Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Book Reviews

The Vatican Diaries by John Thavis

by

A shorter version of this review appeared on the book page of The Catholic Post this month.

images-22

You might say that John Thavis, the recently retired Rome bureau chief of Catholic News Service, had uncanny timing to release a book like The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church, just days before Benedict XVI announced his retirement.

Fortunately, this book is also fascinating and wonderfully written. The Vatican Diaries is a grand tour of Rome, the Vatican, and several decades of great and controversial stories and personalities.  I read it with interest just after watching about the papal conclave & Pope Francis’s election.  Having seen so much of Rome from the coverage, I thoroughly enjoyed getting an inside look at some of the personalities who make things happen at the Vatican.

(Thavis discusses his decision to feature “mid-level” Vatican workers in this excellent Q&A with The Anchoress.  Also well worth reading.)

Since I was once a reporter and then a public relations director, I most relished seeing how Thavis and his colleagues made the behind-the-scenes reporting and editing decisions that became “the news.”  I loved getting to see how the Vatican press corps covered events and “spun” them, regardless of the skill (or lack thereof) of Vatican officials.

I also found fascinating “Latinist,” the chapter on the colorful Father Reginald Foster, who taught Latin unconventionally for decades in Rome (and made a mental note to avoid getting sick in Rome, as the health care system there sounds abysmal).

Who am I kidding?  I found every chapter worthwhile, not just well-written but well-reported.  This book should be read by aspiring and current reporters and writers, but also for any Catholic (really, anyone) who has interest in the workings of the Vatican.  Before reading The Vatican Diaries, I might have predicted that inner workings of the Vatican would not be genuinely enthralling.  Turns out I was wrong.

Thavis writes not just intelligently, but lovingly, about his Church and how fortunate he was to cover it and its people for so many years. A great read.

Picture Book Monday: Anarchy, Marathons and Endurance

by

Last week’s explosion at the Boston Marathon was heartbreaking for so many reasons. The fact that the vast majority of casualties came from the spectators, including the death of the young boy who had just celebrated his First Communion, is beyond belief.

When I was a tween, my family was in Boston and saw the finish of the Boston Marathon (Bill Rodgers won that year), and it is what started me and my family of origin running all those decades ago. I’ve done several big-city races and one of the things that can be tricky for my family is reuniting again and finding each other after the race. It’s just so awful to think about a marathon, a test of endurance, accomplishment and the human spirit, being always associated with a terrorist attack, and sadness.

I promise to share a picture book, and one related to marathoning, but I have to digress for a moment to quote GK Chesterton. We were reading Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday (my choice) in a Catholic women’s book group to which I belong.

(A further digression: I actually apologized to the ladies during our discussed the book because I found it so difficult to read this time. Why? I don’t know. I first read TMWWT in my 20s, and I just loved it, but I’m a different person now and I found it a really hard go. After I finished the book, I felt so guilty that I found this article for us to help our discussion of the book.)

One quote that stood out for me when seeing the video and photos of Boston was a description of how Syme, the hero of TMWWT, is radicalized (in a good way) against anarchy and disorder in society both by his “anything-goes” upbringing as well as being a bystander to an Anarchist bombing:

“His hatred of modern lawlessness had been crowned also by an accident. It happened that he was walking in a side street at the instant of a dynamite outrage. He had been blind and deaf for a moment, and then seen, the smoke clearing, the broken windows and the bleeding faces. After that he went about as usual–quiet, courteous, rather gentle; but there was a spot on his mind that was not sane. He did not regard anarchists, as most of us do, as a handful of morbid men, combining ignorance with intellectualism. He regarded them as a huge and pitiless peril.”

Lots to ponder there, which is the only saving grace of Chesterton and TMWWT–the quotes to wrestle with and consider.

Okay, digression over.

An interesting and little-known factoid about the modern marathon marathon is the legend of how it came to be.

Briefly, the military messenger Pheidippides runs from the battle of Marathon to Athens to deliver the message the Greeks had defeated the Persians, but when he finished, he dropped dead from the exertion.

You may be wondering, how can this work as a picture book? It just does in the clever The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides by Susan Reynolds, illustrated by Daniel Minter.

bookcover-2Author Susan Reynolds got the idea to write this book on the flight home from running her first marathon. She tells the story of both what marathons are today, and the story of how the first marathon may have been run by the brave and Pheidippides.

