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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/pile to read?

I hope you’ll consider sharing yours on your blog and/or sharing yours here in the comments or on Facebook.  Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?

I just finished the a group of newer graphic novels on the new book table of our local library.  The only good one is a book I reviewed yesterday, Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke.


I’m also reading Decision Points by George H.W. Bush, because I usually order from the library some, if not all, of the books that the monthly “Meet a Reader” feature is reading.  I like to keep up with what other people are reading, and last month’s “Meet a Reader,” Sue Wozniak, reported she was reading and enjoying it.


I’m also reading myriad books on using Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn as I prepare to live blog the Behold conference this weekend, but with a confirmation this weekend (beautiful) and sickness yet again in our house (ugly), my learning curve keeps getting sharper.  Sigh.


What do you like best about them?

I liked almost everything about Zita the Spacegirl.  It’s a fun read.


Decision Points is interesting.  I’m not that far into it, but so far I’ve been most moved by Bush’s decision to stop drinking at the age of 40, and how he has stuck with it.


What do you like least about them?


As I wrote yesterday, Zita the Space Girl would have been just fine without the Hobbit-inspired giant spider-like space creatures.


What’s next on your list?


I’m on a Gary Paulsen reading binge.  I just discovered the young adult author recently, but he’s written some fantastic, especially boy-friendly fiction.  I thought he had won the Newberry Medal for Hatchet, his 1987 novel about a boy alone in the Canadian wilderness–it’s that good!  I’m halfway through the many-kleenex My Life in Dog Years, and we’ve got quite a few more in the library basket from this prolific author.


I’m also hoping to read Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand.  I know it’s been out for years, but I’ve read several excerpts and interviews about her new book, Unbroken, and I wanted to read her first one first.  My six degrees of separation is that Hillenbrand and I both attended Kenyon College at the same time.  She’s a couple of years younger than I am, so I don’t remember her well.  But I well remember her energetic and super-creative sister Susan who was in my class; we were on the same floor of our all-girls freshman dormitory, back when dorms were single-sex.


I’ve also set aside Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales for Lent.  I hope to read this through this Lent, since my reading has been fairly prolific in recent months.  Some Lents I am not able to finish, or even start, this classic that I find spiritually fruitful.  I’m also planning to read Forget Not Love:  The Passion of Maximillian Kolbe that I bought quite a few years back at Marytown, but have never had the chance to read.  It seems appropriate for Lent.


So what are you reading?  Share away!

As I’ve written before, no one is more surprised than me that graphic novels have become one of my favorite genres of children’s books.  The quality and freshness of quite a few (but not all) recent titles makes me really happy for the future of book publishing.

So, last weekend, browsing through the new books section of our very small but wonderful local library, I spied a newer graphic novel, Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke, the illustrator of one of my all-time favorite picture books, Angel in the Waters, by Regina Doman.  And if you’ve never read Angel in the Waters, which I give as a new baby gift, you are truly missing out on one of the classics of all time.

First in a series, Zita the Spacegirl: Far from Home, is essentially an space adventure about a girl who makes a bad decision and works hard to set it right.  A favorite part?  How cool it is that a graphic novel begins with a quote from GK Chesterton: “There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there.  The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place.”

The book to me has elements of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, and even a few plot lines (note to Mr. Hatke–I didn’t like the giant spiders in The Hobbit, and I don’t like the giant spider-like space creatures here–couldya consider leaving them out of future books?), in that it portrays a flawed character on a “mission” of sorts and how that person can choose the good and become better for it.  There’s no explicit religious message, just great good fun and adventure.

I can’t wait for the upcoming volumes in this terrific new series!

I apologize that it’s been quite here on the blog, especially with all the news about abortion this week, especially since this month’s book, Unplanned, is about the journey of abortion clinic director Abby Johnson to become pro-life.

But I’ve had a print deadline, and other things preparing for next month.  Mostly I am planning to live blog (here and on Twitter) the Behold Conference next weekend, and synchronizing and getting it all to work together is making my head hurt! I am a digital immigrant, not a digital native, but I will get this to work.  I  think.  (laughing here)  Stay tuned!

Still, abortion been in the news a lot these past weeks and we have some big issues to discuss, from the defunding of Planned Parenthood being considered in Congress to the death of abortionist-turned-life-activist Bernard Nathanson to the ethics of tactics.

Nathanson died this week, and it’s hard to measure his long-term impact on the pro-life movement.  He was a famous abortionist and early abortion supporter who helped to found NARAL, one of the top abortion groups in the country, and when he became pro-life, and eventually, Catholic, it made big news.   He’s really a hero to much of the pro-life movement because of his willingness to be honest and open about his abortion work and his conversion process made him real to millions, much like Abby Johnson’s story in UnPlanned is doing for a new generation.

Jennifer Fulwiler has a post up at the National Catholic Register at when is it okay to use graphic pictures of aborted babies in the fight against abortion.  As Abby Johnson writes in UnPlanned, our Catholic Post Book Group book this month, these kinds of tactics did not help her convert; in fact, they got her to “dig in her heels” and harden herself.

