Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

books

Thomas Friedman Agrees With Me

by

As I’ve said many times here, I’m a firm believer in reading books with and to kids, even once kids can read themselves.  In our family, we particularly love having family books–books that we all read and remember and become part of our family “story.”  

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman had a great column over the weekend essentially agreeing with me. (Not that Friedman reads me often, but you know what I mean).    My husband helpfully shared the column with me, and our discussion helped shaped my thoughts here.  I sometimes forget what a great source of both information and analysis he is, so allow me to give him a quick and well-deserved shout-out here.
Friedman refers to an international study that (every 3 years) tests 15-year-olds, and finds that young people whose parents read to them when they were young do much better on reading comprehension and problem-solving than those who do not have that benefit.  The study also shows the more parents are involved in their children’s lives, asking about schoolwork, talking with them about politics and news, in addition to the reading, also raised scores.
Now, I don’t continue to read to our children (all strong readers by now), and we don’t have family favorite “books,” just so that our kids will out-perform their peers when they take tests.  But I do love that giving kids this heritage of great books makes them better able to comprehend the world and be better at problem-solving.  Essentially, Friedman is affirming the Catholic view that parents are the “primary and principal educators” of their children.
I’m beginning work on my December Catholic Post column, about books that would make good Christmas gifts.  As it stands now,  I’m recommending more kids’ books than grown-up books.  I was starting to feel a little concerned about this until I read Friedman’s column.  
What do you think about the study and what it means for parents and kids?  You can read the full results of the international study here. 

Q&A with "A Book of Saints" author Lisa Hendey

by

I’m re-publishing my Q&A with Lisa Hendey this month since I usually try to focus on a book throughout the month I review it.  You can read my review of Lisa’s new book, A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms, in my Post column here.

Longtime readers of The Catholic Post Book Group will remember that the second book I reviewed for the Catholic Post was Lisa’s first book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms.  Lisa was also my first author interview, and author interviews have become among my favorite aspects of writing about books.  I really enjoyed my visit with Lisa, a friend to moms everywhere.  I hope you enjoy it.



A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms is such a great companion and natural “sort-of sequel” to The Handbook for Catholic Moms.  Did you know you wanted to write it when The Handbook for Catholic Moms released?
Thank you for your kindness and welcome Nancy. Honestly, I must give a great deal of the credit for the concept of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms to my amazing editor at Ave Maria Press, Eileen Ponder.  Only a few weeks after The Handbook for Catholic Moms was released in February 2010, Eileen proposed several ideas for future projects, including the concept of a book devoted to exploring the lives of the saints. Because the Handbook was so fresh on my mind, and because I so enjoyed exploring the themes of that project so much, A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms became a natural extension of the work that had begun with my first book.

I appreciate how handsomely the book is designed and “feels.”  I especially loved the illustrations/icons for “heart, mind, body and soul,” (such a great theme in The Handbook for Catholic Moms) and how you assign a different one to each saint.  Tell me more about how you connected those two themes.
I, too, love the design for the book and want to give a great deal of credit to designer Katherine Robinson Coleman of Ave Maria Press, who gave such a beautiful “face” to the ideas I wanted to convey in this book.  The “heart, mind, body and soul” themes were explored in my first book The Handbook for Catholic Moms.  In that book, I encouraged moms to care for themselves in these aspects of their lives so that they would be better equipped to serve their families, our Church and the world around us.

I’ve long had a devotion to the lives of the saints, turning to them as spiritual companions, role models and intercessors. Early in the planning for this project, I decided that I wanted to revisit the four themes, choosing saints in each of those areas and writing about their lives, but also about how the saints exemplified sanctity and excellence in these areas.