Talk about endurance!

The illustrations are colorful and optimistic, and there is a map to show his route and the surrounding Greek countryside. Children and marathoners alike will marvel at how Pheidippides ran the 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens after running hundreds of miles delivering messages for the Greek army.

I actually own this book, but I can’t locate it right now to take some photos, but it’s really worthwhile getting from the library, or to own if you’re a runner.

Do you know any good picture books about running or marathons?

A Catholic Vision of Hope and Healing for Depression

by

Following is my column that appears in this week’s print edition of The Catholic Post.  I invite your feedback here.

One of the perks of writing a monthly column is getting invited to speak occasionally to local groups about books and our Catholic faith.

(I “might” consider getting sometimes recognized at the post office as “that lady who writes about books,” but this is usually when I’m not looking my best, so no counting that. But I digress.)

Giving talks lets me hear from others about their favorite books, as well gives me valuable feedback about what’s popular or resonant here. Several recent encounters left me realizing that reviews touching on mental health issues have been much-needed and welcome.

So this month I’ll focus on several books–primarily one new book–in this area.

Catholic_Guide_to_Depression

The Catholic Guide to Depression: How the Saints, the Sacraments and Psychiatry Can Help You Break Its Grip and Find Happiness Again by Aaron Kheriaty, MD, with Fr. John Cihak, STD is comprehensive, compassionate and Catholic. I highly recommended it.

The Catholic Guide to Depression is a sensible, well-thought-out book that covers a range of issues and concerns, from medication and lifestyle options; how psychological health can affect one’s spiritual life; therapy’s benefits and limits; and much, much more.

While excellent in every way, this book can seem a bit academic in some stretches, but interested readers should persist, as there is a wealth of powerful stories, strategies, and help offered in its pages.

I’ve written before about how certain topics are best handled by experts rather than those who consider themselves experts because they’ve read some church documents or read up on a particular issue or theological area. Surely mental health constitutes one such topic since there is so much conflicting information floating around in books, on the Internet, or even a tendency from some well-meaning Catholics to strictly “spiritualize” mental health issues.

In The Catholic Guide to Depression, author Dr. Kheriaty is an expert, being both a practicing Catholic and father to five, a psychiatrist and professor at University of California-Urvine, and co-chair in the school’s medical ethics program. He writes both compassionately and authoritatively here.

The end of the book includes a beautiful short section of “prayers in distress” from such saints as St. Benedict Joseph Labre, who suffered from mental illness throughout his life; and an address by Blessed John Paul II on the theme of depression. “

The Catholic Guide to Depression is new, but there are other resources that can be beneficial:

images-16*Surviving Depression: A Catholic Approach by Pauline Sister Kathryn J. Hermes, is a often-recommended book, and was reprinted and expanded last year. The most compelling aspect for readers is that Sister Kathryn herself has struggled off and on throughout her life with depression.

As a result, she writes in a loving and knowing way about getting assistance and living out one’s Catholic faith when suffering. Surviving Depression also offers a separately available journal and prayer book.

images-17

*Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s Arise from Darkness: What to Do When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, is a classic work about suffering, grace and the life of faith. Fr. Groeschel writes not just from a spiritual perspective, but from one trained as a counselor, in a meditative and prayerful way about living with the reality of suffering and loss.

*For a much more personal story, consider Beyond Blue, Therese Borchard’s excellent memoir of her struggle with depression and mental health issues. I reviewed the book when it came out several years ago (and you can read that here), and as I shared, it’s well-written and at the same time often hard to read.

Borchard shares low points that include two hospitalizations, dozens of drug combinations, bad physicians, and suicide plans.

So why read this book?  To quote Borchard, “anyone who struggles with anxiety or depression—even in the slightest way—might find a companion in me, some consolation in the incredibly personal details of my story, and a bit of hope to lighten an often dark and lonely path.” For those on “that dark and lonely path”, there is healing and hope.

It’s my sincere hope that one or more of these books can offer that to readers.

Four Perfect Pebbles: A Great Read

by

My younger kids and I got the chance to meet and hear Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan speak yesterday at a local Catholic school, and it was very moving.

