Recently in Book Review Category

Christmas with the Holy Fathers is a compilation of various writings from Holy Fathers throughout history that cover the period from Advent to Epiphany. The writings are taken from Wednesday audiences and other Papal speeches and are grouped together based on topic. At first I thought this book was a day by day guide through this period, but the writings are pretty muched grouped around the major events from Advent to Epiphany. It starts with several pages on Advent itself and then moves to the Feast of the Assumption with multiple writings on the feast and Mary in Particular. Christmas Eve, Christmas, and then Ephiphany make up the rest of the book. Included is forward by the always excellent Thomas Howard and Fr. Benedict Groeschel whose name seems to be on so many good books also "highly recommended" it.

There is a smattering of messages from Popes throughout history, but the brunt of the book consists mainly of popes from Pius XII through Pope Benedict and not suprisingly many from Pope John Paul II in particular. I greatly enjoyed the papal messages that were selected and found that they were a great companion when it comes to thinking more deeply on this liturgical season. I easily read through the entire book in a day, but for best effect I think it would be better to read it in smaller chunks during Advent to Epiphany. In fact I found this book so worthwhile that I probably will pick it up again this year and do just that. Besides you just can't go wrong with what the popes have written on the subject and in this case you might want to have your highlighter ready.

Jesus is My All in All: Praying with the "Saint of Calcutta" is a new book put together by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk and serves mainly as a novena. It starts with the obligatory biography of Blessed Mother Teresa and then nicely covers the purpose of a novena. This is frankly the most meditative novena I have ever read. The various passages written by Blessed Mother Teresa are mostly short, but filled thoughts to ponder. This is really a novena whose purpose is to bring you closer to Christ as you meditate on him and to bring into focus the thought for each day at th end of the novena. Included are also two litanies written by Mother Teresa that are also quite excellent, especially "Who is Jesus to me."

This is a small hardcover book that reminds me more in style of older prayer books in it's sturdy quality and the photographs throughout only add to the value of this book. This is a book that is not going to just be placed into the recesses of a bookshelf, but one to keep handy and reuse as a novena.

Our Sunday Visitor has once again put together a book containing Pope Benedict XVI's Wednesday Audience catechesis. This time around we have the period of audiences that dealt with the Apostolic Fathers up to St. Augustine. Via the media we get bits and pieces of his catechesis and it is so nice to hava a volume containing the full text with a good translation. The Pope covers the Fathers in his wonderful style that is not just biography but a look at their lives and their importance and contributions they made to the Church. He writes about all of them as if he personally knew them and really gets to the heart of who they were along with examining their writings. It really is amazing how much information he is able to pass along in a Wednesday Audience. Of course some of the Fathers were covered in multiple Audiences. It is no surprise that the last chapter on St. Augustine is the longest considering that Pope Benedict is a scholar of this saint. Considering this saints contributions it is not just scholars bias and I so enjoyed the insights the Pope had into St. Augustine. But really the same goes for all of the Fathers he covered including some of the lesser known ones. His coverage of Tertullian and Origen were especially interesting and he addressed their major contributions while also going into where they went wrong.

But really when it comes to any book or compilation of writing from Pope Benedict you really don't need a review, just a pointer that it is available so that you can get it.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Fathers.

Having finished reading Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen I can say I can put this in the category of one of my favorite books. Even at 400 plus pages it is an enjoyable read and Bishop Sheen's keeps you interested throughout. While the book is primarily an autobiography it is also much more. While his history from parish priest, to professor, and later having the number one television show in America is quite enough to hook you in you also get a beautifully written chapter on celibacy which provides one of the best explanations that I have read.

Since he ws born towards the end of the 1800's and lived to 1979 his life spans a considerable part of the modern history of the Church in the United States. He participated in the Second Vatican Council and got to know almost every pope of this period except Pope John Paul I.

Though what I enjoyed most in this book is his stories of people he met along the way. He seems to enjoy much more writing about other people than about himself. While all of this stories usually involve him and his influence on them towards repentance, he shows an obvious joy in these conversions as an act of God working in their lives. You also get the idea that even though the book is chock full of these wonderful stories is that he could easily have added thousand more. While he brought some rather famous people into the Church he really delights in telling of the conversion stories of the more average joe. Plus many of these stories are quite funny.

Bishop Sheen was not a Saint Vianney or a Padre Pio with the ability to read souls, though he was a close observer of the human person and was often able to discern someone's spiritual condition and what was bothering them. Kind of a Sherlock Holmes of the spiritual life. So his observations often were quite accurate in helpful him get past objections to the Church and there real reason for being upset about some aspect of the Church. He was also quite accurate in his observation of the world at large and was quite well known as an anti-Communist and predicted that Russia would take over Eastern Europe. Interestingly even though he was only around for the start of John Paul II's pontificate he said that he would be known as one of the greatest popes.

A biography can so easily turn to bragging and glossing over mistakes, but Bishop Sheen made quite sure to include his failings. His chapter on his time as Bishop of Rochester pretty much shows that he did not think he was very successful there and many of his ideas did not come to fruition and some were actively fought against. The longest chapter of the book was on various conversions, yet he ended it with also some of his failures in this regard. He also references his failing at being able to fast.

His chapter on humor including a lot of funny stories along with poems that bishops had written during Vatican II. These poems were hilarious. Bishop Sheen didn't consider himself to be a funny guy and thought he had a more serious deposition while appreciating humor. I don't think he knew himself that well in this regard because watching his old television show he had very good comedic talent and the timing to go with it. Though he wouldn't tell a joke just to tell a joke.

What tied Bishop Sheen together and what ties most of the book together is is advocacy of the Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Throughout his life he practiced this from before he was ordained until he died. This was his primary advocacy when he gave priestly retreats and something he held to be extremely important. He liked preaching on this because he knew he was practicing what he was preaching.

The edition I read is a new one put out by Image publishing and it is unabridged and includes plenty of photos from the bishop's life.

I have just finished Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession by Anne Rice and I found it to be a quite powerful conversion to Christ beautifully written. As someone who was a fan of so many of her books and was quite pleased with her two books on Jesus I was looking forward to reading this book.

A large section of the book starts with her experiences growing up Catholic in New Orleans where the local culture was decidedly Catholic and centered around parish life. She writes about her fascination with the church as a child and her interest in architecture, statues, stained glass windows, and all that made up most Catholic churches of that period. It reminded me of what Pope Benedict said about biblia pauperum . "The bible of the poor",comprised of non-literary works, such as icons, images, hymns, windows, etc. Before she could read she was able to learn about the Church and the lives of the saints to some extent. This interest in sacred architecture and statues was also something she was interested with throughout her life, ever her 38 years as an atheist. It was also something that was a possible anchor that later helped her back into the Church, though certainly not the deciding one. I have read many conversions stories of how these images and the sacramental nature of the Church later had an effect on bringing people back to the Church. She speaks of this time with much love about growing up in this time period where pretty much every person she came in contact with was Catholic. She gives her reflections on the traditional Mass and the Latin hymns she learned to love and gives us an insight into this particular time and place of Catholics in America and her desires at one time to become a nun.

