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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Sunday Snippets: A Catholic Carnival


Hello, and welcome to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for  the week--whether they deal with theology, Catholic living or cute Catholic kids. I'm mostly a book blogger so my posts are generally book reviews, some Catholic, some not. Make sure that post links back here. Once you publish it, come back here and leave a link below.

We also have a yahoogroup; signing up for it will get you one weekly reminder to post. Click here to sign up.  

Two book reviews for me this week:  A general market romance and a Catholic book that expresses a very different view  from that romance about how to live love and marriage.  




Review: Defending Marriage -- Twelve Arguments for Sanity



About the Book:
Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity is a rousing, compelling defense of traditional, natural marriage. Here, Anthony Esolen—professor at Providence College and a prolific writer uses moral, theological, and cultural arguments to defend this holy and ancient institution, bedrock of society—and to illuminate the threats it faces from modern revolutions in law, public policy, and sexual morality. 

Inside, discover: 
- Traditional marriage’s roots in age-old religious, cultural, and natural laws 
- Why gay marriage is a metaphysical impossibility 
- How acceptance and legal sanction of gay marriage threatens the family 
- How the state becomes a religion when it attempts to elevate gay marriage, and enshrine as a civil right all consensual sex 
- How divorce and sexual license have brought marriage to the brink 
- How today’s culture has impoverished and emptied love of its true meaning 

In Defending Marriage Esolen expertly and succinctly identifies the cultural dangers of gay marriage and the Sexual Revolution which paved its way. He offers a stirring defense of true marriage, the family, culture, and love—and provides the compelling arguments that will return us to sanity, and out of our current morass. 

My Comments:
This is an interesting book that will not doubt find many critics, including, to some degree, me.The book is divided into twelve chapter, one for each argument.  They are:
  • We must not give the sexual revolution the force of irrevocable law
  • We must not enshrine in law the principle that sexual gratification is a personal matter only, with which society has nothing to do
  • We should not drive a deeper wedge between men and women
  • We must recover the virtues of modesty and purity
  • We should not foreclose the opportunity for members of the same sex to forge friendships with each other than are deep, chaste and physically expressed
  • We must not condone all forms of consentual sexual activity
  • We must not seal ourselves in a regime of divorce
  • To celebrate abnormal behavior makes it worse, not better for those inclined to engage in it
  • We should not subordinate the welfare of children to the sexual predilections of adults
  • We should not give godlike power to the state
  • The beauty of the country of marriage
The book is a robust defense of traditional gender roles, traditional Catholic understanding of sexuality and Catholic sexual morality.  It is  Esolen's argument that by straying from these beliefs and behaviors we have made ourselves less happy and our children less secure.  Esolen is a critic of the modern academic area of gender studies.  He opposes the idea that just because two people of the same sex shared a close friendship and a bed means they were homosexual and engaed in erotic behavior.  Esolen quotes literature, not only Scripture in support of his ideas.  

If you are looking for a book to help you clarify why you oppose "same sex marriage" without having to say "The Bible says so", Esolen gives a cogent organized argument why "same sex marriage"is not only an oxymoron but also about why the attempted confection of same is bad for those of us who have no desire to engage in it.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a copy of the book via the Mega Advent Giveaway.  Grade:  B+.  

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

IgniteYourBook.com: Get Amazing Deals on e-Book Bestsellers! ($25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway too)

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For a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card, write a post like this one about Ignite Your Book to help us spread the word, and then enter the link to your post's URL in the giveaway.


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Here are our participating blogs. Thank you so much for posting!

Library of Clean Reads
Essentially Italian
The World As I See It
Man of La Book
Back Porchervations
Bookfan
Deal Sharing Aunt
View From the Birdhouse
Celtic Lady's Reviews
Celiticlady's Book Recommendation
fundinmental
Storeybook Reviews
Frugal-Shopping
JBronder Book Reviews
Katie's Clean Book Collection
Bound 4 Escape
Bound 2 Escape 
Pinky's Favorite Reads
One Frugal Girl
Story Matters
This That and the Other Thing
DeDa Studios
Nighttime Reading Center
So, I Read This Book Today
A Madison Mom
A Bit Bookish
Pure Jonel: Confessions of a Bibliophile
Sincerely Stacie 
Lovely Reads
WOrkS of FiCTioN
Words and Peace
Coffee, Books & Art
fuonlyknew
Svetlana's Reads and Views
Clean Romance Reviews 
Seaside Book Nook
Mary's Cup of Tea
Rockin' Book Reviews
Melina's Book Blog
Chronicles...An Avid Reader and Indie Author
Working Mommy Journal
BlueRose's Heart
2 Kids and Tired Books 
Bookroom Reviews
Life With Katie
My Love for Reading Keeps Growing
Girl With Camera
bookfairy




