One thread ties the books below together: in some way, each involves the production and/or distribution of alcohol. Some legal, some illegal. A few are Prohibition-era stories. A couple precede Prohibition. One is a contemporary story. There’s wine, hard cider, whiskey, and all manner of spirits. Of course there’s more to the stories than all that, including intrigue, romance, and even humor.
Continue readingI confess. I stole my husband’s bible. More than once.
Sure, I have a battered New American Bible from college. And a New Jerusalem Bible, also from college. We have a large, elaborately illustrated family bible. But when I wanted to grab a bible for study or reading, I stole my husband’s Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition in its lovely leather case.
Enter the Ignatius Note-Taking & Journaling Bible Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition, and I’m a reformed thief. And, as a matter of cosmic justice, my Bible is often now stolen from me!
The black leather-like cover of this Bible is sleek, attractive, and durable and includes a black elastic strap to keep it from flapping open when not in use. The square, rather than common rectangular shape balances nicely in my hands when I’m juggling a computer mouse, pen, and tablet and fits comfortably in my lap.
Continue readingJesus said to him [Thomas], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”
John 14:6
These words from John’s Gospel couldn’t be simpler. the way, the truth, and the life.
Seven simple words.
Despite the many distractions created by my children, these words and their implications burrowed into my mind and heart at Adoration last month.
During the same hour, they stared up at me from the pages of St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. Then again in a scripture quote in Totus Tuus.
I’m accustomed to not hearing from God very often, whether due to His taciturn way of dealing with me or my own failure to listen, I can’t say. I suspect it’s a bit of both. Either way, I’m quite accustomed to it. That this little verse could move me so deeply, nearly to tears, was highly unordinary and remarkable.
For several minutes, I felt a tiny, infintessimally small fraction of Jesus’s sorrow. His sorrow at our rejection of those words:
We’ve replaced those words with something more akin to:
Being named a bishop in the midst of a book launch can’t be bad for sales, can it? That’s what’s happened to Father, now bishop-elect, William Byrne, whose book 5 Things with Father Bill: Hope, Humor, and Help for the Soul, was recently released. The book’s exactly what you’d guess from the subtitle: five short bytes about a variety of themes and occasions. His style and voice lend themselves to an easily accessible book that’s one part humor, one part catechesis, and another part chat with a friend you’d like to share a cup of coffee or a glass of beer with.
The Kissing Tree: Four Novellas Rooted in God’s Love by Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, Amanda Dykes, and Nicole Deese gave me the opportunity to discover two new authors. Karen Witemeyer and Nicole Deese are already on my must-read list, and their stories here don’t disappoint. But I also got to enjoy short historical romances by Regina Jennings and Amanda Dykes, all linked by a grand Texas oak tree standing sentry over generations of lovers.
When I’m With You by Jennifer Rodewald has solidified the author’s spot as one of my favorite Christian contemporary romance authors. I haven’t yet read the previous books in this series, but I was able to dive in without problem. Erstwhile rancher Lane starts out as a first-class jerk but undergoes a dramatic yet believable transformation when he befriends broken-hearted ranch hand Daisy.
The final book in Denise Hunter’s Bluebell Inn series wraps things up tidily. Autumn Skies features the youngest of the inn-owning siblings, Grace, and a secret service agent, Wyatt. Sparks fly despite the gap in their ages and their seemingly incompatible life goals. Both are suffering the long-lingering effects of grief and survivor’s guilt, but God seems to have orchestrated their introduction to spur healing.
If any author’s books have been my favorite escape during COVID quarantine, it’s Mimi Matthew’s Victorian romances. A Convenient Fiction, the third book in the Parish Orphans of Devon series, brings long-lost orphan “brother” Alex Archer front and center as he encounters Laura, whose family has been unscrupulously deprived of her father’s perfumery inheritance.
I’m always intrigued when one of my children picks up a book I’ve previously read. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger filled the bill for my high school senior son’s recent assignment. I was decidedly not a fan of Holden Caulfield; my son, however, though he understands why readers may not like the novel, did enjoy it. The basic premise is a student leaving his Pennsylvania prep school for three days and going underground in New York City.
