The American Catholic Almanac--My Review

The American Catholic Almanac: A Daily Reader of Patriots, Saints, Rogues, and Ordinary People Who Changed the United States

About the Book:

They’re all Catholics who have shaped America. In this page-a-day history, 365 inspiring stories celebrate the historic contributions of American men and women shaped by their Catholic faith. From famous figures to lesser-known saints and sinners, The American Catholic Almanac tells the fascinating, funny, uplifting, and unlikely tales of Catholics’ influence on American history, culture, and politics. Spanning the scope of the Revolutionary War to Notre Dame football, this unique collection of stories highlights the transformative role of the Catholic Church in American public life over the last 400 years.

Did you know…

• The first immigrant to arrive in America via Ellis Island was a 15-year-old Irish Catholic girl?

• Al Capone’s tombstone reads “MY JESUS MERCY”?

• Andrew Jackson credited America’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans to the prayers of the Virgin Mary and the Ursuline Sisters?

• Five Franciscans died in sixteenth-century Georgia defending the Church’s teachings on marriage?

• Jack Kerouac died wanting to be known as a Catholic and not only as a beat poet?

• Catholic missionaries lived in Virginia 36 years before the English settled Jamestown?

My Comments:

I love reading about my people and this book features 365 of them, one for every day of the year.  There are men and women, lay and religious, priests and politicians.  While a bit heavy on the Irish (but then I wonder, percentage-wise, what percent of American Catholics are of Irish descent) it covers both cradle Catholics and converts (did you know that Buffalo Bill converted on his deathbed).  We learn about Stagecoach Mary "a sharp-shooting, whiskey-drininkg, cigar-puffing, pants-wearing, punch-throwing, six-foot-tall former slave" who loved the Ursuline Sisters and about Fanny Allen, a socialite who became the first known woman from New England to become a nun.  

Each biography is only a page long so it is a perfect book to pick up, read a page or two and then save for later.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for sending me a complimentary review copy.  Grade:  B+

Book Review: He Leadeth Me

He Leadeth Me

About the Book:

Captured by a Russian army during World War II and convicted of being a "Vatican spy," Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent 23 agonizing years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. Only through an utter reliance on God's will did he manage to endure the extreme hardship. He tells of the courage he found in prayer--a courage that eased the loneliness, the pain, the frustration, the anguish, the fears, the despair. For, as Ciszek relates, the solace of spiritual contemplation gave him an inner serenity upon which he was able to draw admidst the "arrogance of evil" that surrounded him. Ciszek learns to accept the inhuman work in the infamous Siberian salt mines as a labor pleasing to God. And through that experience, he was able to turn the adverse forces of circumstance into a source of positive value and a means of drawing closer to the compassionate and never-forsaking Divine Spirit.

He Leadeth Me is a book to inspire all Christians to greater faith and trust in God--even in their darkest hour. As the author asks, "What can ultimately trouble the soul that accepts every moment of every day as a gift from the hands of God and strives always to do his will?"

My Comments:

This book is more of a spiritual journal, written after-the-fact, than an autobiography.  While Fr. Ciszek includes some details of his daily life as a prisoner of the Soviets, he mostly writes about his spiritual life during that time.  He talks about learning to depend on God and God alone, about his love for the Eucharist, about serving the other prisoners by administering the sacraments and counselling them.  

While at times the book seemed repetitive, it was an easy read, though one that had a lot of food for thought if you want to use it as spiritual reading.  Today in the US it is so easy to take the freedom to practice our faith for granted; Fr. Ciszek tells his story and the story of people for whom practicing the faith could and often did lead to hardship.

I'd like to thank the Blogging for Books program for providing a complimentary review copy.  Grade:  B+.

Review: Roadfood

Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 900 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much, Much More, now in its 9th edition

About the Book:

First published in 1977, the original Roadfood became an instant classic. James Beard said, "This is a book that you should carry with you, no matter where you are going in these United States. It's a treasure house of information."

Now this indispensable guide is back, in an even bigger and better edition, covering 500 of the country's best local eateries from Maine to California. With more than 250 completely new listings and thorough updates of old favorites, the new Roadfood offers an extended tour of the most affordable, most enjoyable dining options along America's highways and back roads.

