Day One: Kick-Off!
Here's Jenn:
"There are no rules to the weekend. We’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps to meet some of our reading challenges and goals for the year. We thought it’d be fun if we cheered each other on a bit."
I plan to combine the Thankfully Reading Weekend with Nonfiction November and read nonfiction for the weekend.
In my stack:
The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
Last Night's Reading by Kate Gavino
Paris: An Inspiring Tour of the City's Creative Heart
Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, & Mystery of Ancient Faith
Genghis Khan: His Conquests, His Empire, His Legacy
Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War
A House of My Own by Sandra Cisneros
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
Palimpsest: A History of the Written Word
Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
A Year with the Saints
I am Malala
Saint Anthony the Great by John Chryssavgix & Marilyn Rouvelas
Day Two: What Book Are You Most Thankful For This Year?
Day Two: What Book Are You Most Thankful For This Year?
Here's Jenn:
"For today’s challenge, I invite you to write about the book you are most thankful for this year. Is it a book written by one of your favorite authors or one you just happened to come upon? Tell us about it! Include a link to your post below (or if you don’t have a blog, tell us about the book in the comments).
The winner of this contest will win a $25 gift card to the book retailer of their choice!"
The book I am most thankful for this year is the book I am reading right now. It's Almost Catholic and that's what I am. Almost Catholic, I mean. Today, in three and a half hours, I will stand before a huge church full of people and declare my intention to become Fully Catholic. So my reading of this book is quite timely, even divinely inspired.
Almost Catholic is written by a man raised as a Protestant who has a deep appreciation for the Catholic Church. He is my guide to All-Things-Catholic as, chapter by chapter, Sweeney lingers over them. One by one, Sweeney explores the crucifix, stations of the cross, rosary beads, contemplative living, confession, and the sacraments. You'd never believe that Sweeney wasn't born a Catholic or was in the process of becoming a Catholic, so wide is his love for the Church. Yet he does not feel compelled to become Catholic; I find that intriguing. I've got about ninety pages to go, and then I may reread it again, and I am definitely getting my own copy as soon as I can.
Very thankful for Almost Catholic.
Day Three: Support a Small Business
Jenn says:
"Don’t forget: today is Small Business Saturday! Take a break in your reading a visit/support a small business in your area today! I plan on doing this very thing! We’re hitting up our favorite independent bookstore, One More Page, and probably a few local comic shops as well!"
The only store we visited this weekend is our hometown favorite, Stanton's. (Wish I'd taken a picture, but here's one I found online. Thank you, Dan Pancamo.)
Stanton's is family-owned and has served my townsfolk since 1922. You can buy everything there...groceries...hardware...appliances...farm tools...everything. The people who work at Stanton's actually know a lot about what they are selling. Isn't that amazing?
Day Four: Wrap-Up
Jenn says:
"Thank you to all who participated, clearly taking this event more seriously than I have! Rather than post a new challenge, we’re going to devote the entire day to reading on this last day!"
So let's do it...let's read the day away.
I'm almost Catholic too. Well, I'm Episcopalian. :) My wife and I were Catholic, both converts, but...well..it's a long story. Congratulations on your becoming Catholic. The Church has a lot of good things too, many of which why we were Catholic. I look forward to hearing about your own journey in the faith.
ReplyDeleteI'm Presbyterian and it's about as close to Catholicism as the Episcopal Church is, but, still, it's Almost-Catholic and I want to be Fully-Catholic. In a few hours, I will get to officially share this intent with the world.
DeleteAlmost Catholic sounds pretty amazing, and I love it when books come along at just the right time. <3
ReplyDeleteMe, too.
DeleteI must be Almost Catholic, too, as I grew up Protestant, converted to Catholicism with my second marriage (after having the first one annulled in the church), and then sort of lapsed into "almost." I love the churches and the feeling I get when I do go, though. Enjoy your day, and your reading has been amazing. Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that many people feel like they are Almost Catholic.
DeleteI wish you luck with becoming a Catholic! I'm "almost Catholic" myself, though in a different sense. I'm technically Catholic, but don't always agree with the Catholic Church. However, I don't see myself ever changing religions, and am really happy that my boyfriend is Catholic as well.
ReplyDeleteThere you go! Lots of ways to be Almost Catholic.
DeleteEnded up reading more than I anticipated this holiday weekend and am hopeful I may participate in Thankfully Reading Weekend next year. Almost Catholic sounds like a great book. My husband converted after our kids were born and now he is more Catholic than I am...
ReplyDeleteOh my. I've certainly learned a lot about Catholics after writing this post.
DeleteWhat a great bookish weekend! Hope you had fun. :) My Weekly Wrap-Up
ReplyDeleteI hope you have had a great reading weekend!! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope to have my wrap-up tomorrow. In the meantime, I was able to finish 4 books, and then some! I call that a success!
ReplyDeleteWhat a busy weekend and hope the baptism was a wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteYou have some interesting books slotted for the memes. I commend you on having the patience and curiosity to read nonfiction. Congratulations on your upcoming Catholic declaration. I didn't grow up around religion but if I were to choose a religion, I'd choose Catholicism as I loved the pomp and ceremony while attending USF in SF. Mahalo for dropping by my blog and have a good day.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your Catholicism! And best wishes in your faith journey. I feel like we are always evolving in that journey as we learn more, and it is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love old stores like the one you spotlight, the ones that sell everything more or less and it's not just big and impersonal. Glad you have one close by... they can be rare now. :)