2026: Treatise on Prayer and Meditation

 For the book chat group of which I am  a member, we ready Treatise on Prayer and Meditation. 

I read this book also in 2025: https://dearmarmie.blogspot.com/2025/10/2025-treatise-on-prayer-and-meditation.html

2026: The Catholic Guide to Loneliness

 

 I read another of Dr. Vost's books in 2022:

https://dearmarmie.blogspot.com/2022/04/2022-reading-list-four-friendships.html

They play off of each other as the themes are about understanding true friendship, being a true friend, and helping those who do struggle with loneliness. 

In this day and age of continual connection, one would think this wouldn't be a problem, but the numbers are record breaking. 

People are lonely. 

Interactions have gone from face to face, to telephones, to social media and text messages.  Young adults are struggling with anxiety just to make a phone call! 

Dr. Vost leads us down a very thoughtful path, and you can tell he wrote this with much compassion. I like his writing (excluding the modern Catholic references) and do recommend the book for anyone struggling with loneliness or dealing with a family member/friend who is experiencing this right now. 

Reach out to someone folks, let them know you see him/her. 

2026: From Sin to Sanctity: The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm

 

I don't think Saint Anselm would have been keen on Tan's Novus Ordo footnotes. 

In a word; ruined. 

After realizing that these notes would all be Vatican II crap, I opted to just read the prayers/meditations. However, those also had been changed to make them more "readable". 

I do have a rhetorical question: should we publish every private writing by a saint? 

Reading this, it seemed to me to be a very intimate conversation between Saint Anselm and Our Lord. 

2026: Sense and Sensibility

 

Can you go wrong with Jane Austen?

No, no you can't. 

  Haven't I already read this book? 

Yes, yes I have, but not the annotated version! 

I took a risk and decided to join a book club hosted by Dr. Adam Walker.  He would provide a lecture at the beginning and then open it up to questions/answers.  I realized that the annotated version of this book allowed me a deeper knowledge because the annotations captured the period of time in which the book was written/set. The annotations allowed one to understand the social classes, laws in effect at that time and the expected etiquette for that time. 

I would recommend a annotated version of any of the Austen books! 

2026: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper

By. Roland Allen 

I think my brother refers to these books as "micro-history" books. A niche book on a specific topic for those of us who really enjoy notebooks, planners, journaling and anything that involves a piece of paper and a writing utensil. 

Mr. Allen takes you through history and various parts of the world to explain the beginning of the wonderful notebook! Overall, this was an enjoyable read. The one criticism is his left wing biased injected here and there throughout the book.