Filled with enticing alternatives for chain-weary-travelers, Roadfood provides descriptions of and directions to (complete with regional maps) the best lobster shacks on the East Coast; the ultimate barbecue joints down South; the most indulgent steak houses in the Midwest; and dozens of top-notch diners, hotdog stands, ice-cream parlors, and uniquely regional finds in between. Each entry delves into the folkways of a restaurant's locale as well as the dining experience itself, and each is written in the Sterns' entertaining and colorful style. A cornucopia for road warriors and armchair epicures alike, Roadfood is a road map to some of the tastiest treasures in the United States.

My Comments:

There are basically two aspects to this book.  First, it lists what the authors consider to be "900 of the best barbecue joints, lobster shacks, ice cream parlors, highway diners and much, much more".  Second, it reviews those restaurants so that potential patrons know what to expect.  In coming up with this review, I looked at the listed restaurants in the New Orleans area to see if I thought the ones listed belonged on such a list. Of the fifteen restaurants in the New Orleans area, all are places I've heard of, though there was one (Domalise's Po-Boys) that I only know of because my husband mentioned selling to them.   I've patronized nine of them.  For those in the know, they range for Galatoire's to Rocky and Carlos and from Morning Call to Hansen's SnoBliz.  In general the places I know of are good, though honestly many wouldn't make any "best of" list  for me.  They are good neighborhood places that aren't, in my opinion, unlike many others in the area.  Of course everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion but I think Galatoire's is highly overrated.  It is the place to see and be seen but it is a high-end restaurant that is noisy and crowded, not elegant and understated.  If I'm going to spend that kind of money, I want elegance and interesting food, not old standards and crowded noisy rooms.  

Next, I polled a bunch of people I knew from all over the country about the listed restaurants in their areas.  I asked if they had heard of them, if they had eaten there and if they liked it.  In general, people had heard of the places mentioned, and generally said they were good.  They also gave me some comments:  

Ruth Ann (St. Louis Missouri):  Our parish gets their fried chicken from Hodak's for our picnics, Everybody loves Ted Drews ice cream, it is THE place to treat out of towners. so so to me.  My husband says Crown Candy Kitchen is a very good place often with lines outside waiting to eat, but Goody Goody Diner is a place to stay away from.

Janette (used to travel a lot)  Cattlemen's in Oklahoma City is  pricey. It is also one of the best steaks I have ever had.  Garrett's popcorn in Chicago- Love it. I NEVER pay for any popcorn except theirs.  

Toni (Brooklyn NY): Katz' deli in the city is on it...omg....I love that place!  Best Reuben sandwich ever! 

Christie (moved a lot):  WI - Kopps Custard is legendary. Delicious and a must visit if in the area.  PA - Center City Pretzel Co. is good. I would agree if you like that style of pretzel. I like them but don't love them. Genos - Philly - Legendary and worth the trip for cheesesteak. Pat's King of Steaks - Philly - Lengendary. Worth the trip. It is a huge rivalry between Pat's and Geno's as to who has the better cheesesteak

Aimee:   Okay, I didn't see any on the CT list that I haven't liked.

Linda (Jackson MS)  I could write a novel about the Elite! My best friend and I were pregnant at the same time and we ate enough off their famous rolls one day at lunch that they finally quit bringing them to us! I've had enchiladas with the governor there and a multitude of meals in between. It's a great place!

Kym (MS)  The Elite in Jackson is an old school, upscale, soul food kind of place.

Kym (Oklahoma) I will say, based on the Tulsa restaurants, that the book limits it stops to eateries ON the road trip routes. Just about every Tulsa restaurant on the list is right along Route 66. That's a shame because if you veer off of 66 for just a three or four minute drive, you can find some amazing places to eat. Ike's Chili is DEFINITELY my favorite on this list. Ike's on 11th (Route 66) has a definite diner feel, and the chili is amazing. Ike's is real chili (no beans), but you can add beans. Put it over spaghetti, and have a "three way." The menu also includes burgers and a number of dishes that highlight their chili (Frito Pie, Coney Dog with Chili, Chili Mac). The atmosphere is fun, with lots of historic photos of Tulsa and the original chili pot on display. It's also budget friendly and draws a varied clientele.

Carrie:  I've heard of Wintzell's.[Mobile AL]  Everyone has. Most people tell me it's really overrated.

Sheila:  I've been to Dew Drop and Wintzells. I haven't been to Dew Drop in a few years. I've actually stopped going to Wintzells because the food quality went down.

