Category Archives: Mmmm …. books

In my younger years, I had the great good fortune to be able to live overseas  (studying abroad in college, teaching English post-college).  Those experiences bit me with the travel bug.  I got to indulge it again in 2002, when Scott and I took a honeymoon that included stops in Provence,

the French Pyrenees,

and San Sebastian, Spain.  We were, by the way, twelve years old when we got married (or so it looks to me now!).

Now that we are parents, we still manage to get around occasionally.  With the kids, we’ve managed to visit Squam Lake, New Hampshire

and sunny Jupiter, Florida (on the occasion of this photo, the boys were with Scott’s parents.  A date-night on the water, Florida-coast style, is certainly something to toast.)

So yes: I do like to travel.  And I’m about to embark on new kind of tour, one that does not require a passport, security lines,  or schlepping two carseats through a crowded airline terminal.  It’s a blog tour for my new book!

Starting next Tuesday, we’ll be visiting ten different blogs, each of whom has kindly rolled out the welcome mat for me and my book.  Every day of the tour, I’ll be linking to the featured blog for that day.  Check back here on Monday for the “pre-boarding message” that kicks off the whole thing.

It’ll be armchair travel at its best, and all you’ll need is an Internet connection.  Nothing to pack, no tickets to buy, and no need to take off your shoes … unless you want to.

See you next week!

It’s been a while since I blogged about books.  It doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading, though!  Here are some of the highlights of the past few months.

Paraclete Press was kind enough to send me a review copy of Fleeing Herod: A Journey Through Coptic Egypt with the Holy Family  by James Cowan.   Cowan shares his journey tracing the steps of the Holy Family on their travels throughout Egypt, a topic about which I knew very little (the Gospels don’t have much to say about the particulars of their journey, though there are detailed writings in the Coptic tradition).   Along the way he visits ancient cities and monasteries, meets monks and sisters, and goes on his own journey of faith.    It was fascinating to read about the various legends of the Holy Family’s travels, and to ponder the role of the desert in early Christianity. (I was particularly intrigued by the early anchorites, monks who renounced the world to go live alone in the desert, and by their modern counterparts.)   Egypt has always been fascinating to me — perhaps all those childhood viewings of The Ten Commandments are partly responsible! — but I’d never before spent much time pondering the role that the country played in harboring and protecting Jesus.  As Cowan writes, “Without the generous embrace of Egypt, where would Christians of the world be today?  Egypt is like a scroll containing an ageless and continuing story.”  After reading this book, I agree.

Years ago, I fell forever in love with the utterly delightful and charming novel I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.   Only recently did it occur to me to see if she’d written anything else, which brought me to her 1967 novel It Ends with Revelations. It wasn’t as good as I Capture the Castle — truth be told, there are very few novels that are as good as I Capture the Castle — but I enjoyed it nonetheless, and certain moments of it stayed with me for quite a while.  It’s the story of a woman named Jill and her actor husband Miles, and I honestly can’t say much more without giving away spoilers.  Suffice to say that the book is a very honest and ahead-of-its time look at the vagaries of love and desire, exploring the complexities of human relationships and showing that we human beings are, in the final analysis, very  hard to categorize.  Some moments were extremely moving.  I’m glad I read it.

One of the biggest highlights of my trip to LA Congress in February was meeting my editor Vinita Hampton Wright, whose expert eye for detail saved Random MOMents of Grace from having some random moments of clunkiness.   I’m now reading her  book Days of Deepening Friendship:  For the Woman Who Wants Authentic Life with God, and I’m not joking when I say that I want to give it to every woman I know.  If you are looking for a way to give your prayer life a shot in the arm — or if you’ve never had much of a prayer life to begin with — this book will do it.  Its chapters and prompts address all aspects of a woman’s spiritual life, everything from how our childhood influences our view of God to why we resist prayer (and what to do about it).  There are a ton of prayer guides out there, but this is one of the very best (maybe the best) I’ve read because Vinita’s writing is so wise, so authentic, and so inviting.

It’s been a while since I last opened a graphic novel (I believe the last one featured Tintin and Snowy) so Saint Francis and Brother Duck was a definite departure from my usual fare.   It’s absolutely charming: a life story of St. Francis of Assisi and his fictional companion Brother Duck, who accompanies Francis on his various adventures of faith.   Brother Duck is the most adorable cartoon bird since Woodstock, with personality plus, and the book is a very effective vehicle for conveying Francis’ life and beliefs.  The book is a colorful, inviting, accessible introduction to Franciscan spirituality.  If you are looking for a First Communion gift for a strong reader, this is a great choice (and a timely one, thanks to Pope Francis).

