My reading list from this year tells quite a story.
I started 2021 largely adrift, six months into life as an Arkansan with a newborn and a toddler. My reading consisted mostly of parenting audiobooks on long car drives.
About halfway through the year, my discovery of the new Catholic MFA program at St. Thomas and Joshua Hren’s book, How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic, set me on a new journey, snatching up all the Catholic writers I’d never heard of and going back to the ones who had been waiting on my shelves.
Now, I’m ending 2021 well over my modest Goodreads goal after 2020 became a dead year in too many ways. I am well on my way to building a consistent reading habit, of incorporating it back into the regular rhythms of my life in ways unique to the life of a mother whose primary focus is on building a home and a family.
This year, my reading typically fell into a few major categories:
Parenting: I listened to parenting audiobooks on long rides with the kids to try and figure out how to live more fully into myself as a parent. I learned a lot until I eventually learned that, for now, I could figure it out as I go.
Source Texts for Adaptations: Many late nights up with the baby led to watching a lot of adaptations (I love adaptations). I’m weird in that I often prefer to read the source text after watching the show/film.
Catholic Literature: Then the MFA happened and I started catching up on all the Catholic writers who’d been waiting for me. Several months later, I am happily entering a community that feels like home.
Writing Projects: More reading gave way to more writing, and my interests took off in several directions as I discovered that I might actually have something to add to the conversation. What shape that will take remains to be seen in 2022, but I’m proud of the work that’s been done so far.
If you’re curious to see more about what I read this year, feel free to check out my Goodreads profile. I’m looking forward to next year’s reading.
Casie Dodd 