Hard Magic by Larry Correia My rating: 4 of 5 stars Jake Sullivan is a war hero, a private eye — and an ex-con. He’s free because he has a magical talent and the Feds need his help in apprehending criminals with their own magical abilities. … Jake found out that not only have the Feds been lying to him, but there was a secret war being waged by opposing forces of magic-users. Worse still, he had attracted the attention... Read more
Last year, my best friend was the catechist for my daughter’s 2nd grade religious education class, and I had the chance to see an awesome teacher at work. This friend of mine doesn’t consider herself a great teacher, but I’m here to tell you that I’m on the campaign trail to bring her back into the classroom. One of the things she did so well was tap into real-life experience and share resources with the kids during classes. She made... Read more
Don’t you just love books of saints? I’ll admit it: I’m a saint book junkie. And, as it turns out, so is my eight-year-old. When she saw the pile of books from Liguori’s new Saints of Christmas set, which is part of their Saints and Me! series, it was all I could to do restrain her. (I have this thing about review books: they have to stay near my computer until I’ve written the reviews. Call it another manifestation of... Read more
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a year late with my review of this book. Do NOT read that as any sort of dis on this book, because it is wonderfully done and a worthwhile addition to your family library. Nancy Brown has a passion for all things Chesterton, and she has inspired the same in me as I listen to her on the Uncommon Sense podcast. Nancy has a special love for Frances Chesterton, G.K.’s wife. This book, How Far... Read more
Metaphors regarding the Church and sports are nothing new. St. Paul certainly used them and there are intersections with sports and the practice of the faith that make them useful. So I was interested when I saw a new book called The Catechism of Hockey by Alyssa Bormes. That it had a forward by Dale Ahlquist and is published by the American Chesterton Society certainly recommended itself to me. Plus that it has positive reviews from Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop... Read more
In Michael O’Brien’s new book Voyage to Alpha Centauri he enters the genre of Science Fiction. This book is both in some ways totally different from his previous books and very similar. All the themes he explores are present in this story. Elements present in his “Children of the Last Day” series are especially present such as an intrusive government and the loss of religious freedom. The collision of these factors providing tension along with personal conversion. Yet some of... Read more
The Twits, The Minpins & The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl My rating: 4 of 5 stars Although I have enjoyed many of the movies made from Roald Dahl’s books (most notably James and the Giant Peach) I cannot recall reading any of his books except Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was … fine but not world changing for me. That’s kind of odd too, when I think about it, because I was the right age to be the... Read more
Brace yourself, because I didn’t just love this book. I am not about to just expound about one of my favorite author’s genius lightly. No, when I call this book a modern masterpiece, I’m not exaggerating. I’m probably understating by a factor of 100. If you’ve spent the last ten years watching “theology of the body” become a catchphrase and still not understanding it… If the phrase “theology of the body” has you (a) rolling your eyes, (b) running in... Read more
Last week I was getting blog posts ready for Advent in a few spare moments. It made me remember to download onto my Kindle an Advent book that I’ve found really helpful for the last few years. 25 Days, 26 Ways to Make This Your Best Christmas Ever by Ace Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I came across this, offered free at Amazon, when crusing for Christmas holiday books back in 2010. It proved to be a very... Read more
I returned to the Church through the side door. I had slipped away into agnosticism during college; when I’d reached the fullness of emptiness down that hallway, I wandered back Churchward via an initial false start at the U.U., and then a second attempt that landed me at a non-denominational, Evangelical congregation. I can say without doubt that half my authentically-Catholic Christian formation was delivered to me by Evangelical hands. My husband remained a Protestant for another decade, though the... Read more
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