There are 52 great saints, some well-known, others not so much.  How did you select the range of saints?
Choosing the 52 saints was one of the most fun, but also the most challenging aspects of the project. I knew immediately that some saints would be included because their importance to mothers and their “fit” for the topics being explored made them immediately come to mind. But I also had a wonderful time pondering my “picks” and reveling in research at our local university library. The formula of 52 saints and four “themes” (heart, mind, body and soul) meant coming up with 13 saints in each of those categories. Honestly, many of the saints I selected could have been introduced in several ways, but conceiving of them in this way and watching the project grow and take flesh really brought them to life in this writer’s heart of mine.

Do you have a favorite saint among the less well-known saints?
I have several! I must admit a tremendously soft spot in my heart for Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux who is one of my personal patrons. It makes sense to me that they would have had a tremendous impact upon her and I’ve fallen in love with Blessed Zelie through reading her personal correspondence. I also have a strong devotion to St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a modern working mother, a physician and a valiant pro-life champion. Finally as an Indiana born daughter of two Hoosier parents educated by the Sisters of Providence, I absolutely love and frequently pray through the intercession of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin who has taught me a great deal about trusting in God’s providence in my life.

You’re such a busy writer and new media specialist.  What’s your next project?
Busy, but very blessed! I have several “next projects” in the work, including an Advent book for Catholic families, several new concepts for CatholicMom.com, an active speaking schedule for the Spring and some “secret projects” that will be unveiled soon.
Is there anything else you would like to add or wish I would have asked?
Nancy, I thank you for your amazing support and I truly encourage your readers to pick up A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and to share it with their friends and loved ones. The book is designed to be of support for moms, but also to be used with the entire family. It includes daily scriptures and prayers, activities for a mother to enjoy with her children, and a family prayer to be recited together. The saints – these holy men and women – lived their lives in the same challenging circumstances we often face today. It’s such a treasure of our faith that we can turn to them for support and encouragement, in intercessory prayer. I hope families will find a renewed relationship with the communion of saints through this book – both the formally canonized saints, and those we have each known and loved in our own lives. I pray the book will be a blessing to moms in their vocation.

A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms Encourages and Uplifts

by

“Every time a Catholic mother asks me what author she should read, I have a ready answer: Lisa Hendey,” says noted author Fr. James Martin, S.J.
Amen, Father Martin.  Lisa Hendey is a seemingly omnipresent champion to Catholic women everywhere.  Hendey has a big presence online, where she runs her encouraging and informative website CatholicMom.com.  She also is a featured blogger at the popular Faith & Family Live! web community,, and she speaks and writes on new media as a way to spread the Catholic faith. 
A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms is such a great companion and natural “sort-of sequel” to The Handbook for Catholic Moms, Hendey’s first book. (Incidentally,  that was the second book I ever reviewed here at the Catholic Post.  Lisa was also my first author interview, since Fulton Sheen, author of first book review Treasure in Clay, was unavailable for an interview). 
I appreciate how handsomely the book is designed and “feels.”  Especially lovely are the illustrations/icons for “heart, mind, body and soul,” such a great theme in The Handbook for Catholic Moms and continued here.  Each saint has an icon of either heart, mind, body or soul based on the saint’s particular charism—for instance, a heart for St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, and a body for martyr St. Maximilian Kolbe.
There are 52 great saints, some well-known, others not so much.  I enjoyed discovering newish-to-me saints like St. Rose Venerini (mind) , a 17th century lay educator, and St. Theodore Guerin, who helped bring the Sisters of Providence to the US.   There are also fresh reflections on saints like St. Jerome (soul) and  St. Jane Frances de Chantal (heart).
Each saint/chapter is divided into five sections:  lessons (an essay/reflection on the saint; traditions (charming familiar and obscure observances associated with the saint); saintly wisdom (a quote from or about the saint); scripture for each day of the week; and saint-inspired activities for mom alone or with kids.
I read through The Book of Saints cover to cover, but it would be a great resource to have at hand throughout the year.  A reader could choose to use this book as a bedside devotional to “keep up with the saints” all year, or get even more practical by planning some of the activities for the family.  Any way it is utilized, The Book of Saints for Catholic Moms is an enduring treasury for heart, mind, body and soul.
This is my monthly column in the print Catholic Post.  Check back all month long on the blog for discussions, giveaways and more about this book and many more.

