On the first day of summer when I was a little girl, my next-door neighbor would gather all the kids from our block and take us to the library. She’d sign us up for the summer reading program—charts and suggestions and prizes, and mostly all the wonder of books. For the rest of the summer, she would take us back once a week to get new books and check in with the librarian about our progress. The dusty cool shelves provided respite from the hot Houston humidity, and the new friends we met between the book covers became permanent additions to the language of our neighborhood group—Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Harold with his purple crayon, Curious George getting into mischief of all kinds, and on and on.
Last summer, many decades later, when Christ Church Cathedral began Cathedral Reads, it brought back all that summer reading joy. Our dean, Barkley Thompson, chose Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird as the book for kids and adults. We set dates at the end of the summer for a congregation-wide conversation, a movie night, and a deeper dive into the book with the dean.
Throughout the summer we featured parishioners “getting caught reading” on social media, I filled the bookstore shelves with related titles like Harper Lee biographies, the children’s book Alabama Spitfire and Casey Cep’s Furious Hours.
On a hot August morning, well-over two-hundred people gathered between services to discuss the book. The dean gave an overview, and then at tables of ten with a facilitator and five questions, over coffee and cake, we brought our different perspectives on the book to the table. The following week, we ate popcorn and pizza as we watched Gregory Peck’s 1962 Academy Award winning version of the movie. Afterward, the dean lead popcorn theology, and we compared the book and the film. The program wrapped up at a special version of the Dean’s Book Club, with triple the average monthly attendance.
The shared experience of the book created new friends, engaged old friends, and gave everyone an entry to conversation. Differing viewpoints were presented respectfully, and we all came away understanding ourselves—individually and as a group—a little better.
Throughout this past year, people kept coming into the bookstore asking what the next Cathedral Reads book would be. The dean took suggestions, considered many titles, and finally chose two books: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving for adults, and Wonder, by R.J. Palacio for kids, youth and adults who may not have read it yet. The books are linked by the concept “What Does Brave Look Like” and the discussions will focus on identity, courage, kindness, and faith. Both books will have Zoom reading groups throughout the summer to discuss questions regarding the reading to date, and the Dean will facilitate two larger Zoom conversations on Owen Meany. Then, circumstances permitting, we’ll meet up for a larger discussion and to watch the movie Wonder together, before the program wraps up again with the Dean’s Book Club.
We’re none of us sure what this summer will look like, but we know it will be hot. And I know that having the shared experience of books to read in the cool of the air-conditioning will take our minds off the news and help us to understand ourselves—individually and as a group—a little better. Just like the library’s summer reading program used to do way back when.
Booksellers’ note: I ordered the mass-market edition of the books so that they were as accessibly priced as possible. For To Kill a Mockingbird, I also ordered the large-print and graphic novel editions. We have a Spanish speaking congregation, so we had copies of Matar un Ruiseñor as well. We sell used books as well as new, so some books were read quickly and returned to the $1.50 stack, and Pastoral Care provided some books as well, when the price was a hardship. This summer, I am selling the Cathedral Reads titles on our website, and I will carry other Irving and Palacio titles as well.
Lucy Chambers
Manager, Cathedral Bookstore, Houston, TX
