WWRW: Ken Huck's Summer Reading List

Today, I thought I'd share some summer reading recommendations from Ken Huck of Radio Maria.  (Ken has a show called "Meet the Author," and he was kind enough to have me on to talk about Finding Grace back in January).  Here is Ken's list (pay special attention to #4--wink, wink):

 

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Meet the Author – 2015 Summer Reading List By host, Ken Huck

 

This, the 5th annual, list was inspired by a listener. I think there is something for everyone on this list – men, women, young, and adult.  The books are in no particular order. I also suggest books that parents can share with their children. 

 

1.       A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac by Margaret Rose Realy. Great book for any time of year but especially good for summer.

 

2.       Divine Renovation: Bringing Your Parish from Maintenance to Mission by Fr James Mallon.  You will come out of the summer energized with ideas to help your parish. 

 

3.       Visiting Mary: Her U.S. Shrines and Their Graces by Julie Dortch Cragon.  If you want to incorporate some visits to shrines with your vacation this book is full of ideas and a list of shrines for nearly every state. Keep in the car glove compartment!

 

4.       Finding Grace by Laura Pearl. Wonderful books for moms and dads to read and share with their teen children. A wonderful coming of age novel that will keep you guessing to the very end! My favorite recommendation this past year for young adults.

 
5.       The Glory of the Crusades by Steve Weidenkopf, Not Peace But A Sword – The Great Chasm Between Christianity And Islam by Robert Spencer, or Christianity, Islam, and Atheism by William Kilpatrick. With militant Islam in the news nearly every day I recommend all three of these books.

 

6.       Prayer Works! Getting a Grip on Catholic Spirituality by Matthew Leonard. Just because it is summer it doesn’t mean you can’t work on your faith practices!

 

7.       Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler, and Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms by Holly Ordway. Two of my favorite conversion stories.  

 

8.       Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior is Changing Everything by Robert Reilly. The Supreme Court is expected to redefine marriage this summer and this book will explain how we got to this point in our culture.   

 

9.       No Turning Back by Fr. Donald Calloway.  If you don’t know Fr. Calloway’s story you need to read this book!   

 

10.   Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert.  A fantastic overview of the life of this great saint of our time.

 

Books for moms to share with daughters: The “Lily series” of novels Sherry Boas. Sherry is a fantastic writer and even greater mom.  

   

If you have teens check out Regina Domain’s The Fairy Tale Novels series and the John Paul II High series of novels by Christian M. Frank about the adventures of a group of teens at a tiny Catholic school.

 

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Hope you're having a great summer, filled with great books!  Now head on over to Jessica's for more good titles.

WWRW: A Brown Bear, A Yellow Duck, and...A Purple Cat?

I love the What We're Reading Wednesday link-up.  Thanks for hosting, Jessica.

I'm a bit busy these days, so I haven't had as much time as usual to spend reading grown-up books; instead, I've been reading cardboard picture books to my wee grandson G-Man, who like all of us has his definite favorites when it comes to literary material.  Sometimes, he gets a little whiny about two pages into a book, and I quickly toss that one aside and grab the next one in the pile.  But he does have a couple of books that he never gets tired of listening to; and when I say never, I really mean NEVER.  You can read two of his books to him over and over again, without him ever getting the least bit bored.  I blogged about one of them, I Love You, Through and Through, in a recent post.  That title is pure gold as far as my little G-Man is concerned.

My discerning grandson's other favorite is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  I just looked at him and said those words to him this morning, and he smiled immediately.  He knew I was talking about that book, one he knows forward and backward already.  He can listen to its sing-song cadence indefinitely.  Apparently, this book first published in 1967 is considered a "classic," but somehow we never discovered it when our own boys were young; so sadly, they missed out.

 

My middle son, G-Man's daddy, is not a huge fan of this book.  For the most part, it stays in the land of reality--with a brown bear, a yellow duck, and a black sheep; but it also includes a blue horse and a purple cat.  My son just can't deal with those two color choices.

G-Man, on the other hand, has no trouble with animals that come in fairy tale hues.

He loves that purple cat.  He loves ALL the animals in this book.

