An Open Book: December 2024 Reads

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! It's time share my reading stack that closed out the year 2024. I didn't get many books finished in December--I started one slow-going book and, a fourth of the way through it, finally put it down--but the ones that I did finish were fantastic! It was a good reading month. I'm linking up with An Open Book; let's dive in! 

Discernment of Spirits in Marriage, by Fr. Timothy Gallagher

In this approachable book, Fr. Gallagher-renowned for his talks and books on St. Ignatius's Discernment of Spirits-explores this topic as applied to married life. Each chapter covers one of the fourteen rules of discernment, and the chapters begin with a short story. The story follows a fictional couple, Mark and Anne, who are characters that Fr. Gallagher created based on his extensive experience working with married couples over the years. After the short story, Fr. Gallagher describes how St. Ignatius's rule applies to that story. I like how this book makes the Ignatian rules easier to grasp and practice. My husband and I read this book in preparation for a retreat where our pastor led discussions on the book, and it was good to be able to discuss it with him and other married couples. The fictional story aspect of this book was interesting, but we let our priest know that not all married couples talk to each other in the way that the couple in the book does haha! This was a good read, but I think the real value lies in discussing it with other people, and in referring back to it as we experience different struggles in our lives. 

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George

Princess Celie loves living at Castle Glower. Not only does she have a fun life with her parents and siblings, but Castle Glower magically adds rooms and corridors, usually on Tuesdays, and Celie enjoys tracking the changes and mapping out how the Castle grows. Celie's parents (the king and queen) leave to fetch one of her brothers from the College of Wizardry, and Celie and her siblings learn that her parents were ambushed and presumed dead. As other people move into the Castle, with hopes to take control of it, Celie and her siblings realize they need to work together--and with the Castle--to keep their beloved home. This was a very fun and delightful children's novel! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was neat to see Celie and her siblings cooperate and try to outsmart the villains. This is one that I'm excited to share with my own kids, and I'm interested to check out the next one in the series. 

Healing: Bringing the Gift of God's Mercy to the World, by Mary Healy

I noticed this book in our public library system and I'm so glad I read it! Healy systematically walks through the history of healing in the Church and talks about how God still brings about miraculous healings today. She shares stories, from her life or those of people she knows, of people being physically healed after a time of intercessory prayer. Healy also walks through the process of praying for someone else's healing and includes helpful "dos and don'ts." This was a short book, but really insightful and it was helpful for me to read. I don't feel particularly drawn to praying for someone else's healing on the spot, but I'm still very glad that I read this. I do wish, though, that the author had talked about healing Masses. She mentions them in passing once or twice, but she doesn't really explore what they entail. 

Mothers of the Church: The Witness of Early Christian Women, by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey

This is a great introduction to the historical context of women in the first few centuries of the Church. This book offers short intros to various women, with excerpts from primary source documents that were either about them or written by them. I loved seeing some women I already knew about (St. Macrina and St. Helena, for example) and loved learning about some new, fascinating women (St. Thecla, Egeria the Tourist, Proba the Poet). This was a fantastic, quick read, and I enjoyed it! I could see this being a really great book for a teenager (maybe high school age) to read and discuss as well. 

Thanks so much for joining me this month! If you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments-I always love discovering new-to-me books. Also, a 2024 Reading & Writing highlights post will hopefully be coming soonish, so stay tuned :)