What I Read in 2017
I am so glad I kept a commonplace book this year! Because now I can easily reference it to give you a quick rundown of what I read in 2017, just in case you’re curious (I know, I know — you’ve been holding your breath waiting on this list).
Likewise I am grateful for my St. Gregory’s Pocket, in which I’m part of a lively book club (we call it “the PocketBook Club”) that keeps my reading habit up! I always look forward to getting together with my local, like-minded ladies to discuss a good (or bad!) read!
Without further ado and without much eloquence and in no particular order (other than being roughly the order in which I happened upon these titles): everything I read from this past year! (This list does not include spiritual reading.) Some of the best books are far down the list, so keep reading! Maybe you’ll find a gem for that last-minute gift you were looking for!
Title: Toujours, Provence
Author: Peter Mayle
Gist: A sequel to A Year in Provence, this book is a light memoir of the experience of living in this beautiful, colorful place written by a guy who has funny stories to tell but – even more – is good at telling stories. It’s just fun. I read it over the holidays last year and it was just the right amount of mental effort and just the right dose of sunshine into the darkest days of the year.
Why did I read it? I had scored it from the ‘for free’ shelf at my library. I needed a dose of France and this is what the doctor ordered.
Would I recommend it? If you need a chuckle, and since it’s more doable than a Provençal vacation, I say go for it. NB: some bits a little off-color.
Title: The Jeweler’s Shop
Author: Carol Wojtyla (aka St. John Paul The Great)
Gist: A poetic play about marriage and the various quiet, internal tensions between men and women. A quick read but one that is difficult to digest; it reminded me of one of the ancient Greek plays (complete with chorus element). Lots of interesting imagery and food for thought.
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? Yes. I recommend reading it along with a good companion for discussion or a group.
Title: Casti Connubii (Chaste Marriage or Christian Marriage)
Author: Pope Pius XI
Gist: This encyclical (letter) is the Church’s teaching on marriage. You should probably check out my mom’s series or read her ebook on this rather than have me try to provide a “gist!” The version of the encyclical linked here has an excellent foreword by Fr. Vincent McNabb.
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Embarrassingly, I didn’t expect to learn much new material from this (I know, I know). On the contrary! I found it extremely encouraging, challenging, and emboldening when thinking about my mission with my husband and, indeed, what this whole life is about. It’s intense stuff and very inspiring!
Title: Silence
Author: Shusaku Endo
Gist: A novel (based on true events) about the dark plight of missionaries and converts during the Catholic persecution in medieval Japan.
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? I’m on the fence. It was a great read and it led to fascinating and lively discussion (we had some serious disagreements about it in our book club!). It’s very thought provoking. But I fear that it might glamorize apostasy. Honestly, I’d have to read another translation before I could decide to get entirely behind it; there were some subtle, dark things that I think may have been a result of language choices in the version I read. (For what it’s worth, I have no desire to see the movie as I definitely do not trust Scorcese’s interpretation of the matter and there were horrifying images that I don’t need to see on screen.)
Title: Karen
Author: Marie Killilea
Gist: Killilea recounts the experience of discovering that her baby girl, Karen, has a physical handicap and then the whole process of getting a proper diagnosis (cerebral palsy — a condition barely known at the time) and fighting for her every step of her childhood. Also a kind of autobiography of the Killilea family, which was a lively and crazy bunch! Humorous and hopeful.
Why did I read it? I was at my mom’s house while I was waiting for Chickapea to arrive and I wanted to re-read it.
Would I recommend it? Yes. I especially recommend it to anyone who has a child with special needs, as I imagine it’d be very encouraging and helpfully relatable.
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Gist: A memoir of a summer/short seasons of life; a mystery about the spooky house next door; a courtroom drama; a vignette of small-town Southern life; an examination of racial relations and questions of justice and virtue.
Why did I read it? It was small enough to hold in one hand during my early post-partum days and it was there on the shelf. I had never read it before and I knew it needed to happen!
Would I recommend it? Emphatically. If you haven’t already, make it a priority. Excellent story in every way.