First, What are You Reading? Volume 15, November 2011

by

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?  

Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by Rafe Esquith.    Esquith teaches in a troubled Los Angeles school with few success stories, and yet manages to transform the lives of his 5th grade students year after year.

The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles is by Padraic Colum, and illustrated by Willy Pogany.  My 8-year-old son and I are reading this to each other, with other family members listening in from time to time.

What do you like best about them?

Here’s what I loved about Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire:  Esquith writes all about making a great classroom culture and holding kids to a high standard.  He teaches them problem-solving as a key skill, and challenges the students to act right at the highest level of behavior.  He and his students perform an acclaimed Shakespeare play every year.  He takes his students on trips to broaden their horizons and shows them classic movies to foster a sense of media literacy—I could go on and on.  He’s a powerhouse, and his many awards are well-deserved.  This would be a great book for any teacher, or really any parent, to get great ideas (or be confirmed in your own) for enriching the lives of children.

Padraid Colum was an Irish writer.  I’m not sure where I picked up the handsome Aladdin paperback of The Children’s Homer, but once I started reading it with my 8-year-old son, we were hooked.  Other than various adaptations over the years, I’ve never been good at reading The Odyssey and other classic Greek literature.  I downloaded an Odyssey App once, but found the language less than friendly to my style.  Colum’s language, while a little old-fashioned, hooked us quickly and we love the amazingly great stories.  After we finished The Children’s Homer, we started on The Golden Fleece.  Colum won the Newberry award for The Children’s Homer, The Golden Fleeceand The Children of Odin.

What do you like least about them?

A big deficit of Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire is the amount of stuff Esquith is able to accomplish with his kids, and how someone reading it might feel inadequate.  It reminds me of when we used to educate our children at home—a danger could be visiting the blogs of other moms who seemed to be able to “do it all,” and how that kind of information was depressing instead of challenging.

Esquith is an amazing teacher, but in a way it’s more of a vocation.  It doesn’t appear he has children; his wife is very involved in helping his classroom succeed.  His kind of dedication and single-minded pursuit of great teaching isn’t realistic for most people, with families and other responsibilities.

I don’t necessarily think that a teacher, whether in public, private or homeschooling, should attempt to replicate, even over the course of a lifetime, Esquith’s successes.  However, there are so many great take-away points that it’s a very helpful read.

I don’t really care for the Willy Pogany illustrations in The Golden Fleece and other Colum books.  They are not terrible, just not my style.  Otherwise, these Colum/Pogany books are all good.

What’s next on your list to read?

I am reading many, many books that would be good as gifts for my December column.

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

Meet a Reader: Rebecca Sitte

by

Many thanks to the new campus minister at Peoria Notre Dame, Rebecca Sitte, for agreeing to be my Meet a Reader this month. 
How we know you:  Originally from North Dakota, I moved to the Peoria diocese six years ago while working with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). Currently, I’m working at Peoria Notre Dame High School as a full-time campus minister, where I plan class retreats, start small group Bible studies, and offer mission trips. PND students receive a great religious education, and with campus ministry, we hope to provide more opportunities for students to truly encounter Jesus Christ and to see just how relevant He is to their daily lives.
Why I love reading:  Reading opens the mind and heart to new ideas and can help us grow. I’ve loved to read since I was a small child, and I still enjoy gaining new knowledge and new perspectives from different books. And it’s a great way to unwind! In the past couple of years, most of the books that I’ve read are about the faith in some way or another. I especially love to read the lives of the saints and to hear how God has worked in their lives—it helps me to see how He’s working in my life today.
What I’m reading now:  I usually have a stack of eight books on my nightstand! Right now I’m reading The World’s First Love by Fulton Sheen. I love the way Sheen writes—it’s engaging and insightful, and this book has helped me to see Mary in a new light. I’m also reading Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe. It’s a wonderful book with practical advice on how we can maintain peace in our hearts even in the midst of exterior trials.
My favorite book:  My favorite book is the Bible. Even though I’ve read some passages time and time again, I still learn something new every time I pick it up! A few of my other favorites include Story of a Soul (St. Therese of Lisieux), God is Love (Pope Benedict XVI), The Lamb’s Supper (Scott Hahn), and Letters to a Young Catholic(George Weigel).

