~ 1 ~

This morning, at an early morning appointment, I started reading The Loser Letters. It’s just as good (in the first two chapters) as I’ve heard it is. I may forsake any worthwhile work this weekend and just read it. (No, I won’t, but it’s a wonderful thought.)

~ 2 ~

Speaking of books I’ve started, I’m working my way (slowly, ever-so-slowly) through Don Quixote. I started it because a dear (and brilliant) friend emailed me, encouraging me to pick up The Well-Educated Mind and be her reading partner in the classics. I was enthralled by the offer to have a Reading Partner (a phrase which is immediately capitalized in my world, due to its merit and the joy it inspires in this bookworm).

I don’t know why I’m surprised that I’m enjoying Don Quixote so much. I’ve been laughing the last few mornings during my “classics reading time” (which is anywhere from one chapter to two — and they’re short chapters!) at the hilarity and over-the-topness of the main character. Don Quixote is quite a guy.

One thing I especially enjoy about the approach Bauer advocates in The Well-Educated Mind is that she points out that you have the rest of your life to read the Great Books. No rush.

~ 3 ~

Summer inspires me to want to devour books (though I often can’t read as much as I’d like). Maybe it’s the summer reading program at the library. Maybe it’s the hot sun and the memories of my youth, punctuated with books squeezed between swimming and mowing and work.

So maybe it’s no surprise that when I was researching online and I found an article at Catholic Culture with the top 10 business books, I was intrigued enough to click through and read it.

I was shocked by the columnists statement, “I have not included Catholic titles because so many Catholic business books are either junk or not very helpful.”

Could this be true? I wondered. So I Twittered and Facebooked not once, but three times. I’ve been compiling a list of recommendations of Catholic business books. My list, though, lacks your recommendations.

What Catholic business books would you recommend? I’m keeping a list, and I’ll be sure to share it in a few weeks.

~ 4 ~

So…since we’re on a book theme here…what are YOU reading? Is summer a time for immersing yourself in worlds of fiction or is it not much different from the rest of the year? Maybe it’s not even summer where you are…

~ 5 ~

Speaking of books, I’m working on one. I haven’t mentioned it before now, in part because I just wanted to get working and not harp too much on it. This is a completely different concept than the book I started last summer (and dropped for the time being, as explained in #4 here). I’m very much in the first draft phase. Prayers appreciated!

~ 6 ~

I’d be remiss not to point you to a fabulous contest I’m hosting, thanks to the ingenuity of Colleen Mitchell, the Savor Simple Summer Things Contest. Be sure to check it out…the prizes are pretty cool. And, barring the contest side of it, the ideas Colleen put together for summer fun are GREAT!

~ 7 ~

No need for expensive play tables. We have wide windowsills (one with a desk underneath to serve as a bench). And on that windowsill, you’ll find ponies of course. (Not just My Little Ponies, but a whole herd of horses in diverse sizes, colors, and types.)

Be sure to pay homage to our Quick Takes hostess-with-the-mostest, Jen from Conversion Diary.