I know there is a real talent involved when it comes to writing books that can hold the attention of very young children like G-Man, tiny people who've only been in the world a matter of months but already know what they like and what they don't.  The authors of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle) have that talent in spades.

Now head on over to Housewifespice for more reading recommendations!

What They're Reading Wednesday

I'm so happy that April's What We're Reading Wednesday link-up went live today!  If you haven't checked it out before, and you love books as much as I do, you should head on over to Housewifespice and see what's shakin'.

I was going to tell you all about the book I'm currently reading (Fulcrum, by Dan Flaherty)--


"an epic blend of Field of Dreams, The Last Hurrah
and The Bells of St. Mary all rolled up into one, and
destined to be a classic of Irish Catholic fiction."

but it was a busy day and blogging had to take a back seat to other more pressing activities.  However, I was thrilled to receive two photos, via texts, from my niece who is a 5th grade teacher in the Midwest and is having her students read Erin's Ring.

 Apparently, Erin's Ring is what these Catholic school kids were reading this Wednesday!

They do seem to like it...(Hope they weren't just April foolin' me!)

Perhaps you, too, would like a copy of Erin's Ring for your very own.  If so, I'm hosting a giveaway here at the blog, in honor of National Library Week (April 12-18, 2015).  I'm giving away one copy of each of my novels.  Just leave me a comment by April 18 and let me know which of the two you'd prefer to win, Erin's Ring or Finding Grace.  If you'd like to read a synopsis of each story to help you decide, or to check out some of the book reviews that have been posted on Amazon, you can click on the images of the books' covers there on the right-hand side of this page.

Okay, that's it from here.  Now click on over and join Jessica et. al. for more WWRW posts!

WWRW: Novels about WWI and WWII

It's that time again--time for linking up over at Housewifespice to talk books.

I've gotten back to reading a lot more these days.  This is partly because I'm finished with my own writing project (Erin's Ring), which took up most of my time the second half of 2014.  And it's also because I'm not living at home in NH right now, but with my middle son's family in VA.  If you come here often, you know all about this--and about how Papa and Grammy have been playing nanny to their little grandson, G-Man, for the past couple of months, helping his mommy out until her job ends in May and she can become a SAHM.

Being away from my own house gives me a lot more free time, you see ("free" being a relative term here, when your days are devoted to the care and feeding of a five-month-old).  I mean, I can't putter about, spring clean, purge my attic of old clothing that should go to Goodwill, or even take down our Christmas tree and all of our Christmas decorations, etc. etc. etc., because I'm just not there to do it.  So in some ways, this winter-down-south is a bit of a vacation for me.  And when my grandson is napping peacefully in my lap (because no, I'm not going to put him in his cold, impersonal crib when I can have the joy of his sweet weight resting on me), I do have one free hand to hold a paperback book.  And I've become very adept at flipping the pages one-handed.

So, as I said, I've been reading a lot more these days.  In the past week or so, I've read two novels that I enjoyed very much (enough, in fact, to give them four- and five-star reviews on Goodreads).

The first is Once We Were Brothers, by Ronald H. Balson.  I was drawn to this book for two reasons: it was the author's debut work, and the story had an historical fiction component set in the Second World War.

This was such a terrific read!  I'm always drawn to WWII-era historical fiction, and this novel definitely didn't disappoint.   Although I've read lots of books (both fiction and non-fiction) that deal with the Holocaust and stories of its survivors, this take on that tragic subject matter was fresh and original, extremely moving, and exceedingly well-written.

This book goes back and forth, from 1940's Germany to present-day New York.  It is centered around two boys--one a Polish Jew and the other a German gentile, raised as brothers before Hitler invades Poland--who are divided by the war and go their separate ways, with devastating consequences.  When they meet more than half a century later, a lawsuit ensues, as one "brother" accuses the other of Nazi atrocities.

I couldn't put this book down and devoured it in two days.  I look forward to reading more by this talented author.

(Also, as a Catholic, I was deeply moved by Balson's depiction of a self-sacrificing Catholic priest and a group of brave Catholic nuns, who hid Jews and were instrumental in leading many to safety.  Although this is a work of fiction, I know that there were many such real individuals who secretly risked their own personal safety to save Jewish lives.) 