Though all is not idyllic as she enters school which she hates, though she does not hate the nuns who taught her and holds them in very high esteem. Ironically it was reading that made school the most difficult for her and it would take her quite a while to really become a reader. She really pours herself in her writing as she describes her experiences and her family and the good and the bad situations that occurred within her family. Two of her aunts were nuns and her father had gone to seminary and so the Catholic view of life permeated most of her childhood. The Catholic schools she went to were quite good, but like man schools of the time a real introduction to scripture was lacking with much memorization of the Baltimore Catechism. While this type of memorization is a great first step it must be followed up with a greater understanding of theology, scripture and Church teaching.

I must say though that I was quite surprised by what her real first name is and can easily understand why she told the nuns her name was Anne and got her sisters to call her that also. Regardless of the Catholic culture she grew up with, like so many when she left to go to college it was not long until she no longer practiced her faith and then moved onto atheism. The transition from a childhood faith to ownership of that faith is often a difficult transition and a surface understanding of the faith is usually not enough. The intellectual vastness of the faith is something that unfortunately few seem to grasp and the Church gets reduced down to laws and rules.

The thirty eight years of her atheism is not really covered in depth. She takes great care to make this book a spiritual biography and only deals with events that would make her once more think of God and the route along the way that brought her back to the Church. She does deal with her vampire novels to some extent and the worldview they came out of that was directly related to her loss of spiritual life. But this book is not about her and her triumphs as an author, but of her journey. The last section of the book deals with the events that brought her back to the Church and I must say there were often tears in my eyes as I read what she had to write. Her conversion was a real act of humility as she put aside her doubts and to truly put her trust in Christ. At one point she writes "And why should I remain apart from Him just because I couldn't grasp all this? He could grasp it. Of course! It was love that brought me to this awareness, love that brought me into a complete trust in him ..." She also discusses what she felt was her call to write of Christ which have resulted into two novels so far and the intense reading of the Gospels and other books. The famous poem of Francis Thompson the Hound of Heaven plays a part and she describes herself as Christ haunted and felt that she was being pursued by God. Her insights into much of the skeptical biblical scholarship lead her to a quite orthodox Christology that you can see in those two books.

There is much in this book to recommend it and oddly for a conversion story I found it to be a real page turner. As a conversion story it is quite moving and her efforts to follow Christ and her recognition of herself as a baby Christian shows a surprising humility. There were many things she wrote that I as an ex-atheist could readily relate to. Also interesting was an awakening to the world of faith around her that she had really not seen and how Hollywood and others manage to not see it either. That being said I had a few quibbles here and there in what she wrote. It is quite obvious that throughout the book she favors women's ordination. She once wanted to be a priest and when told she couldn't she figured that this would change at some point. A priest told her at some point that at one time theologians debated whether women have souls (which is pretty much mythical). Her son has same-sex attraction and it is evident that she does not understand the Church's teaching since she seems to confuse condemnation of homosexual acts as condemnation of those who have the cross of same-sex attraction. The same goes for her understanding of sexual morality to some extent. She has an excellent understanding of Christology and hopefully she will come to a greater understanding of ecclesiology Though even when touching on these issues there was not a "me against the Church" attitude, but an evident willingness to come to a greater understanding and that following Christ was of the greatest importance.

So despite my quibbles I highly recommend this book because it is also a book on Christian discipleship, on living the faith and letting Christ lead you even into the unknown.

Since coming into the Church I have heard references to Hans Urs von Balthasar, but had never read any of his works. I knew he was quite admired by many including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Well I just read his Heart of the World due to a recommendation from one of Sr. Julia Darrenkamp YouTube videos she does for book recommendations. I must say I am stunned at how good this book is. Mostly it is a prolonged mediation on Jesus as the heart of the world that is mostly written from the viewpoint of Jesus. Usually books written in the first person of Jesus (or should that be 2nd person considering he is the 2nd person of the Trinity?) turn me off. But Hans Urs von Balthasar pulls it off that soon I was not thinking about a person trying to write as Jesus. This is just a wonderful book that I can recommend for all. Originally Sr. Julia had it as a Lent suggestion and while that is a good time to read this book, Advent or Ordinary time is fine as well. So now I will be definitely looking into reading more of his books.

Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols is the latest book by patristic scholar Mike Aquilina and a book I was looking forward to reading. In most cases we have some idea as to the root of some of the symbols that have been associated with Christianity, though we might not have the details of how this came to be and their significance in the early Church. Mike Aquilina looks the the symbols that came about in the first four centuries of the Church and does a chapter on each ones that explains their meanings and what historical information we have on them and where they were used. Included are plenty of drawings of these symbols throughout the book that show precisely how they were used.

When early uses of some symbols are more clouded in history he nicely gives some of the theories explaining their meanings. Often we also get references to writings of the Fathers of the Church along with others when it helps to illuminate how these symbols were used in liturgy or devotional practice. I really learned a lot from this book and while I had a general idea of meaning of many symbols I found a wealth of details. For example I will never look at the Ichthys when I see it on someone's bumper the same way. I knew how it came about and that it was a Greek acronym and often used in the early Church, but I had no idea about the Eucharistic overtones and some of the other theological depths involved. Being an ex-Navy Chief I was also pleasantly surprised to see how the anchor was another common symbol used and it's meaning.

This book is not meant to be an exhaustive reference of symbols used within the Church, but just the first four centuries. I enjoyed this book so much I would love to see another book in the same style that explains the symbols the Church used in later years and especially in the Middle Ages.

My one caveat about the book is not the content, but the color of the font used. The text is a dark brown color with a light font weight that I found more difficult to read. The color makes drawings turn out beautifully, but I would have much preferred they have had black text with the drawings being the color they used. Our Sunday Visitor has published books in recent years with multiple colors that made the book quite effective and I wish the same was done here. Though this is no real reason not to get this book.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Signs and Mysteries-Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols .

After having no power since Thursday afternoon because of Tropical Storm Fay I am finally online again. I must say I much prefer Fay Wray to TS Fay, but there was a typhoon heading to Hong Kong and I wonder if their is a name connection there.