The book also has a website so you can check out places in your neighborhood, and leave opinions about places you have eaten. Their focus is on local food served in places frequented by locals.  I've enjoyed reading the book and discussing the restaurants with people all over the country.  Now I'm ready to hit the road and try some.  Grade:  A.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via their Blogging for Books program.  I was not obligated to write a positive review.  

Review: The B.T.C. Old Fashioned Grocery Cookbook

The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Southern Revival

About the Book:

Locals go to the B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery in Water Valley, Mississippi, for its Skillet Biscuits and Sausage Gravy breakfasts, made-to-order chicken salad and spicy Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese sandwiches, and daily specials like Shrimp and Grits that are as good as momma made. The B.T.C.’s freezers are stocked with take-home Southern Yellow Squash Casseroles and its counter is piled high with sweets like Peach Fried Pies as well as seasonal produce, local milk, and freshly baked bread. 

“Be the Change” has always been the store’s motto, and that’s just what it has done. What started as a place to meet and eat s is now so much more, as the grocery has become the heart of a now-bustling country town. The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook shares 120 of the store’s best recipes, giving home cooks everywhere a taste of the food that brought a community together, sparking friendships, reviving traditions, and revitalizing an American Main Street.

My Comments:

If you are a fan of old-fashioned Southern food, this is the cookbook for you.  You can learn to make skillet biscuits to serve with sausage gravy (sorry the book does not give the calorie count or the fat grams, but the ingredient lists definitely tell you this is not a low-fat treat).  You can make gumbo or "Hotty Toddy Beer Chile" to serve while you cheer for the Ole Miss Rebels.  Vegetables are not steamed to a bright green; they are baked in casseroles with cheese and breadcrumbs (Southern Yellow Squash Casserole or Artichoke and English Pea Au Gratin) or with cheese, cream and cornbread (Cornbread squash casserole).  How does Honey Pecan Catfish sound?  If you are still hungry after the main course you can try Fried Pies, Charlie Brown Cookies or The Steel Magnolia Cake.  

The book itself is attractive and is a hardcover book printed on good quality paper.  There are photos of many of the recipes.  

Besides the recipes, the book contains features about small-town life in Mississippi.  You learn about football weekends, the milk man and the local drugstore.  They even mention that it is hot in the summer in Mississippi.

I'd like to thank the publishers for making a review copy available via the Blogging for Books program.  Grade:  B+  You can read an excerpt here.

Review: Kitchen Confidence

Kitchen Confidence: Essential Recipes and Tips That Will Help You Cook Anything

About the Book:

A young food star and new mom, Kelsey is an invaluable friend in the kitchen to everyone settling into their first kitchen of their own. Her recipes, which are broken down into simple steps, teach readers how to cook, highlighting key tools and basic techniques everyone should know. And yet her flavors are anything but basic; Kelsey gives everyone the confidence to start with the 2.0 version of a recipe instead of the boring standards. For example, she makes her house pilaf with quinoa instead of rice, and her addictive fruit salad is a savory first course instead of a lackluster dessert. 

     With 100 recipes and 60 color photographs, Kitchen Confidence brings home all of the energy and spirit of the Cooking Channel show of the same name, making it an excellent handbook for newlyweds, recent college graduates, and those discovering their kitchens for the first time.

My Comments:

This is an attractive cookbook with a lot of mouthwatering pictures.  It is printed on high-quality glossy paper and uses attractive fonts and colors.  It is definitely the kind of cookbook that makes you pick it up and look at it.

The description made me think the book was aimed at novice cooks, and it does have some sections that would be helpful to those just starting out.  Kelsey Nixon includes sections on pantry essentials, kitchen organization, essential equipment and essential techniques.  However, I find some of  her "staples" to be more specialty items than things to keep on hand--for example sriracha sauce, capers, heavy cream and brie.  

The recipes themselves too seem a bid complex for someone who was not used to cooking.  The macaroni and cheese recipe calls for scalded milk but it doesn't tell how to scald milk.  On the other hand it gives very clear directions on how to make risotto.  As the description above indicates, this isn't a book of basic recipes but rather one that gives simple directions on how to make somewhat fancy food.  As such I think many of the recipes call for ingredients that are not typically found in the average kitchen, though most are available at the average grocery store.  Some call for equipment above the basic level, though your average bridal shower and wedding gifts generally provide most of the equipment.  The above-basic equipment includes immersion blenders, food processors, and stand mixers.  

I'll be trying a recipe or two and will let you know how it goes.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a review copy via the Blogging for Books program.  I was not required to write a positive review.  Grade:  B.

