I missed the kick-off for this project and I hear tell they’ve already raised a lot of money. But that’s no reason not to join in. We’re all about reading around here and thinking of seminaries without reading materials just plain hurts, right? It is a month-long initiative being promoted by Brandon Vogt who is all about e-books. In Cameroon, Africa, books are rare–especially the good ones. My friend Linus is studying in one of the seminaries, and he says... Read more
Over at SFFaudio, we discuss the strangely fascinating and yet horrible tale, The New Mother by Lucy Clifford. Which Heather Ordover (CraftLit) reads aloud first so we can all begin on the same page. Or is it horrible? Perhaps it is just intensely clever. That’s what Jesse, Heather and Tamahome think. Me? Listen and find out. We also discuss related tales: The Father Thing by Philip K. Dick and Coraline by Neil Gaiman. C’mon over! Read more
I received some wonderful non-book gifts (Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut DVD, come to mama! And the new crucifix that is now gracing our living room …) but for this crowd, I know that quite often the books are the thing. So let’s take a look … The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making by Alana Chernila This one’s from Rose who knows a cookbook is always a safe bet for me. Over the years... Read more
Yes. It exists. “Each Marine is required to read the Commandant’s choice “First to Fight” by LtGen (Ret) V. Krulak. Each Marine shall also read a minimum of one book per grade per year.” (ALMAR 027/11 effective 8 July 2011) With Ender’s Game on it. Or they did when my informant was required to read from that list which is what made me speed over there to see it. I see Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. And The Killer Angels... Read more
My husband, Tom, has been given both. (I know. Lucky fella!) I asked him this morning which was better for reading. He said that he uses them interchangeably for nighttime reading. (Which is really the only time he reads for himself and not for work.) He said that his recommendation, for the price, would be that unless someone really needed an app (needed, not wanted) that the Kindle Fire would fill the bill just fine. Just passing that along for... Read more
Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I remember seeing this book when it came out and then it slipped my mind. Stephen’s review put it squarely back in the middle of my radar. To be fair, Stephen’s reviews are always good reading, but this one was so darned enthusiastic that I paid extra attention. If you hate both Star Trek and Zombies… I don’t know what to tell you. You obviously... Read more
Zone One by Colson Whitehead My rating: 1 of 5 stars Well, well. Proof positive that a zombie novel can be made yawningly boring. Colson Whitehead has all the requisite apocalyptic-survivor-zombie elements but chooses to mash together flashbacks and current action with so much thinking and reflection that he manages to turn it all into bland, grey mush. Or wait … was that my brain after I got done reading this? Even the end, which was supposed to be striking... Read more
Deadline by Mira Grant My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’d probably never have picked up this book. I was perfectly happy with how Feed ended and had no interest in a story being told by Shaun, instead of by George. Also, the mystery was so easy to solve in Feed that I didn’t hold out great hope for the sequel being a lot better. Then my co-worker showed up proffering Deadline with a pleased smile. What can I say?... Read more
The International Bloggers’ Summit is the last day of the 2012 Catholic New Media Conference. I got my proposal to speak in just before their deadline and … woohoo! … I’ll one of the seven spots they have. I’d say seven bloggers, but some of the talks feature more than one person. Be sure to click through on the link to see the range of topics being covered. My topic — Catholic Bloggers: Are We the 1st Corinthians of the... Read more
In the meantime, we’ll discuss Neil Gaiman’s novella for children at A Good Story is Hard to Find. Read more
Happy Catholic Bookshelf
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In