Seeing that there is a remake of the movie Dune in the works, my son has begun reading the science fiction classic Dune by Frank Herbert. I have no knowledge of Dune beyond the fact that David Bowie appeared in the ‘80s movie adaption, so I’m going to share a portion of the book description: Dune is the story of the boy Paul Altreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness.
While studying ancient Rome, my seventh-grade daughter read The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, a book I first read for Sabbath Rest Book Talk. I’d never heard of it at the time, but since, my son watched the movie in Latin class and now my daughter’s curriculum recommended it. The story follows a young Roman officer in Britain as he tries to uncover what has become of the mysteriously disappeared Ninth Roman Legion.
Keeping to the same time period, my daughter is also reading August Caeser’s World: A Story of Ideas and Events from B.C. 44 to 14 A.D. by Genevieve Foster. The book is not only a biography of Augustus, but also includes a wealth of information on the contemporary leaders, cultures, philosophers, and events and includes many illustrations as well. She’s really enjoying it.
We share stories of saints with our children and hold them up as models of virtue, but Lisa Hendey’s new picture book, illustrated by Katie Broussard, fills a practical purpose in translating hagiographies and simplified saint stories into actions that children can take right now to become saints themselves. Even this middle-aged mom took away a couple of new insights on living a life of virtue worthy of spending eternity in heaven. I highly recommend I’m a Saint in the Making for every Catholic child’s bookshelf.
In anticipation of Halloween, I guided my kids in studying and listening to Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suite.” Part of our study included reading In the Hall of the Mountain King by Allison Flannery. The book, with illustrations that drew the kids’ interest, helped to convey the basic story and mimicked the music’s “action.” We supplemented our discussion with some lesson plans supplied by the author, a YouTube video, and, I admit it, a Little Einsteins episode.
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I remember the unique joy of reading well enough to pick up a chapter book for the first time and read on my own. I’d anticipate finding the next illustration, then moving on to the next chapter, and checking my progress to see how close I was to completing the book and how much I’d already read.
I read some marvelous classic chapter books and probably some junky ones as well, but I didn’t have access to the wonderful Catholic books I’ve been able to offer my children. One or more of them have read many of these books already.
Complaints of the Saints: Stumbling Upon Holiness with a Crabby Mystic by Sister Mary Lea Hill, FSP, aka The Crabby Mystic, arrived in my mailbox, and I promptly handed it over to my favorite complainer, my husband, who took to it readily. It’s filled with short, easily digestible sections. I’ll read this eventually too. It’s comforting to know that sainthood is attainable despite persistent character flaws because we all have those.
My audiobook listening, already greatly diminished during the pandemic, has taken another hit as we’ve transitioned to homeschooling. It may well take me the better part of a year to get through the long book I’m listening to! Even so, I’m sticking with Elizabeth Seton: American Saint by Catherine O’Donnell. This isn’t a hagiography, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, one of my longtime favorite saints, is portrayed very much as a woman of her time. I’m less than a quarter through, but I’m enjoying learning the details of her family life. It’s also interesting that characters in this book intersect with those portrayed in the novel The Whiskey Rebels, William Duer being one of them. I’m looking forward to the remainder of this biography.
I completed the final two books on my short summer reading list. The first is The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White. Set in London during World War I, the characters are involved in code breaking and espionage efforts. There is an element of suspense and a lovely sweet romance, but the characters really shine in this story. The heroine, Margot, is unique in her affinity for numbers, manipulating them with more ease than she can navigate relationships with others. Her friend, Dot, suffers from social anxiety, but they support and care for each other well, as does Dot’s brother, Jake, who loves each of them as they are.
The last book from that summer to-be-read list is The Rum Runner by Catherine Marciniak. This prohibition-era novel highlights a WWI veteran who has added running liquor to his family’s scallop-fishing business. Traumatized by his wartime experience in France, Hank’s solitary life suits him fine until his brother’s new romance forces him to repeatedly cross paths with police officer Alice. She’s eager to work a case instead of being relegated to a desk, and he’s eager to discover who’s killed a fellow fisherman/rum runner. A very enjoyable clean historical romance.