After I turned the last page of that book, I could hardly wait to start another.  But I didn't have a whole lot of time to search for a new title.  I ended up at Target rather than Barnes & Noble, and the pickins in the book and magazine section there were a tad on the slim side.  But I'd heard of Jo Jo Moyes, the author of The Girl You Left Behind; and judging by the synopsis on the book's back cover, I thought it might be something I would like.

And it was.

This bestselling novel is an endearing and well-written blend of historical and contemporary fiction (with some courtroom drama thrown in there).  Hmmm....that sounds very much like Once We Were Brothers, doesn't it?  It's a different war this time, but it deals with German occupation and wartime struggles and tragedies.  And it jumps back and forth in time...Yes, there are some definite similarities!  I guess I tend to be drawn to the same sorts of books, over and over.

Jo Jo Moyes's complex novel takes the reader on a journey back in time to a small, German-occupied French village during WWI, forward to modern-day, 21st-century London, and then back to France again.  The lives of present-day characters become interwoven with the lives of characters long-dead, in ways that surprise the reader.  The stories of both past and present have at their core compelling and poignant tales of deep love and unbearable loss--and the people involved are intricately linked by "The Girl You Left Behind," an obscure Impressionist painting of a beautiful, red-haired young woman with an inscrutable expression on her face.

My only real criticism is that I'd like to read a love story by a modern author where the players don't fall immediately into bed; I'm always hankering for a good old-fashioned version of boy-meets-girl, with "first comes love, then comes marriage," and so on--and that is definitely missing here.  But otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book--a page-turner that gripped my imagination and kept me up way past my bedtime several nights in a row!  I was still thinking about it, long after the surprising and deeply satisfying conclusion.

Okay, that's it for me; now head over to Jessica's for more book suggestions.

WWRW: Murder, Intrigue, Suspense...and Love!

Yay!!  Everyone's favorite spicey housewife, Jessica, is back--after taking a hiatus to, oh, I don't know--live her very busy life with her very large and incredibly good-looking family.  But she's back to hosting her popular on-line book club (once weekly, now monthly) called What We're Reading Wednesday.

 

I hope the other link-ups will not be too offended when I say that WWRW is my favorite link-up of all the ones I've been exposed to in the blogosphere.  (But I mean, I just really like books. I like to read them, to talk about them, to re-read them, and then to talk about them some more.  Does that make me a nerdy bookworm?  If so, I wear the badge proudly!  Proudly, I tell you!)

 

Murder is not really a subject about which I normally like to read, on Wednesday or any day of the week.  But that was before I met Amy M. Bennett, the author behind the compelling Black Horse Campground Mysteries series.  (And by "met," I mean became friends with on-line, via an introduction from some mutual friends of ours, books.)  I've never read any Agatha Christie mysteries, but I wonder if these books are the modern-day equivalent of those classics.

 

A while back, I read Amy's first novel (which was the first installment of the Black Horse Campground Mysteries), End of the Road, and you can see the review I wrote for that gem in this 2013 WWRW blog post.

Not too long ago, I read the second book in the series, No Lifeguard on Duty.

 

And all I can say is Amy M. Bennett has done it again! 

It was another edge-of-your seat page-turner, and here's the 5-star review I posted on Amazon and Goodreads yesterday:

 

I recently finished Amy M. Bennett's second novel in the Black Horse Campground Mystery series, No Lifeguard on Duty, and I have to say this: Bennett has done it again--she's taken a reader who was once very skeptical of the merits of the whole mystery/suspense genre and turned me into a fan!

This author has identified her books as belonging to a particular sub-group of the mystery genre known as the "cozy mystery" wherein the reader becomes acquainted with a certain town (in this case, Ruidoso in Bonney County, NM) and gets to know its inhabitants very well, and therefore becomes invested in their lives--almost as if they are well-known and much-loved friends. The reader develops a cozy familiarity with the Black Horse Campground and the cast of quirky and unique characters who live and work there.

