An Open Book – April #anopenbook

I’m joining Carolyn Astfalk and Catholic Mom for An Open Book. Here’s what I’ve been reading and/or working on for the past month.

The Journey by Jim Sano

Synopsis: Coming May 13 from FQP!

Thirteen-year-old Will Donovan wishes he could enjoy his friends and trick-or-treating without the nuisance and responsibility of his talkative younger brother, Sam, tagging along. When Will’s wish comes true after finding a strange goblet in the attic, Sam suddenly vanishes into thin air through the attic wall, and Will is challenged to muster up the courage to travel to a strange world to save him. Fortunately, Will’s friends and characters they meet along the way won’t let him face this dangerous journey alone, as they end up confronting their greatest fears, deadly creatures, and an epoch battle between good and evil.

Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter by Catherine Doherty

Amazon Synopsis: A  guide to entering into the mystery and celebration of Lent and Easter
Catherine Doherty leads us into the riches of God s boundless mercy as she teaches us the spirit, the liturgy, and the customs of the Lent and Easter season, including:
Practical guidance on preparing for the internal spiritual pilgrimage that is Lent.
Meditations on the meanings of the many holy days preceding and following Easter.
Traditions and customs which will help your family live the holiness of the Easter season.
After-dinner talks by Catherine Doherty, spiritual readings around the dining room table on the spirit, liturgy and customs of Lent, Holy Week, the Easter Triduum and Paschaltide.
Catherine speaks on such topics as how to Prepare for Lent; Why Fasting; The Motive is Love; Sin, Repentance, Conversion. Also on Palm (Passion) Sunday; Holy Week; Holy Thursday: Priesthood and Eucharist; Good Friday; Holy Saturday: Christ’s Descent into Hades; and Christ is Risen! Then Paschal time and Christ s Ascension, Pentecost. A rich tapestry of scriptural reflections and Customs and Traditions to bring it all to life!
Excellent for personal and group study.
A wonderful resource for preachers and teachers!

My review: I already included this last month, but it’s the Easter season so I’m including it again.  This is a book I read/review every Lent and Easter. It’s filled with excellent information, spiritual reflections and customs for the season. Highly recommend. 5/5.

Roots of the Reformation by Karl Adam

Amazon Synopsis: Roots of the Reformation is a powerful summary of the issues that led to the Reformation and their implications today. Most Protestants understand the Reformation from only one perspective. As a Catholic, Karl Adam gives a historically sensitive and accurate analysis of the Reformation that stands as a valid and sometimes unsettling challenge to the presuppositions of Protestants and Catholics alike.

My review: Excellent book that includes a basic summary of the issues that led to the Reformation. It’s incredibly informative for both Catholics and Protestants alike. Highly recommend. 4.5/5.

Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer

Amazon Synopsis: We all write, all the time: books, blogs, emails. Lots and lots of emails. And we all want to write better. Benjamin Dreyer is here to help.
As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike—not to mention his followers on social media—for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward.
As authoritative as it is amusing, Dreyer’s English offers lessons on punctuation, from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en dash; the rules and nonrules of grammar, including why it’s OK to begin a sentence with “And” or “But” and to confidently split an infinitive; and why it’s best to avoid the doldrums of the Wan Intensifiers and Throat Clearers, including “very,” “rather,” “of course,” and the dreaded “actually.” Dreyer will let you know whether “alright” is all right (sometimes) and even help you brush up on your spelling—though, as he notes, “The problem with mnemonic devices is that I can never remember them.”
And yes: “Only godless savages eschew the series comma.”
Chockful of advice, insider wisdom, and fun facts, this book will prove to be invaluable to everyone who wants to shore up their writing skills, mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping other people’s prose, and—perhaps best of all—an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language.

My review: What I like most about this very thorough grammar/English book is that it’s entertaining as well as informative. Highly recommend. 5/5.

The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist

By Matt Baglio

Amazon Synopsis: The inspiration for the film starring Anthony Hopkins, journalist Matt Baglio uses the astonishing story of one American priest’s training as an exorcist to reveal that the phenomena of possession, demons, the Devil, and exorcism are not merely a remnant of the archaic past, but remain a fearsome power in many people’s lives even today.
Father Gary Thomas was working as a parish priest in California when he was asked by his bishop to travel to Rome for training in the rite of exorcism. Though initially surprised, and slightly reluctant, he accepted this call, and enrolled in a new exorcism course at a Vatican-affiliated university, which taught him, among other things, how to distinguish between a genuine possession and mental illness. Eventually he would go on to participate in more than eighty exorcisms as an apprentice to a veteran Italian exorcist. His experiences profoundly changed the way he viewed the spiritual world, and as he moved from rational skeptic to practicing exorcist, he came to understand the battle between good and evil in a whole new light. Journalist Matt Baglio had full access to Father Gary over the course of his training, and much of what he learned defies explanation.
The Rite provides fascinating vignettes from the lives of exorcists and people possessed by demons, including firsthand accounts of exorcists at work casting out demons, culminating in Father Gary’s own confrontations with the Devil. Baglio also traces the history of exorcism, revealing its rites and rituals, explaining what the Catholic Church really teaches about demonic possession, and delving into such related topics as the hierarchy of angels and demons, satanic cults, black masses, curses, and the various theories used by modern scientists and anthropologists who seek to quantify such phenomena.
Written with an investigative eye that will captivate both skeptics and believers alike, The Rite shows that the truth about demonic possession is not only stranger than fiction but also far more chilling.

My review: This is one of the best books I’ve read this year and is, for me, definitive proof of the evil that permeates our world today. Truth is usually “far more stranger than fiction but also far more chilling.” Although the movie was also excellent, I’d highly recommend reading this book as it’s better than the movie. 5/5.

Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Making of a Modern Serial Killer by Harold Schechter

Amazon synopsis: In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school―one of the most modern in the Midwest―Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it. Thirty-eight children and six adults were murdered that morning, culminating in the deadliest school massacre in US history. Maniac is Harold Schechter’s gripping, definitive, exhaustively researched chronicle of a town forced to comprehend unprecedented carnage and the triggering of a “human time bomb” whose act of apocalyptic violence would foreshadow the terrors of the current age.

My review: I found this book a compelling historical true story of how one man came to murder a school full of children and teachers, as well as himself and others.  I read it in one sitting. If I could offer one criticism, it would be on the chapters about Charles Lindbergh and his flight across the Atlantic.  As interesting as those chapters were, they were mentioned (I believe) because the event overshadowed the Bath school murders and really had nothing to do with the Bath school disaster. Recommend. 3.5/5.

Murder at Penwood Manor (Harwood Mysteries Book 3) by Antony Barone Kolenc

Amazon Synopsis: Xan and Christina embark on a journey to Harwood Abbey, where they reunite with their old friends, Lucy and Joshua. When a brutal murder occurs at nearby Penwood Manor, all evidence points to Laurence, a Crusader recently returned from the Holy Land. Unconvinced of the man’s guilt, Xan and his friends must act swiftly to solve the crime.

Who could have committed such a horrible killing, and is anyone safe?
Is Laurence tormented by demons, or is he haunted by some other secret?
And will Xan be forever changed by the choice Lucy and Christina present to him?

My review: This was a great story (and not just for teens!) I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. 4.5/5.