Though I did get a lot of reading done. I was able to finish Tim Power's Earthquake Weather which is the third book in his Fault line series. I really do enjoy all of his novels for not just going the route of an alternate history, but a hidden history in our own time line. Declare is my favorite of his novels, but I enjoy all of them.

Next up I read Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy. I finally got around to reading his books and so far I am hooked. I certainly loved his wry humor and this book and such an accurate dissection of society. I especially loved this bit "... though for every Mother Teresa, there seem be be 1,800 nutty American nuns, female Clint Eastwoods who have it in for men and are out to get the Pope."

The next day I read Life of Christ by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. I had previously started it, but I read the last 600 pages of it throughout the day. This is certainly a great book along the lines of Frank Sheed's To Know Christ Jesus and The Lord by Romano Guardini where the story of Jesus via the four Gospels is told along with insights by the author. Pope Benedict's great book Jesus of Nazareth is also along these lines, but is more technical than a general retelling like the other books. If you have ever watched Archbishop Sheen's television show you will know some of the themes the he uses in the book, but mostly this is an excellent synthesis of Jesus' life. I received a copy of this book from Image publishing since it is the fiftieth anniversary of it's release. I had been meaning to getting around to reading this book since I have read many of his other books and am glad to have had the opportunity to read much of it in one day since it is really a classic. Highly recommended.

After that I read The Final Bow: A Novel by Alan David Justice. Happy Catholic had previously recommended a book this author podcast in full called The Communion of the Saint which was an enjoyable story in an Anglican storyline. The author is also an Anglican. The Final Bow is an earlier book that he wrote that is no longer in print, but I picked it up on Amazon used for less than a buck. I wanted to get this book since it tells the story of St. Genesius the actor who was reportedly martyred in Rome during the Emperor Diocletian. He is the patron saint of actors as well as jesters. Very little is known of this saint and so the author had a lot of leeway in telling the story. I really did enjoy the story which does a good job of giving the historical background of the persecutions by Diocletian of what turned out be be the last of these types of persecutions. The writing is solid along good characterization and of course when writing on a martyr you know how it is going to end. My only caveats were that an explanation of the Trinity by one character lapses into the heresy of modalism and the other is that while some martyrs are mentioned it seems popes like St. Marcellinus are not mentioned at all with no mention of the papacy, though not surprising coming from an Anglican writer. Still though an enjoyable read.

I am though really glad to have electricity and internet connectivity back. I was able to tweet my status one from a restaurant that had free wireless, but mostly I forcibly fasted from the internet and survived. I am also really thankful for LED book lights since they are really great for night reading for long periods of time without using a lot of battery power. My first instinct when a hurricane approaches to make sure I have batteries for my book light just in case.

I recently read Jesus and First-Century Christianity in Jerusalem by Elizabeth Mcnamer and Bargil Pixner that was sent to me for review by Paulist Press. The book starts with an overview of the Essenes and then the Nazoreans and then goes on to give a historical overview that includes Jesus' public years and then concentrates mainly on the Church in Jerusalem up to the year 135.  The overview of Jesus and subsequent resurrection is mainly straight-forward account as is the subsequent years of the Church in Jerusalem.  The book uses as source materials text such a  the Protoevangelium of James and historians of the era such as  Jophesus and later Eusebius along with others of that time period along of course with the Gospels.  So there is a lot of good information about the early Church specifically in regards to the Christians in Jerusalem.

I was glad to see the retelling of Jesus' public years was surprisingly free of sneering skepticism and it kept to the facts as told in the Gospels, though there were some exceptions.  Such as "Jesus may have had a life changing experience as he went to the Jordan near Jericho as he was baptized by John the Baptist."  This sentence made me laugh and sounds like the kind of stuff taught by those who say Jesus was ignorant they were God and many of the authors of some of the references do hold to such a view.  Later on we get a sentence questioning whether if some of the early presiders were women and then a confusion on the role of women deaconesses.  But this type of stuff was mostly the exception.

Also included was the standard fare about the Q document the mythical lost document used by Matthew and Luke.  Along with some rather late datings of the Gospels with for example Luke being dated at 85 A.D with the phase "scholars say."  "Scholars say" is used quite a lot in this book with no mention that this is by no means unanimous.  It really means "scholars who I am inclined to believe say." In fact whenever I see this phrase it is a cue for me to dig deeper.  So much of historical-criticism denies miracles and prophesies and so they are forced to argue for a much later dating after the year 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed.  That the prophesy of this destruction proves that it had to be after the event.  Though I think this "later Gospel" phase is receding and much better scholarship is being done now that puts them at a much earlier period of time.  Michael Barber in his excellent book book Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and Applying Its Lessons Today argues, I believe, persuasively for a dating of the Book of Revelation pre-70 A.D. While this book dates the Gospel of John as being done between 90 and 110. A.D. Well scholars say!

The biggest weakness of this book is that it sees Essenes everywhere.  "I see dead Essenes" could have been the tagline of the book. While some of the conjecture was quite interesting and some of it might actually be true.  There was just a bias to always interpret something to mean that it was influenced from the Essenes somehow.  Often we get this with John the Baptist, but in this case it extended to the family of Mary.  Even the date of the Last Supper was suppose to be Essene influenced which this books happened on Wednesday or on Tuesday night. That the man carrying a jug of water that Jesus sent his disciples to find must have been a Essene priest since only women carried water.   Or Acts 6:7 about a great number of priests converting to the faith must have been Essene priests since it was doubtful that Saducees would do so.  This totally leaves out the fact that there were about 2000 ordinary Temple priests in Jerusalem.  Everything is seen through Essene colored glasses with no caveats.  No doubt this is because one of the authors who is an ex Benedictine Monk has worked as an archaeologist in the Essene quarter.  There are certain some interesting correlations between the Essenes writings and some of what happened, but because of the bias it is hard to tell objectively what role they played which in this book is to a large extent.

This is a larger sized book with plenty of beautiful pictures included relating to Jerusalem.  Often though the pictures seemed to be included just to have pictures and didn't really relate to the text on the page they were on. The book piqued my interest into the early Church in Jerusalem, unfortunately it makes me have to look elsewhere to fulfill it.

I received a paper copy of Heaven's Song: Sexual Love as It Was Meant to Be by Christopher West which will be published in September of this year.  Once again he has done a great job of teaching the Theology of the Body as developed by John Paul II in an accessible manner.

The new book is based on the so-called "hidden" talks of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. These undelivered addresses were discovered in the Vatican archive and until recently were only in the Polish edition of "A Theology of the Body."  Michael Waldstein translated these into English in 2006 in the book Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology Of The Body.  The new material goes into  the Song of Songs and the Old Testament marriage of Tobias and Sarah from the book of Tobit along with material that would have not been appropriate for a General Audience.

