march reads

my bookshelf in March was exceptionally diverse -- just the way i like it! i've always loved having two or three (or four!) books going at once, so no matter what my mood, i can always find something that fits the bill.

1) The Long Loneliness, by Dorothy Day {#cathLIT2019: Book by a Catholic Woman}. this was the very first book i've ever recommended for purchase that my library actually bought! (actually, to date, it's the only one they've bought ... but i'll take it!) i really knew nothing about Dorothy Day until reading her autobiography, and i found her story refreshing and inspirational. she was a journalist who was passionate about social justice and thus became involved in Communist and leftwing politics, fighting for workers' rights. after converting to Catholicism, she continued to work tirelessly for fair labor laws and established many houses and communities for the most vulnerable people she encountered. to this day, there are about two hundred Dorothy Day Houses in fifteen countries around the world, all dedicated to her vision of a "the kind of society where it is easier to be good". i loved reading the frank and impassioned words of this woman who smoked, drank, held her own in the old boys' club of newspaper journalism, became a mother, raised her daughter in the Catholic faith although her husband wasn't religious, and never stopped advocating for social justice. she has been designated a Servant of God, and the cause for her sainthood is still open.

2) Marilla of Green Gables, by Sarah McCoy. this book pretty perfectly lived up to my expectations of it: that is, that it wouldn't come close to the original Anne of Green Gables series (and it didn't), but that it would still be an enjoyable read (and it was). i appreciated the author's creativity in imagining Marilla's back story and fleshing out the generation who lives in Avonlea before Anne arrives on the scene, including Mrs. Rachel Lynde before she becomes Mrs. Rachel Lynde. and i enjoyed how she brought to life the romance between Marilla and John Blythe (Gilbert's father) to which Marilla alludes in L.M. Montgomery's book. that being said -- it's no Anne. nothing else ever could be!

3) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. i've loved Marie's series on Netflix, so i finally decided to read the original book. it was interesting, and i think i understand more of the art and nuance she brings to the concept of tidying since i watched the show first. if i had started with the book, i'm sure i would have felt that her techniques are just nuts (and i still think some of them are, like emptying her purse every night when she gets home from work "so it can rest"). but i certainly appreciate the value in being intentional with our belongings, choosing to keep only what we truly need and love, and passing along the extra. have i actually Kondo-ed our house? no, and i'm not sure that i'll ever attempt to do it in exactly her way, but moving to Italy forced us to do a mini-tidying up and i have to say, it's freeing in many ways to be living with a fraction of our stuff! 

4) Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut. okay, this book was weeeeird. but in a good way, that reminded me of some equally weird stories i wrote when i was about eleven. i'm not even sure how to describe it, but Vonnegut has invented an island with a fully developed culture, history, and religion. it's like dystopian fantasy meets philosophy meets satire. really weird, but really good. and that's all i can say about that.

5) The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress, by Ariel Lawhon. a riveting mystery based on the true disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater in 1930s New York. i wish i had realized that it's not pure fiction before i read it -- it would have made it even more intriguing! as it stands, it's a fast-paced tale that explores the class differences and power dynamics between the judge's wife, his housekeeper, and his Broadway-dancer mistress. behind the scenes, a powerful mobster is pulling most of the strings. 5/5! 

6) The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth, by Scott Hahn. {#cathLIT2019: Book about the Liturgy}. i just love Scott Hahn. as a former Presbyterian pastor who converted to Catholicism and now teaches at Franciscan University, he has an unparalleled ability to explain Catholic doctrine and customs in a way that makes sense to my former-Protestant brain. one of the most fascinating sections talks about the Book of Revelation as a foundation for the structure and sequence of the mass. in a discussion of the characters in Revelation, Hahn explains:

"...there's more to the Apocalypse than wicked beasts and awesome angels. In fact, most of the characters are just plain folks ... myriads of myriads 'from every nation' (Rev 7:9). After two millenia of inclusive religion, we cannot today appreciate the seismic impact of this vision of Israelites worshiping together with gentiles, and humans with angels. To the minds of John's first readers, these were mutually exclusive categories. Moreover, in heaven, all these multitudes worship within the Holy of Holies, where none but the High Priest had previously been admitted. The New Covenant people can worship God face to face. 