My spring break last week was enhanced by the fun of reading Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson.  It’s a sweetly funny novel from the 1930s, written in the form of a diary kept by a British army wife.   Mrs. Tim (her name is really Hester) is a sharp observer of human nature, and her tales of marriage, motherhood, various quirky neighbors and  a move to Scotland make for delightful reading.  Nothing really bad happens in this book, which makes it a great antidote to the news, but it’s not just fluff; it has wit and real heart, and various subplots that keep the story humming.  It’s also apparently one of a series, though I’m not sure the others have been reprinted (hopefully the library will have them — must check).  I recommend it highly.

What are you reading?

Guess what?

My book is here!

I received the author copies from Loyola Press on Tuesday afternoon.  I was dying to open the package, but I’d made up my mind to wait  until Scott got home  – his support was a crucial part of getting the book written in the first place, so I wanted him to be there for a big moment.  Problem was that he taught a class on Tuesday night, so he didn’t get home until after ten.  Believe me, the suspense was killing me.  I was like the preschoolers with the marshmallows in that famous psychological experiment about delayed gratification.

But finally, he got home, and it was time for the unveiling.

It looks amazing.   That Loyola design team is the bee’s knees.  (Bubbles, by the way,  figure prominently in two chapters, so it’s the perfect cover.)  It feels great, too – and it has that amazing new book smell that I adore.  If they could bottle the smell of this book, I’d totally dab it behind my ears.   I just keep burying my face in the pages and inhaling.

It’s hard to believe that this book, a project I’ve had in my heart and on my hard-drive for about the past three years, has finally been born.  It  feels good.  And I hope people like it.   It’s now in stock on BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, and on the Loyola Press website. (The Loyola site lets you read the introduction and some of the first chapters, in case you want to check it out.)

Thanks for letting me gush.  I’ll go do some more of my happy dance now … after I take another look (and sniff).

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the modern woman has a lot on her plate.  This is why the two-hundredth anniversary of Pride and Prejudice came and went earlier this week with nary a mention on this blog.    But, as they say, better late than never (come to think of it, the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy is a perfect example of this maxim, is it not?).  So grab your bonnets and pelisses and get ready for some Austen Love, RandomActsofMomness-style.

In the car on the way to and from the grocery store last night, I reflected on this anniversary, and what it means.  I realized that without Pride and Prejudice in the world, many things would be different.  To wit:

*We would not have a lovable heroine like Lizzy Bennett to show us that high spirits and intelligence are just as attractive to a man as a pair of fine eyes.

*We would not have Mrs. Bennett to show us how NOT to act in middle age.

*We would lack the cautionary tale afforded by Mr. Wickham, namely, “When  a guy whom you have just met instantly starts talking trash about a third party, perhaps the alarm bells should go off.”

*There would be no Mr. Darcy.  (I’d repeat that sentence for emphasis, but it harrows me to do so.)

*We would not have the satisfaction of seeing that catty girls finish last (Caroline  Bingley, I’m talking about YOU.)

*Nerds like me would not have the joy of discussing, with similar nerds, the various fascinating questions raised by the many P and P adaptations.  Do you prefer Colin Firth jumping into a pond or Matthew McFadyen strolling across a meadow at dawn?  Do you like your Bennett girls to be dressed in soft spring pastels or  earth tones?  Why are Donald Sutherland’s teeth so white?  (Seriously, in the nineteenth century?)

*We would not have pages of wonderful dialogue to teach us how to converse with economy, precision, and wit (or how to insult others with the same).

*We would not have the wonderful moral clarity of a story where authenticity and generosity trump artifice and meanness.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of stories like that.

As my friend Jessie once memorably observed, Jane Austen is the “little black dress of literature.”  It’s the perfect metaphor.  For two centuries women have reached for Pride and Prejudice, felt empowered by it, recognized  its class and elegance and timelessness.  Here’s to two more centuries of the same.

Illustration by C.E. Brock from Mollands.

Oh, so many books, so little time!  Part of me wishes I’d come down with the flu, just so I’d have a free pass to stay in bed all day and read.  (Actually, as every parent knows, that’s a pretty vain fantasy; a mom could be in the death throes of  the Black Plague and she still wouldn’t get the day off.)   At any rate, here are a few of the titles I’ve been enjoying lately.

The Secret Keeper  is Kate Morton’s brand-new book, which I had the inexplicable foresight to request several weeks ago through the library system (I was Hold #5!  Yay!).   I started it on Friday, and it’s greeeeeaaaaattt. It has all the bucolic English locales/hidden secrets/shifting perspectives/multi-generational relationships of her other fabulous novels, and the story’s central mystery is gripping.  The only problem: like Morton’s other books, once you start you want to read the whole thing cover to cover, and that does not work so well if you have a husband and kids who need things like, say, meals.  But it is a chance to work on my willpower, and that’s always good, right?