The format of the book is that he starts with short stories of real life people and their common difficulties and then how they addressed using the Theology of the Body and then goes on from there.  Each chapter also ends with a section for reflections and a prayer. Christopher West then explains Pope John Paul II's teaching starting off with the Song of Song.  This Old Testament book is often passed over by many because we miss the deeper meaning of the book and people can be put of by the erotic poetry it contains.  They mystics though often included the Song of Songs as one of their favorites and wrote on it.  From St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Saint Louis de Montfort, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguor and others were nourished by these texts.  Christopher West refers to these saints as he expands upon the work of Pope John Paul II. Sometimes people are scandalized by the comparison of the sexual union of man and life as a metaphor for the relationship of God and man.  Some Protestants are scandalized by the writings of  St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguor and I have seen his writings quoted by anti-Catholics.

The total misunderstanding of sex goes through all levels of society from the secular to the religious.  The book explores the deeper meaning of sex as being sacred and how the Song of Songs relates to this.  This is really a wonderful scripture study of the Song of Songs that opens it up and helps you see past the prose that looks quite awkward through modern eyes.  These sections are worth the price of the book in themselves.  Once I first read the Book of Tobit it quick became one of my favorite Old Testament books, but I certainly missed much of the meaning of the book.  Pope John Paul II's catechesis relating to Tobit is a treasure and one that all married couples and those preparing for marriage need to be introduced this understanding. 

Christopher West has a great talent in presenting deep theology in such a way that you are not put off, but are drawn deeper into it.  His latest book is no exception and like all of his book you don't need to read anything of his beforehand - they all stand alone.  I highly recommend Heaven's Song.

If Pope John Paul II ever becomes a Doctor of the Church it will be because of The Theology of the Body which is a great gift to the Church and one that the world certainly needs.

This review is part of the Catholic Company's Product Review Program.

Soul and the City is a book by Marcy Heidisk which subtitles itself "Finding God in the Noise and Frenzy of Life." This is certainly a worthwhile and much needed topic when the spiritual life is often drowned out by just pure busyness and activity after activity.  This book though is both hit and miss in giving answers to this topic.  Where the book succeeds is when the author describes the struggles of people she knows to life a spiritual life.  Especially good were some of the stories from when she worked in a homeless shelter of the people within and their efforts at living a life of prayer.  This book comes under the category of "Christian Living" and so is rather generic when it comes to a specific charism of spirituality.  The author seems widely read among Catholic and Protestant sources and much of the advice given is solid such as working to see Christ in others among the busy streets.  Of seeking quiet and simplicity while also giving of yourself to others.  Not exactly surprising themes and mostly an application of the Gospel in the specific context of city life. 

I found most of the advice as being too generic such as visiting museums and cultural events to nourish the spiritual life.  Certainly seeking beauty through the arts is quite necessary, but she offers no caveats as to the type of art we will often run into in modern life.   My main complaint with the book is that it is rather too broad.  While it does not fall into the "I am spiritual, but not religious" trap, inadvertently it comes close to it when it speak of spirituality.  While certainly the book is Christian spirituality to me at times spirituality comes before Christ.  The chapters of the book are also rather inverted in that worship Of God and gratitude for his grace are the last two chapters in the book. Though there are references to the Gospels throughout and the Psalms.

Despite these deficiencies I would have seen this book as somewhat worthwhile for beginners in a life of pray but for the references to centering prayer.  The author herself recommends it and quotes Fr. Pennington throughout the book.  Maybe this explains the shallow spirituality of the book.  Centering prayer can turn into self-centering prayer and their are plenty of horror stories of disaster to someone's prayer life who have entered into this type of prayer as it can become a form of self-hypnosis.  Not that everybody will have problems such as these since some just practice centering prayer as a form of quieting yourself to enter into prayer.  I also wondered throughout the book exactly whether the author was Catholic. Lutheran, or some other form of Protestanti.  She seem to go to Mass and other services on a regular basis and this adds to generic spirituality of the book.

Also lacking was any concept of growing in holiness, of overcoming faults, and personal sin which is a major fault for any book addressing this topic.  A growing love of God and neighbor will only highlight our own faults and advancement in the life of prayer requires more than the simple advice this book gives.  I also found that this book needed some editing since I sometimes found mistakes in it such as using "Jesus's" for the possessive.  In fact one mistake in the book had me laughing.

"Holy people aren't necessarily found among the canonized saints."

I don't want to pile on in this review, but the book left me unsatisfied.  Here was a great premise of Soul in the City as a play on Sex in the City and giving what could have been a popular treatment of the spiritual life in Christ amongst the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  A promise made but not fulfilled.

The last couple of days I have been immersed in two books that back to back kept me from doing much else then reading them.

Over the last year or so I had read about the upcoming novel Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolf and Archbishop John J. Myers. Gary Wolf is best know for his novels with Roger Rabbit and he was a childhood friend with John Myers who became the Archbishop of New Jersey. Now surely a Catholic and lover of SF such as myself would be intrigued by a SF novel co-written by an Archbishop. Now there have been some prominent Catholics in regards to SF. Saint Thomas More wrote one of the first SF novels Utopia, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson wrote in the genre, and there have been great Catholic SF authors such as Walter M. Miller, Jr and of course the preeminent Gene Wolfe.

Space Vulture will not go down in the annals of SF as being great, but it is not meant to. This book is a homage to Space Hawk a book loved by John Myers as a kid and one he introduced to his friend Gary Wolf. This book attempts to capture the spirit of the Golden Age of SF and it mostly succeeds at this. Space Vulture is a space opera with a villain who is really bad (not misunderstood) and a hero who is really good with a strict moral code. Along the way the characters have their adventures and fights and it is all mostly predictable while still be a good read. Space Vulture is the equivalent of a Popcorn Movie, you don't expect much but you still finish the book quite satisfied. At times the dialogue can be a little cheesy and you suspect that they were trying to copy the writing that so often appeared in Planet Stories and other and other SF magazines that specialized in swashbuckling adventure. Now you might wonder how an Archbishop being involved in this might affect the story especially when it comes to religion. Well Space Vulture does not hit you over the head with religion and sticks to moral themes so you get a lot of black and white when it comes to good and evil with some redemption along the way. I thoroughly liked the characters that kept from being stereotypes while at the same time being stereotypes.

I found this to be a quite fun book and I certainly enjoyed it and by the ending it looks like it is setup to have some future sequels to it. The cover design is also pretty good which gives you a sense of the era and making it look like the book is a little old. Though if they were going for the Planet Stories books they forgot to include the "glamorous brunette Spae-Babe" that John C..Wright proved is a necessary part of Science Fiction.