Who else is there? In chapter 6, we encounter the martyrs, those who had been slain for the witness of their faith. 'I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne' (Rev 6:9). ... When Old Testament priests offered animal sacrifices, the victims' blood gathered under the altar. As priestly people, they (and we) offer up our lives upon the earth, the true altar, as a sacrifice to God. The true sacrifice then is not an animal; it is every saint who gives testament (in Greek, martyria) to God's faithfulness. ... How revealing that, from the earliest days, the Church has placed the relics of the martyrs, their bones and ashes, within its altars. Earlier, we mentioned the elders (presbyteroi) enthroned at God's court. Indeed, in Revelation's heaven, these men appear vested exactly as Israel's priests dressed for service in Jerusalem's Temple. 

In Revelation (14:4), we also encounter a large number of men consecrated to virginity. This is another anomaly in the ancient world, found rarely in Israel or gentile cultures. ... Yet John mentions these celibates as a veritable army, which is more probably what God intends (see 1 Cor 6-7). 

... Now, where on earth can we find a universal Church that worships in a manner that is true to John's vision? Where can we find priests in vestments standing before an altar? Where do we encounter men consecrated to celibacy? Where do we hear the angels invoked? Where do we find a Church that keeps the relics of the saints within its altars? Where does art extol the woman crowned with the stars, with the moon at her feet, who crushes the head of the serpent? Where do the faithful pray for the protection of St. Michael the archangel? Where else but in the Catholic Church, and most particularly in the Mass?" (48-49%) 

 

7) The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton. i don't usually gravitate towards mysteries, but this was one of the most well-done i have ever read. i listened to the audiobook, so it took me a little bit longer to catch on to the premise than i think it would have if i were reading it myself, but it is just delightful! it's a murder mystery in which the protagonist wakes up inside the body (and mind) of a different character in the story every day. fortunately, he retains some memories from the day before (or sometimes he cleverly leaves notes for himself to find the next day) to help him solve the mystery. the final twist at the end is quite remarkable! 

8) Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders. the Literate Catholic book group discussed this book last fall, and while i obviously couldn't attend, i dutifully added the book to my TBR list. and now i really am wishing i could have been there for the discussion! it's such a unique book, told from the perspective of the spirits haunting the cemetery where Willie Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln's son) is buried. their semi-stream of consciousness narratives are interspersed with quotations from actual historic documents and letters from the time. it's as if Finnegan's Wake met a history book. this book reminded me a bit of Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, only because it was such an innovative way to tell a story. 

9) The Master of Hestviken, by Sigrid Undset {#cathLIT2019: Book by a Catholic Novelist}. oh. my. goodness. i don't think i'd have ever been able to find this gem containing the entire tetralogy if i didn't live in a seminary with an old, old library chock full of old, old books. i read Undset's trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter a few years ago, and the writing style is very similar: both books follow a young medieval Norwegian from early childhood up until their death. i really love how the liturgical year is, quite simply, their calendar. there's no sense of celebrating St. Lucy's Day just for the sake of it -- the holy days and masses are just how they order their lives. in both books, the major themes are our own personal spiritual growth, and God's pursuit of our souls even when we knowingly choose sin. an absolutely perfect Lenten read, which i anticipate re-reading during many Lents to come! 

on my shelf for April (including a few books to prepare for our upcoming trip to Spain over Holy Week!):

--Miracle in Seville, by James A. Michener

--Girls Burn Brighter, by Shobha Rao

--Cathedral of the Sea, by Ildefonso Falcones

--The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton

--The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile, by C. W. Gortner

--Cozy Minimalist Home, by Myquillyn Smith

--Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell

--Oscar Romero: Love Must Win Out, by Kevin Clarke