I have enjoyed seeing others’ reading plans and possibilities and listening to recent podcast episodes from The Literary Life and Close Reads where the hosts shared their favorite (and least favorite) books from the past year. So, I thought I would share my categories for the 2022 Scholé Sisters 5×5 challenge with the books I’m reading or thinking of reading for each category. I will again be doubling it to to a 10×5 – ten categories, five books in each category – and I don’t consider myself bound to complete only what’s on this list. If you have any recommendations, feel free to comment!
The Church
Church history is my main focus here, as well as acquainting myself with a branch of the Church I am not familiar with (Eastern Orthodoxy).
- The Reformation 500 Years Later by Benjamin Wiker – started last fall and finished on Sunday, very good.
- Through Western Eyes: Eastern Orthodoxy: A Reformed Perspective by Robert Letham – also started last year, a slow but interesting read.
- In the Year of Our Lord: Reflections on Twenty Centuries of Church History by Sinclair Ferguson – I’m looking forward to this audiobook narrated by Ferguson in his pleasant Scottish accent.
- The Story of Christianity by David Bentley Hart – this should be an interesting one to compare to Ferguson’s book.
- Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History by Tim Challies – I’m reading this to the boys during Morning Time, and it’s interesting enough so far, but barely touches on the church during the “Dark” and Middle Ages, which I consider a huge shortcoming. Protestant though I may be, I don’t believe the Church just disappeared for a thousand years.
- A Place to Belong: Learning to Love the Local Church by Megan Hill – this could also go under Christian Living if I finish all the others in this category, or just be a bonus. I also have Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together.
Augustine & Aquinas
I’ve read about these two great men and seen them quoted in the works of Lewis, Pieper, and others, so I think it’s time I actually learn more about their lives and read what they wrote.
- The Confessions of Saint Augustine – it’s taken me a few months, but I’m now over halfway through and past the autobiographical part and into the philosophy. His tangent into memory and forgetting has me bemused and wondering where he’s going, but I don’t mind. I have a thing for first-person narratives (I guess I like getting inside someone else’s head 😉 ), and this 1,600-year-old one is no different.
- On the Road with Saint Augustine by James K.A. Smith – more of a modern application of Augustine than actually about him, but good so far.
- On Christian Teaching (or Doctrine) by Augustine – I’ve heard good things from the Scholé Sisters, so I’m hoping to get to it.
- Saint Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton – Chesterton on Aquinas sounds fascinating, and it’s included in my Audible membership!
- Aquinas’ Shorter Summa – despite the title, this still looks intimidating on my shelf, and we shall see if it lives up the advertising of being something that “non-scholars can understand”. 😀
Philosophy
I hope to read at least one book by Plato or Aristotle this year, along with more Pieper and a couple of 21st century authors.
- The Republic or Nicomachaen Ethics, both of which have been started but aren’t easy going.
- The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman – I’m a good way into this and should finish, but again, not an easy (or happy) read.
- The Four Cardinal Virtues by Josef Pieper, my favorite philosopher
- Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t: The Beauty of Christian Theism by Gavin Ortlund – I bought this for myself for Christmas (along with a stack of other books) and may dive in soon.
- Other possibilities are another re-read of Lewis’ The Abolition of Man when the Literary Life podcast discusses it, finishing Rallying the Really Human Things or Cultural Apologetics, or reading another educational philosophy book.
Christian Living
Lots of options here, of course. 🙂
- Parenting Towards the Kingdom by Philip Mamalakis – written mainly for Orthodox Christian parents, but my Orthodox online acquaintance highly recommends it for all Christian parents. So far, it’s quite convicting.
- Things Worth Dying For by Charles Chaput – borrowed from the library after hearing Dr. Mohler’s interview with him.
- No Little People by Francis Schaeffer
- The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, perhaps as a devotional.
- Prayers of the Bible by Gordon Keddie (my former pastor) – another devotional and my daughter enjoyed reading it last year.
- Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies by Rebecca DeYoung
- Pilgrim Theology by Michael Horton
Modern History
- Gorbachev: His Life and Times by William Taubman – this is a big one!
- Witness by Whittaker Chambers – I got partway through on audio last year.
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson – another started and not finished.
- The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix – I’m planning to add this to my 11th grader’s schedule this term to supplement his 20th century history studies.
- Other options include The Dust of Death: The Sixties Counterculture and How It Changed America Forever and The Splendid and the Vile.
Ordo Amoris
This category was inspired by a recent Scholé Sisters podcast episode and is for books about areas that I need to grow in but don’t want to devote a whole category to.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Move Your DNA by Katie Bowman
- Arithmetic for Parents by Ron Aharoni – because, math. 😛
- Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him by Nathan and Sally Clarkson – because I want to understand and appreciate my “different” kids better.
- Perhaps another book on economics (I read a couple last year), Women of the Word or Words of Delight, or a cooking/baking skills book could go here.
British Lit
Hopefully I’ll have a mix of new-to-me and re-reads here:
- Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens – the current selection for my local book club – we didn’t even finish the first section during our first discussion! I’m actually kind of glad I watched the BBC series years ago because I have at least a vague idea of what’s going on. 😉
- Hard Times with the Literary Life podcast
- Persuasion by Jane Austen – haven’t read it in a while
- Perhaps another novel by Elizabeth Gaskell or George Eliot
- A Shakespeare play or two
Mysteries
I’ve just finished another Brother Cadfael mystery, The Devil’s Novice, and really enjoyed it. I have some ideas on my Goodreads to-read list, but I’ll probably just read or listen to some at whim throughout the year.
Poetry
- Waiting on the Word by Malcum Guite – I’ve been reading this over Advent and Christmas.
- Dante’s Purgatory and Paradise, along with 100 Days of Dante
- The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser with the class from House of Humane Letters
- Perhaps something by Scott Cairns or George Herbert
And that leaves one category undecided: World Lit, Science Fiction, Tolkein/Inklings…? I guess we’ll see. 🙂
Editing to add: I’m thinking I’ll do a “Trippy” Novels category, and include some science fiction, time travel, and maybe some Tolkein (The Fellowship of the Ring).