This book has received postive reviews from some interesting quarters. On one side you have Stan Lee and then you have people like Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J. an Gene Wolfe.

When I first read about The Tripods Attack! (The Young Chesterton Chronicles) the concept fascinated me. Though I really wasn't expecting that it would deliver what it would promise by the concept. In a alternate timeline a young Gilbert Keith Chesterton sets out on a adventure that includes a similar young H.G. Wells, Fr. Brown, and a person known as the Doctor. In this Edwardian timeline the world is much different where mechanical difference engines are the prime technology along with steam. So what we have is kind of a steam-punk novel with G.K. Chesterton. Great and fun concept, but could it be done right? Well after two days with a 360 some page novel I whole-heartily say yes! Now I truly love the writings of G.K. Chesterton so I had a bias in wanting to like this novel, but since it was classed as young adult I was quite skeptical at first. This though is no Hardy Boys adventure and I certainly am no longer a young adult. Though I think a young adult audience would enjoy it. Each chapter begins with a short quotation from G.K. Chesterton, but the young Gil is not yet at the height of his philosophical powers. As the characters progress throughout the story we do get treated through to the world of Chesterton prominently thorough Fr. Brown, but also through the young Gil. Conversations between the Fr. Brown, Gil, Herbert Wells, and the Doctor give ample opportunity into exploring our own timeline's G.K. Chesterton. Though this isn't a book that hits you over the head with his ideas, but manages to seamlessly weave them into the story so the novel in no ways seems like a lecture.

There is plenty of action and adventure along the ways as they deal with the Tripods and the events that go around them. I found this to be a fully satisfying book. Well written, great characters, and plot with some nice turns. I was happy to read after finishing this novel that this will be a trilogy. To which I can only say hurry up and finish the next instatement John McNichol!

After reading Anne Rice's Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana I thought a lot about the consciousness of Christ and wanted to read up on the subject. I had remembered in my various readings several references to a recommended book on the subject called "The Consciousness of Christ" by Fr. William George Most. I was disappointed to find that the book was mostly not available until I was delighted to find all of Fr. Most's works are available at Catholic Culture in the Most Theological Collection.

For those who don't know Fr. Most was a theologian and scripture scholar who died in 1999. As I was coming into the Church I read many of his articles and posts since at the the time he was answering scriptural questions on EWTN's forums. I think it is too bad that there are so many other theologians and scripture scholars who are much more well known than Fr. Most was. You would have never seen Fr. Most on the History Channel, Discovery, or TLC in just another one of the dumb shows talking about scripture and biblical history. Fr. Most was a faithful priest and that doesn't make your scholarship too popular.

His book "The Consciousness of Christ" was exactly what I was looking for to answer the questions I had and to more fully understand what the Church teaches on this subject. The introduction to the book Can we Trust the Gospels? is an excellent essay on the subject in and of itself. Since their has been so much biblical criticism that seeks to deny so much of scripture this essay takes up the topic nicely. The end of the book even includes three appendixes which server as a in depth critique of form criticism and the way it has been used.

In the last century there has been much talk on the so-called ignorance of Jesus and the ideas proposed by Fr. Raymond Brown and others that Jesus did not know he was God. This idea has come to be accepted by many people and is routinely taught. Several scriptures form the Gospel appear at first to make this case such as when Jesus says he "does not know the day or the hour." Fr. Most goes through the scriptures as to related to Jesus' apparent ignorance, lack of foreknowledge, the knowledge concerning the Parousia. He details all of the scriptures often used to back up these assertions made by Rudolf Bultman, Fr. Raymond Brown and others. The then examines these scriptures in details and then examines them in their context. Later he looks a the Patristic evidence regarding these scriptural passages and how the Church came to interpret them. There is a definite development of doctrine that really starts quite early when it comes to these issues. The heresies that tried to rip the Church apart in the fourth century and beyond often came down to the view of Christ's consciousness and the false divide trying to split the humanity and divinity of Jesus apart. After this he goes into what the Magisterium has officially taught about Jesus' consciousness. It is quite clear from the Magisterial statements made that the human soul of Jesus enjoyed the beatific vision even from the first moment of His conception. Something many people who were taught novelties in their Catholic education might be surprised to hear.

I really found this book to be a great read and certainly not just dry theology. The concept of "accommodation" in the sense of what the Greek Fathers called oikonoma in what Pope Gregory the Great and others taught in regards to Jesus saying he did not know the day and the hour is quite illuminating. Many passages you wonder about are answered quite well in this book and taught in such a manner that even layman such as myself can easily digest it. Throughout the book he directly answers arguments primarily made by Fr. Raymond Brown and then others in a thorough manner. Though he does it in a scholarly and not polemic manner. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Answering the New Atheism: Dismantling Dawkins' Case Against God is a new book book by Dr. Scott Hahn and Benjamin Walker. When Scott Hahn had heard that there were students at Franciscan University of Steubenville losing their faith after reading Dawkins' The God Delusion he decided to write a book that specifically addressed Richard Dawkins' arguments. Even though the arguments that Dawkins' uses don't hold up to much rigor he writes in such a way that many people will be convinced by them. Even some of his fellow atheists after reading his book had said much the same thing about some of his arguments. Fr. Benedict Groeschel is fond of saying that he could write a better book defending atheism than Richard Dawkins' did. That being said many people just don't have the background to see the logical and philosophical errors made and this book provides and excellent counterpoint to Dawkins' contentions. While this book specifically addresses the arguments personally made by Richard Dawkins' it pretty much applies to many of the arguments used by all of the "new atheists."

I have never read any of Dawkins' books myself. When I was an atheist I didn't read any atheist apologetics until I started to lose my atheist faith and wanted to save it. This book though quotes extensively from the arguments used in "The God Delusion" and some of his other books to fairly state them. You also get a good idea how polemical Dawkins' book is from some of the statements quoted. This book though in contrary is not polemical towards Dawkins'. As is proper the arguments used by the authors stick to the realm of reason it does not rely on revelation at all. The focus of the book is not an apologetics work specifically towards Christianity or even atheism, but a direct response to Dawkins' reasoning for atheism.

Since one of Dawkins' main thrusts is to equate what is impossible as just highly improbable this book takes those arguments head on by showing how at times Dawkins' minimizes the numeric improbabilities of things happening purely by chance. Though this isn't done as Intelligent Design versus Darwinian evolution, but to answer certain claims that Dawkins' uses as proofs. This section of the book uses the type of information that was influential in bringing influential ex-atheist Anthony Flew from atheism to theism. Anthony Flew has even praised this book by saying "Rarely, if ever in my many years as a procfvessor of philosophy did I hever have the opportunity to read such a compelling argument."