It’s impossible not to be intrigued by a book called  I Wasn’t Dead When I Wrote This:  Advice Given in the Nick of Time.  The story of the book is compelling, and touching: youth minister Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart wrote this book in the last stages of her battle with cancer, literally in the nick of time (Joe Durepos of Loyola Press, who sent me the book, wrote a moving preface in which he described what it was like to help the author get the book on paper before her life ran out.)   It’s a great book full of wisdom about how to live authentically and joyfully, and it’s extremely perceptive.  Reading it, you get a sense of why the author was such a gifted youth minister; she knew how to communicate advice in a totally non-preachy way (I can’t think of a single adolescent who wouldn’t benefit from her chapter about teen/parent relationships).  It would  make a great gift for confirmation or graduation.

I have a fondness for  books about writing.  This is probably because writing can be such a complex experience, ranging from marvelous to maddening, sometimes within the space of a single session at the desk;  when I have those feelings affirmed by other writers, I know I’m not alone.  I picked up A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration and Encouragement by Barbara Abercrombie, thinking it would be a good way to nurture my writing life.  It is.  Each page has a short reflection from the author, as well as a related quotation from another writer.  I’m not waiting and reading one page per day, although that’s the idea; it’s just too good to wait.  It covers every aspect of the writer’s life, from procrastination to publication and everything in between, and it’s exactly what I needed right now.

My husband Scott is a former software programmer who now works full-time in ministry.  Most people find that a fascinating career trajectory.  Arguably even more fascinating is the story of Jake Martin, SJ, who went from being a professional comedian to entering the priesthood.  I just finished his book What’s So Funny About Faith? A Memoir from the Intersection of Hilarious and Holy, which describes his journey, and I absolutely loved it (thanks, Loyola Press!).  He is very frank in discussing the challenges of being a comedian and the challenges of the priesthood, but he also shows the joy that comes from both.  If you’ve never thought of comedy as anything other than comedy, this book will make you see the spirituality behind it.  A great read.

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn is waiting in the lineup.  According to the blurb, it’s a comedy about Queen Elizabeth II going AWOL and heading off into London for some time to herself.  It sounds like the perfect book for an Anglophile like me.

That’s my list!  Have you read anything good lately?

You might know that I’m a big fan of blogger and author Sarah Reinhard.  I’m thrilled, therefore, to be a stop on the blog tour for her latest book!    Read on for her wonderful reflection on one of the mysteries of the rosary, then check out my review of her book below.

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To celebrate the launch of her new book, A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy: Walking with Mary from Conception to Baptism, Sarah invites all of us to spend her blog book tour praying the rosary together. Today, she shares this reflection on Finding Jesus in the Temple:

Can you imagine losing the Son of God? My reflections on finding Jesus in the Temple invariably take me back to an imagining of myself as the person who misplaced God. I imagine the head slapping and self-recrimination I’d be temped to do and the barely concealed hilarity I’d feel at finding Jesus right where I’d left him.

Mary and Joseph did not plan to leave Jesus in the Temple. He was supposed to be with the caravan. I wonder if they had a “Plan B” for not being able to find Jesus in the caravan or with the stragglers a ways back.

So often in life, I think I can plan my way to success. I have a Plan A and then I have a Plan B. Every situation is covered, or so I think. Then reality hits.

Reality often looks nothing like what I’ve planned for, and I find, more often than not, that it’s a good thing. It has taught me to trust in God and to believe that he really will be where I need him to be. Jesus doesn’t need me to have a Plan B…or even a Plan A, much of the time. He simply needs me to trust in him and follow where he leads.

It’s funny how something so simple–trust–can be so difficult. Mary and Joseph show me how to do it when I examine their finding him in the Temple. They don’t know where to look at first, but when they find him, they hold on to him. That’s what I need to do, too: hold on to him.

As we pray this decade of the rosary, let’s hold all those brave women who have said yes to difficult and challenging motherhood in our intentions in a special way. Don’t forget, too, that we are praying for an increase in all respect life intentions as part of our rosary together this month. (If you’re not familiar with how to pray the rosary, you can find great resources at Rosary Army.)

Our Father . . . 

10 – Hail Mary . . .

Glory Be . . . 

O My Jesus . . . 

You can find a complete listing of the tour stops over at Snoring Scholar. Be sure to enter to win a Nook (and any number of other goodies) each day of the tour over at Ave Maria Press.