My August Reading List

I love reading... Books have fascinated me from the moment I learned to read.  Through their pages I have taken fantastical voyages, voyages that helped me escape during a time in my life when I needed to leave the chaos of my normal existence. One book among all, led me to university and because of that simple yet so relatable story from the imagination of Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, inspired me to dream big.  Years later, a book would come that equally transformed my life in terms of spirituality, a book of facts that helped begin another journey one that would reconcile me with my Catholic faith, Lee Stroble's The Case for Christ.  Am not sure your experience with books if you think of them as close friends, if you have ones that you love and owe so much, if when meeting their authors you get as giddy as if meeting a celebrity or famous athlete; to me they have always been my closest companions.  Thus, I think that I need to incorporate a post that highlights the books that I am currently reading.  Today, I don't read fiction as much as I used to, now my books are mostly educational- but I do miss reading the classics.

Here are the three that I am reading this month:

Francis of Assisi a Revolutionary Life by Adrian House

This is a comprehensive biography on my favorite (yes I said favorite) saint, Saint Francis of Assisi.  Since I began my Secular Franciscan formation I have been reading a lot on the life of this particular saint.  Yet, each biographer takes such a different approach at describing and highlighting the life of one of the Church's most beloved men.  House gives one of the most detailed accounts I have yet to read and paints such an insightful narrative.  The author also reflects on the times when Francis was alive and how the historical events happening affected and formed him into the saint he would become.  A great book for those who want to know more than the surface details surrounding this legendary figure.

Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free By Nancy Lee De Moss

I love this book, I partially ready it when I first came back to the church and I am reading it again.  I plan on doing a more detailed post on this one because it has such great information that relates to the messages that women often hear in society or the media and how these messages can seriously damage our self-esteem, especially in our youth.  It helped free me in many ways by exposing the truth on something as simple as the effects of photoshopped photos, the morphed reality that these images speak and the damaging effects such images produce.

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou

This is a lovely autobiographical compilation of short narratives from the life of a contemporary great, Maya Angelou.  This is one of my favorites (of hers), I often give it away as a gift and it's also one that I reread because the short stories give me much nourishment.  I pulled it from my bookshelf when I got the bad news that I was being laid off because there's a great short story about a time that Angelou lost her job and the inspiring words her mother gave her.  I emailed it to my coworkers and like me they found a lot of encouragement in Angelou's words.  Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now is composed of reflections that Angelou wrote later in her life and they are so full of wisdom, words that not only give hope, but in her poetical style encourage us to keep going.

Hope you enjoyed this months reading selection (smile).