I so agree with Jen about the idea that one must absolutely be prepared to see the photos or images, otherwise there is a kind of abuse of the person involved.    I can still vividly recall seeing Bernard Nathanson’s film graphically showing a second-trimester abortion, Eclipse of Reason, and my reaction to it.   I had already been working for several years in the pro-life movement, but I had to really work up the courage to witness it.  I can’t imagine being compelled to watch this film, or even Silent Scream, the film depicting an ultrasound abortion that Nathanson screened at the Reagan White House.

On another topic, I also have been thinking over my views (and talking with others) about the tactics of Live Action the group that went undercover to expose the bad behavior of Planned Parenthood staff.  Among others, I had a chance to talk with my brother (it’s handy having a brother who is a law school professor) about this very topic–under what conditions is is permissible to lie in the service of the good.    There’s a lot of philosophical discussion about this on the Internet these days–most prominent is probably the Public Discourse discussion.  Here’s a very brief round-up of the mostly civil debate, as well as appropriate links, but be warned–the links represent a lot of reading!  Worthwhile, but long.

Reading through much of this debate makes me remember why I am not a philosopher, theologian or lawyer, as many of those close to me are.  The issues are just so complex.

Also remember that while I do have issues with the deception aspect of the Live Action tactics, my main concern is that I don’t consider any of this very effective (in fact, the opposite of that) in softening hearts and minds.

When I asked Abby Johnson about this in my interview with her last week, she had a very good answer.  I appreciate her view, but I don’t share it.   As I asked, on the one hand, the revelations are shocking and important to know; on the other hand, this sort of deception seems opposite to the approach that persuaded her to leave the abortion industry.

What are your thoughts on these various issues?

Wow, February in the Midwest is here with a wallop–with a blizzard predicted for later today in Illinois.


It’s perfect weather for staying inside and curling up with a good book.


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/pile to read?

I hope you’ll consider sharing yours on your blog and/or sharing yours here in the comments or on Facebook.  Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?

I just finished the young adult novel Scrawl, by Mark Shulman, a first-person narrative told from the bully’s point of view. 


I also finished the book 168 Hours:  You Have More Time than You Think by Laura Vanderkam, a time management book.

What do you like best about them?

I really expected NOT to like Scrawl, subtitled, “What Does This Bully Have to Say for Himself?” because I find over-realistic young adult fiction too graphic for me, but this book was fantastic.  First of all, the narrator is instantly recognizable as an individual, and eventually, likeable.  Second, the book does not tell every.gory.detail of the events, but the impact and emotional intensity is just as dramatic.  See, YA authors, you can tell a hard-to-put-down, well-crafted story without sharing TMI.

168 Hours was really eye-opening for me.  Instead of just offering tips and tricks for saving time or maximizing efficiency, Vanderkam suggests people keep a long of how they spend each of the 168 hours in the week, and then work from their to become more efficient.  Then, she suggests people find a way to spend more time on their “core competencies,” things they can do well, and less time on things that take them longer than someone else to do.  An example, Vanderkam suggests most people have a core competency of spending quality time with our children (something we obviously do better than anyone else), but failure to plan for it, or getting caught up in the busyness of life, prevents us from maximizing this time.  She writes of a busy working mom who reads Hardy Boys mysteries to her kids in the few minutes before school, and suggests parents look for little and big chunks of time for connecting in a mindful way as families.


Here’s one anecdote from the book that had me thinking “outside the box” in trying to maximize limited time and resources best:  A young man, without a large income, realized after doing his time survey that he spent way too much of his time shopping for and preparing food.  So he hired a private chef to come to his house once a week and prepare meals.  It turns out that in addition to saving him hours of time, he actually ended up saving money by hiring the private chef.  He actually had been buying a lot more groceries and eating out a lot more than the chef (food included) cost.  Who knew?


This started me thinking, not about a private chef.  Surprise!  Both my husband and I enjoy cooking, so that would be a core competency for us.  Still, the book points out there are a lot of ways to save money that are not always doing things “the cheapest” way.  I’ve always read in the “frugal” books, that making one’s own food from scratch is better from every angle, but this has me rethinking.  Penny-wise and pound foolish is not best.


I started a time survey last week but gave up pretty quickly, so I’m sure it will take me a few tries to be consistent in writing down my activities for an entire week.  After that, I’ll have a good sense of how much what I do aligns with my values and goals.

What do you like least about them?

Scrawl is very good; there’s not much there not to like.  Now that we have a snow day (probably a few), I will encourage my older children to read the book.  


One of the criticisms of 168 Hours is that Vanderkam is writing for a chiefly affluent audience, and she suggests things like personal shoppers and private chefs, that many single-income families would not afford.  I don’t really agree with this, because the book helped me to think in a different way about so many ways I spend my time.

What are you reading next?


Other than my general resolve to read more classics on my Kindle App, I need to consider some good books for bedtime reading time with my 7-year-old.  We are approaching the end of C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle, and I want to find something equally as good to pick up.  I’m open to suggestions!

I’m also previewing a lot of books for March and April columns, chiefly books with a Lenten theme.  Any suggestions from you?  What are you reading?