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December Book Giveaway # 2: The Father Brown Reader II–More Stories from Chesterton

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Our second December giveaway here at the Catholic Post Book Group is a copy of  The Father Brown Reader II:  More Stories from Chesterton, by Nancy Carpentier Brown.  You can read my interview with Nancy here, and enter the giveaway to receive this book here or on that Q&A Post by Monday, December 13 (I have fixed the confusing language in the last one).  On Tuesday I will pick a winner.  Let me clarify that you can enter all the giveaways this month, so you can also enter to win a copy of Newman 101 at the first book giveaway post, until this Friday.  Good luck!

Q&A with Nancy Brown, author of "The Father Brown Reader II: More Stories from Chesterton"

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Here’s my interview with one of my favorite authors and a dear friend, Nancy Carpentier Brown.  I hope you enjoy this interview, and that you will consider entering the book giveaway of her newest, The Father Brown Reader II.   That giveaway will begin running through Monday, so be sure to enter.   You can enter one of two ways:  by leaving a comment either on this post or a giveaway-specific post tomorrow.  The deadline for this is Monday, December 13.  On Tuesday, I’ll select a winner.   It’s a great book and would make a great Christmas gift!


Tell me a little about your books and your most recent one, The Father Brown Reader II.

My books have all been to some degree or another about Chesterton, because I happen to love British author G. K. Chesterton.

My first adaptations of Father Brown stories for children were four mysteries that did not involved murder. The Blue Cross is Chesterton’s most famous Father Brown story, involving the stealing of a valuable jewel-encrusted cross. The Flying Stars is again about a jewel heist. The Strange Feet is about stealing some very interesting and valuable silver forks and knives, and the last story is The Absence of Mr. Glass, in which a person appears to be missing. The first book was so widely loved I got fan mail begging me to write more. The publisher was also overwhelmed with requests for another adaptation. And that is how this second collection came to be. Although this time, murders are included because Chesterton’s stories are mainly murder mysteries.

I’ve written two study guides to Chesterton books, which help readers delve more deeply into The Blue Cross and his biography of St. Francis of Assisi.

I’ve also written a highly controversial book titled The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide. I managed to introduce each chapter of that book with a quote from Chesterton.

What gave you the idea to adapt stories from GK Chesterton for young readers?

This particular book is an outcome of my desire to introduce, first of all, my own children to an author that I love. When I realized how difficult it was for young people to read the original Father Brown stories, I wanted to do something about it. I was in the library perusing in the children’s section and I came across a children’s adaptation of four Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I became very excited, and wanted to know if something like that had been done for Father Brown. When I discovered that no one had yet adapted them for children, I took it upon myself to do the work.

In this second adaptation, the four stories are The Invisible Man, where two men are involved in a jealous rivalry, The Mirror of the Magistrate, where a man is mistaken for another in a mirror, The Eye of Apollo, where a young lady is fooled into following a pagan god, and The Perishing of the Pendragons, where an old legend foretells the fortune of a sailor.

You made it look easy to adapt Chesterton with still keeping his essential language.  Was that hard to do?

Yes, it is quite difficult to make an effective adaptation, and I must give credit where it is due. Rose Decaen and Margot Davidson helped me tremendously with editing the text. Many discussions flew back and forth over which language to retain, and which to adapt. The easiest thing to retain is the dialog, which is pretty straightforward. But there was a lot of description and British slang and references to persons unknown to us today that could be removed without changing the essential story. It was definitely a collaborative effort. But we are often complimented on our faithfulness to the original, so I believe we’ve done well.

Why do you think it is important to introduce young readers to GK Chesterton?

My belief is that everyone today needs Chesterton. There is very little thinking for one’s self going on, despite the cultural plea to “think outside the box” and be “open minded.”  Hollywood and Big Media conspire to do our thinking for us and so what they often mean is “think over here inside my box” and “be open-minded to my ideas.”  Chesterton teaches us first of all how to think. Then he teaches us how to be truly open-minded; then how to clamp down on the ideas that are right.

I often wish I would have known about Chesterton earlier in my life; I believe he would have helped me in many situations where clear thinking was needed. In debates about religious beliefs, political beliefs, in family conversations with people who only listen to sound bites and spout them as if that’s thinking for oneself, Chesterton would have helped. These situations crop up regularly and one needs right thinking—the kind of thinking Chesterton helps one to do.

