Book Talk with Parades and Prayers on Top

Well, it's Tuesday-acting-like-Monday, with school getting out on top. We've stuffed ourselves with visiting family and cookouts, and then we capped it off with a rather emotional parade.

It's all too easy to forget just what Memorial Day is all about, but my little brother--the one I grew up with, who I used to beat up and outsmart and pal around with--is active military. He's been deployed, and I fear he'll be deployed again before he's out.

So all of a sudden, what was once a done-too-soon parade with wrangling kids on top became something more. When "Taps" was played, I had a view of my brother as the man he has become, standing in shorts and a t-shirt, with his son by his side, at attention.

And suddenly my gratitude had a face in a whole new way.

So let's talk books now that I've sniffled a little...

Recent Reads

Jesus: A Pilgrimage, by James Martin, S.J. (HarperOne, 2014)

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars, with a big mug of my best coffee on the side

I *was* just going to read the book one chapter at a time, but I found that it was just too good a book to put down.

Which makes my earlier hesitation to even crack it open all the more hilarious, doesn't it?

This book is one that (a) I know I'll be buying for my favorite bibliophiles, (b) I know I'll be raving about for at least the next 500 days or so, and (c) I know I'll be rereading. Maybe yet this summer.

Look up "awesome" in your thesaurus and go ahead and just apply all the synonyms here. This book is all that, with whipped cream on top, a side of chocolate, and a hearty pot of coffee. It's not only a book I wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommend, but  it's one that I will probably not ever at all lend. Nope. Can't do it. Sharing's not an option with a book that could turn into a yearly read...

Don't miss this book. You deserve it, especially if you've ever loved Jesus. This book will make you look at him more clearly, appreciate him more authentically, and find your faith more tangibly.

Current Reads

A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, by Joe Paprocki (Loyola Press, 2008)

With Lawn Chair Catechism and all, I thought I'd just pick this up and read the first chapter.

Silly me, when will I learn? I did, in fact, read half of it over the weekend and stifle my irritation at the work and visiting that kept me from just whipping through it. (Don't ever think I'm anything other than a big jerk, ok?)

It's entertaining so far, and also really useful. I am sort of kicking myself for having left it on my to-read shelf for so long, but I'm even more glad to be reading it now, right before we do our Confirmation Boot Camp.

So far, this is "Learn the Faith without Losing Your Lunch" to me. It's making me even more excited about our first Lawn Chair Catechism post this Wednesday!

I Am His Mother, by Carlos Solorzano (CreateSpace, 2011)

It was about time for a Mary book and I was caught up on my Kindle/phone book. Which is a point that bears some discussion.

I now am able to juggle books in whole new ways, and one way is using the Kindle app on my phone and my Kindle Touch for my "on the go" reading. In theory (because sometimes I just want to keep rolling with whatever else I'm reading), this means I don't ever have to worry about having a book with me, because thanks to technology, I have whatever's on my Kindle.

So far, I'm about three screens into this book and I've had to restart it because I couldn't figure it out in the lapse between starting it the first time and starting it the second time (I think it was about two weeks).

I have high hopes for this book (the reference to Our Lady of Guadalupe is one that's dear to my heart), so I'm going to give it another good shot.

Up Next

Why yes, the library DID have the sequel I requested to the guilty pleasure read-in-three-days novel from a few weeks ago. The review books might have to wait, with apologies to anyone who has ever entrusted me to with a review book. Sometimes, a gal just has to whip through the guilty pleasure sequels, you know?

What have YOU been reading lately?

*Are you on Goodreads? I'll see you there!

Curious about what my ratings mean? Here's an explanation of what the stars mean to me.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2014, Sarah Reinhard