One Wish: My Review



About the Book:
Grace Dillon was a champion figure skater until she moved to Thunder Point to escape the ruthless world of fame and competition. And though she's proud of the quiet, self-sufficient life she's created running a successful flower shop, she knows something is missing. Her life could use a little excitement. 

In a community where there are few eligible singles, high school teacher Troy Headly appoints himself Grace's fun coach. When he suggests a little companionship with no strings attached, Grace is eager to take him up on his offer, and the two enjoy…getting to know each other. 

But things get complicated when Grace's past catches up with her, and she knows that's not what Troy signed up for. Faced with losing her, Troy realizes Grace is more than just a friend with benefits. He's determined to help her fight for the life she always wished for but never believed she could have—and maybe they can find real love along the way.

My Comments:
While this book can be read by itself and still make sense, it is obviously part of a series and is getting more soap-operaish with multiple characters and threads that carry from book to book.  The main plot of this book was the romance between Grace and Troy.  I liked them and liked watching them become parts of each others lives.   As a general market romance, there was intimate activity and it happened before marriage but it was obvious these two cared for each other and were not just fooling around.

The character in this series who is really growing on me is Ray Anne.  She is the local real estate agent and she is a flashy dresser who has less than a stellar reputation.  However, in the last book she got into a relationship with a man who accepted three teens as foster children, and she has become a part of those kids' lives.  In this book she takes in a cousin's daughter who is severely depressed following the death of her infant and the collapse of her marriage.  We learn that there is a lot more to Ray Anne than meets the eye and I for one am really rooting for her, and admiring her.  I've found that many of Robyn Carr's characters are pretty stock (Troy is a nice guy but there is little unique about him) but sometimes she manages to write one who has some depth and Ray Ann is, in my opinion, the deep character in this series and I can hardly wait for the next book to see what life brings her next.  

I'd like to thank the publishers for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B+

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival




Hello, and welcome to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for  the week--whether they deal with theology, Catholic living or cute Catholic kids. I'm mostly a book blogger so my posts are generally book reviews, some Catholic, some not. Make sure that post links back here. Once you publish it, come back here and leave a link below.

We also have a yahoogroup; signing up for it will get you one weekly reminder to post. Click here to sign up.

One post this week; a review of Lisa Hendey's The Grace of Yes.


Thursday, January 22, 2015

Review: The Grace of Yes


About the Book:
Catholic new-media personality and bestselling author Lisa M. Hendey is fueled by a lifelong passion for her faith. In The Grace of Yes, she guides readers through pivotal moments of her journey and the eight virtues that have helped her—and will help readers—learn how to say yes to God. 

Beloved Catholic blogger Lisa Hendey explores eight spiritual virtues that she believes are foundational to the Christian life. In opening windows to pivotal moments of her own spiritual journey, she helps readers learn about belief, generativity, creativity, integrity, humility, vulnerability, saying no, and starting over, and shows how these virtues lead to generous living and the ability to joyously say yes to God. Hendey reflects candidly on real-life struggles: the identity adjustment of leaving a blossoming career to become a stay-at-home mom; the temptation of Divahood as her online celebrity grew; the freedom and opportunities of empty-nest status versus the middle-aged body’s pull to slow down; her encounters with spiritual community during treatment for cancer; and the contrast between the profound lingering grief she confronted at a Rwandan genocide memorial and the astounding willingness of survivors there to forgive. Readers encounter Hendey’s own struggles and successes while soaking up her characteristic warmth and good advice. Hendey provides questions for personal reflection and a prayer to close the exploration of each virtue.