After I finished the first book in the series, End of the Road, I was itching to find out what would happen to these people I'd come to know and love. Would Corrie Black, the beautiful yet down-to-earth and humble owner of the campground, end up with Sheriff Rick Sutton, the old beau who once broke her heart but really loves Corrie, yet can't act on his feelings because he's a divorced Catholic whose marriage has yet to be annulled; or would she end up with the intriguing newcomer to the area, J.D. Wilder, a former law enforcement officer with a mysterious past who keeps his distance because he's aware of the Sheriff's feelings? (In many novels, there is a clear-cut "good guy" for whom the reader must root; but both of these characters are fine, upstanding men who treat Corrie with gentlemanly respect.)

My mother-in-law use to watch "Murder, She Wrote," the T.V. show equivalent of the "cozy mystery," and my husband used to tease her about her obsession with violent crimes. "And why would anyone in his right mind stay in the same hotel as Angela Lansbury anyway?" he'd say. "Someone always ends up dead!" That's true of the Black Horse Campground, too--yikes, Corrie's business seems to be jinxed by bad luck, with two murders committed on the property already during one camping season! But without the murder mysteries that need solving, readers of Bennett's series wouldn't have the pleasure of watching Rick and J.D.--Corrie's would-be suitors, who are partners as well as rivals--team up to find the culprits, and while doing so, bend over backwards trying to help and protect the woman they both love.

Bennett's two Black Horse Campground Mysteries are page-turners, with lots of plot twists and turns. But the best thing about them is that they're so cozy. And they keep you wondering: which man will Corrie end up with? The third book in Bennett's series, No Vacancy, is due out soon. I can only hope that it will solve THAT mystery, once and for all!

(And for the record, before I sign off: Bennett's main characters are practicing Catholics, and it's nice to see them carrying out their faith simply and beautifully--going to Mass, keeping their relationships chaste outside of marriage--when so many characters in modern fiction are portrayed as being anti-religion, or even anti-God).

 Okay, are you looking for some more good book recommendations?  Then head on over to Housewifespice.  Because Jessica's back!  (But I told you that, right?)

Erin's Ring is Out, Just in Time for Christmas Gift-giving!

Erin's Ring is now available for purchase!

If you're Irish (or even if you're not), you're going to love this book.  If you wear a Claddagh ring (or even if you don't), you're going to love this book.  If you're a history buff (but even if you're not), you're going to love this book.  If sweet, wholesome love stories make your heart go pitter-pat (and if they don't, what's wrong with you anyway?!), you're going to love this book.  I don't mean to sound big-headed about my own book; but that right there, folks--that's called "marketing."  (How did I do?)

The Amazon page for Erin's Ring is up and running, ready to receive your orders; and if you head on over there soon, you'll be able to have a copy tucked under the Christmas tree, all wrapped up with love, for your favorite young (or old!) reader.

 

If you do check out the Erin's Ring page on Amazon, you'll see that this YA novel has already received endorsements from some respected names in the Catholic fiction world, including Nancy Carabio Belanger, Rosemary McDunn, Amy M. Bennett, and Kay Murdy, as well as a blogger with whom you might be familiar (Tiffany, who blogs at Life of a Catholic Librarian).

I am a huge fan of Belanger, whose popular Olivia books are beloved by many and widely used in school curriucla; therefore I was especially humbled by her words: "Highly recommended for Catholic classrooms, Erin's Ring is a Catholic novel that weaves Irish-American history with the present.  This wholesome novel had me shed tears of sadness and joy, and these brave young Irish-Catholic women from different generations drew me in.  Lovingly and tenderly written, Erin's Ring is a story of true friendship, sacrificial love, and above all, the God Who is never bound by time or space."

Cheryl Dickow (president of Bezalel Books, the publisher of both Finding Grace and Erin's Ring), wrote a beautiful blog post today about not only the book, but about the kind of strong, courageous women you'll find in its pages.  If you'd like to read Cheryl's post, click here.

My publisher believes in this book.  My husband believes in this book (big surprise there).  And I believe in it, too.  I would love nothing more than to get it into the hands of as many young readers as possible.  Therefore--

I'm hosting a Christmas giveaway here at String of Pearls.  I'm going to send one lucky reader a signed copy of Erin's Ring.  Just leave me a comment between now and December 8, and I'll put all the names in a hat and choose one.

