We usually just discuss books around here but this movie was unusual enough that I wanted to share it also. Also, there is a brief H.P. Lovecraft inclusion. Is there anything that Lovecraft can’t improve? I think not. ============ Not for the faint-of-heart. But simply astounding. A real masterpiece that provides food for thought for everyone from Catholics to atheists. ============ “No point in killing a bad priest. I’m going to kill you because you’re innocent.” Father James (Brendan Gleeson)... Read more

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan My rating: 3 of 5 stars “[…] We keep a record for every member, and for every customer who might yet become a member, in order to track their work.” He paused, then added, “Some of them are working very hard indeed.” “What are they doing?” “My boy,” he said, eyebrows raised. As if nothing could be more obvious: “They are reading.” Clay Jannon was lucky to find a job at Mr. Penumbra’s... Read more

Women of the Bible by Margaret McAllister My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Rescuing animals is only the start of it,” said Mother Noah. She scooped up a handful of seeds and placed them carefully in her pocket. “If God wants to send a flood, it’s very good of him to ask Noah to put the animals in a boat. But then what do you do with them?” […] But however hard it [work] was, every day brought something good.... Read more

The gospel according to… dog: ‘the greatest story ever told’… by a dog by Peter D. Ward My rating: 4 of 5 stars ‘Come Lazarus!’ I have never heard the Wisest One shout so loudly. ‘Come, Lazarus… come out to me!’ again he shouted. The Great Ones [men] all looked at each other uneasily, the smell of fear coming off them as sharp as any skunk. But my ears were pinched back, and I heard what they could not hear:... Read more

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov My rating: 5 of 5 stars Like most people on the over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley has little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to help track down the killer. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the ” R” stood... Read more

On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis by Louis Markos My rating: 5 of 5 stars We need the truth, but we also need to know how to live in and through and by that truth. What we need, in short, are stories. Louis Markos begins with the idea that in the past stories weren’t only told for children’s entertainment and instruction, but for that of adults as well. We’ve lost not only that... Read more

Grandma’s on the Camino: Reflections on a 48-Day Walking Pilgrimage to Santiago by Mary O’Hara Wyman My rating: 3 of 5 stars I included this in my “pilgrimage” reading although I’m planning to go to the Holy Land which is a quite different sort of pilgrimage. Mary Wyman has an entry for each day of her solo walk to Santiago. Each includes the daily postcard she sent to 4-year-old granddaughter Elena, a journal entry from that day, and a longer... Read more