My Comments:
This is a great treadmill book.  Wait, that's a good thing.  I despise the treadmill, but with my schedule, it is about the only exercise I can reliably say I'll do--no place to go (except my garage), no schedule to keep (and the fact that it is paid for helps).  Nevertheless, walking to nowhere is boring, so I read while I walk.  Yes, it slows me down, but I figure that I'm better off with a slow 30-60 minute walk than a somewhat faster 5-10 minute walk.  However, I've found that treadmill books need to grab my attention and keep it.  They can't be hard to read or require large doses of concentration.  Tonight I was on the treadmill for over an hour reading The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living.

Many readers of Catholic blogs will recognize the name of the author, Lisa Hendey, as the publisher of the Catholic Mom mega-site.  If  you aren't familiar with Catholic Mom, go take a look (after you finish here--you'll be there for hours.  The book sounds like Lisa is sitting across the table chatting with her readers.  She writes in the first person and she comes across  as real.  While she tells us her usual morning prayer routine, she is human enough to admit that sometimes she doesn't pray like she should.  Her house isn't always clean and she struggles with maintaining humility while trying to promote a book or her other endeavours.  

The chapter I liked best was on the grace of vulnerability.  In it, she talks about the not so pleasant aspects of aging.  She's my age and, like me, has noticed that things don't work as well as they once did.  Like me, she wonders if she is selling out by bowing to societal pressure not to have gray hair.  In that chapter Hendey also discusses the Hippocratic oath her physician husband took and how we ought to take it "First, do no harm" to heart.  She encourages readers to make sure relatives, even those not close to them, have what they need, to care for those in their parish and neighborhood and to take care of their own bodies--to not abuse drugs, alcohol or food.  As someone struggling with way too much weight, that hit home.  

Each chapter ends with reflection questions that would be great for journaling, or, with a group you are close to, for discussion.  Finally, there is a prayer asking for God's grace.

I'd like to thank fellow book blogger Pete Socks for his Mega-Advent Giveaway in which I won this book. (check out his blog; he always has giveaways)  I was not obligated to read it or write about it and if you've read my blog for very long, you know I don't say nice things about books I don't like.  Grade:  A.  

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival




Hello, and welcome to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for  the week--whether they deal with theology, Catholic living or cute Catholic kids. I'm mostly a book blogger so my posts are generally book reviews, some Catholic, some not. Make sure that post links back here. Once you publish it, come back here and leave a link below.

We also have a yahoogroup; signing up for it will get you one weekly reminder to post. Click here to sign up.

I wrote two posts this week.   I reviewed a book on financial planning.  I reviewed a short Catholic film. 




Review: Crux



About the Film:
ANIMA is a series of films that help us break through the noise of our everyday life in order to hear the voice of truth and love. Each film in the series guides us on an inward journey of self-reflection and wonder. The short movies feature Bishop Donald Hying as he incorporates the word of God, original music, and artistic cinematography.

crux / krÉ™ks, kro͝oks/ noun
the decisive or most important point at issue.

What experiences in your life can only be explained by the existence, the presence, and the intervention of God?

How does God becoming human in the person of Jesus change our understanding of being human, our understanding of God?

How can living in the present moment fill me with greater joy, peace, conviction and love?

This DVD not only encourages you to ponder thought-provoking questions during the short film, but also includes 3 key questions from Bishop Donald Hying for further reflection and discussion!

My Comments:
Crux is a well-done reflective movie featuring scenes in and around Milwaukee Wisconsin.  The narrator, who is Bishop Hying, encourages us to reflect on the fact that without God, our life is meaningless--what we have here is all there is, and once it is over, there is nothing more.  Bishop Hying also points out that without God, we have to be God in our lives, always right, always strong.  The main thing that struck me was when Bishop Hying said that most of the time if we are worried or regretful, it is because we are trying to live in the past or the future; most of the time the present is good, and we should appreciate that.  

This film is the first in a series.  They are all short; this one is about twelve minutes long and I think they would be good to use  with an adult or young adult prayer group.  The material (at least in Crux) is more reflective than instructional and is followed with the discussion questions listed above in italics.  