I don’t believe all children will “get” Chesterton. However, if they have a pleasant first experience with Chesterton, such as enjoying the Father Brown mysteries at a young age, I believe that lays the groundwork for reading Chesterton later on.
For grown-ups or older kids who might be interested in Chesterton after reading your book, what would you recommend as a good introduction to a full Chesterton work?

The best first book is American Chesterton Society President Dale Ahlquist’s Apostle of Common Sense. I think the best first novel is The Man Who Was Thursday; a book I often suspect is more relevant today than when Chesterton wrote it 100 years ago. I also love The Ball and the Cross, but you have to be persistent and get past the first chapter to get into it. If you love St. Francis, his biography is wonderful. If you love social issues, What’s Wrong With the World? is great.

Any new projects or books in the works?
I am currently working on a biography of Chesterton’s wife Frances. She was the woman behind the man, and although she’s been in the background, I believe I can bring her into the spotlight a little. She was an author, speaker, playwright and poet, although few know much about her. She was her husband’s rock; they relied heavily on each other for emotional and physical support.

She’s intrigued me ever since I first read about her, because as the wife of an artistic genius myself, I knew that she had to have played an important role in their partnership as a married couple, as well as an important role as a business partner for his writing business. I’ve been researching her for years and it seems like a book is the natural outcome of all this research. I’ve got an editor and a publisher, so all that’s needed now is the time to write.

Anything else you would like to add?

Read Chesterton!

December Book Giveaway # 1: Newman 101

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A number of publishers have graciously given copies of their books for giveaways this month on the blog.

So all this month, as we discuss good books for gifts, the Catholic Post Book Group will be running some book giveaways!

Blog giveaways are a great way to “be lucky.”  The odds are much better than most contests and giveaways, and there’s no cost involved.  I’m surprised at the few things that I have won through blog giveaways–books, mostly (surprise!) though all sorts of things are given away on blogs and websites.   I highly encourage you to enter yourself and let others know about the giveaways.

To enter each giveaway, you should comment on the post before the deadline.   Deadline for this giveaway is this Friday, December 10.   On Saturday, I’ll draw a winner.

Our first giveaway is a copy of Newman 101: An Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of John Cardinal Newman by Father Roderick Strange.  This book was the September selection for the Catholic Post Book Group,  and the book itself is, indeed a great introduction to the newly canonized British writer.  Thanks to Ave Maria Press for providing the book for this giveaway.

Good luck!

First, What are You Reading? Volume 4, December 2010

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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 am re-reading two of my favorite books for kids this week in preparation for two books groups happening late this week and early next week.
First, The Ruins of Gorlan, the first book in John Flanagan’s rollicking adventure series about a young “apprentice” to an ranger (a kind of spy/police force in the medieval-like fantasy world).  I’m reading that again for the mother-daughter book group my (almost) teenaged daughter and I attend monthly.



Second, The Kitchen Madonna by Rumer Godden, truly one of Godden’s finest children’s novels.  That is hard for me to even write, considering she wrote so many wonderful novels for children.  


What do you like best about them?


What is not to like about the Ranger’s Apprentice series?  I don’t know if John Flanagan is Catholic or not, but he’s really on the side of the angels as far as promoting virtues like honesty, hard work, perseverance and excellence.  But mostly, they are just fantastic stories, fast-paced and good, clean fun.  The violence is not overwhelming (though a bit dramatic for younger ears–we’ve saved some of the later books for our 7-year-old to read when he’s a bit older).  Until recently, we were able to get the latest Ranger’s Apprentice book earlier than the US market, as I had a grown-up nephew living in Australia, who would send us the latest release.  But he moved back recently, and now we’ll have to wait with the rest of the country to read The Emporer of Nihon-Ja, 10th book in the series, due out in April.


The Kitchen Madonna, in a handsome new reprint by Bethlehem Books (hooray Bethlehem Books!  what a fantastic publisher), is about an English brother and sister who make a “kitchen Madonna” icon for their beloved but homesick cook.  Godden tells wonderful stories; I pretty much love everything she wrote. 


What do you like least about them?


This is a very minor gripe about the Ranger’s Apprentice series.  Frankly, I’m not sure if I’m projecting this onto the series since I learned that John Flanagan was a television sit-com writer years before starting the Ranger’s Apprentice series.   I have noticed from time to time a little bit of a “movie or tv” feel to them.  For instance, the banter between characters occasionally–very occasionally–can strike me as something from a buddy adventure movie or sit-com.


All of Rumer Godden’s books are tinged with melancholy, certain books painfully so–I’m thinking The Doll’s House or Gypsy Girl.  That’s not really what I like least about her writing–Rumer Godden novels wouldn’t be that without it, but it’s still there and can leave an ache.


