When the rights reverted to Amy Welborn for a book she wrote and another by her late husband, Michael Dubruiel, she made the pdfs available free. I just noticed these and wanted to let you know because both are terrific. Mary and the Christian Life is one that our Catholic Women’s book club read and enjoyed. We are a diverse group and every single one of us got a lot of value from this. You can take my word for... Read more
With The Seven Deadly Sins: A Visitor’s Guide, author Lawrence Cunningham has prepared a resource that, I kid you not, is a gem. Are you a catechist? You’ll love it. Are you a parent? You’ll need it. Are you a struggling sinner? You’ll see an approach to sin that may well give you hope. Not that you didn’t have hope before, mind you. Not that you weren’t already well-prepared as a parent. Not that you didn’t have resources out the wazoo... Read more
Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for The Soul of The West is a new book from Ignatius Press by William Kilpatrick. This is not a light read, but I found it to be an very informative read. There are a range of ideas about engaging Islam and whether Islamist terrorists are misusing their religion or are more faithful adherents of it. Within Catholic circles to some extent these differing views are represented by Robert Spenser and Peter Kreeft. In fact... Read more
Indeed, you must be saying to yourself, that Happy Catholic person has quite a large stack of books she owes reviews for. And you’d be right about that. I consider myself lucky to have had time to read so many, although there are a few that I read so long ago I’m cringing with guilt over not having reviewed them yet. Ah well … we do what we can. These all have my thumbs up and will show up again... Read more
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has announced that Gene Wolfe will be the recipient of the 2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. SFWA President John Scalzi, on choosing Wolfe, “You’d have to search far and wide to find a contemporary fantasy writer who has not been directly influenced by Gene Wolfe.” Wolfe himself on the honor, “You’d better watch your step, folks; you’re raising me to a height I would never have imagined. If you keep... Read more
I’ll be honest: I probably wouldn’t have picked up Catholic Spiritual Practices: A Treasury of Old and New, edited by Colleen M. Griffith and Thomas H. Groome, if not for the Patheos Book Club. That said, I’m glad it came my way. This book gave me some ideas for enhancing my own prayer life and could be a great gift for any number of people on my list. There are a lot of books that will explain Catholic spirituality to... Read more
I owe a longer review for most of these. However, I wanted to mention these in case anyone has been wondering whether they were good. Catholicism: Pure and Simple by Dwight Longenecker Here’s the blurb I have on Father Longenecker’s promo page. Easy to read, compelling, logical … this is a fantastic book. “I don’t know quite how Father Dwight Longenecker did it, but his simple book begins with modern doubts about God’s existence and winds up at Catholic teachings... Read more
I tend to have had, well, enough of all this “be a happy Catholic woman” stuff. Maybe I’m just still too jaded, maybe I’m overdue for confession (well, I certainly am), or maybe I am just unworthy, but it seems the market is saturated. So I appreciate someone who keeps it real. I tend to begin Donna-Marie’s books with a feeling of “here we go again, brace yourself.” I don’t know why I always have this attitude, because I know without... Read more
If you’re like me, the fact that the Second Sunday of Advent has come and gone doesn’t mean you have your Advent figured out. (If you’re not like me, feel free to brew some coffee and smile.) This year, somehow, despite all the usual floundering, I’ve found myself with an odd sense of peace. I’m not flustered or stressed about the fact that the Advent wreath seems to be the WORST IDEA EVER with a certain two-year-old mancub in the... Read more
Have you read the story of Martha and Mary lately? It’s in Luke 10:38-42. So often, I relate with Martha. She’s juggling a thousand things, and, quite frankly, getting a little irritated with that sister of hers who has the nerve to just plop down and lounge. The other night, though, I caught myself being Mary. There I was, in all my extraverted glory, talking with people, telling stories, being entertained, and, really, having myself a great time. While I... Read more
Happy Catholic Bookshelf
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