Top Twenty Maria Lectrix Downloads, as of 10/27/08

This is just download stats from archive.org. Multi-volume audiobooks’ stats have been added together. Obviously, multi-part audiobooks are going to use up more downloads, and I haven’t adjusted for that because I’m lazy.

1. 51, 532 downloads: Against Heresies by St. Irenaeus of Lyons.

2. 27, 710: Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany.

3. 21,591: Fatherless Fanny by Anon.

4. 19,529: The Eye of Osiris by R. Austin Freeman.

5. 19,265: The Dialogues of St. Catherine of Siena.

6. 17,657: Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour by R.S. Surtees.

7. 17,355: The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St. John of the Cross.

8. 15,588: Pastoral Care by St. Gregory the Great.

9. 12,882: Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper.

10. 12,749: The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton.  (Which might be in the public domain in the US and might not be. Bah.)

11. 12,610: Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso.

12. 10,569: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis.

13.  9,797: The Red Thumb-Mark by R. Austin Freeman.

14.  9,093: The Dark Night of the Soul by St John of the Cross.

15. 8,393: “The Wondersmith” by Fitz-James O’Brien.

16. 8,038: The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison.

17. 7,430: The Civil War (aka Pharsalia) by Lucan.

18. 7,144: “Speech on Reconciliation with America” by Edmund Burke

19. 6,323: The Lani People by J.F. Bone.

20. 5,824: Dawn of Flame by Stanley G. Weinbaum.

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#1410: Part VIII, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” concludes, as Gusterson is asked to unleash one last idea.

You’ll never look at your mp3 player the same way again.

Part VIII

9:44.

Scary Halloween story, eh? If you’re looking for the other stuff for this week, just keep scrolling down.

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#1409: Part VII, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” continues, as Gusterson gets a few visitors from underground.

Part VII

26:23.

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#1408: Part VI, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” continues, as Mr. Fay reveals what he’s been hiding.

Part VI

7:04.

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#1407: Part V, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” continues, as Gusterson gets worried by the Tickler, and goes underground to see what’s going on.

Part V

23:18.

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#1406: Bk. 7F, The Ring and the Book by Robert Browning

The Ring and the Book continues, as Pompilia’s story comes to a close.

Book 7F

8:15.

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#1405: Part IV, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” continues, as our favorite Micro Systems R&D guy goes missing.

Part IV

22:18.

More of this creepy story, especially for Halloween! If you’re looking for this week’s dose of Possidius and Augustine, just keep scrolling down.

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#1404: Part III, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” continues, as ticklers get better and better day by day, in every way.

Part III

15:19.

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#1403: Part 4, Life of St. Augustine by St. Possidius

The Life of St. Augustine continues, as Augustine confronts Donatists, Manichaeans, and Arians in public debate, and is led by the Holy Spirit to mess up a sermon.

Part 4

14:36.

There’s a lot that’s not pretty in these two parts. Clearly, there seems to have been some outrageous and dangerous stuff going on; but equally clearly, there’s something creepy about state prosecution of religious dissent. As Augustine found out, the hand of the state can also chill free discussion and thus stand in the way of changing people’s minds with argument. So there’s a lot to think about here.

On the other hand, the story of Augustine’s digression is very comforting. In the end, you really don’t have any idea how other people are going to take things; and the effect you have on people is not really under your control. However, God is quite capable of putting all kinds of stuff to use; and if you offer yourself to serve Him, He may very well put you to use in some very odd ways.

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#1402: Part 3, Life of St. Augustine by St. Possidius

The Life of St. Augustine continues, as Augustine contends with the Donatists and their militant griefer bandit wing, the Circumcellions.

Btw, the “certain bishop of Calama” is supposed to be Possidius, our writer.

Part 3.

15:08.

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#1401: Part II, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” continues, as our friend in management arrives bearing gifts.

Part II

16:37.

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#1400: Part I, “The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths” by Fritz Leiber disturbs me quite a bit. So for your Halloween shiver, and from the pages of Galaxy in December 1962, I present “The Creature from Cleveland Depths”.

Part I

13:48.

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#1399: Part 11, Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius

The Argonautica continues, as the Argonauts make a fateful encounter and arrive in Colchis – the land of the Golden Fleece.

Part 11

15:30.

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Help Me Pick the Next Saturday Book!

You’ve got till next Friday to vote! Also, please notice that you can actually write in votes on the line below “Other”. So if you have an unlisted category or a specific work to suggest, you can put it there.
(As my mom always said, this isn’t a democracy; so this won’t be absolutely decided by vote. But as this podcast’s benevolent despot, I want your input, and the new poll feature seems like a good way to hear from you.)

UPDATE: I can see the “Other” write-in votes, but apparently nobody else can. I’ll keep you posted.

So far, we have 5 votes for Marmion’s Christ in the Mysteries (I think maybe that was multiple tries at getting the Other to show up), 1 vote for Romano Guardini, 1 vote for biography, and 1 “just testing”.

Much stuff by Bl. Marmion, and a couple of works by Guardini that have fallen into the public domain, are possibles; but I’ll have to look at it — and of course consider the other votes and my own preferences. 🙂

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#1398: Part 3, Epilogue to The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux

The Story of a Soul‘s epilogue by ‘A Prioress of the Carmel’ ends, as she tells the story of St. Therese’s death.

Epilogue, Part 3

20:32.

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