I got home from the CatholiCon Expo last night and was giddy to find these three books waiting for me:
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– Great Books Reader (edited by John Mark Reynolds) – An introduction to the Great Books of the Western World from a uniquely Christian perspective. It includes excerpts from dozens of classics with commentary from experts in the field. Catholics will especially love Peter Kreeft’s thoughts on St. Augustine’s Confessions, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologia, and Blaise Pascal’s Pensees. Anthony Esolen also discusses Dante’s Divine Comedy while Dale Ahlquist comments on G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. Look for an in-depth review of this book soon.
– Revelation (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture) – Have you ever wondered what the Church Fathers thought about a particular verse of Scripture? The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS) gives you the answer. Moving line-by-line through each book of the Bible, the series collects the extraordinary insights of these earliest exegetes. It’s a phenomenal resource and my go-to Biblical commentary, especially when preparing talks. It is a little pricey, but I found an almost-complete set of the NT in a used bookstore–Revelation was one of the few missing volumes.
(By the way, you can usually see the ACCS in the background of most of Fr. Barron’s YouTube vignettes. Here the whole set sits over his right shoulder. Good enough for Fr. Barron, good enough for me–that’s my general motto for life.)
– Catholicism (Fr. Robert Barron) – What else can I say about this book? I read an advanced galley copy and raved about here. But the hardback is even more beautiful with the Sainte-Chapelle illuminating the cover. I received an extra copy of the book, too, so expect a giveaway next Friday after the book launches on September 6.
Since I have a large collection of duplicate books and resources, every week I give away a book–sometimes more than one! Through used bookstores, unsolicited review copies, and generous publishers, the collection keeps growing. Below is a photo of the current assemblage, a tantalizing preview of what I’ll be given away in the coming weeks:
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Finally, here’s a look at some books I’ve recently dived into. To the right of the cross are the books I’m currently reading–my Dismas collection, I suppose. And to the left are the ones I’ve recently finished–the Gestas assembly. I’ll be talking more about each of these soon.
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Reading Now
– Ablaze (Colleen Swaim)– Swaim looks at seven young saints who were filled with zeal for the Lord. I never get tired of the saints and a number of these were unfamiliar to me. It’s the perfect saint book for teens and young people, but people of all ages will find it rich.
– Infinite Bandwidth (Dr. Eugene Gan)– Here a communications professor at Franciscan University looks at the Church’s teachings on social communications and deduces seven key principles. Great stuff so far.
– Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)– I’ve read the first three, yet this fourth volume is so far my favorite.
– The Bible Made Impossible (Christian Smith) – This is actually Brent Stubb‘s copy who already wrote an insightful review of the book. The issue of Biblical authority, which conduces to ecclesiastical authority, is what ultimate divides Catholics and Protestants. Because of that, this is a very important subject–and a very important book.
– The Illiad (Homer) – I haven’t made much progress on this–it’s been on my to-read shelf for months–but maybe the Great Books Reader I mentioned above will give me new vigor.
– Story Engineering (Larry Brooks) *Kindle* – I downloaded this for free and have been only mildly pleased. It’s fluffy, could have been written in half as many pages, and is more geared toward narrative fiction, but as someone desperate to improve his writing, I’ll take whatever I can get.
– The Socratic Dialogues (Plato) *Kindle* – Socrates was brilliant and probing and interesting but some of his dialogues put me to sleep. I like Peter Kreeft’s Socratic dialogues better but reading the originals have revealed Socrates’ admirable hunt for truth and his unique philosophical style. There really is no classical philosopher in the same mold.
Recently Finished
– On the Passion of Christ (Thomas A’Kempis)
– Starting Your Marriage Right (Dennis Rainey)
– How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (Thomas Woods)
– The Next Story (Tim Challies)
– Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (Dr. Brant Pitre)
– Surprised by Joy (C.S. Lewis)
– Fatima for Today (Fr. Andrew Apostoli)
– The Face of God (Paul Badde)
– The Priority of Christ (Fr. Robert Barron)
*More books I’ve finished so far in 2011*
What are you reading right now?
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