I recently splurged and binged-read some books I've been meaning to read for a while. I know most of you are probably already familiar with two of them. I just wanted to share a bit of my enthusiasm here.

Joseph Swain's "Sacred Treasure: Understanding Catholic Liturgical Music" (discussed earlier here and here) was an absolute joy to read. (Now, the book is indeed a bit expensive — I was able to borrow this one through interlibrary loan.) I especially appreciated his discussion of sacred semantics and semantic range, and of what he calls "double movement" (roughly, a careful consideration of true enculturation). Having already read quite a bit of scholarly and papal arguments in favor of sacred music (mostly via CMAA materials), it was really nice to see yet another set of extremely thoughtful perspectives on the topic. He also confronts Fr. Ruff's arguments head-on -- challenging them where he sees fit, but also supporting them in places, too. And I feel that Swain's concluding chapter, where he examines every sentence of the sixth chapter of Sacrosanctum Concilium, should be required reading for every seminarian and every church musician.

I had read the first edition (1990) of Thomas Day's "Why Catholics Can't Sing" quite some time ago (and I'm sure many of you did, too)… well before I had learned anything about chant via CMAA and the like. Reading his second edition (2013), at this point in my understanding of the topic, was also very rewarding. I appreciated his discussion of the various ethnic experiences of the preconciliar liturgy (Irish-Americans vs. Italian-Americans, etc.) in the opening chapters, and how that contributed to the less-than-ideal musical practices we often see today. His writing is humorous and snarky at times — I love how he describes the over-amplified "Mr. Caruso" — but this is all balanced with a substantial amount of thoughtfulness and insight.

For those considering the Day book (2nd ed.) — don't be dismayed by the font. (Dr. Day himself acknowledges the issue himself, right here in our earlier thread about the book.) It might seem a bit jarring at first, but I didn't notice it at all after I started reading the book.

It seems to me that much of our discussions about the merits of sacred music — that is, what we read and write here on this forum, and on the Café — largely center around liturgical and legislative arguments. I might suggest that the Swain book offers a certain psychological or psychosocial perspective, and the Day book tackles things somewhat sociologically. (Please pardon me if these are rather amateurish, blithe characterizations!)

Also, I finally purchased a hard copy of Jeffrey Tucker's "Sing Like a Catholic." I think I had already read each and every one of those essays as blog posts, back in the day — but I bought the book because I wanted to experience those essays again. I always loved his energy, his thoughtfulness, his wit — and I'll only add here that I sure miss his presence here and at the Café. I exchanged a few emails with him, years ago, but I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person. Jeffrey — if you're reading this, I hope you're well! And AOZ, if you're reading this, please pass along my greetings. Both of you — I am so grateful for all of your writings. (Also, AOZ — I'll have you know that I also purchased your "Parish Book of Psalms"!)

Happy reading, everyone!