Following is the “Meet a Reader” feature that appears in the current print edition of The Catholic Post.
How you know me:
I have been teaching Latin and Theology at Peoria Notre Dame High School for seven years. I grew up in Champaign, Illinois, and lived at the Newman Center for four years. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in Classics, I got my Master’s in Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Now that I work at PND I sometimes affectionately call the University “the other Notre Dame.” I am a parishioner at St. Philomena in Peoria.
Why I love reading:
I learned how to read when I was very young, and by the time I was supposed to enter kindergarten I was reading young adult books. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going to the library and checking out dozens of books at a time, reading them, and then going back for more! Reading gives me the opportunity to learn and to think more deeply. It’s also a wonderful activity because I can bring a book with me and read in a waiting room or doctor’s office with no worries about whether my cell phone will connect to a network.
What I’m reading now:
I’ve only gotten a few paragraphs in but I’m starting to reread Harrius Potter (Harry Potter translated into Latin) and plan to finish it over the summer. It’s a fun way to keep Latin at the forefront of my mind when the school year is over.
For a few months now, I’ve been reading Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series (I’m currently reading The Beautiful Mystery). It’s a mystery series set in Quebec, mostly in the fictional town of Three Pines. Penny has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her characters are compelling, her mysteries are tightly woven, and her prose is so beautiful that sometimes I just have to put the book down and take a moment to savor her words. Chief Inspector Gamache is reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot in some ways because he solves crimes primarily through talking with people and he’s interested in the psychology of the crime. But he’s a much more fleshed out character than Poirot, with none of Poirot’s ego. He’s the kind of character I’d love to have coffee and a conversation with.
My favorite book:
My all-time favorite book is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read it. Nothing compares to Austen’s sparkling wit and complex characters. It’s one of those books I wish I could forget all about so I could reread it as though for the first time.
My favorite book by a modern theologian is Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Ratzinger (who, of course, became Pope Benedict XVI). I took a class on him at Notre Dame and in addition to being a towering intellect, Benedict is a deeply humble and gentle man. This comes through very clearly in his writings. After reading Introduction to Christianity, I felt like I got to know better not only the subject matter but also the author.