Late Summer Bookchat

It is unbelievable to me that we’re into August, already. Before you know it, the kids go back to college (buy them this and this!) or high school (buy this for sure!) the leaves go crisp and crimson-gold and then we’re into the work of Thanksgiving and ta-da! It’s Advent again!

And Advent, of course, is when we’ll begin using the new missal translation of the mass. In her weekly column, Pat Gohn (aka “the sanest woman on the internet”) is going to do a special four-week series on those new translations, which that will lead us right into it and I’m surely looking forward to that!

But as summer heads into its dog-days and we hope to spend a little more time reading beneath the trees, here are a few ideas and recommendations:

Fr. Dwight Longenecker is hosting a summer book sale over at his site, with More Christianity:

So in More Christianity I wanted to challenge the Protestant minimalism and argue sweetly that ‘Mere Christianity‘ is only okay as a starting point, and that we should not be content with ‘Mere’ when we can have ‘More’. ‘More Christianity‘ is, of course, the Catholic faith.

For everyone, ala Fr. Robert Barron:Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith

For the relentless journey, ala Heather King: Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux

For Catholic Moms, ala Lisa Hendey: The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul

In honor of St. Ignatius’ Feastday, get to know the saint with An Ignatian Spirituality Reader

For if the new mass translation piques your curiosity for more, ala Mary DeTurris Poust: The Essential Guide to Catholic Prayer and the Mass

For your interest in New Media and the church ala Brandon Vogt: The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet

For daily brain starts, ala Julie Davis: Happy Catholic: Glimpses of God in Everyday Life

If you feel like a true story of true military heroism: Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

For if you need encouragement: Pressing into Thin Places: Encouraging the Heart toward God

For when you need to remember why you love your dog so much, and she loves you back: The Friends We Keep: Unleashing Christianity’s Compassion for Animals

Buster Recommends: for your steampunk self

To keep on hand for friends going through a rough and beautiful time: Caring for the Dying With the Help of Your Catholic Faith

Related, from 2009, 1000 best novels