Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Nancy Piccione

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 20, April 2012

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Last year, I did an April Fool’s version of First, What Are You Reading?, but this year I don’t want to waste an opportunity to share some really good books with you.  Enjoy, and I can’t wait to hear what you are reading.

Here are my answers to the four questions I ask on the first of each month:

first, what are you reading?

what do you like best about it?

what do you like least?

what’s next on your list to read? 

As always, I hope you’ll consider your current reads on your blog and/or sharing here in the comments or on Facebook.  Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?  

Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists with an introduction by Leonard S. Marcus

Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman

What do you like best about them?

The graphic book I was going to talk about in this space was so bad I don’t even want to name it .  It was about media bias and media coverage, and it was terrible.  Far better for kids and adults to have a healthy sense of

So I decided to substitute another graphic novel read that is well-done, and Nursery Rhyme Comics fits the bill.  I really enjoyed the interesting takes on classic Mother Goose-type rhymes.  Some are better than others, but it’s a neat idea.  Leonard Marcus’ introduction talks about how each artist was able to craft a “back story” for the rhymes.  I especially loved “Pat-a-Cake” by Gene Luen Yang and “Hickory Dickory Dock” by Stephanie Yue.

Love, love, LOVE Nerd Camp.  Gabe is 10 years old, and heading off to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment, better known as Smart Camp for Geeks and Eggheads, or Nerd Camp.  He realizes he is a nerd because of his soon-to-be stepbrother Zach, who scoffs at things “nerds” would like, like reading actual books, being in math club, and going to camp to learn.  Gabe decides to make a logic proof of the whole summer, deciding whether or not he is, in fact, a nerd. 

I read Nerd Camp one weekend afternoon after a morning of cleaning and when I was too tired to do any “real” writing or tougher reading.  It was just the right pick-me-up.  I laughed out loud, delighted in the story and in how terrific it is to be a nerd. 

Great things about the actual camp, and why I want to go there:

*a Funny Quotes poster, where Gabe and his buddies write down funny things they say

*learning the digits of pi.

*the  karaoke sing-off between Gabe and his girl nemesis (or friend?) Amanda.  The song?  An alphabetical listing the countries of the world.    I’m “this” close to writing the author of the book to see if such a song really exists.

*Jeopardy with Alex Trebeck as the actual host.

*a 13-year-old who is the “cool” nerd for making a clandestine lab at camp.

What do you like least about them?

Because there are so many artists in Nursery Rhyme Comics, there are plenty that fall flat, or just really aren’t as good as others.  But so many do work, I think the book is a worthwhile read overall.

It’s just a little sad that part of Nerd Camp revolves around a divorce, with parents sharing custody of Gabe, and his father getting married again.  But it’s not handled negatively or positively.  It primarily serves as a plot device to put Gabe in the path of a non-nerd in the form of his soon-to-be new step-brother.  In our family, this just served as a discussion topic, brought up seamlessly.

What’s next on your list to read?

Working through a list of potential fiction for my June column.  This is no problem, as I love fiction.  Finding the time amid spring cleaning and “life” has been more of a challenge lately.

So, what are you reading these days?  Any books you would like to share?

October Baby

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October Baby is a sweet and at the same time unbelievably powerful movie about a young woman who always feel there is something missing, or different about her, until she discovers a shocking truth.  There’s a lot about family, about growing up, about forgiveness.  Heavy topics, and yet the movie itself is quite funny.

I got the opportunity to attend a screening several weeks back of October Baby.  Normally, my husband and I try to make these screenings a “date night” (and we usually run into other couples we know).  That particular night, my husband had a speaking engagement, so I invited a fellow blogging friend along and we had a nice evening out.