Okay then.  I look forward to hearing from you.  And may you have the luck of the Irish.

WWRW: The As-Yet-Unpublished Erin's Ring, The Longest Ride, and Unbroken

Is there still a What We're Reading Wednesday link-up?  Is that still a thing?  I've been out of the loop so long, I'm not even sure what's going on in the blog world anymore! 

Tell you what: I'm going to do a WWRW post just in case, and afterward I'll head on over to Housewifespice and see if I can link up with my fellow bookworms.  If not, well hey--no harm done, because I love to talk about books!  I love everything about books.  I love to read them, I love to review them...and amazingly enough, in my old[ish] age, I even love to write them.

As Thomas Jefferson said, "I cannot live without books."  I'm with you, T.J.

Right now, I am currently hunting down typos in my second YA Catholic novel for Bezalel Books, Erin's Ring.  The writing (let's call that the "easy" part) is done; now for the editing--and after the publishing, the promoting and marketing...

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?

The cover of this soon-to-be-published book is a winner, in case you haven't seen it yet.

This cover artwork, chosen by my uber-awesome publisher Cheryl Dickow, is so evocative of a particular scene in the book (a very romantic scene between two characters I became incredibly fond of over the course of the past five or six months--a scene that will make your heart go pitter-pat, yet is very chaste at the same time) that it's positively uncanny!

What has been so satisfying for me this time around is that there isn't even a smidgeon of semi-autobiographical content in this novel, as there was in Finding Grace (which was set in my girlhood hometown and included a female protagonist who, though definitely not me or much like me, happened to start high school in 1973, just like I did, and had a major crush on a handsome, gap-toothed charmer, who was sort of a dead ringer for my then boyfriend/now husband).  The characters in Erin's Ring came completely out of my imagination and don't resemble anyone that I know in real life, so I was able to--at the risk of sounding heretical--"play God" and make them in exactly the image I thought they should be.  Once the characters become "real," however, they actually led the story in directions that were different than those I'd planned.  I began to know what they'd say or do in various situations.  This happened with Finding Grace, too; but in that book, I actually tweaked some real-life events and conversations to fit them into my story.  Not so with Erin's Ring.

When I was a young, starry-eyed, impressionable teen and pre-teen, I read just about any novel I could get my grubby little hands on.  Some were great (Wuthering Heights, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird); but some were way too adult and inappropriate for my young psyche to handle.  I remember at 13 or 14 reading The Godfather, a paperback copy of which my parents had left where I could find it, on a bookshelf in our house.  (I doubt they knew I was reading it, and I think they might have taken it away from me if they had.)  I remember being shocked by that book--not just by the violence, but by the R-rated content.  It was a huge mistake for me to read it.  What I needed then is what all young people need (and older people, too, because we all, regardless of age, should be edified and inspired by what we read): I needed stories that were entertaining yet chaste; I needed to read about people in love who weren't falling into bed together without the Sacrament of Marriage to bind them;  I needed history and adventure and characters whose courage, fortitude, and faith would inspire me to be a better version of myself.  But where to find these sorts of books?  Well...

You could say that I wrote this new book, a book I would have liked way back when, about 40 years too late for myself and gals my age; but apparently statistics show that the fastest growing reading audience is adults who read YA fiction.  That can only be good news for Erin's Ring.

If you're still reading this (bless you!), and you already read Finding Grace (bless you again!), please note that Erin's Ring is less than 200 pages long--and those pages are a good bit smaller in size than the oversized pages of FG, with a larger, easier-to-read font to boot.  It's a quick read, and my publisher feels very strongly that it will appeal to women aged 16 to 60.

Okay, enough said about that (for now!).  I haven't been reading much the past six months, since I've had to devote most of my time to writing instead.  But on plane trips, I always have a paperback with me.  And here are my thoughts on two I've read recently.

