, Lewis finds time to shed light on all sorts of issues about God and morality.” Another wrote, “Lewis also has a gift for making strong points in his novel (about Christianity in particular) without making the reader feel guilty, because he uses such human characters that are filled with normal and relatable flaws.”
Summer is here, the kids are out of school and people are looking forward to vacations – fun in the sun, and maybe relaxing with a good book. My friend Laura recently mentioned Stephen King’s recommended summer reading list. No doubt, lots of people will be reading and talking about the books on his list, and I’m sure they’re all entertaining reads.
But in addition to all the fun and fantasy, why not include a few choices that will feed our souls? Maybe you’re thinking, “Borrringgg…” Not necessarily. And on that note, I’d like to offer Darrell’s counter-cultural summer reading list (Christian culture as opposed to popular culture): seven interesting selections with substance.
Between Heaven and Hell
Peter Kreeft
One of four fiction titles in this list, this book is based on a very interesting fact: on November 22, 1963, three famous men – C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley – all died within a few hours of each other. Kreeft imagines their conversation when the three meet up in Purgatory. Very entertaining and at the same time profound. I loved this book!
MOTHER TERESA: Come Be My Light
Edited and with commentary by Brian Kolodiejchuk
The personal letters of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta provide an intimate look at one of the most widely known disciples of our time. Each of us is a called to respond to the grace of God, but for most of us, He gives us a lot of freedom in deciding how we will serve Him as individuals. But a chosen few are called in a very specific and unmistakable way. The writings of Mother Teresa reveal the private struggles of a little woman from Yugoslavia who became the “Saint of Calcutta.”
Three Philosophies of Life
Peter Kreeft
The only writer to make this list twice, I confess he’s my favorite author. I’ve never had any formal education in philosophy, but having read over a half-dozen of Peter Kreeft’s books is probably better. Dr. Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College, calls Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs “the most profound books of philosophy I’ve ever read.” He reveals that in these three books, we have a great epic played out in our hearts and lives, and an “essential summary of the spiritual history of the world.” These books explore the most important questions we can ask: What is life under the sun for? Why must we suffer? And it reveals the final answer. It’s a short book, only 140 pages, but profound, and I highly recommend it.
The previous three selections are books I have read and recommend. These next four titles are the books I myself plan on reading this summer.
The Death of a Pope
Piers Paul Read
This newly released book looks to be a really good political thriller.
“Piers Paul Read has managed to combine sheer storytelling power with great learning and insight about the inner workings of the Church to fashion an entertainment of the highest order. If John le Carre took on Vatican politics, his book of suspense might aspire to be much like this one.”
--Ron Hansen
“If you love the Catholic Church, you will probably love this book whether or not you love a good story. If you love a good story, you will probably love this book whether or not you love the Catholic Church. But if you love both the Church and a good story, you will certainly love this book.”
--Peter Kreeft
MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE
Graham Greene
Based on Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote, two friends tilt at modern-day windmills. I’ve read one other book by Greene, The Power and the Glory, about a hunted priest in Mexico: it was interesting, but, at times, I struggled not to put the book down; however the ending was incredible, inspiring and well worth it. I decided to consider Monsignor Quixote based solely on this recommendation: a Spanish priest and the local Communist “take off on a road trip into idealism (for they are both idealists) and, at the end, find something like revelation.” I read the first two pages of the book on-line and was laughing out loud.
Our Lady of Kibeho
Immaculée Ilibagiza
In 1994, a bloody genocide left more than a million dead in Rwanda, Africa. In Left To Tell, Immaculée shared how she and seven other women survived by hiding together in a cramped bathroom for 91 terrifying days! Thirteen years earlier in 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary began appearing to a group of children in Kibeho, Rwanda with messages of a looming holocaust, which could be averted if the people of Rwanda would only open their hearts to the love of God. In Our Lady of Kibeho, Immaculee tells the story of Our Lady’s apparitions to the young visionaries – the only Vatican approved apparitions in Africa. My friend Sue recommended this book to me: “I could not put the book down…you’ll love it.”
Out of the Silent Planet
C.S. Lewis
There was a period as a young man when I was very into science fiction; I read hundreds of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert A. Heinlein, Piers Anthony and others. Now I find out that one of the most influential Christian writers of the twentieth century also wrote science fiction! As a boy, I loved C.S. Lewis’s fantasy series The Narnia Chronicles, and I loved reading them again as an adult: tales of four children transported to a world of fauns, centaurs and talking beasts, laced with insights into truth. Out of the Silent Planet is the first book in Lewis’s The Space Trilogy. Recommended by a friend: “In addition to telling a good story, Lewis finds time to shed light on all sorts of issues about God and morality.” Another wrote, “Lewis also has a gift for making strong points in his novel (about Christianity in particular) without making the reader feel guilty, because he uses such human characters that are filled with normal and relatable flaws.”
posted by DarrellBowles | 11:43 AM
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