Marion (along with Lila Perl) is the author of Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story.  When her family came to the United States after the war, she ended up in Peoria, so she has been back here several times for talks since her book was published.

pebble

I heard her speak at our local Barnes & Noble back in 2004, and I was so moved that I bought a copy and had her sign it. My children were all too young to read the book at that time, but a few years later my oldest read it. When I heard she was going to be in Peoria again, I found it on the shelf and had the younger two read (or begin it, in the case of my youngest) it before we heard her speak.

The book of her story of surviving the Bergen-Belson concentration camp and the aftermath of World War II is excellent and well worth reading. But her presentation was unforgettable.

Here is a YouTube video of her story. The presentation we attended was about an hour and half presentation (including wonderful questions from the kids). Here’s one great thing about her presentation (and the book): it was factual. She didn’t shy away from some of the graphic details of living in a concentration camp, but she did not dwell on those details. So even though the presentation was intended for fifth grade on up, even younger kids with longer attention spans could learn from her without being traumatized.

IMG_7078
My tween told Marion that she was most interested in the leg injury Marion describes in the book, since she is still on crutches.

I found her husband, Nathaniel Lazan, to be just charming, and so here is a quick cellphone snap of him from yesterday. He takes wonderful photos of her speaking and accompanies her around the world to share her story and her message.

IMG_7071

Finally, I couldn’t resist sharing one book of fiction about this time period that is great for younger kids to read.

images-15

Number the Stars  is Lois Lowry’s Newberry award-winning story of a young girl in Denmark whose family is involved in hiding and transporting Jews to freedom.  Definitely worth a read; our girls book group read this book several years ago. We had a memorable discussion and activities related to the book.

Picture Book Monday: Five by Margaret Wise Brown

by

Picture Book Monday starts today.  I explain about it here.

IMG_8297

IMG_8298

IMG_8302

IMG_8304

IMG_8303

Years ago, a friend’s dear young daughter–about two years old at the time– was hospitalized for a life-threatening infection. I went to visit the family in the hospital, and the little girl was just so forlorn, so small on the hospital bed.

So I told her hello, and I asked if she might like a story (and mentally berating myself for not bringing a book as a gift).

She didn’t respond.  So I closed my eyes and began:

In the great green room

There was a telephone

And a red balloon

And a picture of

the cow jumping over the moon

I knew the book by heart–surely I’m not the only parent out there who’s been asked to read a book so many times she can do it cold–and continued.

When I finished, her eyes were big, and they never left me.

“Would you like me to read it again?”

A nod.  And so I did.

The next day, I brought her mom her very own copy of Goodnight Moon, probably Margaret Wise Brown’s best-known and loved book.

If there is a more soothing bedtime story, I’d like to know what it is, so be sure to let me know in the comments.

Here’s what I love about Margaret Wise Brown at her best: she is a poet.  Her words often read like prayers.  There is humor and poignancy in her work.

She died very young and had an interesting and in some ways tragic life. I’ve got her biography, Awakened by the Moon, on hold at the library, and I will update this post after reading that. But regardless of her life, her books stand the test of time and reading aloud.

Most people will be familiar with Goodnight Moon and another of our favorites, The Runaway Bunny.

Our funny family story about The Runaway Bunny is that when I read it to my oldest, a girl, she insisted (as only an oldest, and a toddler–can) that the child bunny was in fact a girl bunny, no matter what the words said.  So that I had to substitute “she” for “he” and “her mother” for “his mother” and so forth throughout.

We stuck with our female runaway bunny until our third was born, and then he (being a strong personality) insisted it was a boy bunny, so back the original.

One of the most moving scenes in the play Wit (not for kids, but made into a beautiful movie with Emma Thompson in the main role of a demanding English professor dying of cancer) is when a visitor, her former mentor, reads her excerpts from The Runaway Bunny.

This may seem depressing, but that scene makes a person realize that The Runaway Bunny would not be a bad book to have read on one’s deathbed.

But I can still think of a better book for that purpose: MWB’s The Important Book, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard.

I almost always get emotional when I read The Important Book, for many reasons. It’s a prayer and a poem both, and Weisgard’s illustrations make it nearly perfect.

The frontspiece begins with a tiny illustration of a open book. On the right-hand side of the tiny open book is an illustration of a cricket. On the left-hand page are the words in cursive:“The important thing about a cricket is that it is black. It chirps, it hops, it jumps, and sings all through the summer night. But the important thing about a cricket is that it is black.”

