What I've been reading (Quick Lit - April 2015)

Happy Easter, friends!  And welcome to another month rounding up what I've been reading and when I link up with the lovely Anne Bogel over at Modern Mrs. Darcy.  Some great reads this month!

Scary Close by Donald Miller.    This is full of short essays revolving around searching and taking the risk for true intimacy.  I appreciated Miller's honesty, insight, and how he sought out the advice of men he respected.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  I've really grown to enjoy Rubin's writing, and once I started my pre-ordered copy, I went right through, except for the part where I stopped and shouted with glee. Rubin (I really want to call her Gretchen since I'm so familiar with her work) conceptualized a nice framework to elucidate those notions about habits that you've sorta kinda noticed but hadn't fully sank in yet.  I imagine I will be writing more about this book.

Geekpriest: Confessions of a New Media Pioneer by Fr. Roderick Vonhogen (with the umlaut over the second o, I have to figure this out, will update).  It was so fun to read about the life of this priest after years of hearing about his podcast from my husband.  If you like new media, Hobbits, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Catholicism, and memoir, this book is for you.  If you like only one of those things, this book is still for you.  Fr. Roderick's winning personality comes shining through this book. Check it out.

What have you read lately?  Any of these?

The day I realized I am in a Gretchen Rubin book.

I'm in here!

Yes, readers, you read that correctly!

I am in a Gretchen Rubin book.

I was merrily scooting along in her newest book, Better Than Before, when I let out a whoop during the transfer from page 196 to page 197.

"I'm in Gretchen Rubin's book!  Oh, my goodness!  I'm in the book!"

But wait, I thought.  I can't be sure.  Maybe someone else failed to continue her rosary habit after Lent and commented on Gretchen's blog about it.  I looked myself up on Disqus (and I usually kind of dislike how transparent Disqus makes all your comments) and followed it to Gretchen's blog post on the finish line and how it affects a new habit.

There I was!  I was right!  Edited for the book, but there I was.

I scooped up my laptop and book and ran to my husband to show him.  He smiled, congratulated me, and perhaps wondered if I was a loon.

What a thrill.  

Gretchen's so fun.  I love reading and talking about all the things she writes about in her Happiness books and, now, her newest book.  She's great at interacting with fans on social media and on her blog, which I enjoy.

Sadly, my inclusion in the book recounts a failed attempt at keeping up a daily rosary habit a few Lents ago.  I hit the finish line and dropped the habit.  Womp, womp.

Now, my husband, on the other hand, he set the same goal for Lent one year and kept it up.  And do you want to know why?  He attached praying the rosary to his car ride to and from work.  He gets two or three decades in on the way and the other decades on the way home.  Sometimes, he walks into the house still praying to himself.  (I like that- the kids get to see him in action.)  He laments not praying the rosary on the weekends, and we have talked about how he doesn't do it because it's not attached to anything else.

I did not attach the rosary to anything during my Lent.  I just white-knuckled it through, forcing myself to pray.

I've finished Better Than Before now, and I just loved it.  I'm going to go through it again and do some freewriting to her questions that help us know ourselves.  I'm sure the book will come up again here.

Until then, I am just enjoying this little thrill.

Have you read Better Than Before?  I recommend it!  Any new insights on a particular habit of yours?