You can read about the author and see the first pages of the book here.

The Mass by Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina

The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition

About the Book:

The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition is an engaging and authoritative guide to Catholicism’s most distinctive practice. And now, with the Church introducing revised language for the Mass, Catholics have a perfect opportunity to renew their understanding of this beautiful and beloved celebration.

With eloquent prose and elegant black-and-white photography, bestselling authors Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina guide readers through the different parts of the Mass, from the entrance procession to the blessing and dismissal, capturing the deep meaning of elements that are at once ordinary and mysterious: bread and wine, water and candles, altar cloths and ceremonial books.

Step by step, they explain the specifics, such as the order of the Mass, the vessels used, the unique clothing worn, the prayers and responses, the postures and the gestures. Then they explore the rich historical, spiritual and theological background to each. Prayerful but practical, fact-filled but readable, The Mass prepares readers to participate more fully and appreciatively in the sacred rite at the heart of Catholic life.  

My Comments:

You'd think that a book like this would be "same-old, same-old" to someone who has attended Mass weekly and then some all her life, but it wasn't.  You'd think that any book that could teach something to someone like me had to be an unapproachable theological treatise that would require an advanced degree (or at least a dictionary) to decipher, but it wasn't.  It hit just the sweet spot of being easy to read and understand yet covering enough information not in common knowledge that I didn't feel like I had wasted my time reading it.  I highly recommend this book to just about anyone.  Grade:  A.

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy through the Blogging for Books program.  

Review: Walking with Mary

Walking with Mary: A Biblical Journey from Nazareth to the Cross

About the Book:

Mary appears only a few times in the Bible, but those few passages come at crucial moments. Catholics believe that Mary is the ever-virgin Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. But she also was a human being--a woman who made a journey of faith through various trials and uncertainties and endured her share of suffering. Even with her unique graces and vocation, Mary remains a woman we can relate to and from whom we have much to learn.

In Walking with Mary, Edward Sri looks at the crucial passages in the Bible concerning Mary and offers insight about the Blessed Mother's faith and devotion that we can apply in our daily lives. We follow her step-by-step through the New Testament account of her life, reflecting on what the Scriptures tell us about how she responded to the dramatic events unfolding around her.

“This book is the fruit of my personal journey of studying Mary through the Scriptures, from her initial calling in Nazareth to her painful experience at the cross,” writes Edward Sri “It is intended to be a highly readable, accessible work that draws on wisdom from the Catholic tradition, recent popes, and biblical scholars of a variety of perspectives and traditions. With the riches of these insights, we will ponder what her journey of faith may have been like in order to draw out spiritual lessons for our own walk with God.” He add, “It is my hope, therefore, that whether you are of a Catholic, Protestant, or other faith background, this book may help you to know, understand, and love Mary more, and that it may inspire you to walk in her footsteps as a faithful disciple of the Lord in your own pilgrimage of faith.”

My Comments:

One problem non-Catholic Christians have with Marian devotion is that they say it isn't scriptural.  This is a book that looks at what the Bible does say about Mary and what it means.  Why does Jesus address her as "woman"?  What are Mary's famous last words?  What are the parallels between the Annunciation, the Presentation and the Crucifixion?  

One story in the Bible that has always confused me is the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.  Why is that story there?  Why do we make such a big deal of it, making it a mystery of the rosary?  I liked Sri's explanation--that we will have times in our lives when we experience the type of frantic  pain that Mary must have suffered when looking for Jesus, and we aren't going to understand all the whys at the time, but God has things under control, even if we don't like them.  

I enjoyed this book and its scriptural approach to Mary, and thank the publishers for making a review copy available via Blogging for Books. Grade: B+

Review: On Heaven and Earth

On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century

About the Book:

For years Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Argentina, and Rabbi Abraham Skorka were tenacious promoters of interreligious dialogues on faith and reason. They both sought to build bridges among Catholicism, Judaism, and the world at large. On Heaven and Earth, originally published in Argentina in 2010, brings together a series of these conversations where both men talked about various theological and worldly issues, including God, fundamentalism, atheism, abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and globalization. From these personal and accessible talks comes a first-hand view of the man who would become pope to 1.2 billion Catholics around the world in March 2013.

My Comments:

When Pope Francis was first elected, publishers seemed to rush to print anything they could to tell the world about this man.  This book is one of those efforts.  It is interesting to see the Jewish perspective on moral issues of our day and religious issues in general and to see how they compare and contrast to the Catholic views of the man who is now Pope Francis.  Both Bergoglio and Skorka and respectful of the positions of the other and yet firm in their own beliefs.  Topics discussed include prayer, women, euthanasia, education, money, politics, same-sex marriage, abortion, divorce and more.  

While this book has its interesting points, the variety of topics covered and the two separate views make it hard to remember who said what about what.  If comparing and contrasting Jewish and Catholic beliefs is of interest to you, this book would be right up your alley. It's not really a theological treatise and it doesn't go deeply enough into any one subject to be an authoritative text, but it is highly readable. 

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy through the Blogging for Books program.  Grade:  B-

Where There Is Love, There Is God

Where There Is Love, There Is God: A Path to Closer Union with God and Greater Love for Others

About the Book:

Mother Teresa’s relationship with God and her commitment to those she served—the poorest of the poor—is here powerfully explored in her own words.  Taken largely from her private lessons to her sisters, published here for the first time, Where There is Love, There is God unveils her extraordinary faith in and surrender to God’s will. This book is in some way a sequel to Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, in which her own very private spiritual struggles were explained.  Sent to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, she assumed their struggles and pain in the depths of her heart. This led to particularly intense anguish which she lived through with heroic courage and fidelity over several decades.  As important as this aspect of her life is, that remarkable testimony of her life and her words intensifies the need and desire to know more of her thought.  There is much she can teach us as we face our daily struggles or sufferings, which can at times be unusually severe.  Where There is Love, There is God, though not an exhaustive anthology of Mother Teresa’s teaching, nonetheless shows what she believed and taught about important issues that confront all people. Due to her constant interaction with people of diverse backgrounds, no life situation was foreign to her and in this book her role is primarily one of teacher and guide. 

Love is perhaps the word that best summarizes Mother Teresa’s life and message. The title reflects what she proclaimed during her entire life: God is alive, present, and “still loves the world through you and through me”.  Mother Teresa sought to be an extension of God’s heart and hands in the world of today. She was called to be a missionary of charity, a carrier of God’s love to each person she met, especially those most in need. Yet she did not think that this was a vocation uniquely hers; each person is in some way called to be a carrier of God’s love. Through the practical and timely advice she offers, Mother Teresa sets us on the path to closer union with God and greater love for our brothers and sisters.

My Comments:

This book, which I received via the Blogging for Books program, has been on my dresser waiting to be read since before Christmas.  In case you haven't noticed, I've been in kind of a reading/blogging funk.  Tonight I picked it up and thought I'd start reading a biography of Mother Teresa.  I soon found that it wasn't a biography but rather a collection of Mother Teresa's sayings and teachings.  

Generally when I write a DNF review, I'm saying a book isn't good enough to finish.  Today I'm writing a DNF review because it is going to take me a LONG time to finish this book, not because it is extraordinarily long but because it is extraordinarily full of things on which to reflect.  I recommend this book as a prayer aid, as one to be read in small batches as a source for meditation, and that's what I am going to do. 

I'm going to leave you with the saying on Mother Teresa's "business card".

The fruit of silence is prayer

The fruit of prayer is faith

The fruit of faith is love

The fruit of love is service

The fruit of service is peace

May the peace of the Lord by always with you.  

I wrote this review of Where There Is Love, There Is God for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. Aquinas and More is the largest on-line Catholic bookstore. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Wildflowers from Winter: My Review

Wildflowers from Winter: A Novel

About the Book:

A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built a life far removed from her trailer park teen years. Until an interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa. Determined to pay her respects while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.

Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. So when Bethany is left the land, he must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany's vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away.

For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn't seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace she's not even sure exists?

My Comments:

I have been known to pan some religious fiction as being preachy or moralistic.  Yet, I really like books that are basically about a character's spiritual struggle.  I guess when it comes right down to it, if I want to read a romance novel I want to read about him and her and their relationship--and having either one of them spend a lot of time talking about faith often comes off as a phony add-on.  There is romance in Wildflowers from Winter but it is really much more the story of Bethany's faith journey--why she became estranged from God and how she comes back.  Through interactions with other characters we see how tragedy and faith interact, for better and for worse.   

One thing I did not like is that periodically the book would jump between first person (told by Bethany) and third person.  I found it distracting, though not hard to follow.

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy via the Blogging for Books program.  Grade:  B+.