More Scenes from the Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a review book from Amazon Vine. I hadn’t heard of this author but was casting around for something different to read. The idea of reading someone’s collected essays about life on a farm in upstate New York sounded just the thing, almost like an adult version of the Laura Ingalls Wilder tales I always loved as a child. It was definitely the right... Read more
I was pretty excited about the chance to listen to audiobooks with my husband, Tom, on our 2,800 mile round-trip driving vacation to Virginia and Pittsburgh. It turned out that Tom, never having listened to an audiobook, was nervous I’d commit us to a 26-hour whale like Middlemarch. Never fear! We went with a light mix of nonfiction and classic crime fiction. He loved all of them. I think you might too. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy... Read more
The premise behind Chad Torgerson’s new release, Waking Up Catholic: A Guide to Catholic Beliefs for Converts, Reverts, and Anyone Becoming Catholic, isn’t a new one. He wants to help people understand what the Catholic Church teaches. It’s a laudable goal. What’s different about this book than what I expected from another Catholic guide can be found, in part, in the fact that Torgerson isn’t a professional apologist. He’s a programmer, a writer, and a husband and father. He’s a normal guy, and... Read more
Those who suffer from infertility bear a special sort of cross, and it’s one that breaks my heart. It’s among the pain I wish I could bear for those I love. I don’t wish it on anyone. Our world got so tiny, our vision got so small—confined to the walls of our problems. For us it was an IVF clinic, an adoption office, a dining room table full of pills. For others it’s a law court, a singles’ site, or a... Read more
While I am not enraptured over the current vampire fiction phase I found Mysterious Albion (Vatican Vampire Hunters) by Paul Leone to be a fairly decent read. The author had contacted me regarding reviewing it and I acquiesced only after he assured me the vampires didn’t “sparkle.”  The author mentions a creative debt he owes to the late John Steakley and his novel Vampire$ which has been recommended to me by others and is on my long-suffering wish list. The idea of... Read more
The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways, by Meredith Gould, is nothing short of wonderful. It’s filled with information that’s useful even to those of us who consider ourselves old hands at new media. Church communications have changed over the last ten years that I’ve been working in a parish, and I’ve been blessed to work with a pastor who’s game for trying just about anything. Our parish website is mobile enhanced, we have an active... Read more
Mackerel Snappers: How to explain even the toughest teachings about God and his Catholic Church. is a new book written by Spencer L. Allen. I received this book from the author for review. At roughly 350 pages this book is surprisingly comprehensive as sort of a beginners guide to apologetics and answering questions concerning the faith. This book is subdivided into several topics which contain multiple chapters. These topics start with “Roadblocks” with a general introduction to apologetics and starting... Read more
When I got my hands on a copy of On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century, I knew I’d be reading it. I assumed I’d be whipping through it (which, yes, is always my assumption). I was wrong. I actually read it rather slowly, and it was like chocolate melting slowly on my mind as I soaked it in and resolved to reread it someday. The book is a conversation between Cardinal... Read more
Like so many others, I’ve been really taken (smitten?) with Pope Francis. Maybe it’s that I’ve become more and more of a Catholic Geek since 2001. Maybe it’s that my addictive nature needs something to glom onto. Maybe it’s that I’m avoiding cooking. I have a shelf filling quickly with Pope Francis books: books by him, books about him, books that are inspired by him. I haven’t been reading them all at once, so it’s going to take me a... Read more
This book not only left me feeling motivated and heartened, it also gave me a lot of ideas. I could actually, in parts, hear Willits’s voice, and I’m sure other fans of his work over the years will find the same. Not only is this a practical handbook, it’s an inspirational examination of what those of us who are just normal, ordinary Catholics in the pew can do to be part of whatever this New Evangelization really is. Or isn’t.... Read more
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