I'd like to thank Catholic Word for providing a complimentary review copy.  Grade:  B+

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Make Money, Think Rich: My Review



About the Book:
You are here today because your ancient ancestors cooperated to survive a brutal environment with life threatening predators. That herd mentality backfires when investing. Can you overcome your instincts to sell low and buy high with the rest of the crowd? Read a few paragraphs of Dale Buckner's book and you too can profit from the mistakes of others.

About the Author: Dale Buckner has spent his 25-year career as a financial planner helping people avoid the mistakes that wreck most financial plans. He has the academic credentials: a BS, MBA, the designation as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Practitioner and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary®.

Dale has hosted a financial radio program for two decades. He's heard it all while in the trenches, solving people's problems and helping guide them through some of the most violent market swings in the history of the stock market. His experience and sage advice can help you avoid tragic mistakes like selling at the bottom of a market cycle or buying into a bubble. 

Dale helps clients achieve their financial and personal goals using Life Stage Planning, an advanced form of financial planning he developed with the help of the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNING® course work.

Dale is a Registered Principal and offers securities through United Planners Financial Services, member FINRA and SIPC. He holds security licenses Series 7, 24, 63, and 65 and has been insurance licensed since 1988. Dale offers financial planning and investment counseling through his Registered Investment Advisory firm, Dale Buckner, Inc. Dale Buckner, Inc. and United Planners Financial Services are not affiliated.

My Comments:
I enjoyed this book.  I liked the way Buckner started it by telling us that we are created by God, and don't have design defects.  Buckner goes on to look at primitive societies to give us an idea of why we behave the way we do.  After that, it is a pretty basic guide to saving money and investing, but Buckner reminds us time and again that just because everyone is doing it (selling, buying, whatever) is no reason for us to do it.  Rather, we need to make a plan and stick to it.  

While I can't say there was anything earthshaking in this book, it was a good little pep talk on making a plan and sticking to it.  While market cycles were discussed, there were no long technical explanations of how to predict them or beat them, just encouragement to stick with the plan.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Hello, and welcome to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for  the week--whether they deal with theology, Catholic living or cute Catholic kids. I'm mostly a book blogger so my posts are generally book reviews, some Catholic, some not. Make sure that post links back here. Once you publish it, come back here and leave a link below.

We also have a yahoogroup; signing up for it will get you one weekly reminder to post. Click here to sign up.

I wrote two posts this week.  I reviewed a Christian romance and I reviewed a Catholic tablet.  


Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Review: Love Gently Falling



About the Book:
Rita Jansen is living her dream as a hairstylist in Hollywood when her father calls with news that her mother has suffered a stroke. When she gets home to Chicago, Rita finds her mother is healing but facing a long recovery. Worse, without being able to run their family-owned salon, her mother could lose the business. Rita decides to help, but she only has until Valentine's Day to come up with a plan. 
As Rita takes her mother's place at work, the nearby skating rink she loved as a child brings back fond memories. Rita also finds herself renewing friendships with her childhood best friend, Marley, as well as her classmate Johnny. Although they now lead such seemingly different lives, Rita is surprised by how well she and Johnny connect anda how far he will go to help her. Though Rita believes Johnny is only being kind, with romance kindling in the air and on the ice, their friendship may just fall into something more. 

My Comments:
This is a sweet romance set near Valentine's Day.  Rita and Johnny have known each other all their lives, but romance with Johnny has never crossed Rita's mind.  Rita wanted to step out on her own.  She turned down college in favor of beauty school and has had a successful career in Beverly Hills--even if her personal life has left something to be desired.  

One thing I found interesting was that Rita was sensitive about people (particularly men) looking down on her because she was "only" a hairdresser; yet her outlook on Johnny changed when she realized he wasn't "only" a janitor.  

The book is published by Center Street, which is an inspirational imprint of Hatchette book group.  Prayer is mentioned a few time and the book is squeaky clean but I wouldn't call it religious.  It is a short, sweet, almost simplistic story that left me smiling.  Grade: B-

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a review copy.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Biblezon Tablet


About:  
Biblezon is a digital tablet for Catholics, which provides a platform where Catholics can learn, live & practice their faith daily without distractions.

The tablet comes preloaded with many catholic resources (bible, catechism, encyclopedia, study plans, prayers, daily readings, saint of the day, rosary, divine mercy and many more). The purpose of the tablet is to create a pathway to holiness by providing a platform where Catholics can live and practice their faith daily. No distractions from worldly things.