I needed a new book to take along to Adoration, so I began reading St. Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle. I’d avoided this book, thinking it was all lofty, difficult-to-understand prose about spiritual ecstasy. Turns out it’s more down to earth than that. It strikes me as a precursor to a million modern memes in which you try to identify which category you fit into. A good portion of the book is also St. Teresa going on about how unqualified she is to write the book, so I’m not sure what I think of it yet, but it’s a spiritual classic and there are many salient points within, so I’ll read on. The hardcover edition from OSV’s Noll Library is also a beautiful book with a wonderful introduction by Teresa Tomeo.
My oldest son is reading one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, Macbeth. I keep asking him if he’s gotten to the handwashing yet. (He’s almost there.) I like seeing how much he enjoys these plays (and how much better he is at comprehending them than I was). He recommends what he’s seen of the 2010 film adaption with Sir Patrick Stewart.
He’s also been reading Jurassic Park, the second book of Michael Crichton’s that he’s read. I think we all know the storyline. He’s been most impressed by how quickly the reader is brought into the action. I read the book many years ago, and remember it being a page-turner and far better than the (very good) movie.
My daughter has been enjoying her favorite genre, historical fiction. She recently read Theoni Bell’s debut novel, The Woman in the Trees. It tells the story of Slainie, a Belgium immigrant girl, whose life intersects with Adele Brise, an immigrant catechist visionary. The novel touches on the American Civil War, and culminates with the Peshtigo Fire of 1871. It is a fantastic introduction to Our Lady of Good Help, the only approved Marian apparition in the United States.
In conjunction with her history studies, my seventh grader is also reading The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. I’d never heard of this book, then, as so often happens, saw it mentioned twice within a week. My daughter hasn’t read biblical fiction before, so she is really enjoying this novel set in Palestine at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
We’ve been reading The Green Ember by S.D. Smith aloud at night, and my girls are enjoying the story. It doesn’t hold my youngest son’s attention, but then I can’t think of a single novel I’ve read aloud that did. The rabbit characters à la Watership Down drew me into this action-packed story. History and intrigue in this rabbit world are being revealed bit by bit as brother and sister (now, likely orphans) Heather and Pickett hop from one adventure to another.
In her study of Canada, my youngest daughter has been reading Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling, a Caldecott Honor book about a boy who carves out a canoe and takes it through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. It provides a great overview of Canadian geography.
Jan Brett books are all so beautifully illustrated, and my second grader has read a couple of them lately, including Armadillo Rodeo about a young armadillo who mistakes a red boot for a friend. It fits nicely with his study of native North American animals.
What are you reading? Share it at An Open Book and find new book recommendations too! #openbook Share on XWant more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.
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Bethany House Publishers had a fun blog post pairing their new fall books with a beverage. It got me to thinking what drinks I’d pair with my own books.
I would pair Rightfully Ours, which includes a few sweltering summer scenes, with a glass of ice-cold, fresh-squeezed lemonade. Paul and Rachel could use something to cool them down, in more ways than one!
Here’s a little excerpt. For context, Rachel’s little brother James has just shot her with his squirt gun.
A stream of ice-cold water smacked her upper arm.
She squealed and jumped from her seat, turning in time to see James push off the ground with his forearms and sprint around the side of the house. She let out a growl. “I’m going to kill him.”
Paul sat up, scanning the yard in either direction. “Man, I’ll pay him to hit me. I’m dying out here.” He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves.
Rachel giggled. “You look ridiculous, you know.” Sleeves and pant legs rolled up. Shirt undone. Bare feet. He needed to put on some shorts. He could leave his shirt off, and she wouldn’t mind one bit. Not one bit. “Why don’t you go get changed?”
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When Larkin Maybie buries her mother in the foothills of Appalachia, she is left all alone. Her only inheritance? A crazy aunt, a mountain of debt, and a run-down, secluded cabin left by a mysterious benefactor. While Larkin thinks an escape to a cabin miles from anything familiar might be exactly what she needs, the quick answer to her problems only leaves her with more questions … Questions concerning her true identity.
As Larkin searches for her link to the Lewandowski Estate, she begins to accept the kindness of strangers on Presque Isle and the affection of professional baseball player, Ketch Devine. Charged with caring for the cabin’s honey bees and haunted by past choices, Larkin struggles to move forward in a new direction and is running out of time. With summer and baseball season coming to an end, she must decide: what is the value of true love and an authentic life?
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