On trips out to the Midwest and back for Notre Dame football games, I read Nicholas Sparks' The Longest Ride.  It's okay.  I admit that I couldn't stop reading it, because I was curious to see how it would all get tied up and resolved.  There were two love stories going on simultaneously: one between a ninety-year-old man, trapped in his car after it skids off the road and lands in an embankment, and his beloved long-dead wife; and the other between a college student and a bronco-riding cowboy whom she meets at a bar.  I particularly liked the story about the older couple, because the man's wife appears to him as she looked at different ages in their long marriage, and you find out the history behind their touching love story.  The younger couple's story didn't grab me the way it should have, because I didn't end up caring enough about either of them.  So I can't believe I'm going to say this...but this is one book I believe would be better as a movie (and I have little doubt that, given Sparks' history, it will be coming to a theater near you one of these days), because I have a feeling that depending on the actors who are cast, the young couple could be very compelling.

Here's my beef with Sparks: He does write touching stories, about people who mostly try to do the right thing.  His books are usually Christian in tone.  But in this novel, like in the few others of his I've read, the couples in love end up in the sack in pretty short order.  In The Longest Ride, I can almost believe it of the younger couple, who probably cut their teeth watching T.V. shows like "Friends."  But it doesn't ring as true for the older couple, whose marriage begins in the WWII era. I know that human beings have always been tempted to sin, and I'm not naïve enough to think that pre-marital sex didn't exist before the dawn of cable T.V.  I just wish that Sparks--a Catholic father of five, and a Notre Dame graduate, too--would use his formidable talent and popularity to write novels that show the beauty of his own Catholic Faith and its teachings.  That's all.  I'd probably get all kinds of hate-filled comments for dissing Nicholas Sparks, if it was the norm to get many comments on this blog; but I just had to say it. 

Although I usually pack works of fiction in my carry-on bag, on a recent trip I also read a non-fiction spell-binder: a bestseller called Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.  Wow.  Incredible.  A must-read of the highest order.  This story is so, so, so heart-breaking and inspiring, it's hard to put it into words.  It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit--the spirit of an Olympic runner and WWII POW named Louis Zamperini.  This amazing man refused to be broken, despite having to endure the most indescribable torture and suffering.  Get yourself a copy; you won't be disappointed.  And the movie version, sure to be a great success, is coming out in December.

That's it, I promise.  This post is finally coming to an end.  Now I'm heading over to Jessica's to see if there's a WWRW post today.  Happy reading!

Some thoughts on Modesty, and a Book Recommendation

Recently, I was traveling by airplane down to VA--something I do a lot these days, since I have two boys who have settled there with their wives, at least for the time being, and another who will also be settling there very soon (his fiancée is from VA, not far from DC).  The purpose of this trip was to attend a "gender reveal" party for the baby our third-born son and his wife will be welcoming to the world in October.

In case you didn't read the post where I let you in on what color the icing inside the cupcakes was, here you go:

It's a boy!  After three utterly darling granddaughters, we are now going to have a wee lad in the mix as well!  A grandson to carry on the Pearl name.

Anyway, so I was heading down for this sweet and exciting event, and while I was going through the security line at the airport, I couldn't stop staring at this twenty-something gal who had chosen an extremely bizarre traveling outfit to wear that morning.  This lucky young girl was built like your basic Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.  (And by the way, moms of boys: we always threw out those issues before the boys could see them; they may have looked at them elsewhere, but I hope not.  Because I think they’re almost pornographic these days!)   You know the type: slim yet well-endowed on top, with a Coppertone tan and long, bleach-blond hair.  She had the most enviable midriff--and I know this because it was exposed for all the world to see/ogle.  Her tank top was tight, low-cut, and only went down as far as the top of her ribcage.  She was wearing a knit maxi skirt, which is quite a modest choice, yes?  No, not in this case!  The skirt was incredibly tight, just like the tank top, and she wore it slung low--below her belly button, like a bikini bottom. 

Anyway, this girl had the kind of body that makes a 55-year-old grandma think with a touch of sadness, “Wow, I remember when I had a young body like that.”

Wait a minute; I didn’t.  Even when it was young, my body never looked like this girl’s.

But even when my body was a lot prettier than it is now, I always had a natural urge to cover it.  I always liked winter best, when piling on the layers was the way to go. I couldn't walk in a one-piece bathing suit without a beach towel tied around my waist.  I could never, in a million years, have gone out in public in the get-up this girl was wearing--at the beach or elsewhere.