Title: What to Expect when No One’s Expecting
Author: Johnathan V. Last
Gist: A sociological/economic take on our current infertility problem in the US and in all of the developed world. A definitive response to claims that we are overpopulating the world. In fact, we are in a demographic winter and Last explains what the fallout will be as well as how we got here. Very stats-heavy.
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? It’s useful material to correct mistakes about overpopulation. It’s a thorough and frequently amusing read (although his humor is very dry and even oddly placed, given the gravity of what he’s discussing). However, it did bother me that he wanted to be hopeful while also accepting certain evils as givens.
Title: My Side of the Mountain
Author: Jean Craighead George
Gist: I wrote about this book in the LMLD Library Project!
Why did I read it? Another library freebie that was available for one-hand reading while nursing.
Would I recommend it? Indeed (as I explain in my previous post)!
Title: Death Comes for the Archbishop
Author: Willa Cather
Gist: A series of touching vignettes about life a particular time and place in the Church’s history: the missionary work in New Mexico and surrounding areas of the New World. I was astounded to learn that Cather is not Catholic; her intimacy with Catholic religion and culture is amazing to witness from an “outsider.”
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but don’t expect a novel. I was expecting one and was therefore disappointed. To me, this is just a different form.
Title: The Little Prince
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Gist: A funny little philosophical essay in the form of a children’s story. The Little Prince’s adventures lead him to meet different types on different planets: a king, a businessman (concerned with counting the stars but not enjoying them), a drunkard… musings on the state of “grown-ups.”
Why did I read it? Just one of those books I felt I should get around to. But now I need to read it in the original French!
Would I recommend it? Yes, but I admit that I didn’t fully grasp it. I need to read it again and discuss it with someone! It’s such a quirky little book… a mix of meditations on life and death…and children’s literature? But delightful!
Title: A Separate Peace
Author: John Knowles
Gist: A novel about two young men at the Devon prep school (set in NH!) during WWII. A physiological drama with questions of friendship and identity.
Why did I read it? Another freebie from the library shelf and another one-handed nursing read.
Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. I thought it was beautifully written and thought-provoking. But others near and dear to me are on a range of dislike-to-hate… There is perhaps a cowardly message embedded in this (which somehow didn’t strike me while I was reading).
Title: The Last Hurrah
Author: Edwin O’Connor
Gist: A semi-biographical (according to my dad) novel about the end of the golden era of identity politics in an unidentified city (Boston). Incredibly written — unlike any other book I’ve ever read. The detail is exacting: every thought, situation, action, and interaction churned over in every character’s head — and yet the pace doesn’t let up. The dialogue is delightful and every character jumps off the page. Definitely eye-opening about how people function in politics!
Why did I read it? Another freebie from my library giveaway shelf. When I saw the title, I remembered it as one of my dad’s favorite novels.
Would I recommend it? Yes! The Artist is just finishing it now, too, and he says it’s definitely in his top five favorite novels!
Title: Rules of Civility
Author: Amor Towles
Gist: A story set in New York City during the golden days of jazz and martinis and high life with jewels and flapper dresses… but low on content. Starts out with a lot of promise and fun (which of the boardinghouse girls will get the well-heeled guy? what other adventures are in store?) but quickly unravels into an aimless non-story.
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club (and it was universally disapproved).
Would I recommend it? Definitely not. I won’t even link to it. The story went nowhere, the characters (all selfish) were flat, and it was trashy.
Title: The Temperament God Gave You
Author: Art and Laraine Bennett
Gist: A book about self-knowledge based on the ancient understanding of the four temperaments: Choleric, Melancholic, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic. Helps you understand yourself and then your relationships with others as well, including spouse and children. My mom wrote about this book (and others she recommends for marriage) in this Library Project post. (Next we need to read The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse!)
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? Highly! It’s so much fun to read and think about and so much fun to discuss with others. Warning: once you read it, you will look at everything and everyone through this lens!
Title: Home Business Tax Deductions: Keep what you Earn
Author: from the NOLO group
Gist: The title says it all! Not the most exciting read of the year.
Why did I read it? Because I was doing homework on launching our (The Artist’s and my) LLC. Good times!
Would I recommend it? As a matter of fact, yes — if you are in small business in any form, it’s a good resource!
Title: The Lord of the World
Author: Robert Hugh Benson
Gist: A dystopian novel that is totally Catholic in philosophy, tone, and belief. Amazing book: an exciting page-turner set in present day but written one hundred years ago. Not only was this a fantastic story (it reads like watching an action movie) and gave me lots to think about and reflect upon, but it was also an insight into prayer life and mysticism. My friend pointed out that Benson predicted that a laissez-faire relativism wouldn’t be the dominant view we grapple with today, but rather a distorted morality that aims to replace true morality and sets people at odds with one another to the point of death. My impression is that Benson was a visionary!
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? Yes!
Title: Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior is Changing Everything
Author: Robert R. Reilly
Gist: Reilly first examines homosexuality from a number of angles (philosophy, ethics, law, biology) and then explains how the agenda has been worked out through the institutions (the field of science, family, education, the Boy Scouts, the military, and the government). It’s a tough read, but it is airtight: you could boil it down to symbolic logic, Reilly goes so rigorously through every aspect of every argument. He even reflects on his personal experience as a professional actor.
From the book:
If life is sacred, then the means of generating it must also be sacred. If generation is intrinsic to the Nature of sex, then sex possesses immense significance. It is not a toy, or simply an amusement, or an item for sale. It is profoundly oriented to creation — creation emanating from within. It has a telos. Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse said, “The human person is meant for love, and the human body cries out to be fruitful.” As stated earlier, the fruit is the incarnation of love. If generation is artificially separated from it, sex lapses into insignificance and triviality. This denial leads to its desecration and is contemptuous of what human beings are meant to be.
Why did I read it? It’s one I’ve been meaning to finish for a while now, having borrowed it from my parents.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but I caution that you need to be in the proper mindset. It’s would be hard to read if you identify as gay, are struggling with same-sex attraction, or are thinking of your loved one who falls into one of those categories. Reilly doesn’t sugarcoat anything or make extensive prefaces nor apologies for his statements. It requires a dispassionate reader who is prepared to face the facts (which are sometimes shocking) and follow premises to their conclusions. If you can do this, I actually beg you to read this extremely thorough and important work.
Title: Shop Class as Soul Craft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work
Author: Matthew B. Crawford
Gist: A political theorist and think-tank leader-gone motorcycle mechanic muses on various issues related to work, and to some extent education and other aspects of life.
Why did I read it? For my PocketBook Club.
Would I recommend it? Not universally, but some would definitely find it interesting. I was frustrated with his tone at times, with an apparent lack of editing (my did he go on about bike parts sometimes!), and with a general sense of disorganization in the book. That being said, it was a fun cross-section of philosophy and shop talk which could be valuable to some readers.
Title: Letters from Father Christmas
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Gist: A collection of letters from the 30s and 40s which Tolkien sent to his children — “from” Father Christmas. Adorable little tales of what’s going on in the North Pole (usually mishaps with the sidekick Polar Bear) and occasional notes from Ilbereth the elf and appearances from other little cast members.
Why did I read it? Because my friend sent it as a St. Nicholas Day gift for my family and it was the perfect little light read during my Advent!
Would I recommend it? Absolutely! I can’t believe I never knew of it till now! It’s a treasure!
Other books still in process:
John Adams by David McCullough (I will be reading this forever. Not because it’s dull — not at all! — it’s just big and heavy and too easy to put aside in favor of other books!); The Way of Beauty by David Clayton (I got SO into this that I needed to take notes while reading, which means I’m not going to finish reading it until I find a time when I can sit with it with my notebook beside me!).
Some highlights of my reading with Finnabee:
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; Babe, the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith; Pippi Longstocking and Pippi Longstocking and the South Seas by Astrid Lindgren. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne.
Visit our Library Project posts for more ideas. This post has a lot of nice books for children as well.
What were your favorite reads in 2017?
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