The Catholic Reading Challenge

Are you a re-reader, or do you feel like your TBR stack is too long to read a book again? Mike and Jess make the case for re-reading books, especially when you know that the book has more to give than you got the first time. They discuss why great books are living things and good friends to be revisited over again. 

Mike and Jess chat a bit more about love of poetry and argue for its primacy in education and human formation. They also share some of the poems they read this month from the Bronte siblings and Wendell Berry. 

For the month of August we are reading a book of poetry. Mike and Jess talk about why poetry is a language all its own. Get ready! They have lots of suggestions for this favorite genre.

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Books mentioned:

Vita Nuova

The Divine Comedy (or this one)

The Iliad & The Odyssey (or this one that Jess scored at a recent used book sale haul!)

Picnic, Lightning

Beowulf

A Small Porch

Favorite Poems Old & New

A Child's Garden of Verses

A Child's Book of Poems

The Classic Hundred Poems

Poems Every Catholic Should Know

Waiting on the Word (Guite)

Word in the Wilderness (Guide)

The Brontes: Selected Poems

Mike and Jess share about the biographies they read for the month of July...and thoroughly enjoyed! If you share a love of Thomas Aquinas or Sigrid Undset, then you'll want to hear about these books. 

Mike and Jess talk about July's reading category: biographies. What makes a great biography and a great biographer? They share some tips for picking a biography and a couple of recommendations. They also chat about Jess's recent opportunity to share their family's story of coming into the Catholic Church.

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On this episode:

St. Thomas Aquinas

Inside the Gate: Sigrid Undset's Life at Bjerkebæk

Love is the Measure: A Biography of Dorothy Day

St. Catherine of Siena

Unbroken

Jess's Interview on The Journey Home

Mike and Jess talk about the books they read in June. As it turns out, their travel writing selections were not what they thought they would be. They open the episode with a reading tip that applied to their experiences this month and might help you as well. Also...this episode debuts the podcast's  new theme music--have a listen!

Mike and Jess talk about traveling anywhere at any time with the right book. They share some of their favorite selections for June's category and the authors that have inspired their travels -- in mind or body. Books mentioned in this episode:

The Great Gatsby 

The Return of the King 

The Way of Kings 

Console Wars 

Crossing to Safety 

How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark 

Balkan Ghosts 

Eastward to Tartary 

The Coming Anarchy 

An Empire Wilderness 

The Ends of the Earth 

Into the Wild 

Into Thin Air 

Eiger Dreams 

At Home in the World 

The Lost Continent  

Neither Here nor There 

Turn Right at Machu Picchu

Mike and Jess chat about their picks for the May category of science/speculative fiction. Jess went with a book by one of her favorite authors that's been on her TBR list for a while, and Mike chose the sequel to an acclaimed classic. They share common themes of the genre and and their personal selections. Perhaps you noticed similar themes in your book!

Mike and Jess talk about the importance of speculative fiction and science fiction in our reading lives and collective culture. If these genres are new to you or out of your comfort zone, then take a listen for a whole host of recommendations! Mike shares why this is one of his favorite genres and how he is handling his indecision for this category. Jess is going with a pick from one of her favorite authors.

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Books mentioned in this episode:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Giver by Lois Lowry

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The Hunger Games series

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

World War Z by Max Brooks

The Children of Men P. D. James

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Dune by Frank Herbert

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller

Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Quin

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1984 by George Orwell

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

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*For some reason, Anchor won't let us hyperlink anymore titles. :(

Did you know that essays make great bathroom reading? Well, opinions differ, apparently. After settling that important matter, Mike and Jess discuss the essays they read in April by their respective authors: David Foster Wallace and G. K. Chesterton. 

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Books mentioned on this episode:

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace

Quack This Way by David Foster Wallace and Bryan A. Garner

In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G. K. Chesterton