And the book continues this way, though with full-size illustrations in the rest of the book. What makes—a spoon, an apple, the wind, the grass, a child’s shoe, much more, and finally, you–important.

I was so taken by this book that eventually, I made a “Grandpa and Grandma Important Book” for my in-laws. Each page of this scrapbook was about what made Grandpa or Grandma, their children and grandchildren important, with accompanying photos. (“The important thing about Grandma is that she makes the best chocolate milk.”)

I made it just before my father-in-law passed away, and now that both my in-laws are dead I treasure this “Important Book” as a family heirloom; it’s alongside our copy of The Important Book. And now I wish I had made one for my parents, but that one is in my heart.

Two other MWB books are well worth having. The Golden Egg Book is another nearly perfect bedtime book–perhaps especially during the Easter season–about both friendship, sleepiness, and adorable lifelike bunnies. Lovely illustrations by Leonard Weisgard again.

Finally, Nibble, Nibble: Poems for Children is sweet, and would be worthwhile to consider reading during April, National Poetry Month.

We’ve read many, many other Margaret Wise Brown books at our house, and we own probably half a dozen more book by her, but these are the ones I’d keep no matter what:

Goodnight Moon

The Runaway Bunny

The Important Book

The Golden Egg Book

Nibble, Nibble: Poems for Children

Do you have a favorite Margaret Wise Brown book?

Backlist, and Picture Books

by

Several weeks back, Seth Godin had a great reflection, “Building your backlist (and living with it forever” on how each person should pay attention to his or her backlist , and I’ve been pondering it ever since.

IMG_8290
from my Jane Austen bookcase

Here’s what I think: First, I have a considerable “backlist” here on Reading Catholic of book reviews, author interviews and other content. Part of what I’d like to do is organize that a little better so that it’s easy to access, but I need to be proud of that work and say “way to go, me” about it.

But I also realize that I’ve got a great backlist “in my head” of, in particular, book lists of:  (this is only a partial list)

*great picture books for families to own

*great young kid books

*great beginning chapter books

*great audiobooks for family listening

*great young adult novels

IMG_8294
from the C.S. Lewis/Tolkein bookshelves (clearly in need of reorg)

Often, someone will ask me in person or, as happened on Facebook recently, for good suggestions for picture books, or middle-grade novels, or great books for girls, or … And I think, it’s all in my head, but I can’t access it easily.

So the goal here will be to gradually work to get some of these “backlists” out of my head and here for readers to reference, springboard from, and incorporate into their family libraries.

IMG_8293
a tiny portion of the picture book bookcases–also in need of reorg

I’m starting with picture books because I have a ready library at home to share, so for the time being it will be “Picture Book Monday” here on Reading Catholic. I hope you will discover some great picture books and picture book authors. Eventually, I would love to add on other book categories.

I’m acknowledging here the inspiration of the wonderful Cay Gibson, the author of Catholic Mosaic: Living the Liturgical Year with Children, as well as “A Picture-Perfect Childhood. Cay blogs at http://cajuncottage.blogspot.com. Both of those are great resources and book lists, and both are available on Amazon.

Many years ago (when my oldest was a pre-schooler, I think) Cay moderated a now-silent yahoo group called “Literature Alive!” One year, Cay organized for us an “author study” of picture book authors, one per week. The prospect of one author per week was almost too much, but I was in heaven getting to discover so many wonderful authors and classic works.

Some were new, some were old favorites, and some were not very interesting to us after all. But every week I would faithfully go to the library with my family (only two little girls at that time) and take out every book by, say, Dr. Seuss.

I’d also give a hand-written list to Miss Glenda, our library’s wonderful inter-library loan person (this was before you could order books from the library on the Internet) various other titles that the yahoo group members would recommend.

And over the course of that year, I discovered picture book authors that our family adored, and we gradually assembled a home library of wonderful books. More importantly, we accumulated wonderful stories and family traditions related to the book.

Come Monday, we shall start with probably my favorite picture book author, Margaret Wise Brown, and feature five of her books. I hope you’ll enjoy learning about some of the books and our family stories, and consider discovering some of these authors and picture books. Most of all, I want to encourage families to make picture books part of your family life.

Do you read picture books at your house?  What are some of your favorites?