Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to welcome everyone 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 particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.

I'd like to wish everyone a happy Independence Day.  Do you have any plans?  My teen daughter is in Florida with friends.  My husband and I got together this afternoon with a group of folks with whom he was friends in college.  Tomorrow we are going to my dad's house, and probably to the beach over there.

For your reading pleasure this week, I have a book review of Wholly Mary Mother of God.  I also reviewed a kids' book about Hurricane Katrina.  I had a rant about high schools today  and reviewed a book about Jesus' friend Martha.   I also reviewed a couple of romances.

What about you?

Catholic Company Book Review: Wholly Mary, Mother of God

Wholly Mary Mother of God

About the Book:

There's a little bit about Mary in Scripture. We can glean a bit more from the tradition of the Church. Some of the approved apparitions add a little insight, too. But where can we go to get the complete picture, to find out about the whole Mary? Wholly Mary does just that. In an engaging style, Chris Padgett walks us through what the Bible has to say about the Mother of God. What has she meant to the Church throughout the centuries, what do the apparitions add, what have the saints told us about her and, most importantly, what can we learn from her ourselves? Other facets of this explanation of the Blessed Mother include:

• The power of the rosary
• How the Mass relates to Mary
• Four important dogmas about Mary
• Mary and the Trinity
• Mary and ecumenism

With the enthusiasm and passion Chris Padgett is known for, Mary is sure to come alive for you in a wholly new way!

My Comments:

This is an easy engaging read that covers most of the Marian doctrines.  While it contains a section contrasting  the scriptural support for both the Protestant and Catholic views of Mary it is not primarily an apologetics book.  While there is a section on saying the rosary as a family, it isn't really a prayer book.  While apparitions are mentioned, it isn't really about them.  It is  a book about Mary in the life of the Catholic church and in the spiritual lives of  her children.  Its strength is its engaging style rather than its depth or the amount of material covered.  Grade:  B.

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 Wholly Mary - Mother of God. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

Review: Only Mine

Only Mine (Fool's Gold)

About the Book:

Her town’s lack of men may make headlines, but it isn’t news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance reality competition filming in Fool’s Gold. Screening eligible bachelors is a difficult enough task, but Dakota hits an unexpected snag when a sexy stranger comes to town. Finn Anderssen will do anything to keep his twin brothers — the perfect contestants — off the show. Despite Dakota’s better judgment, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious outsider. Like her, Finn knows about heartbreak and how a family can fall apart, so she doesn’t dare to hope for anything more than a fling. After all, even in the Land of Happy Endings, finding true love is never as easy as it looks on TV.

My Comments:

This is the second Susan Mallery book I've read and I've decided I like her stories but there is something I can't quite describe that makes me not like her writing style.  I like the contrast between the two sets of siblings.  Dakota and her fellow triplets Montana and Nevada are close but respect each other's independence.  They are part of a small town where everyone helps all the time. Finn is the older brother turned dad to his younger twin brothers.  He is overbearing; they sneak off.  They come from a town that values independence, not interdependence.  Actually, I'd say that's the theme of the whole book--adult independence--how much is good and how much is too much?  Finn has to answer that question for himself, not only the regard to his relationship with his younger brothers but also in connection with his relationship with Dakota.  The twins have to answer that regarding their relationship with Finn and one of the twin's woman has to learn to answer that question regarding her mother.  

The book is general market romance and there are quite a few intimate scenes where little is left to the imagination.  

Thanks to the publisher for making a complimentary copy available via NetGalley.  I was not obligated to provide a positive review.  Grade:  B-

Review: A Storm Called Katrina

A Storm Called Katrina

About the Book:

Ten-year-old Louis Daniel hates it when Mama treats him like a baby. But when Hurricane Katrina blows through the Gulf Coast on a fateful August night, followed by broken levees and rising floodwaters threatening New Orleans, Louis feels like a little kid again. With no time to gather their belongings save Louis s beloved horn Daddy leads the family from their home and into an unfamiliar, watery world of floating debris, lurking critters, a winsome black-and-white dog, and desperate neighbors heading for dry ground. Taking shelter in the already-crowded Superdome, Louis and his parents wait and wait. As the days pass, the electricity goes out, the air conditioning dies, the bathrooms are closed, and people around them begin to bicker as they run out of food and water. When Daddy fails to return from a scouting mission within the Dome, Louis knows he is no longer a baby. It s up to him to find Daddy, with the help of his prized cornet.

My Comments:

I've heard it said that while the effects of Katrina were felt throughout the city after the storm, during the storm, those most effected were the poor, and therefore, the African-Americans.  This story shows that in pictures.  While those of us with reliable transportation and money for hotel rooms were generally far away when Katrina hit, the poor, like the family in this story, stayed behind.  After the storm the waters rose and people were forced from their homes with little but the clothes on their back.  The Superdome was the shelter of last resort and after a couple of days without electricity, it wasn't very pleasant.  

For those of us from New Orleans, Katrina is something we'll never forget, whether we spent it safely in Atlanta or were miserable in New Orleans.  If you are looking for a book to show your children what it was like without getting too graphic or too political, I think you'll like this book.  Grade:  B+

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