My Comments:
I won this tablet as part of the Mega Advent Giveaway on Pete Socks' Catholic Book Blogger Blog. While I am a Catholic who reviews books, including Catholic books, Pete reviews Catholic books and does author interviews and other cool stuff.  Anyway, in addition to a huge pile of books I won this tablet, which I have to say is exactly what the producers say it is.  It is a pre-loaded Android tablet that refuses to connect to Google Play and refuses to connect to Facebook through the Facebook app.  In short, it is a digital prayer book, Bible and Catechism.  It has the iBreviary app if you want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.  It has the daily Mass readings front and center, and each day shows more saints than I ever knew existed.  There is a copy of the New American Bible (revised edition) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  There is even a facebook-type app where you can request prayers and other can "Amen" them.  I guess it comes in different colors because mine is hot pink.  

When I first learned that I had won this tablet, the first thought that came to my mind was a $59.00 tablet I purchased a year ago on Black Friday.  It is an Android tablet and S-L-O-W.  I bought it to give as a gift to the teen whose name I pulled from the Giving Tree.  Then I read the reviews and thought maybe I should make sure it worked.  I didn't give it away because it was so slow and finicky.  I keep it around for the Barnes & Noble app; otherwise I use the Kindle Fire I got on sale after Christmas.  I was pleasantly surprised when I played around with the Biblezon Tablet and found it to be responsive and as fast as my Kindle Fire.  If you want what is basically an electronic prayer book with a limited religious library, I think you'll be very pleased with the Biblezon.  It works well, is attractive and is lighter than my Kindle Fire.  

On the other hand, I don't particularly want a single-use device.  I have most of the Biblezon apps on my Kindle Fire, along with music that I listen to at adoration and my toys.  I'm a big girl and can leave the toys turned off when appropriate.  Given that, I started trying to figure out how to jailbreak the device.  I read a couple of articles about rooting Android devices but couldn't figure out how to do it.  However, I kept poking around on the tablet and found that while it blocked the Google Play store, I was able to download some non-prayer apps from, including the Chrome browser from the MoboMarket.  With Chrome, I was able to access my email and Facebook.  It took me about two hours to figure out how to do that; I suspect the average teenager would have just rooted the tablet and had it over with, or would have figured out how to do what I did in about half the time.

I'd like to thank Biblzon for providing the complimentary tablet.  As I said, it does exactly what it says it will do and does it well, so I'll give it an A, even though I "fixed" it to make it better meet my wants.

Saturday, January 03, 2015

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival



Hello, and welcome to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for  the week--whether they deal with theology, Catholic living or cute Catholic kids. I'm mostly a book blogger so my posts are generally book reviews, some Catholic, some not. Make sure that post links back here. Once you publish it, come back here and leave a link below.

We also have a yahoogroup; signing up for it will get you one weekly reminder to post. Click here to sign up.

It's been quite a week.  On New Year's Eve we got together with some old friends and it was great to see everybody again and to hear how their kids were doing.  We were friends with these folks when we were single, they are Godparents to my kids and we all had our kids about the same time (my baby being the exception to the rule).  Now one couple is waiting to be grandparents for the second time and for their daughter and the father of her kids to tye the knot.  Another worried about their son who was driving to Houston to see his girlfriend.  The daughter of the hosts was off to a party and her parents said she was hoping to go to medical school (she's a college junior).  My college daughter spent the day blowing up balloons at Party City where she got her first job while on break.  Hopefully they'll keep her on their list and she can work during other breaks and over the summer.

On New Year's Day my husband and I headed to my parents' house to pick up part of my inheritance.  Isn't it pretty?

I got a lot of blogging done last weekend.  One of my favorite authors is Lisa Samson and A Thing of Beauty is another winner in my book.  Scott Hahn fans (and maybe even some of the rest of you) will enjoy Joy to the World.  If you are looking for a daily devotional, check out Day by Day for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.    He Leadeth Me  is the spiritual story of an American priest who spend 25 years in the Soviet gulags.  Teens Share the Mission is a series of reflections by teens on service to others.