The Queue: Codex Interruptus

I'm very much enjoying Vanished Kingdoms, but once again I find myself at a convenient point to set the massive tome aside for a spell in favor of some explicitly religious reading. In the first tranche, I read four chapters concerned with erstwhile states located in latter-day France, Great Britain, & Spain (quoting from the table fo contents):

1. Tolosa: Soujourn of the Visgoths (A.D. 418-507)
2. Alt Culd: Kingdom of the Rock (Fifth to Twelfth Centuries)
3. Burgundia; Five, Six, or Seven Kingdoms (c. 411-1795)
4. Aragon: A Mediterranean Empire (1137-1714)

The latest tranche consisted of two lengthy chapters about erstwhile states located in latter-day Poland, the Baltics, & the Ukraine, separated by a brief chapter on the Byzantine Empire, which didn't so much discuss the Empire itself as Western perspectives on the thousand-year empire of Constantinople; specifically, Davies is delighted with recent attempts to reassess & rehabilitate the reputation of what called itself the Greek-speaking Roman Empire, to save it from the slander & vehement hatred of the so-called "Enlightenment" writers, most especially Satan's own historian, the repellent Edward Gibbon. In any event, it is the intertwined fates of the Poland-Lithuania & Prussia that suggested this as a logical moment to pause:

5. Litva: A Grand Duchy with King (1253-1795)
6. Byzantion: The Star-lit Golden Bough (330-1453)
7. Borussia: Watery Land of the Prusai (1230-1945)

Eight more chapters remain; so, I'd expect at least one more pause after the next resumption, thought again I stress that I truly delight in reading Vanished Kingdoms, the overall length & episodic nature of the chapters simply lend themselves to side trips into slimmer volumes.

As a bonus, the theme of The Real Story ties in nicely with my current, months-long Bible study, The Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation. Synergy!

Recently
Pope Francis, Amoris Lætitia (The Joy of Love)
Mark Waid & Fiona Staples, Veronica Fish, Joe Eisma, et al., Archie, Volumes One, Two, & Three
Fulton Sheen, Finding True Happiness

Currently
Edward Sri & Curtis Martin, The Real Story: Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible
Gary Chapman with Randy Southern, The 5 Love Languages for Men: Tools for Making a Good Relationship Great

Presently
Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations ***paused***
Sherry A. Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus
Richard Price, Clockers
Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, "Sinbad the Sailor" from The Arabian Nights
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
William F. Buckley Jr., The Unmaking of a Mayor
William E. Simon Jr., Great Catholic Parishes: How Four Essential Practices Make Them Thrive
Mike Aquilina, Understanding the Mass: 100 Questions, 100 Answers
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
Bishop Robert Barron, Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture
Scott & Kimberly Hahn, Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism
Kevin Lowry, How God Hauled Me Kicking and Screaming into the Catholic Church
John W. O'Malley, What Happened at Vatican II
Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World