I haven’t read this yet, but if you’re interested then Wednesday and Thursday are your chance to get it free … WHEN CONTROL OF THE VATICAN IS AT STAKE, MONEY TALKS AND NOBODY PLAYS FAIR. Italian intelligence specialist and former Jesuit student Michael Visconte is shocked by the brutal murder of a Jesuit priest, who turns out to be a hedge fund manager for the Vatican. The victim, Father Matteo Pintozzi, achieved an unblemished record of extraordinary returns. The next... Read more
About.com is once again hosting their Catholicism Reader’s Choice awards. Every year, the About Readers’ Choice Awards showcase the best products, people, organizations, and services in multiple categories, from technology to hobbies to parenting to religion. The readers of About.com make the nominations; each About.com Guide chooses the finalists (up to five in each category) from among the nominees; and the readers and others vote to choose one of the finalists as the best in the category for that year. And I... Read more
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold My rating: 5 of 5 stars Two readers I trust, Will Duquette (of this blog) and Amy H. Sturgis, have strongly recommended both this author and book. I certainly am glad they did, although if Goodreads allowed it I would give it 4-1/2 stars instead of the full 5, simply because I feel the ending was rushed as if the author was ready to get this situation done and the book sent... Read more
Brandon Vogt’s giving away two books I’d dearly love to have (yes, I know it’s a random selection of winners, but I’m just sayin’): The Lord of the Rings … the one-volume version that I’ve been eying at Amazon over and over (but resolutely NOT buying) Tolkien: A Celebration – edited by Joseph Pearce … which is the Pearce book that really caught my eye of the several Brandon listed yesterday. Go here to sign up. Books on J.R.R Tolkien’s... Read more
Compendium: Catechism of the Catholic Church by USCCB Publishing My rating: 5 of 5 stars I got this when it came out, flipped through it, and then put it on the shelf, where the poor thing was never moved until I gave an explanatory talk last night to the RCIA class about how to navigate your way around the Catechism (and other related topics such as Imprimatur stamps, etc.) When I was looking through it this morning to attempt to... Read more
Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell is an excellent introduction to the topic of evangelization and discipleship. The first half of the book is devoted to proving that this matters — that church-as-usual in the US today is not succeeding in helping Catholics build a personal relationship with Jesus, nor in passing on the faith to the next generation. Weddell cites numerous studies, as well as riveting personal accounts, to prove her case. The second half of the book... Read more
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sergei Lukyanenko is a science-fiction and fantasy author, writing in Russian, and is arguably the most popular contemporary Russian sci-fi writer. His works often feature intense action-packed plots, interwoven with the moral dilemma of keeping one’s humanity while being strong. In Night Watch, set in modern Moscow, the “Others” live among us, an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the... Read more
I first read C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters back in 2006, and I loved it. Not long after that first trip through the book, I led a summer book study with a group of women in my parish. The first time I read Screwtape, it was audio. The voice of the narrator was perfect in all the right creeporific ways. It struck me as one of the best examinations of conscience I had found (not that I had looked very hard at... Read more
Regency lady reading, Journal des Dames et des Modes (1811) via Books and Art This image goes delightfully with this wonderful Wall Street Journal article about one of my favorite authors, Georgette Heyer. Do go read it all. The war—and paper rationing—consolidated her reputation. As an “established stalwart,” she was disproportionately represented in the books printed during the war, but what really attracted readers was the talent that she had begun developing in the first war of so effervescently distracting... Read more
The Partially Examined Life podcast is doing something different with their latest podcast, an amateur full cast production of Gorgias by Plato (sort of). Gorgias is a Socratic dialogue, basically a script in which characters discussing philosophy. It was probably written around 380 BC. The subject of Gorgias is rhetoric, the art of persuasion, and is highly relevant to thinking about politic speech, advertizing, and personal charisma. Interesting, isn’t it? Get the link to the podcast at SFFaudio which is... Read more
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