We share the books we're currently reading, from Dungeon Crawler Carl and Dog Stars to Rosary Meditations from Ven. Mary Agreda and St. Thérèse.
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Greg has always loved books, while Jennifer came to reading later, once trying to make herself literary with Voltaire and Macbeth before pretty much reading only Anne Rice and John Grisham. They talk about high school books, why old titles follow us into adulthood, and how reading changes over a lifetime.

Greg shares his current mix of serious, spiritual, and simple reading, including Oliver Burkeman, Arthur C. Brooks, Dungeon Crawler Carl, I Believe in Love, and more. Jennifer talks about going deeper into mental prayer with the rosary, using meditations from The Mystical City of God, and why Christy has become her slow nighttime read.

Books Mentioned:

Macbeth — William Shakespeare
Interview with the Vampire — Anne Rice
Swiss Family Robinson — Johann David Wyss
Walden — Henry David Thoreau
The Glass Menagerie — Tennessee Williams
The Scarlet Letter — Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Red Badge of Courage — Stephen Crane
A Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens
Romeo and Juliet — William Shakespeare
Hamlet — William Shakespeare
Flowers for Algernon — Daniel Keyes
Alas, Babylon — Pat Frank
Frankenstein — Mary Shelley
The Dog Stars — Peter Heller
Dungeon Crawler Carl — Matt Dinniman
Get Fuzzy — Darby Conley
Pearls Before Swine — Stephan Pastis
Calvin and Hobbes — Bill Watterson
4000 Weeks — Oliver Burkeman
Meditations for Mortals — Oliver Burkeman
The Antidote — Oliver Burkeman
From Strength to Strength — Arthur C. Brooks
The Mystical City of God — Venerable Mary of Ágreda
The Holy Rosary with Meditations through the Visions of Venerable Mary of Ágreda — Fr. Mark Higgins
True Devotion to Mary — St. Louis de Montfort
The Love of Eternal Wisdom — St. Louis de Montfort
The Imitation of Christ — Thomas à Kempis
Letter to the Friends of the Cross — St. Louis de Montfort
Confessions — St. Augustine
Genesis — traditionally attributed to Moses
I Believe in Love — Fr. Jean C. J. d'Elbée
Story of a Soul — St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Christy — Catherine Marshall

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

00:00 Jennifer's late start with books
03:13 What Greg and Jennifer are reading now
04:06 Giving yourself permission not to finish books
05:34 High school books that follow you around
08:32 Why books keep calling us back
10:02 Greg's "serious, spiritual, and simple" reading
17:20 Jennifer's rosary meditation project
23:17 Greg's pocket Catholic readers
26:33 I Believe in Love and St. Thérèse
28:43 Jennifer's nighttime read, Christy

We talk through the first Rosary Army retreat, what surprised us, what worked, and why we're not quite ready to decide yet if there will be another one.

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We're home from the first Rosary Army retreat, still tired, processing, and not making any big decisions. We talk about the beauty of the retreat center, the talks, the food, the people who came, and the difference between wanting something bigger and realizing smaller might just have been exactly right.

We also talk about what it was like to have our teenage daughter with us for this weekend, the impact of silent Eucharistic Adoration, and why personal encounters mattered so much.

Watch the Videos from the 2026 Rosary Army Retreat

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

Mac Barron (Catholic in a Small Town Podcast) delivers a talk about the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary at the 2026 Rosary Army Retreat.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements