Category: Books and Reading
No, I’m not talking about your body’s position when you read, I’m talking about the way you read. I was thinking about my reading habits the other day while working on another book, and it occured to me that there are two ways to approach reading: Horizontal reading: this is an approach where you try to read as many books as possible; the idea here is that the more you read the more you know. Horizontal readers voraciously devour books day after day, week after week. Vertical reading:...
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms today. In honor of Mother’s Day, here are five books about Mary, our Blessed Mother: Introduction to Mary: the Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion by Mark Miravalle – an informative explanation of the Church’s beliefs about Mary True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort — a challenging read, but this book was central to the late Pope John Paul II’s formation The Rosary: Chain of Hope by Fr. Benedict Groeschel — profound meditations on the different mysteries...
Motivational speaker Pat Williams has an important new book out called Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Transform Your Life with Books. Pat is the father of nineteen children, a marathon runner, the senior vice president of the Orlando Magic basketball team, and a reader. His book is designed to encourage people to read for an hour every day. He says, “Hey, if I can do it with nineteen kids, so can everyone else.” Yeah, but does his wife read for an hour every day, too, or...
As far as my current reading goes, I feel like a wobbly-wheeled shopping cart going out of control, swerving down the aisles of the supermarket about to collide with a big display of cereal boxes. I keep veering back and forth between different kinds of books, trying to keep up with my insatiable hunger for knowledge. Here’s what I’m reading: Ethics, Book I by Aristotle Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor The Intellectual Devotional edited by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim Blink by Malcolm Gladwell Get a...
As promised in part II, here are some CDs I like to listen to while I read The Lord of the Rings: The Tolkien Ensemble has done a beautiful job setting all of the songs in The Lord of the Rings to music. Their work is collected in four CDs: An Evening in Rivendell, A Night in Rivendell, At Dawn in Rivendelland Leaving Rivendell. The sound is more classical than I expected, but it really grew on me. Another album I listen to is Broceliande’s Starlit Jewel. This...
My new eBook ROMAN Reading: 5 Practical Skills for Transforming Your Life Through Reading is available for free today! Download ROMAN Reading (1.86 mb) and in less than an hour you’ll have learned reading skills that last a lifetime. I’ve been teaching these skills for over sixteen years, and I can teach you. For free. Why? Because I have a mission, and I want you to share it with me. The mission? Changing lives one page at a time. I want to make the world a more literate...
I began Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood a few weeks ago, but I got sidetracked by a few nonfiction titles that grabbed my interest. That happens to me every so often. I’ll make up my mind to start a book, and then another one will grab me by the shirt and say, “NO! Pick ME!” That’s what happened with the Heath brothers’ Made to Stick, a fantastic exploration of what makes ideas memorable. I started reading it in the bookstore and couldn’t put it down. As I mentioned in...
Yesterday I wrote about the music I like to listen to while reading Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series. I know that the reading group Tilting at Windmills is about to begin Don Quixote, so today I want to share the kind of music that helps set the atmosphere when I read this most excellent novel. (Sidenote: If you’ve never read Don Quixote you should join Tilting at Windmills and read it–it’s my favorite book, hands down, and in my opinion the greatest novel ever written.) To achieve...
Picture yourself curled up on the couch with a good book and your favorite drink. No interruptions. What music is playing in the background? Some people like to read in silence, but I’m not one of them. The right music helps me become more involved in my book by creating a kind of environmental blanket that envelops me and keeps the world out. I thought I’d share some of my favorite music to read by with you in the hopes that you might share yours with me. If...
About a month ago I wrote about Manchegan Madness, and it now appears that certain members of the blogging community may be experiencing early symptoms. Sylvia at Classical Bookworm reports that she has joined Tilting at Windmills, a group of readers who will be spending May and June reading about the exploits of the famed Don Quixote of La Mancha. I’ve seen this before. It starts as a reading group but ends as a support group. Pretty soon they’ll be naming their pets Rocinante or Sancho Panza. Be careful! Manchegan Madness takes...
If you’re looking for a clever gift to make for someone who loves books, try taking an old hardcover and turning into a secret hiding place. From How to Do Stuff.
On this day in 1824 George Gordon, Lord Byron, passed away. Byron is one of my favorite poets and in his honor I offer you this breathtaking poem of his: So, We’ll Go No More a Roving So, we’ll go no more a roving So late into the night, Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright. For the sword outwears the sheath, And the soul outwears the breast, And the heart must pause to breathe, And Love itself have rest. Though...
