What I'm Reading for Lent

Chari is going to post about what she's reading for Lent, but when I found this topic in our drafts file I decided that I have some things to write about that, and that she (Chari) would like to hear what I'm reading (a favorite topic of conversation between us!) and that our readers are probably interested in that type of thing, too.  If you have a book or books you are reading for Lent, please mention in the comments!

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The first book I started reading before Lent even started is called The Rosary of Our Lady by Romano Guardini.   I found a really interesting review of this little book at New Oxford Review.  It begins with this piece of information:

 In a letter dated December 26, 1954, Flannery O’Connor wrote to Sally Fitzgerald, “I am reading everything I can of Romano Guardini’s. Have you become acquainted with his work? A book called The Lord of his is very fine.” By the next summer, O’Connor may have been reading Guardini’s The Rosary of Our Lady, first published in English in 1955

I have read several books about the Rosary, but this is probably my favorite so far.  It is meditative and perceptive.  The spirit of it reminds me of the description of Mary in the Gospels: 

But Marytreasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

 You can find out more about Father Romano Guardini and read excerpts from his writing here.

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Another book I am reading is called Your Neighbor and You: Our Dealings with Those About Us by Edward Francis Garesche SJ.    It is from 1919 and in public domain!  That link takes you to the Google bookshelf, or if you have a Nook or a Nook app, you can download the book from Barnes and Noble too.
 
If Garesche's name sounds familiar it is probably because he also wrote The Catholic Book of Character and Success, reprinted by Sophia Institute.    I usually have my young teens read this book in late middle school or early high school.   Garesche has a way of writing directly and kindly but honestly to the ordinary person.    I started reading Your Neighbor and You last Lent and want to read some more this Lent -- lots of tips about how to live as a Catholic layperson, very practical and sympathetic.  Fair warning, I may be quoting some of it on here!

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Also, I have been trying to read some of John Cardinal Newman's sermons at The Newman Reader, which is online and contains a meticulously arranged collection of many if not all of Newman's writings organized in several different ways.   I am reading his Lenten sermons.

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And last but not least, I am still plodding through the Bible.   You remember, I was going to try my daughter's Bible in a Year Plan.  My modified version involved starting with the Gospels and working through the New Testament before going back to Genesis.  I have just started the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

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In past years I have not restricted reading during Lent but this year I have picked up a mystery habit so I'm cutting back on fictional reading.