Macrina's Choice

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”
– P. J. O’Rourke

What I'm Reading (and praying) Now:

  • Anchors for the Soul – Joyce Rupp
  • Poverty of Spirit – Johannes Baptist Metz
  • Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul – Judith Valente & Charles Reynard
  • The Way under the Way – Mark Nepo (Poetry)
  • Embers – Richard Wagamese
  • A Dinner to Die for – Susan Dunlap (A Novel)

A Few of My Recent Favorites

  • Boundless Compassion—Joyce Rupp
  • On the Brink of Everything—Parker Palmer
  • Stars at Night—Paula D’Arcy
  • How to Live—Judith Valente
  • Engaging Compassion—Vanessa Hurst
  • The Dark Night of the Soul—Gerald May
  • Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessing for the Seasons—Jan Richardson
  • We Walk the Path Together: learning from Thich Nhat Hanh & Meister Eckhart—Brian Pierce
  • The Girl Who Drank the Moon—Kelly Barnhill (a novel)
  • Wisdom, the Good Life—Irene Nowell
  • The Family Under the Bridge—Natalie Savage Carlson

For as long as I can remember, books have been a haven and refuge for me. Reading a book is like walking into a new and sometimes magical land where I feel safe enough to get lost. I meet wonderful people who are trying to make sense out of some of the same things I struggle with. As I visit new places I am introduced to other cultures and religions. When I am reading a book I enjoy, I can enter into it so fully that I live with the characters (and ideas) throughout the reading. I meet them at the breakfast table, in the supermarket, and on the street. They get under my skin and into my heart.

–Macrina, taken from the book, Gold in Your Memories

A Few of My All-Time Favorite Inspirational Books:

  • Christian Meditation—James Finley
  • The Cloud of Unknowing—anonymous 14th century writer
  • Ghandi’s Hope—Jay McDaniel
  • Any poetry by Mary Oliver and William Stafford
  • Crossing the Unknown Sea—David Whyte
  • The Way of Simplicity—Esther DeWaal
  • An Interrupted Life—Etty Hilliusm
  • Gitanjali—Rabindranath Tagore
  • How the Light Gets In—Pat Schneider
  • The New Earth—Eckhart Tolle
  • Gift of the Redbird—Paula D’Arcy
  • The Cup of My Life—Joyce Rupp
  • New Seeds of Contemplation—Thomas Merton
  • The Music of Silence—David Steindl-Rast
  • Beauty—John O’Donohue
  • The Faithful Gardener –Clarissa Pinkola Estes
  • The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh—edited by Mark Roskill
  • Start Where You Are—Pema Chodron
  • The Gift of Years—Joan Chittister
  • The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
  • Thoughts Matter—Meg Funk
  • Immortal Diamond—Richard Rohr

Here are a few novels that have gotten under my skin and into my heart.

  • All the Light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr
  • The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  • The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  • A prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
  • The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  • Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

  • A Story Like the Wind by Laurens van der Post
  • A Far Off Place by Laurens van der Post
  • The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
  • The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
  • The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
  • Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak