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.

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter.  We went to my Dad's parish for mass with him and then over to his house for dinner.  My brother and his son came over for a while so the kids got to hunt eggs and play.  The weather here in the middle of the week was rainy and miserable.  Unfortunately my son hit a puddle and hit a guardrail, taking out the transmission and radiator in the car.  Fortunately, he is fine and he didn't hit anyone else.  Yesterday the painters started working on the exterior of our house. We've been in this house fifteen  years and the only major work we've done is a kitchen renovation thirteen years ago, so it is fun seeing stuff change.  We have a bunch more work we plan to do in the near future, and so far the paint job looks great so I'm getting excited.  I  just have so much stuff to pick out and I'm not really good a visualizing what I cannot see.  

Blogging-wise, I've had several posts this week:

This Little Light of Mine is a book on teaching your children the faith during Ordinary Time.  It is written by Sunday Snippets regular, Kathleen Basi.  I'm also giving away a copy.  

A Tapestry of Fortunes is about several fifty-ish women who are living together.

Last Chance Bookclub is a romance in which the characters to to church and to bed.

Oh, and something else, I've started participating in New Evangelists Monthly, which is a link-up of Catholic bloggers where people submit their best monthly post.  I haven't started reading the posts yet, but I saw one familiar face over there--Hi Ellen!

Last Chance Book Club: Book Review

Last Chance Book Club

About the Book:

After a painful divorce, Savannah White wants nothing more than to find her happy place. So when she gets the chance to pack up her life -and her son - and move to the idyllic town where she spent childhood summers, she jumps at the opportunity. Last Chance is just as charming as she remembered. She's even invited to join the local book club, where talk soon turns to Savannah's plan to bring the ramshackle downtown movie theater back to life. A new challenge is just what Savannah needs to move forward.. . . 

Dash Randall wants to put his fortune to good use, but he remembers Savannah as the bratty "princess" who descended upon him each June, causing no end of trouble. But the teenager he remembered has grown into a gorgeous and generous woman, and it isn't long before Dash finds himself wanting to make brand new memories with Savannah. But first, Dash and Savannah will need to make peace with their pasts to find a new chance for love.

My Comments:

Like the other books in  this series, Last Chance Book Club is a fun romantic novel full of quirky small-town characters.  Like the other books in the series, it includes both church services and a steamy bedroom scene.  Like the other books, it ends in happily ever after.

Savannah's parents never had time for her when she was a child, but her grandfather, who she visited each summer, made her feel cherished and special.  What she didn't realize as a child is that love is not finite--giving love to someone doesn't mean less love for someone else. When her grandfather took in Dash, she felt threatened and strikes out at the interloper.  Now they are meeting as adults.

Characters from the other Last Chance books make appearances but the book stands well on its own.  

I liked the way Dash tried to be to Savannah's son what Savannah's grandfather had been to him--a man who did "guy" things, a man who showed him by actions how a man should act.  Dash is also a recovering alcoholic and now that he has learned to live without drinking, he needs to learn how to live his life away from alcohol.  

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

Review: This Little Light of Mine

This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes

About the Book:

This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes makes ordinary time extraordinary! This book explores the foundations of a child's faith through the Beatitudes and the 10 Commandments. Through this connection, children can learn the true way to live a Christian life. Topics range from gifts and fruits of the spirit to learning about Saints. This book of faith formation helps children learn the values of their Catholic faith in their everyday lives. They can learn to live out their faith throughout Ordinary Time, focusing on everyday faith instead of only during the Holiday seasons.

My Comments:

Most Catholic parents who are intent on passing on the faith have favorite family religious traditions during Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.  However, those weeks cover less than half the year.  The rest of the year is Ordinary Time, green vestment time.  How can parents use those weeks to help children live the faith?  That is the question that Kathleen Basi attempts to answer in This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes.

In a nine chapter book Basi uses the framework of the Beatitudes to cover the topics of Living in Humility, Suffering Freedom and Sin, The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Liturgy and the Liturgical Year, Putting the Focus on Mercy, Sacraments and Private Devotions, Celebrating the Saints, Persecution in the Modern World and Putting It All Together.  Each chapter has a section for adults, a section for children and a section called "Just Live It" which gives ideas for family activities based on the topic at hand.  For example, the chapter on Putting the Focus on Mercy deals with the fourth through the tenth commandments.  Dealing with the commandment on adultery, Basi admits that most of us will never commit adultery, but she points out that fidelity in marriage does not end with staying out of other people's beds but includes honoring each other and treating each other during conflict with the respect we want to receive.  The "Just Live It" section includes a suggestion to devote one or two nights to couple time, turning off the TV, computers and phones after the kids go to bed and spending couple time together working puzzles, talking, or reading together.  The kids' section says that adultery is when married people break their promise to be faithful to their spouse.  It tells the kids that they can practice by being faithful to friends and family members, and that when you talk about them, say only things you wouldn't mind them hearing.

I liked Katheen's concrete ways to make the faith relevant to today's life.  I liked her adult explanations of the Beatitudes and the Commandments.  The book is a good basic guide to Catholicism, easy to read, hits the highlights and relates them to daily life.  I'm less fond of the instructional sections for kids.  I just can't see reading that much verbiage to my nine year old or to a younger child, especially as there are no pictures in the book.  I can easily see incorporating some of the "Just Do It" ideas in our lives.

I'd like to thank Kathleen and her publisher for providing a complimentary review copy.  Kathleen is a regular participant in Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival, which is a weekly gathering of Catholic bloggers which is hosted here.  I've previously reviewed her books on Advent and Lent and you can read her blog here.  Grade:  B.

Giveaway:
I have a copy of this book to give away to one of my readers (US only).  To enter the giveaway, leave a comment saying why you want the book, and including your email address.  For a second entry leave a separate comment telling about a faith-sharing activity you do with your family during Ordinary Time.  For a third entry, (or second if you don't do the other) participate in Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival on April 6-7.  You can participate as a blogger by linking up a relevant post and then leaving a comment here saying you did so or as a reader by commenting on three of the linked posts and leaving a comment here saying you did so.  Finally, you can get an entry by spreading the word about this giveaway either by way of your blog (leave a comment with a link) or by way of Facebook (leave a comment telling me you did).  

A Tapestry of Fortunes

Tapestry of Fortunes: A Novel

About the Book:

Cecilia Ross is looking for a change. She has decided to take time off from her job as a successful motivational speaker and sell her home. She moves in to a beautiful old house in St. Paul, Minnesota, complete with a big front porch, a wild garden, a chef's kitchen-and three roommates. The four women are different ages, but all are feeling restless, and want to take a roadtrip to find again the people and things they miss. One woman wants to connect with a daughter she gave away at birth; another wants to visit her long-absent ex-husband; a third woman, a professional chef, is seeking new inspiration from the restaurants along the way. And Cecilia is looking for Dennis Halsinger, the man she never got over, who recently sent her a postcard out of the blue. This novel is classic Elizabeth Berg-a portrait of how women grow through the relationships that define them, and a testament to the power of female friendship.

My Comments:

I enjoy stories featuring the relationships between women, and I've heard good things about Elizabeth Berg so when Edelweiss offered this galley I grabbed it.  I enjoyed it, though it wasn't much like my normal reads. Yes there is romance, but it really isn't the focus of the story; the women are.  Another thing  I liked about the book is that it featured women my age, an age at which many of us are starting, whether we like it or not, new parts of our lives as children grow up, jobs change or people die.  The only problem  I had with the book is that none of the characters struck me as people I'd like to have in my life--not that I hated them, I just didn't get the warm fuzzies for any of them.  Grade:  B.