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 14, October 2011

by

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?
The Wilder Life:  My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.


What do you like best about them?
The Wilder Life is so wonderful—it’s writer Wendy McClure’s poignant, meandering and very funny months-long pilgrimage to Laura Ingalls Wilder sites and re-reading the books and related books.  McClure had grown up loving the books (not the television show, as she continually tells us), like I had, so I found her perspective so … me.   And I know I’m not the only one–those of us who loved the Laura books as a girl are featured in this book, primarily McClure herself.  We’re a varied bunch, but it’s a fun sorority to be a part of.

Heaven is for Real is very poignant and sweetly written story from a Dad’s perspective about his son’s near death experience and visions of heaven.  Todd is an evangelical pastor, but nothing in the book contradicts the Catholic faith that I could tell.  In fact, he makes a point of mentioning Catholics several times in a respectful way, which I find refreshing.  I did enjoy reading this quick, inspiring read after a fellow school mom recommended it (See, I actually do ask people in person, what are you reading? Thanks, Jeanne!).

What I love most about this book is not the book itself.   When my 5th grade daughter saw it on my nightstand, she mentioned that her teacher was reading it, and was it okay for her to read?  I said sure.  Since she is a fast reader, she finished it by the next day and was ready to talk.  Wow, the conversations, especially late-night conversations, we have had about this book.  I also just found out in recent days that a junior high teacher is reading it with all the upper grades, and so my 8th grader has read it and discussed it as well, so we’ve been able to share a lot about it.

My husband is a theologian, and I’ve been known to joke on many occasions, well, I’m not the theologian in the family.  Turns out my husband has some more competition in the theologian department.  This is a fact we already knew with the Zen-like questions our son used to ask when he was 4 (such as, “Can you spell Jesus without any letters?”).

What do you like least about them?
Oh, I cried and cried at the end of The Wilder Life, not only because I finished the book on my late father’s birthday, as McClure reflected on her own mother’s death a year before.  I also cried because I expected a plot twist that didn’t happen.  That may sound odd, but I don’t want to give anything away about the book.  If you have read it and were also waiting for a  certain “plot twist,” let’s talk about it in the comments, and see if you agree with me that the ending is so poignant on many levels.  Crying at the end of a book is not really a bad thing, so it’s not really something I “didn’t like.”

This isn’t really a think I disliked about Heaven is For Real, just an interesting point that came up in discussions with a young theologian in our house.  Todd Burpo keeps mentioning that his son couldn’t possibly know some of the details from Scripture that describe heaven.  What occurred to our 5th grader was that as a Catholic, even a 4-year-old would have heard some of those Scriptures at Mass, in particular around the certain feasts like we just had several days ago at Mass on the feast of the Archangels.

What’s next on your list to read?
Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire by Rafe Esquith.  Already partway through and enjoying this one.

I truly wish I could be reading Gone With the Wind along with my 13-year-old daughter, but I’m not.  I brought home a handsome new edition from the library thinking I might try to read it, but she absconded with it and I quickly realized I would not have time for this huge read right now.  So I did the next best thing and asked a dear longtime online friend, author and GWTW lover, Cay Gibson, for any “content issues” I should keep in mind.  And because she is dear, she gave lots of great ideas and also comfort, as 13 was the age she first read GWTW.  Much as I would love to keep up with everything my kids read, sometimes you have to outsource, and I’m glad to have friends to count on for this.

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