As I think you'll be able to tell from this month, fiction is my passion and first love when it comes to reading. I'm a Catholic reader, in that I am a Catholic and love Catholic fiction, old and new, but I'm also a catholic reader in that I read and enjoy lots of different kinds of fiction.
My biggest problem was trying to figure out how to narrow things down here. Specifically I want to organize and structure a month of talking about books from a Catholic and a catholic perspective, and inspiring discussion about these topics.
Here's what I've come up with, loosely based on the days of the week:
Teen Tuesday: "Kitlit" or children's literature, is one of my passions, both because I have children, but also because in a busy lifestyle, children's and young adult fiction can be less demanding and just plain more fun than the adult stuff. Here I plan to feature great young adult fiction that teens and adults can enjoy.
Words Wednesday: This day I hope to share some great "quotes" from Catholic (and catholic) poetry and fiction, and invite you to do the same.
Family-Friendly Friday: This day we'll talk about books that the whole family can enjoy. Here is also where we'll share great ideas for family summer travel, like audiobook versions of great novels.
Weekend Review: On Saturday and/or Sunday, I'll post a review of a great Catholic novel and invite your comments. I hope we can all inspire each other to discover new authors and re-discover worthy classics, whether from last decade or several centuries back.
Sprinkled occasionally through the month (Mondays or Thursdays perhaps? those days is looking a little lonely right now) will be ideas and links about reading--how do we approach reading as Catholics? Does the author's life have any impact on his/her fiction? And should that influence how we read a work?
As always, I invite your comments and ideas.
I'm so glad that you are going to reviewing some Catholic fiction. I enjoy the Louis DeWohl books and yearn to find more good Catholic fiction (no heresy here, please).
ReplyDeleteHave you read, "A Philadelphia Catholic in King James's Court" by Martin de Porres Kennedy?
I have never read "A Philadelphia Catholic," but have often seen it. I keep getting all these great suggestions I want to spend more time reading the books than writing about them!
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to Catholic fiction in College and it fast became, and still is, my favorite literary *genre*. A few of my favorites, and they are the kinds of works that I could read again & again!, are: The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrude Von Le Fort (the main character if fictional), anything by Flannery O'Connor and Louis de Wohl's historical novels, Kristin Lavrandatter by Sigrid Undset, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (and Helena by same author), Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell, The Devil's Advocate by Morris West. I concur that it would be so interesting to look at authors (like Evelyn Waugh & Sigrid Undset, for ex.) to see how their individual lives may have impacted their work. Thanks for this great topic!
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