Read Any Good Books Lately?

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pensmama87

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I made a New Year’s Resolution to read more next year. I am open to any suggestions: fiction or non, any subject matter. I can get interested in just about anything. My requirements: English (I’m really rusty on French), don’t promote immorality, don’t include explicit content, and likely to be able to get them from my local library (I’m in the US).

Have at it, folks. Let’s get reading!
 
I recommend* Fahrenheit 451*. It’s only about 160 pages, young adult level, and it’s about what society would be like without literature. In other words, it’d be a perfect start - and a supplement to your motivation - for your New Year’s resolution.

If you’re looking for something more Catholic-esque, you could try The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. It’s even shorter (about 120 pages) and revolves around the concept of purgatory but it’s interesting nonetheless. In fact, it’s difficult to put down once you’ve started reading.

Fahrenheit 451 has won several awards so I don’t think you’d have much trouble finding it in your local library. You might have trouble finding The Great Divorce though (my town’s library has several of C.S. Lewis’ books but I don’t know about yours).

In the nonfiction category, you might pick up Black Like Me. It’s the diary and about the experiences of a white sociologist who has his skin changed to look black and then moves to the deep south in the 1950’s. However, there are instances where sexual referees are made and questionable language is used but, on the other hand, it also explores the role of the Catholic Church (the sociologist himself is very devout) in combating racism at this time so there’s a pretty good balance. I doubt it’d be hard to find in a library.
 
Tobit’s Dog. Great novel based on the OT Tobit, but set in the deep south.
 
I’m starting to read Stephen Hawking’s A brief History of Time. While I don’t agree with his views on religion at all, I must admit he is an intelligent man and knows his stuff about cosmology and physics.
 
I just finished re-reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I like to re-read good books. So now I’m re-reading the sequel, Brian’s Winter. Almost everything by Paulsen is good, both his fiction & non-fiction.

I’ve been reading mostly fiction lately, so those are the only books I can think of at the moment. A couple of favorites - oldies but goodies - are Earth Abides by George R. Stewart and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. The latter was recently reissued by Scholastic.

None of these are Christian, but they all give me stuff to think about.

Years ago I discovered anthologies intended for college-level literature classes. I must have a dozen of them, some poetry, some short stories. They are cheap 2nd hand, so not much of a loss if a particular book turns out to be a loser. That’s how I was first introduced to the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, a 19-century Jesuit.

I also like Fahrenheit 451. But then, I like almost everything by Ray Bradbury. 🙂

How do you feel about American classics? Louisa May Alcott’s books are all good, but especially Little Women/Little Men & Eight Cousins/Rose in Bloom & Old Fashioned Girl.

Guess I’d better stop before I recommend my entire library - and it’s a big one!
 
I am a painfully slow reader, always have been,
I usually get to the end of the second chapter at the
same time most others have finished the book.

I also tend to fall asleep a lot when reading.
So I don’t read all that much.

But the rare books that have held my attention
and drawn me into another world are these.
(You will need to buy them online)
I don’t think you could find them in any library now.
  1. The Angel Doll by Jerry Bledsoe (American) (True story)
    (based on the authors childhood)
  2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Brazilian / It’s in English)(Adventure/Fable)
    (A search for worldly goods ends up with him discovering the treasures within)
  3. Elephant Bill by LT-COL J.H.WILLIAMS (English) (True story)
    (When the Japanese Army invaded Burma LT-COL J.H.WILLIAMS brought 45 Elephants and over 60 refugee women and children to safety through pathless jungles and over precipitous mountain tracks and all under the nose of the Japanese invasion force).
I hope you find and enjoy each and every one.
Pete:tiphat:
 
Two historical fiction titles I’m seeing on a lot Best of 2014 lists and which appear to be clean and “PG”-level content:
  • “All The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr, about an orphan boy and blind girl during the Nazi occupation of Germany during WWII
  • “Song of The Shank” by Jeffrey Renard Allen, about a nineteenth-century slave and improbable musical genius who performed under the name Blind Tom.
 