Sister Helena Burns (not the blogging friend I attended with, incidentally) wrote a comprehensive review on her blog earlier this week.  Please head on over there to get a feel for the plot of the movie.
There’s nothing for me to add to her excellent review–she’s much more detailed about “movie-ish” things.  I didn’t really notice the background music issue she raises; in fact, I thought the cinematography was especially good.  Here are some of my favorites from the movie:
*the father-daughter relationship felt really real, especially a dad being a little overprotective, then learning how to let go.
*the loving, beautiful and kind portrayal of those in the abortion industry.  This loving and kind portrayal is even more so for women who choose abortion.  There’s no condemnation, just love.  Wonderful–may we all be this way, all the time.
*Truman, the “funny” friend of the two main characters, and really all the friends.  He’s hilarious, and wild horses couldn’t drag me back to being a college student, but I would do so just to get to go on a road trip with the cast of characters that do in October Baby.
*a non-Catholic character experiences an epiphany, and a kind of healing, in a Catholic church.  Much has been made (and I have found absolutely true, and wonderful) that ecumenism is a great quality of the pro-life movement.  This movie shows how exists naturally and is not forced or awkward, but heartfelt.
*Like Sister Helena, I cried at the end.  How could you not?
October Baby is about an abortion survivor–and by that I don’t mean a woman who “survives” abortion.  Sometimes, rarely, a baby survives an abortion (so the bumper sticker “abortion: one dead, one wounded” becomes “two wounded.”)   And those babies grow up into remarkable adults.
Many years ago, I spent several days with Gianna Jessen, one of the abortion survivors on which the movie is based, the first time she testified before Congress.  It must have been in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and she was a young teenager–14 or 15.  I had the great good fortune to drive Gianna and her (adoptive) mom around throughout the several days she was in DC.  Driving people around seems to be a theme in my life, but it is a great way to get to know people!
I hope if our weekend schedule permits that I will take my 14-year-old daughter, and perhaps a friend or two, to see the movie this weekend.  I’ve been talking to her about it, and she is very eager to see it.  I think the PG-13 rating is appropriate, but probably a lot of younger kids could see it, considering all the intense media many kids consume.
I love that October Baby filmmakers will set aside 10 percent of the profits from the film for women in crisis pregnancies:

The Best Thing About the Behold Conference, Part 2

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Since the blogger help table was in the back of the room, I got the chance to be in the “baby zone.”  There was a mom’s room with a screen streaming the conference events, but that room was packed, and some little ones just needed some time to bounce.  It was fun!
Here’s a photo of all the bloggers.  What a great group of ladies.
Because the back of the room was the baby zone, there was much talk of “baby-stealing.”  Here, blogger Danielle Bean caught in the act with one of the Mosher twins.
 Blogger Hallie Lord meeting two other social media users, who came to Behold specifically because they read about it on her blog.  Next year I want to do a better job of connecting all the people who use social media together during the conference.  Perhaps a sign like, “Tweet Zone”?  Or not.

 

The Best Thing About the Behold Conference … Part 1

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to me, was the adoration chapel, set up by several beautiful volunteers at the Behold Conference.   The chapel was a peaceful oasis in the bustle of a truly wonderful day.  Time spent there was precious to me, and to many women who were at Behold. 
But there were so many other great things from the Behold weekend.  The other night, I gathered with other volunteer Behold directors to go over the evaluation forms.  We found that many women listed “more time” for all the things there were to do at Behold–adoration, confession, talks, great food, vendors, meeting people.
Allow me share some other favorites from the Behold weekend:
My role this year with Behold (in previous years I was just a driver), was to organize the “Meet the Bloggers” part of the conference.  “Team Blogger” as the five volunteers in this area called ourselves, put together a great slate of bloggers and guests to attend a “Blogger Summit” the Friday night before the conference to discuss Catholic women and new media.  It was a great discussion with lots of input from so many voices.  Here are a few photos from the blogger summit and a Behold volunteer/special guest reception afterwards (my phone, unfortunately, only sporadically taking decent photos).  I’m going to have to save the photos of the Behold day for another post:
The Sisters of Life (and teenager Molly, their driver, who was a great young voice at the summit).
Behold Executive Director Rose Rudolph addressing the summit.
Blogger Sister Helena Burns getting a big laugh as she filmed the room during the blogger summit.  The very funny video of that can be found here.
Bloggers Sarah Reinhard, Cat Hodge, and Elizabeth Duffy

Blogger Mary Hasson with yours truly.
Two lovely blogger ladies–Hallie Lord and Bonnie Engstrom meeting in person for the first time!
Singer Marie Miller with a group of her younger superfans (as opposed to me, more mature superfan!)
Blogger Emily Stimpson meeting fellow blogger (and “Team Blogger” member) Marcia.
Blogger Jen Fulwiler and local blogger Jamie getting to meet again.
Team Blogger member Linda with blogger Sister Helena Burns
Blogger Arwen Mosher brought her sweet 10-month-old twin boys (and had help all weekend from a great friend, here in green).
More photos to come!

