The Wisdom of Hildegard of Bingen compiled and introduced by Fiona Bowie This book is a collection of thirty short passages from the writing of Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth century nun, abbess, theologian, musician, and writer. The passages are organized into sections like “The Trinity,” “Human Responsibility,” “The Harmony of the Celestial Spheres,” etc. Often, they are accompanied by color reproductions of her paintings (yeah, she painted too!). The book is set up as a daily devotional for one... Read more

Usually reading history I feel rather detached from it. The skill of the writer can bring it more to life to me or at least make me interested in the people and events. The usual detachment is not what I felt at all reading The Lost Mandate of Heaven: The American Betrayal of Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam by Geoffrey Shaw. While the events detailed in this book happened when I was a young kid, the after effects of... Read more

The Wood is a magical place full of Fae creatures, some of whom wish to harm and others who wish to help visitors. The Wood is taken care of (he doesn’t really rule) by the Woodcutter, who whispers to the plants and has never felled an unwilling tree. His other duty is to maintain the peace between the Twelve Kingdoms of Men and the Realm of the Faerie. Things are amiss when he discovers a maiden murdered in the woods.... Read more

Jimmy Akin has written a commentary on the Gospel of Mark that is available through Logos. Logos is software used primarily for scripture study with a linked library of references and tools. Verbum is the Logos Bible Software with a library specifically for Catholics. The Gospel of Mark usually doesn’t top of list as anybody’s favorite Gospel. The fact that it is the shortest and little apparently unique within it compared to the other Gospels. Not that any of the... Read more

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson   This final volume of the Mistborn Trilogy (see reviews of book one and book two) brings its world to the brink of Ruin. Ruin being the god-like conscious elemental force that Vin released from the Well of Ascension at the conclusion of the second book. Ruin, as its name implies, seeks the destruction of the world. In ancient times, Ruin and its opposite, the god-like conscious elemental force called Preservation, made a... Read more

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by Michael Hague   Providing Santa Claus with a back story seems a bit unnecessary. His breadth of cultural presence is so far reaching that people don’t think about where he came from. He’s been around since time immemorial. He has little differences here and there but his basic characteristics are universal–big, generous, bearded old guy with a red suit. But from whence did he come? L.... Read more

I was somewhat aware of the various controversies surrounding Pope Pius XII who was the Pope during WWII up to 1958. I remember the book “Hitler’s Pope” which I once saw for sale at a retreat center. Since that book came out their have been various books defending the Pope and setting the record straight in regards to helping the Jewish people. I also knew how the Rolf Hochhuth’s 1968 anti-Pius play “The Deputy” did much to change what was... Read more

The Well of Ascension: A Mistborn Novel by Brandon Sanderson Picking up a year after the events of the first volume, this book shows what has become of the Final Empire. In the wake of the Lord Ruler’s death in book one, political scholar and aristocratic fop Elend Venture has become the king of Luthadel, the central city of the Final Empire. Being well-read on political philosophy, he establishes an Assembly made up of equal parts from the nobility, the... Read more

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson Mistborn is an original fantasy epic where certain people (called Allomancers) have the ability to ingest and then burn certain metals to give them superhuman abilities. Most people who have the power can only burn one sort of metal and gain one sort of power. Tin enhances the senses, brass soothes emotions, for example. But the rare few can burn all the metals and use all the powers. These people are known as Mistborn. They have... Read more