The latter sections of the book deal to a large part with Dawkins' philosophy and his grounds for morality. This is really where Dawkins' case is weakest since he has such a poor grasp of real theological arguments and philosophy. In Dawkins' world straw men evolve quite quickly. He never seems to realize how the arguments he uses to bash religion, especially Christianity in many cases could be more aptly used against his view of how evolution works. It is quite evident that his own worldview departs from his chance-based evolutionary scheme when he feels it necessary to do so and will not quite go along with the conclusions of what he preaches. He is obviously trying to prove at times that atheists can be good people - something I would totally agree with. My own experience was that when I did something morally good when I was an atheist it was not because of my atheistic faith, but often despite it.

Richard Dawkins' also tries to show that religious believers have nothing to worry about from atheists such as himself while at the same time calling religion a "mind virus" and teaching religion to children as "child abuse." The last chapter of the book is an interesting theoretical exercise in the consequences of what a society that had a King Dawkins at its helm and followed what he has said would be like. Not a pretty picture if you take seriously that teaching religious belief is "child abuse" and that euthanasia, bestiality, and infanticide are "moral" choices.

I found this to be an excellent book and Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker have really done their homework in answering Dawkins' arguments in a very accessible way. Many of the arguments of the new atheists are not as strong as they appear and this book serves as a good inoculation to those arguments.

Our Daily Bread: Glimpsing the Eucharist Through the Centuries by Fr. Ralph Wright takes a look a writings on the Eucharist going from the New Testament, through the Church fathers, and then through the centuries up to the modern day. At 129 pages this book is not meant to be an exhaustive reference on quotes on the Eucharist, but a sampling throughout Church history. As you might expect it shows the unity of Church teaching on the Eucharist and how from the very beginning the reality of true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ was taught.

The book is divided into chapters covering each century. At the beginning of these chapters a poem is presented. They are primarily written by the author of the book. I don't have the capability to know whether they are good poems or not. There is very little commentary on introductions in this book. This is a good thing since he lets the texts speak for themselves. There were often quotes from the saints and others on the Eucharist I had not run across before and this certainly makes it a good reference. The last chapter goes on to quote from Vatican II and then Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. I am usually wary of books from Paulist Press and am glad that a couple of recent books from them are quite good and don't undermine the faith. This book is an excellent collection of passages on the Eucharist.

John Paul II and the Meaning of Suffering: Lessons from a Spiritual Master by Robert G. Schroeder

takes a close reading of Salvifici Doloris and the life of Pope John Paul II to write on the subject of suffering. The topic of suffering and why it exists is such a large one and one that often scandalizes people when it comes to faith in God. That there is a meaning to suffering is one of the more valuable things that the Church teaches. The writings by Pope John Paul II and especially his encyclical on suffering are certainly an excellent guide for the subject. The late Pope was certain a man of suffering while still living a life of joy. The author of the book has encountered his own sufferings which led him to further investigate the meaning of suffering which led him to write this book. If found it to be not only a good introduction on this topic, but a book that goes deeper into the topic.

My Visit to Hell by Paul Thigpen is an interesting take on the classic Dante theme. I had heard the author speak about this book on the radio and so decided to order it. Paul Thigpen is a Catholic apologist and has written several books and this fictional one was originally released as a novel called Gehenna. He has rewritten it to bring cultural references up-to-date and to rewrite parts of it as he understanding of the theology had changed. He uses the Dante topology of Hell to tell the story of a modern seminary professor and his journey through Hell. The professor was the type to not believe in Hell and to enjoy undermining the faith of his students. I quite enjoyed this updating of Dante and the theology behind it. It gives you much to think about and while nothing will rival Dante's original work - this book is well worth reading. Though any tour through Hell can not exactly be called enjoyable reading.

Odd Hours is the forth book in Dean Koontz Odd Thomas series. I greatly love this series and the latest book is no exception. Fans of the series will also not be disappointed in the latest entry. The action starts a lot quicker and the stakes are much higher, but you still get the essential Odd Thomas character. For the uninitiated Odd Thomas is quite an intriguing character. A humble young man that can see some ghosts and uses his abilities to try to stop tragedies. In modern novels and movies I am so tired of the anti-hero and it is so refreshing to have a character in a different mode that while not perfect is also not seriously flawed.

Basilica Press has a series of booklets called Shepherds Voice where bishops in a question answer format cover a specific topic. I reviewed the first two books in the series before and I will be looking at the next three in the series now.

Draw Near to Me, O Lord: Heartfelt Prayers for Everyday Life by Cardinal Arinze is mostly a prayer book with prayers covering a range of circumstances. The book starts off with a concise introduction to prayer and addresses the various types of prayer. The rest of the booklet is full of prayers that the Cardinal has written himself. Now his prayers are not great works of prose or crafted as poems, but very straightforward prayers. He covers quite a large range of everyday subject dealing with for example prayers before driving your car, thanking God for a new job, various ones dealing with the virtues, marriage, vocational discernment, children. There are prayers for all phases of life and everything from the more mundane to more serious prayers. What I like about his prayers is that they are open to every part of life, just as we should be open to prayer for every part of life and that there is no part of our day that should be excluded from prayer. Cardinal Arinze obviously takes St. Paul's injunction to pray always and this book is helpful in helping us to do the same.

If you are going to have a booklet on vocations it is harder to imagine a better bishop for the subject then Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz whose dinky diocese manages to have more priestly vocations than diocese magnitudes of sizes larger. God's Plan for You: Understanding Your Personal Vocation does not disappoint in this regard. This book though is not priestly vocation centric and really covers the whole topic of vocation. Starting from everyone's vocation to holiness he goes on to deal with vocations to the married life, to the single life, and to the priestly and consecrated life. The range of questions he questions he answers covers discernment to each of these vocation, and to what these vocations mean, and other aspects of answering the call to God's plan for you. For a 42 page book I am really amazed at how much ground he covers and how succinctly he answers the questions. So often when we talk about vocations we just use this word as a shortcut to mean priestly vocations. This booklet doesn't make that mistake and so it's audience is pretty much for everybody. In my opinion I hope this book becomes widely used because I consider it outstanding and extremely useful both for parents and for young adults.

The next book in the series concentrates on the vocation to marriage. What God has Joined: A Catholic Teaching on Marriage by Kevin W. Vann is another home run. This is a great catechism on marriage and is one of the longer books in the Shepherds Voice series. Though it is a very manageable 63 page. This booklet should be given to everybody preparing for marriage within the Catholic Church. It covers the deep theological meaning of marriage, sexual morality, living the sacrament of marriage, tough questions concerning marriage, and finally marriage preparation. Bishop Vann has also done an excellent job in discussing all of these topics. You get the fullness of what the Church teaches on marriage in a manner that should be easily understood. All of the common questions that most people would have are answered and you can see the unity of the theology of what the Church teaches. There is so much misunderstanding when it comes to human sexuality and marriage and it is lovely to see these subject coherently written about in the light of the truth.