Meet a Reader: Emily Stimpson

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This month’s “reader” is an author with local roots.  My review of her new book is in the current print Catholic Post  Thanks, Emily!  I look forward to meeting you at the Behold Conference in just a few days.
 
 
 
How you know me: I’m a contributing editor to “Our Sunday Visitor,” a blogger for CatholicVote, and the author of The Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years. Although I now live just outside of Pittsburgh (in Steubenville, Ohio), I was born and raised in Rock Island, attended Jordan Catholic School, and go to Mass at St. Mary’s Parish when I’m home visiting my parents, Gary and Ricki Stimpson. Most of my family still lives in the Peoria diocese, including my second cousin Adam, who is parochial vicar for three parishes in LaSalle, and my aunt Susie Budde, who directs choirs for both Sacred Heart Rock Island and Sacred Heart Moline.
Why I love reading: Story-telling, at its best, is truth-telling. A good story gives flesh to all that’s beautiful and true. That helps us discover worlds and ideas beyond our imagining. It also helps us discover much more familiar territory: the human heart.
What I’m reading now:  It’s Lent, so I’ve had to lay aside the Agatha Christie murder mystery I was reading and pick up my normal Lenten fare, Dante’s Divine Comedy. Every Lent my goal is to make it all the way from the beginning of Dante and Virgil’s tour through Hell in the Infernoto Dante’s reunion with his lost love Beatrice in the Paradiso. That literary journey helps me understand the journey every soul is on in this life. It also reminds me why we Catholics do what we do during Lent—what all that praying, fasting, and sacrificing is about.
My favorite book: I love too many books to pick just one, so I always tell people I have favorite authors more than favorite books, writers who’ve changed the way I see the world and the life I’m living. At the top of that list are C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and John Paul II: Lewis for his clarity, Chesterton for his sense of wonder, and John Paul II for his theology of the body, which is really an articulation of the Incarnation and what it means to be a human person. If I had to add one more, it would be P.G. Wodehouse: He’s a master of wit and words. A regular dose of his work keeps my writing sharp, quick, and tight.

A Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years

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If you get the print edition of The Catholic Post, you’ll notice the book page’s “Meet a Reader” feature this month is a writer with local roots (updated the link)—Emily Stimpson, author of The Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years.

Stimpson’s book is a must-read for young Catholic women.  There’s sensible advice about everything from dating to careers to married friends, and so much more, all from an optimistic and realistic Catholic perspective.   I have so many books I want to (and frankly, “have to”) read, but I enjoyed every chapter of this engaging book because of Stimpson’s spirited and honest voice.  I even breezed through  (and found interesting!) the closing “bibliographic essay” with a wealth of resources for further reading and discussion.

If you’re married already, reading A Catholic Girls’ Survival Guide makes you say, “I wish there had been a book like this when I was single!” At least, it was my first thought– I know I’m not the only one.
Some months back I reviewed what seems like a very similar book, the excellent How to Get to “I Do”: A Dating Guide for Catholic Women by the talented Amy Bonaccorso.  However, I think both books are equally worth reading and having, rather than being either/or.  Each of these strong young women has a unique perspective and message, and readers everywhere benefit.

Interesting trivia:  both Bonaccorso and Stimpson will be among the dozen featured bloggers at the Behold Catholic Women’s Conference on March 10 at the Embassy Suites.  The Behold Conference might be the first time a Catholic women’s conference anywhere will feature “new media” and bloggers, but with that and much more, it promises to be a great event for women of all ages and vocations.