If I found myself glancing in her direction (if only because I was thinking that I'd like to run over there and throw a blanket over her shoulders!), who else do you think was giving her the once-over?  What was her purpose in dressing like this for an airplane trip?  Was she hoping to inspire the males waiting in line behind her with impure thoughts?  I'm sure she wasn't, but when young ladies dress in such a manner, they should realize that this is exactly what happens.  And if they don't think it's going to happen, they're just kidding themselves.

It didn't surprise me at all that an older guy in front of me had his head on a swivel.  He couldn’t stop sneaking peeks at this scantily-clad goddess; and there didn’t seem to be any spouse traveling with him, so he could enjoy the view as much as he wanted.  And boy, he did.  (And I doubt his thoughts about this young lady were of the chaste or fatherly variety.)

I think today more than ever young girls need to get the message that they can be attractive, fashionably dressed, and pretty--but still be modest!  That it's okay to want to look beautiful--in fact, it's part of a woman's nature to have that desire.  But we can teach them how to accentuate their natural attributes and dress properly for their individual body types without sacrificing their purity in the process.  We can remind them that dressing in an immodest manner can attract the wrong kind of attention from the opposite sex.

Having been blessed with five sons and no daughters, my husband and I never had the challenge of helping a teenaged girl to navigate the minefields of adolescence--and I think in many ways, that would have been tougher than it was with our boys.

But if you, dear reader, are currently (or will one day be) raising daughters, you might want to pick up a copy of this wonderful book, All Things Girl, Truth for Teens.  Co-authored by Cheryl Dickow, Peggy Bowes, Heather Renshaw, and Kayla Brandon and published by Bezalel Books, it contains a gold mine of practical tips, vital information, and inspirational reading.  (This book normally sells for $5.99 on Kindle, but if you order within the next four days, you can get it for $0.99!)

In this 2014 second edition (the first edition came out in 2009),
Finding Grace is mentioned on p. 142
as inspirational reading for teenaged girls!

This marvelous book, which is written in a conversational style that makes material that might otherwise be too dry very entertaining and compelling, contains chapters on a number of subjects, including Relationships, Influences from the Feminist Movement, Exploring the "ME" in Social Media, Fashion, Skin, Hair and Make-Up, and others.  There are so many nuggets of wisdom and practical advice within the pages of this book, and for a Catholic parent, so many beautifully-worded inspirational passages, such as this one on modesty: "Every girl, every woman is created with a very special gift.  This gift is the ability to carry a life within their bodies!  Our Lady is called the Ark of the Covenant because she carried Jesus in her womb.  She is your role model in the ways in which you want to live as a daughter of the King.  Because of the priceless gift of your womb, your midriff should be protected and hidden.  A way to do that is to cover and veil this area.  It is sacred.  This is why it is good to avoid two-piece swimsuits out in public--and veil the precious gift of your womanhood."  This is a book I wish the gal in the too-revealing outfit at the airport that day had read!  This is a book that I want my granddaughters to read when they are entering puberty.

Here is a great passage about chastity: "You are the keeper of your 'secret garden' and only you allow entrance by your invitation and the only one who should be allowed to enter is your husband, for he is the only one worthy.  When a woman wears suggestive clothing she is giving the message to men that she will give herself to...anyone who will give her attention.  Modesty--veiling what should remain hidden--will reveal to a man the woman's dignity.  He will see how she sees herself."

And one about finding a future husband: "Women dream of being pursued by a worthy man.  God has a plan for every young woman's life.  Let Him bring you a worthy suitor.  Trust that if you are being called to the vocation of marriage, God will provide you with a worthy and suitable husband as long as you do your part, which is to uphold your own dignity and value." 

All Things Girl, Truth for Teens will inspire your teen to eat healthily, exercise regularly, accentuate her natural beauty in a modest and appropriate way, be a good friend, date the right type of boy, avoid the traps set by the world regarding pre-marital sex and contraception, imitate the saints, and most of all, to appreciate and value the God-given gift of her femininity.   I highly recommend this book--it would make great summer reading for your daughters and granddaughters.

