Author: CAstfalk

An Open Book

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An Open Book

Welcome to the December 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

Buffalo, Barrels & Bourbon

Following our Kentucky Bourbon Trail summer vacation, my husband has been listening to Buffalo, Barrels, and Bourbon: The Story of How Buffalo Trace Distillery Became the World’s Most Awarded Distillery by F. Paul Pacult. It recounts the distillery’s history from the early exploration of Kentucky to present day. It tells the story through American wars, Prohibition, the Great Depression, and more. Includes a variety of personalities and information about a variety of whiskey brands. This was one of our favorite distillery visits. Very family friendly and a great customer experience.

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An Open Book

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An Open Book

Welcome to the November 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

Faking After All

Last month, I caught up on Cece Louise’s most recent rom coms in the After All series. Faking After All includes the fake dating trope as well as enemies to lovers or grumpy/sunshine—take your pick. I really enjoyed this fun romance between uptight, ambitious executive Victoria and soon-to-be gym owner Caleb. She’ll help him with his grand opening if he’ll pretend to be her boyfriend for work functions. The characters are well-developed, and it is a quick, easy read.

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Bake Soul Cakes for Halloween

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Sometimes I feel as if my family is eating its way through the liturgical year. Cake for the guardian angels, cream puffs for St. Joseph, Mexican food for Our Lady of Guadalupe, king cake for Mardi Gras, Paska bread for Easter, and on and on.

So in addition to our secular yet delicious pumpkin, ghost, and bat butter cookies, we’re enjoying soul cakes, which a couple of my children have been prodding me to make for several years.

In conjunction with the release of the Catholic Teen Books anthology Shadows: Visible & Invisible, my daughters and I and fellow author Catholic Teen Books author T.M. Gaouette had the opportunity to test and tweak several soul cake recipes, finally landing on the one that appears at the end of the Shadows anthology. These cakes can easily be made with pantry staples.

I encourage you to learn more about souling traditions and the entire Halloween triduum by reading Shadows. Halloween has taken a dark turn in our culture in some cases, but it’s fascinating to see its Christian roots. Maybe by noshing a few soul cakes, we can revive some positive traditions from the past, and remind us of the reason for our celebrations.

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Celebrate the Life of JPII with A Boy Who Became Pope Anniversary Edition

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Like many Catholics of my generation, I have a great love for Pope St. John Paul II, who, along with St. Teresa of Calcutta, was the worldwide face of Catholicism in the 1980s and ’90s. How blessed we were to hear and see these living saints in real time as they ministered to the world with their love and wisdom.

As nearly two decades have passed since JPII’s death in 2005, I have grown to love and appreciate him even more. He is one of my favorite saints and one whose intercession I seek daily. I’ve long wanted a copy of A Boy Who Became Pope: The Story of Saint John Paul II. Despite the fact that my children have pretty much grown out of picture books, I treasure the anniversary edition copy sent to me by Pauline Books and Media.

A Boy Who Became Pope

The hardcover picture book is beautifully and lovingly written and illustrated by Fabiola Garza, a character artist at Disney Creative Group. It follows Karol Wojtyla from birth through his papacy and death, enumerating the deaths in his immediate family and demonstrating his persistent desire to discern God’s call.

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The One Sound We Need More Of

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It’s ironic that while our means of communicating have proliferated, our ability to communicate in person has diminished. I’m convinced that unless we cultivate silence in our lives, our communication with others will suffer.

Where once there was silence within the home, there is noise. Children, of course, create all sorts of noise, and that noise definitely impedes communication between adults. But there is a more insidious noise that accompanies our electronics and devices.

Besides the pings, rings, dings, and chimes that accompany messages, alerts, and alarms, there is the noise of podcasts and an endless stream of talking heads. There is music of every sort. Movies, videos, games—more and more and more! And it’s all available and accessible 24/7.

Similarly, the television, which was once relegated to waking hours, now broadcasts or streams content all hours of the day and night. We can blithely move about our days from room to room, home to car, car to store, restaurant, or workplace, and take our noise with us, even as we walk to and from.

This noise stifles natural conversations. When the relative quiet that naturally encourages interaction is absent, we withdraw, knowing it’s not an opportune time for dialogue.

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An Open Book

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An Open Book

Welcome to the October 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

Poison Study

Many years ago, when I belonged to a local library’s writing group, I became aware of Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study. The author was a local success story in publishing, and there was often mention of her. It took me a decade or more, but I’ve finally gotten around to reading the novel. In this fantasy, a young woman is spared execution and offered a position as food taster for the commander of Ixia. She’s kept captive by the need for a daily dose of antidote only her captors can supply. So far, so good.

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Spooky Stories for Hallowtide from Catholic Teen Books

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Shadows: Visible & Invisible

Shadows: Visible & Invisible

About the Book:

Shadows: Visible & Invisible is a collection of short stories by seven authors and is centered around the All Hallowtide Triduum of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. These fictional stories are meant to help teens learn more about the history of these important days on the Church calendar through engaging tales.

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An Open Book

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An Open Book

Welcome to the September 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

You’ll notice that a lot of our recent reading was inspired by our summer vacation in Kentucky, where we made eleven stops on the Bourbon Trail and visited Daniel and Rebecca Boone’s graves, among other places.

Boone: A Biography

Many hours of our travel time were spent listening to Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan. Frontiersman Daniel Boone was a complex man who lived a fascinating life in 18th-century America. Robert Morgan’s biography is long and detailed, occasionally veering off on interesting tangents. While we didn’t complete the entire book as a family, my oldest son is listening to the remainder on his own. When presented with the hardships Boone overcame in uncharted wilderness and in conflict with hostile native tribes, I couldn’t help but think how soft we Americans have become. 

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