The Art of Faith: A Guide to Understanding Christian Images by Judith Couchman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Judith Couchman wished she understood Christian images in art. She wound up with an art history degree, teaching classes at a local college. Later, wishing there was a simple, concise reference that could be carried into a museum, Couchman wrote The Art of Faith. We’re lucky she is such a “can-do” person because this book is a real treasure for anyone... Read more
“Praying the Rosary for Intercession” is a new book by Catherine M. Odell published by OSV. This book like so many that came before it has a standard format. A history of the Rosary followed by meditations for each mystery and lastly specific instructions on praying the Rosary along with guidelines for intentions. The reflections are mostly pretty good and on target. What makes this book stand out for this type of book is both its strength and and its... Read more
When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on... Read more
It was at our Catholic women’s book club. I just finished saying that I wasn’t reading the news much because it made me so stressed. A pal casually tossed in the statement above. I looked at her and said, “Oh, thank you!” She looked at me in obvious surprise. I said, “That’s my blog, you know. The one at Patheos, right?” She started laughing and said, “Yes, that’s it. I just discovered it but I had no idea that was... Read more
Amazon had a sale a couple of weeks ago, a bunch of books for $0.99. Five of them were classics published by Oxford World’s Classics, i.e., by Oxford University Press; and I figured that at $0.99 it was worth grabbing them just for the chance that the production would be better than the average low-price public domain conversion. One of them was The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins. I’d heard the name of the book, and I remembered rather vaguely having heard... Read more
The Hidden Princess by Stephanie Angelini My rating: 5 of 5 stars A thousand days walk from here, all made in lefts, there was some time ago a young kingdom and a younger King. Even the mountains of the kingdom were young — sharp and callow and reaching, with a forest thick and thieves and rock upon rock falling over into the sea. The people were as simple as the salt they did without and the young King was not... Read more
Simcha Fisher back in May posted an article on LOL Books and mentioned this book. The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald. One of my favorite memoirs. A lovestruck newlywed follows her husband to the largely unspoiled wilderness of Washington State, where they carve out a homestead and raise chickens, with backbreaking labor from dawn till dusk and beyond. You end up wanting to clobber her husband, but the story is completely engrossing. I guess I have a soft spot... Read more
Being that I am constantly buying books I also always look for deals. One site I follow keeps up on sales at the Amazon store and posts a large list of free books each day. Obviously among these books there is a lot of chaff and sometimes hard to tell what is any good or not. Though Kindle Review also posts review information and gives some suggestions are to what are good picks. So far from these suggested picks I’ve... Read more
I am not a Civil War buff. I’m a history buff, but not a Civil War buff. I know the general outlines of the war, and how the Union generals in the East were a sorry bunch for much of the war, and like that; but I confess I haven’t studied it. Consequently, I’d never seriously considered reading The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, until Julie and Scott picked it for their A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. I’ve not... Read more
Julie introduced me a couple of posts back, but I thought I should say a few words. I’ve been reviewing books on the web since December of 1996, back when the competition was considerably less fierce. The pond was really small. Once upon a time I had the #1 Alexandre Dumas page on the entire World Wide Web! Its claim to fame was that it told you just which books were in the Three Musketeers saga, anyway, and which editions you... Read more
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