What are you reading next?


I am in earnest about trying to re-read Anthony Trollope, one of my favorite authors, but I just can’t seem to carve out the time, even as I would put the paperbacks of The Warden or Can You Forgive Her? on my bedside table.   There they sit, forlorn and dejected, as I have so many other reading responsibilities, a reproach to all my good intentions.


I don’t own a Kindle, but our family owns an iPad purchased several months ago at a discount from one of my sisters who got one of the first iPads and decided she didn’t want it.    Thank you, dear sister!  I really enjoy it, especially when I can wrestle it away from my children playing “Angry Birds” or “Bejeweled Blitz.” (Yes, we don’t just read at our house).  I like it for various Apps, chiefly my all-time favorite App, Universalis, for the Liturgy of the Hours.   But I also downloaded some time back the Kindle App for iPhone/iPad.    I decided to try to see if downloading some of Trollope’s novels (easily found for free, can’t beat the price) would make me more likely to read it.  So far, I’m well into Can You Forgive Her? first of the fantastic Pallister novels. Now if I can just get together an Anthony Trollope book group, I will be happy for the long winter ahead.  Any takers?

Another Try at Food Blogging

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Secretly, I harbor a desire to be a popular food blogger like Pioneer Woman or Smitten Kitchen..  I’m not sure why, because while I enjoy baking and cooking, I much prefer reading or other pursuits to making bread or pizza.  I also found when I tried food blogging back in August while we discussed Father Leo’s book,  I don’t have the patience to make everything look lovely and upload all the photos (it seems to take me a long time when I do this).

This past week I made several pizzas from Thursday Night Pizza.   My sous chef (or rather I was hers) was my 12-year-old daughter, who, as it turns out, is an ace at kneading dough and crafting the pizzas.   We’re planning to do a get-together with her classmates soon to make a group of the pizzas, so this was a great test cook for that.

The pizzas looked awesome, in addition to tasting great.  My husband and I really enjoyed the Rotola Pizza, but the kids did not much–not sure why.  When we make more pizzas from the book, we plan to make the Spicy Thai Chicken Peanut Pizza and the Apple Pie Pizza, along with a few more traditional ones.

My daughter is also an ace at taking the photos, a skill she inherited from her talented photographer father (he’s not a professional photographer, but he could be!).  So even if I’m not Pioneer Woman, I’ve got a daughter in the running, merely on her excellent photography skills.

Here is the process:

Here is the yeast proofing in the bowl.

Next, flour is mixed in to make a wet dough.
While the dough rises, we made the 8-minute pizza sauce. It starts with crushed tomatoes.
Now, spices and garlic is added, along with a few other ingredients, and the sauce cooks stovetop.
One the dough is ready, it is stretched out on a floured board.
Then it’s carefully moved over to the preheated pizza stone, and sauce and cheese are added.

Here’s the Rotola Pizza ready to go into the oven (it was the second one in).  It’s covered with Rotola, which is a roll of fresh mozarella and prosciutto.  It was actually easier than a regular pizza but looks fancier.  Now here are some of the finished pizzas.  First is a plain four-cheese pizza:

Doesn’t that look beautiful?  It was very tasty.
Here’s a closer view.  I told you my 12-year-old daughter takes good photos.
Here’s a photo of the Rotola Pizza after it baked.  This photo shows my preferred method of cutting pizzas–with a scissors.  Some think I’m strange, but I find it much easier than either a pizza cutter or a knife.
Thanks for sharing my second adventure in food blogging.  I won’t be making the other pizzas this month, but if I do make them in the next week or so I will try to post some photos of the unusual pizzas.  Have you tried any unusual or good recipes this month?  Share away in the comments.

"Brother Jerome’s" Corn Muffins

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Here’s the recipe for the Corn Meal Muffins that Brother Jerome makes in Father Dominic Garramone’s new children’s book, Brother Jerome & The Angels in the Bakery.   Thanks, Father Dominic, for sharing this great recipe!

1 cup of milk at room temperature

1 beaten egg

¼ cup of vegetable oil or melted shortening

1 cup yellow cornmeal

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 Tbs. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

Colored sugar or sprinkles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine egg, milk, and oil in a medium size bowl and stir to mix.  Place cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a sifter and sift into the milk mixture.  Stir until just blended but do not over-mix.

Using a ¼ cup measure, drop batter into well-greased muffin tins; sprinkle tops of muffins with colored sugar.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges of muffins are lightly browned.   Let cool slightly and serve warm.