I have been quite enthused about all of the books in this series and I love the fact that the faith is taught fully in a manner that is easily digestible. Having an short question with an answer ranging only a couple of paragraphs is not daunting to most people and ensures that these books if given out will actually be read. I kept the first two books in the series in my desk for easy reference since I found them useful when wanting the references on a topic they covered.

Recently finished Literary Giants, Literary Catholics by Joseph Pearce. I always enjoyed hearing him speak when I have heard him on Catholic radio and finally got around to getting one of his books. It now looks like I need to buy the rest of his books. I can't say I normally read with pleasure 400+ pages of essays, but I certainly did in this case. The book largely covers converts to the Church, especially from England, whose lives are often remembered by their literary output. So there is coverage of John Henry Cardinal Newman, Chesterton, Belloc, Ronald Knox, T.S. Eliot, J.RR.Tolkien, Oscar Wilde, Roy Cambell, Evelyn Waugh, and a slew of others.

The first part deals with tradition and conversion in modern English literature along with the landscape of the 20th century. From there we go on to The ChesterBelloc (I loved this section), The Wasteland which deals with the war poets and the ultramodern poets and other literary stars, a section dealing with the Inklings, and finally various essays that take as their launching pad the literary converts, but also goes into other subjects. Each of these section contain a large number of essays and while there is a lot of overlap between them, it is a positive overlap. Joseph Pearce is a fine literary writer himself and even though his specialty is biographies he has great insights into these writers and is able to write quite wonderfully about them.

It really is rather amazing how many converts there were that came from the literary world, especially the high number of conversions from the writers known as the Decadents. It is also interesting how much consternation this caused among other writers who were shocked at people like T.S. Eliot entering Anglicanism and Evelyn Waugh entering the Church. We really don't have anything comparable today of large number of literary authors entering the Church, but then again we hardly have anything comparable to the quality of these authors in the literary world in the first place. These people surely are literary giants.

I am a bit ashamed to say that if I myself had never entered the Church I might never had read any of these authors in the first place. I kept myself pretty much in a SF, fantasy, and horror ghetto and only occasionally delved into other genres. Coming into the Church I would find these other writers mentioned quite often and so started reading these authors. It is hard to imagine life without these authors now who have become like old friends to me. Though there are plenty of other authors referenced in the book that I will also need to familiarize myself with.

What I so enjoy about Pearce's writing is his enthusiasm on the subject and he pulls you in along with him into the topic at hand. It is an enthusiasm based on a deep knowledge of the authors filled with a wealth of biographical details to help you better understand their work. Highly recommended.

Gut Check: Confronting Love, Work, and Manhood in Your Twenties is a interesting new book by Tarek Saab. I only recently became aware of Mr. Saab as I heard him being interviewed on several Catholic podcasts and he presents an interesting story. One of his claims for fame is that he was a contestant on the reality show The Apprentice and he advanced fairly far before being fired by Donald Trump. I've never seen the show since so-called reality shows aren't my thing. But the book itself only talks very peripherally about his experience on the show and the book addresses much more serious topics.

Tarek Saab is the son of a Lebanese father and American mother and grew up Catholic. The book mostly begins with his experiences in college and the story he tells will be familiar to many. His schooling becomes a time when faith is put on the back burner and partying and chasing after women becomes the number one priority. Though Tarek never quite loses his faith in school and would still attend Mass as more of a social thing than out of any love for the Mass. While going to school at times he evaluates his life and sees the wrong in it and then sets himself out on the right path only to stumble and fall back once again into familiar habits. Something else that many of us can relate to. He relates these periods of self-reflection and the pursuit of a belief in God.

This book follows around the course of a conversion story, but it is not an overtly apologetic one of coming to fully believe in specific doctrines and making the case for them. His story is more of someone who never quite leaves faith out of his life, but at the same time never fully lets his faith enter into his whole life. He kept his faith in a sphere separate and groups of friends within each sphere. After college he enters a Fortune 500 company and is soon on the fast track in the corporate life.

Reading through the book I was reminded of St. Augustine's "Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.", something that he also later goes on and quotes in the book. He writes in a forthright manner and is quite frank on his failings and the various episodes in his life before his fuller conversion. I found his spiritual biography to be quite insightful with many things to ponder. You could see the hound of Heaven following him and while at first he was not fully living a life as a Catholic, his Catholic faith was always there even if in a weakened state. This is a good reminder to those with children who have left the practice of the faith or have only made it a cultural expression. God is always pursuing is and there are those moments of grace when we slow down and actually let him catch us.

I found this to be a quite enjoyable read and Tarek is a good writer who could write about himself without at the same time making the book all about himself and making his story relatable to others.

The Last Secret of Fatima is a new book by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State that is mainly a discussion of his three visits with Carmelite nun and seer Sister Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart. This book will be coming out on May 6th.

Not many books get an introduction written by Pope Benedict XVI, but this one does. The Last Secret of Fatima delves into the story of Fatima, the three secrets, and the various controversies that surround them - especially the third secret. Though Fatima is not the only focus of this book. The book is actually an interview by an American Adrian Walker a theologian living in Europe and who was also the translator for the English version of Pope Benedict's XVI. In some ways this book is similar to the book length interviews by Peter Seeward of then-Cardinal Ratzinger, except much more focused on one topic.

This book mainly expects the reader to already be familiar with the overall details of Fatima and the visit of Mary to the three peasant children Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta. While there is some discussion of the history of Fatima the book concentrates on events since then. Cardinal Bertone entered the picture while working at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was sent by Pope John Paul II to speak to Sister Lucia. This was prior to the beatifications of Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto and the subsequent release of the third secret of Fatima. Pope John Paul II who was shot on the anniversary of Fatima always held that it was Our Lady who guided the bullet and prevented his death. This conviction lead him to place a part of the bullet in the crown of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

Ever since people first learned that there was third secret of Fatima there has of course been plenty of speculation as to what it contained and many of these speculations were rather apocalyptic. There was also speculation that there also might have been a forth secret being held at the Vatican. For this and other reasons Cardinal Bertone spoke with Sister Lucia to verify the document they held was the same one that she wrote and that it was indeed complete. She verified this along with other matters concerning the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is rather sad that so much attention has been paid to less consequential details when the message of Our Lady of Fatima which highlights the Gospel and gives a call to repentance is ignored.

