When I was offered a copy of Merchants in the Temple: Inside Pope Francis’ Secret Battle Against Corruption In The Vatican, I was hesitant to accept it. But I decided that if there was something about my Church I ought to know, then I shouldn’t bury my head in the sand. It is no stretch…
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Book Review: THE PERFECT SON
This year I’ve been volunteering with the Women’s Fiction Writers Association as a host for the “women’s fiction cafe,” which is done on Facebook. Instead of asking everyone to read a book in advance and discuss it, this is a chance for authors to stop in and give people a taste of the book, its…
Read MoreThings I’m Loving Right Now
Books: A Marginal Jew. This is a series of four books, actually, and I’m on the second. They are dense reading, with the end notes to each chapter taking more space than the text, and it is ponderous and takes real mental effort to get through. Yet the level of detail in Meier’s analysis brings…
Read MoreStillwater Rising, by Steena Holmes
The Women’s Fiction Cafe is open at Facebook again this week, this time with author Steena Holmes in the house to introduce readers to her book, STILLWATER RISING: After losing her son in an elementary school shooting that devastates the tight-knit community of Stillwater Bay, Jennifer Crowne finds herself unable to settle back into her role…
Read MoreA Different Kind of Book Club
This week, I am hosting/moderating an online book discussion about Lisa Verge Higgins’ novel, Random Acts of Kindness: With the remnants of her past rattling in the trunk of her Chevy, Jenna Elliott abandons her Seattle home determined to start life anew. Her journey compels her to the door of two friends: Claire, an ex-Buddhist…
Read MoreAll-Star Game and Break CONTEST and BOOK SALE
All-Star Game and Break CONTEST and BOOK SALE Busch Stadium by Phil http://www.flickr.com It’s the middle of July. Baseball fans everywhere know that means it’s time for the All-Star Game and short break from regularly scheduled baseball games across the United States. For non-loving baseball peeps, you can just keep on enjoying your summer as…
Read MoreOrganized Simplicity (and 7QT)
Yesterday morning I hired a sitter so I could go someplace offsite and dig into writing without being interrupted by children bashing each other , wailing over toys being taken, or making epic messes. Example A: Nicholas is beating on the box to Alex’s toy using a stick. This annoys Alex, who decides the best…
Read MoreCatholic Family Fun (TLL Blog Tour Finale)
It’s the last day of my blog tour, and guess what? I’m going to do something different! If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you have seen several reviews of books by Sarah Reinhard. Sarah and I are both write-at-home Catholic moms writing resources to help parents raise kids with a vibrant faith.…
Read MoreGuest Post: Blessed Are The Clean of Heart (This Little Light of Mine Blog Tour, Week 6)
Dan Quinn was the youth minister, and thus my “boss,” the year I led music for our local Life Teen program. Today, in the context of the Beatitude calling us to be “clean of heart,” he reminds us about an old practice many of us don’t give much thought. * If you would ask your Catholic grandparents…
Read MoreBlessed Are The Merciful (TLL Review and Excerpt)
Chapter 5 of This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes ties together the idea of mercy with the 4th through 10th commandments–as I like to call them, the “rubber-meets-the-road” commandments. Today’s excerpt comes from the section for children. Have you ever heard that old saying, “What goes around, comes around?” That’s kind of what…
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