Now here’s an interesting strategy for reading… [Aleteia loves books but recognizes that a world busy with social media doesn’t afford many prompts to that old conversation-starter, “Read any good books lately?” So, we’re asking it in this space. Here, writer Sean Salai, who will be ordained a Jesuit priest this summer, shares what he’s reading right now.]
“I’m a lifelong book lover and I have a particular way of reading: On the table next to my easy chair, I keep a stack of five or six books of different genres ranging from fiction to theology. Each day I read one section of each book, gradually going through them all and refreshing the stack while I go. As a former newspaper reporter and longtime professional writer, I find it helpful for my own writing to always be reading something engaging,” says Sean.
“To feed my imagination, I always read at least one thing for fun that isn’t work-related. Right now I’m reading The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, going through all of the Bard’s works for the first time. As a companion, I’m reading Dover’s insightful Chesterton on William Shakespeare collection of Shakespeare criticism by G.K. Chesterton, edited by Dale Ahlquist.
And what else is in Sean’s reading stack?
“My non-fiction reading revolves around stuff I find helpful in my Jesuit ministry. On the theology side, I’m reading The Tripersonal God by Gerry O’Collins SJ and the two-volume Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, edited by Norman Tanner SJ. In philosophy, I’m finishing up The Sheed and Ward Anthology of Catholic Philosophy, edited by Harry Gensler SJ and James Swindal. Finally, in the psychology and self-help arena, I recently started Brene Brown’s I Thought It Was Just Me book on shame.
