Confession: I am something of a book snob. It's not just that I aspire to be well-read but also that I am -- have always been, from my earliest memories -- energized by reading and books, and I derive a great deal of my identity from that. To the casual observer I'm a low-key, soft-spoken, introverted person -- painfully shy, though my attempts to hide it are equally painful. But put me in a room full of books... show me a list of books... mention books... ask me about books... and I come to life.
Which is why whenever I acquire new books, I'm like a kid bragging about what she got for her birthday. Which is to say -- insufferable.
Our local Catholic book and gift store featured a "pop-up bookstore" yesterday at my parish after Mass. Could I have been any more in my element? I doubt it. I plunked down a tidy sum (I don't mind plunking down a tidy sum for books -- I economize in dozens of other ways) for seven books:
- 40 Simple Ways to Keep Lent Meaningful -- a little booklet that I probably could have done without (do I really need to be told to donate to the poor? offer forgiveness? obey the Golden Rule? -- no, but having something suggested on a given day makes it more likely that I will do it). I just like the idea of following something day by day.
- Journey Through Lent: Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings, by Clement Harrold. I immediately recognized Mr. Harrold as one of the featured speakers in the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology's Advent series, which was wonderful (and his segments were especially good). And this book is neatly divided into 40 readings, which is always helpful.
- Holy Thursday: The Night That Changed the World (with a meditation by St. Teresa of Calcutta), by Francois Mauriac. I was intrigued by the idea of a book for just one night of Holy Week. Holy Thursday is all but ignored nowadays in the Protestant Church (when I was younger, some churches used to have Maundy Thursday services, with foot-washing), but it is rightly observed in the Catholic Church. I think I will begin this book at the start of Holy Week and finish it on Holy Thursday. If someone has written a book for Holy Saturday, I would like to read that, too.
- Newman on Lent: Meditations and Sermons (John Henry Cardinal Newman). I couldn't resist this -- Newman so eloquently articulates the faith, and much of what he has to say resonates with me as a fellow convert. Someone who helped set up the book sale saw me purchase this book and told me that if he'd seen it, it would never have made its way onto the sales table. I told him he can borrow my copy when I'm done.
- Daily Reflections for Easter to Pentecost (Catherine Upchurch). "Planning ahead, are we?" It would seem so. This was another impulse-buy, again because it's divided into bite-sized daily portions. And truthfully, I may end up hating it -- this happens sometimes with daily devotionals. (I may be the only Christian who didn't really care for My Utmost For His Highest. I found Oswald Chambers pedantic. But I bet I'll log more time in Purgatory than he did.)
- The Story of a Soul (St. Therese of Lisieux). Not only was this already on my TBR list, it was on the list of books recommended by Fr. J. There were three he recommended: Augustine's Confessions, Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, and St. Therese's Story of a Soul. BOOD SNOB ALERT: I've already read Augustine and Merton [she said proudly as she adjusted her halo and polished her Good Reader badge], so I decided to complete the trifecta and pick up The Story of a Soul.
- Joan of Arc (Mark Twain). Yes, that Mark Twain. This was just too good to be true. Twain considers this well-researched book his best work out of all that he wrote. Serendipitously, one of my reading goals -- for, well, if not for the coming year, then as soon as I can get around to it -- is to read all the works of Twain that I haven't yet read. And that of course would have to include Joan of Arc. Fun fact: one of my kids was absolutely fascinated by Joan of Arc when she was 7 years old. She read everything she could find on St. Joan and had an encyclopedic knowledge of her. I remember one of her older sister's friends commenting, "All the other kids her age are reading 'The Babysitter's Club' books and she's reading about Joan of Arc!"
Another confession -- I am not only energized by the prospect of reading all these books, but at the same time I am acutely aware of my inner child wanting to be affirmed for a) reading at all and b) my reading choices. At my age, you'd think I'd be able to affirm myself, but posts like this are evidence that I'm not there yet. Maybe a book snob is just a reader who grew up deprived of praise for her love of the written word.
As I left church, a friend commented that she wasn't going to buy any books because she already has plenty of unread books at home. I smiled and said I understood. But I lied. If I plan to read a book, it doesn't matter that there are 438 books ahead of it in the queue. I will read it eventually, and in the meantime it will have lots of books to keep it company.
#lent #reading #books #catholic
