Moving my dear little blog–now over four years old–to Substack, which I find a more suitable platform than WordPress. And some of my favorite books for the upcoming season.
Carolyn- I haven’t read Christie in some time as well but have been dying to do so as it’s long overdue. I think it’s such a tragedy for many adults not to have time for a good murder mystery read every once in a while. They’re so good! Anyhow, thanks for the reminder! 🙏
Carolyn, I'm over the moon to see you're moving to substack! No medium is perfect, of course, but I love having all of my favorite bloggers popping up in my inbox here.
I think I'll bump "Wintering" up higher in my book stack so that I can actually get to it this winter, and also somewhat in tandem with Eleanor's book. Also adding the rest of these gems to my reading list!
For my snowed-in reads this year, I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading fiction. I always gravitate toward nonfiction these days, but I feel like my soul could use a good ol' story! I've been hankering to re-read "A Traveler in Time" by Alison Uttley as the weather gets colder here.
One of my favorite takeaways from Wintering is how our religious rituals for liturgical feasts can be SUCH a great witness to non-Christians! We focus so much on apologetics and evangelization that we forget a beautiful Christmas service might teach much more about worship and our identity in Christ than a theological book.
💯👏💯👏 YES!! Christ communicates through relationship, and the idea that we could ever 'convince' somebody of belief through argument, haranguing, or reciting just doesn't work for me. In our liturgical living group, we have a number of new-ish folks who are agnostic; they've become super-involved members at our gatherings...asking questions, wanting even more detail in the conversation we have about the saint/feast, and even offering to actively participate in the prayers & blessing before meals.
I've always seen the liturgical calendar as a holistic catechesis - just as I often say I never learned English grammar until I learned Latin, I never really encountered the depth of Scripture or theology until participating in the liturgical year.
Anyway, Lord of the World is one of my top Catholic novels, that happens to also be a dystopian genius work. Written in 1907 yet predicting an anti-Christ secular humanism, plus little things like high-speed rails and a kind of atom bomb. Benson was a Catholic priest convert. His other novel on the English Wreckovation (reformation) is called The King’s Achievement. Great way to feel like you are there at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
I can highly recommend any and all novels by the great Catholic author Michael D. O’Brien. Most especially Father Elijah. Mind blowing. Part of his Children of the Last Days series. And if you want an epic romp and family saga through long Canadian winter landscapes, his earlier Strangers and Sojourners starts that off. He is a brilliant writer and writer of icons as well.
Only meant that the infancy narratives book of Pope Benedict's is about 1/3 the length of his other Jesus of Nazareth books! Much more accessible. Thank you for these recommendations! I know my dad has Father Elijah on his shelf.
Carolyn- I haven’t read Christie in some time as well but have been dying to do so as it’s long overdue. I think it’s such a tragedy for many adults not to have time for a good murder mystery read every once in a while. They’re so good! Anyhow, thanks for the reminder! 🙏
Carolyn, I'm over the moon to see you're moving to substack! No medium is perfect, of course, but I love having all of my favorite bloggers popping up in my inbox here.
I think I'll bump "Wintering" up higher in my book stack so that I can actually get to it this winter, and also somewhat in tandem with Eleanor's book. Also adding the rest of these gems to my reading list!
For my snowed-in reads this year, I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading fiction. I always gravitate toward nonfiction these days, but I feel like my soul could use a good ol' story! I've been hankering to re-read "A Traveler in Time" by Alison Uttley as the weather gets colder here.
One of my favorite takeaways from Wintering is how our religious rituals for liturgical feasts can be SUCH a great witness to non-Christians! We focus so much on apologetics and evangelization that we forget a beautiful Christmas service might teach much more about worship and our identity in Christ than a theological book.
💯👏💯👏 YES!! Christ communicates through relationship, and the idea that we could ever 'convince' somebody of belief through argument, haranguing, or reciting just doesn't work for me. In our liturgical living group, we have a number of new-ish folks who are agnostic; they've become super-involved members at our gatherings...asking questions, wanting even more detail in the conversation we have about the saint/feast, and even offering to actively participate in the prayers & blessing before meals.
I've always seen the liturgical calendar as a holistic catechesis - just as I often say I never learned English grammar until I learned Latin, I never really encountered the depth of Scripture or theology until participating in the liturgical year.
You call Pope Benedict “quick and casual”?
Anyway, Lord of the World is one of my top Catholic novels, that happens to also be a dystopian genius work. Written in 1907 yet predicting an anti-Christ secular humanism, plus little things like high-speed rails and a kind of atom bomb. Benson was a Catholic priest convert. His other novel on the English Wreckovation (reformation) is called The King’s Achievement. Great way to feel like you are there at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
I can highly recommend any and all novels by the great Catholic author Michael D. O’Brien. Most especially Father Elijah. Mind blowing. Part of his Children of the Last Days series. And if you want an epic romp and family saga through long Canadian winter landscapes, his earlier Strangers and Sojourners starts that off. He is a brilliant writer and writer of icons as well.
Only meant that the infancy narratives book of Pope Benedict's is about 1/3 the length of his other Jesus of Nazareth books! Much more accessible. Thank you for these recommendations! I know my dad has Father Elijah on his shelf.
Substack cutting off last lines: “my dad has…”
he has O'brien's Father Elijah :)
Then you are meant to read it!