While the fact that Sister Lucia confirmed the third secret along the the consecration of Russia being accepted by Mary has been released in the past, what I found most intriguing about the book was the personage of Cardinal Bertone himself along with his impression of Sister Lucia herself. The humility of Sister Lucia comes across in the pages of the book along with something of her personality. While she wrote four books on her life in connection with Fatima and corresponded in countless letters throughout her life you don't get to see an outsider's viewpoint. Cardinal Bertone was certainly impressed by her and said he would testify to her heroic sanctity if called on to do so. He also thought it was evident that Sister Lucia had continued to have visions of Mary over the years, but this was something that she would not verify or talk about with him.

The interviewer asked good questions that covered a range of topics concerning Fatima and Cardinal Bertone was always up to the task of providing a in depth answer along with his own insights. Along the way their were excellent discussion on apparitions, devotions, and how they fit in within Church teaching and the difference between public and private revelation. Many behind the scenes details are supplied about the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta and the decision that it was time to release the third secret of Fatima. Besides Pope John Paul II then-Cardinal Ratzinger also is prominent in this book, especially since he was the one who wrote the theological commentary that accompanied the third secret and is an appendix at the end of the book. The later chapters start to range away from Fatima and become more of a straight interview with the Cardinal. This though is a good thing and I really came to appreciate this Salesian Cardinal both for his intellect and his good humor. Especially since even as Secretary of State he does not have the diplomats ways of talking and was quite frank in answering various questions throughout the book.

I doubt thought the the information given in this book will do much to convince those who think that the Vatican is hiding another secret, altered the one that was released, or think that the consecration of Russia has not yet been done. Though for the rest of us that are not so conspiracy minded I can certainly recommend this book even for those who are not interested in the various controversies surrounding Fatima.

Danny Gospel is the first novel of David Athey who has been primarily previously published in literary journals. This is not an easy book to describe, the enjoyment is in reading it. The novels main character Danny Gospel is from a farm family that goes out and sings old time Gospel songs and spirituals around the midwest and thus the family became known as the Gospels. This provides a background to the character, but the novel is not some overly pious representation of some idealized Gospel singers. Instead what came to mind the most to me when reading this novel was the novels of Flannery O'Connor, that is if Flannery O'Connor lived in the midwest instead of the south. Danny Gospel wants to write a spiritual, but does not feel that he has suffered enough even as the book unfolds with his life and memories of the past and the severe difficulties he has gone thought. These disasters all come to a point and the book takes off from there as you learn the back story and how he deals with it.

I must admit that I was quickly hooked to the writing of the book and this novel had me reading well into the night even later than is normal for me. The character of Danny Gospel is so intriguing and there is so much lighthearted humor in the book in the face of the situations he faced. There are also plenty of Catholic elements in the novel where the father is Catholic and the mother and grandmother our devout Protestants and Danny Gospel himself is influenced in a Catholic direction. I just found so much to like about this novel in the way that it was written and the story told. I wish I had the writing talent to write the review this book deserves, this is a seriously good novel as Dale Alquist and others would attest to.

Disclaimer: David Athey is a reader of my blog and sent me a copy of his book.

Slowly though I have come to know more personally the man behind the words and have only grown to love him more over time. Though seeing the Pope on a more personal level is difficult since may of the books that address him cover mainly his career with some basic details of his life before going to Rome. I was quite happy to receive Benedict of Bavaria An Intimate Portrait of the Pope and His Homeland recently and figured there was no better time to read it than during the Papal visit. This was exactly the book that I hoped it would be from its title.

The author Brennan Pursell is a convert to the faith and covers his own conversion in the first chapter of his book and his subsequent interest in Josef Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. While the author is an American his wife is German and the book shows that he was quite able to give a perspective of the Pope and his connection to Bavaria to give you a fuller understanding of the man.

The majority of the book covers the time from Josef Ratzinger's birth to his time at Regensburg before going to rome to head the CDF. I am really glad that he spent so much time on this part of the Pope's life since this is the part that I am quite interested in since I have already read plenty on the later chapters of his life. The book is loaded with details and insights into how Catholic Bavaria influenced the Ratzinger family and the connection and pull it had on his life. It is no secret that the Pope desired to go back home and retire with his brother and had requested to retire a couple of times while acting as prefect of the CDF. Seeing the Pope through the lens of Bavaria is quite useful and I felt necessary in coming to a deeper understanding of the man of him as a person.

There were plenty of details I had not seen in print before and though while the book relies on what the Pope has written himself in Milestones and other places there is a good amount the author found through other sources. The book calls itself an intimate portrait and I found that to be true in showing the Pope's family life and his later life with his brother and sister. There are some great stories in this book and I especially loved details like the nicknames given to the two brothers while in seminary. The German nicknames translate roughly to Organ-Ratz and Book-Ratz and it doesn't take too much imagination to determine which of the brothers is Book-Ratz.

The last chapters of the book cover his years in the CDF and then finally as Pope while giving a good overview of the major milestones in what will shortly be three years of his pontificate. Again though what I enjoyed most was the little details that more showed Josef the man and it really it quite amazing that a person with such a great intellect has the humility to match it. It seems to me that these qualities are rarely matched in the same proportions. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Pope than a more sterile biography would give.

Recently I received A Grace Given for review written by Kent Gilges. This book was both a joy to read and hard to read. In it Kent Gilges who is the father of Elizabeth a child born with a brain tumor is told. This is truly a story of faith and profound grace. Often it reminded me of what C.S. Lewis had told to Sheldon Vanauken that the had received a severe mercy.

The book is written quite wonderfully and it is evident that the author is a talented writer able to relate a tragic story that becomes not so tragic through grace. The author came from a pretty much non-religious background and could be best described as a lapsed-agnostic. There was not a denial of God, but neither much acceptance of God in his life. His wife is Catholic and you can see his own journey in faith and his questioning throughout the book. While his trajectory towards the Catholic Church is evident in the book, it does not appear evident that he has yet joined the Church.

It is such a testament to grace that this couple in the struggle of acceptance of the reality of their daughter illness and the subsequent time caring for her that they never went through a period of doubting and blaming God. There is such beauty and acceptance in them and so much love for their daughter that this book is best read with a box of tissues nearby. You come to know and love their daughter yourself through her fathers' eyes. Their praying for a miracle and going to Lourdes and receiving a private audience with Pope John Paul II are part of the story, but it is the miracles of grace that are most evident in this book.

The book is written as both a sequential retelling of the events as they occurred and with various stories and reflections throughout. This book deserves a wide audience as a testament to Elie and her parents love for her along with the effects of grace in their lives.