Oh, and top of my wanna-read list now is a ‘reissue’ of “My Battle Against Hitler” by Dietrich von Hildebrand. I practically haven’t heard ANYTHING about this book in any Catholic circles, yet Amazon puts the publication date in 2014 - so it’s still a “new” book, so maybe it’ll get more publicity in 2015.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far!

I have read Fahrenheit 451. I was an English major and for a brief time an English teacher, and it seems to be on the reading list for every school I’ve gone to or taught in! I did enjoy it.

I actually think I own The Great Divorce. I sold most of my books a while ago but I did keep a collection of C.S. Lewis, but haven’t read too much of it yet.

Our library does have a pretty extensive collection and I am very familiar with inter-library loan. But unfortunately religious books can be quite the niche and aren’t available in mainstream libraries. Our library has quite a few books by Scott Hahn, but there are lots of authors I know about from Catholic Internet-land, but they aren’t carried at the library and I don’t have the funds to buy the books myself.

One book I would recommend is Unbroken, about Louis Zamperini. There was a movie version that came out on Christmas Day, but I don’t know how faithful it was to the book or source material. The book was phenomenal. It wasn’t all “PG” but it certainly didn’t glorify the parts that weren’t.
 
I love all the Tony Hillerman novels. Set in the American Southwest, they are about a Navajo lawman who investigates crimes on the rez. Hillerman is one of those that weaves the real life qualities, traditions, and philosophies of the tribal Indians into the story, that educates, and gives a fascinating glimpse into their life. Great novels. I would start with The Blessing Way or Falling Man. Falling Man is my favorite, but the others, beginning with the Blessing Way, give you a lot of context for the lead character.
 
You can check out Catholicfiction’s website for recommendations: catholicfiction.net/

My novel Nearer the Dawn, a book about faith in God, is second on their Top Rated list. I also have another novel, Rain from Heaven, about God’s mercy. (Each is $.99 until the end of the year with all net profits going to my parish, which is struggling financially.)

If you like mysteries, you might check out another writer who is a CAF poster: Amy Bennett. She’s published two which I recommend: End of the Road and No Lifeguard on Duty.
 
Toxic Charity–How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
by Robert D. Lupton
HarperOne 2011

A short and incredibly pithy little book–it will make Catholics think/get hopping mad and defensive/calm down/think again/resolve to be wiser in order to help others/change their charitable giving habits.
 
Currently reading Airborne: A Combat History of American Airborne Forces by E.M. Flanagan Jr… Later I’m going to read *Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest * by Stephen E. Ambrose.
 
Yay! I hope other CAFers are finding these useful, too.

Does anyone know of the English professor who is a Tolkien scholar, who used to be involved in white supremacist movements in the UK? He teaches at a university in the US now and I remember seeing him on EWTN, plus I’d read one of his books on Tolkien before and loved it. He has an autobiography now, but I’m having a lot of trouble remembering his name!

Also on my list: Jennifer Fulwiler’s Something Other than God. I used to read her blog regularly and I know several people who loved it.
 
pensmama87 said:
Yay! I hope other CAFers are finding these useful, too.

Does anyone know of the English professor who is a Tolkien scholar, who used to be involved in white supremacist movements in the UK? He teaches at a university in the US now and I remember seeing him on EWTN, plus I’d read one of his books on Tolkien before and loved it. He has an autobiography now, but I’m having a lot of trouble remembering his name!

Also on my list: Jennifer Fulwiler’s Something Other than God. I used to read her blog regularly and I know several people who loved it.
Click to expand...
I don’t know him but in researching for you I found this man
Joseph Pearce.
according to my research his last book was,
(Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love. Charlotte, North Carolina: St. Benedict Press)

Hope this helps.
God Bless:tiphat:
 
Purgatory_Pete said:
I don’t know him but in researching for you I found this man
Joseph Pearce.
according to my research his last book was,
(Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love. Charlotte, North Carolina: St. Benedict Press)

Hope this helps.
God Bless:tiphat:
Click to expand...
Yes! That’s him. Thanks so much! 😃
 
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