Now head on over to Jessica's for more summer reading recommendations.

A Hunger in the Heart (for Reading and Writing!)

Well, today has been a writing day.  I've been at it for about four hours straight now, and I thought I'd take a very brief break to send my two cents out into the blogosphere.

So...here's what I look like today: I look so much like this calm, beautiful gentlewoman whose pen is poised mid-thought.

I WISH!

Sad to say, there is not a vase filled with fresh roses by my side when I'm writing.  Just the cold dregs of my hours-old coffee and a protein bar wrapper.  (No artist in his right mind would want to immortalize the scene here at my dining room table in oil paints.)

I'm not dressed in a ball gown like this lovely lady here, either; I'm still in my flannel nightgown at 1:30 in the afternoon (oh the shame!).  My hair isn't done up neatly and tied with a silk ribbon; it's a scraggly mess (and full disclosure, it's greasy, too, because I haven't gotten around to showering yet).  My expression is not nearly as serene as this Austen-esque writer's (and if you don't believe me, I'm going to take a selfie and post it, I warn you!).  I have been poring over my hastily scribbled notes and highlighted print-outs, along with the iPhone photos I took of some old documents I found in our local library during my three-hour research session yesterday.  I think my face looks a tad more...haggard, let's say, than this lovely Victorian-era maiden's.  (Or is she a Regency-era maiden--I just don't have time for any more research right now!)  But I hope my face looks happy and excited, too, because this has been a pretty productive day in the old salt mines.

And though I'm not reading books these days (for fear that they will take my focus off the task at hand), I did finish reading a great one not long ago, for which I recently posted a very brief five-star review on Goodreads.  It's a terrific novel called A Hunger in the Heart by Catholic author Kaye Park Hinkley.

Really, it's SOOOO good!

Now head on over to Jessica's for more recommendations and reviews!

WWRW: The Gate

It is with distinct pleasure that I highly recommend Nancy Carabio Belanger’s latest triumphant YA novel, The Gate.  I only wish it had been around when my five sons were in junior high!

I have already read this acclaimed Catholic author’s award-winning Olivia and the Little Way; this 5-star must-read is an engaging, superbly written novel that imparts some vitally important messages to impressionable young readers (and as a bonus, introduces them to Saint Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower,” who is a favorite saint of the author).  Olivia and the Litte Way is not just for junior high girls, however; it is a delight for adult readers as well, as I can personally attest.  I’ve been looking forward to reading its sequel, Olivia’s Gift, which sits at the top of my “to read” pile.

I am a huge fan of the Olivia series, obviously; but as a mother who raised only sons, I have often bemoaned the fact that much of the modern young adult fiction out there seems to be targeted at female readers.  So when I heard about The Gate, which stars a troubled 13-year-old boy named Joshua Lasko and a baseball-loving, crotchey senior citizen named Pietro “Pie” Leone, I simply had to put Olivia’s Gift on hold and read it right away.

The reader is introduced to Josh, a troubled 8^th grader and only child who has been a bit lost since the death of his father two years ago.  Once a happy, church-going, clean-living kid who did well in school (a former altar boy, for goodness sake!), Josh no longer really cares about anything—that is, besides the latest violent video game that he wants to buy.  Finding a way to get the money for this game, of which his mom would never approve, is his obsession; and meanwhile his grades are slipping, he’s losing his faith, and he’s heading for some serious trouble.  His mother is now a single parent who has to work long hours, and she and Josh are struggling to stay connected.

When Josh’s class takes a field trip to the senior center, to meet the elderly pen pals they are being assigned as part of a school project, Josh is thrown together with a grumpy old guy named “Pie,” who is recovering from surgery and itching to get healed up so he can go back to his normal life—whatever that might be.  Little does Josh suspect at first, but this will prove to be one of the most meaningful and significant relationships of his life.  As time goes on, Josh and Pie develop a unique friendship.  Pie teaches his young protégé about baseball, pizza-making, and most importantly, the Catholic Faith—about which he seems to know more than the average Joe.  Pie is a mentor who enters Josh’s life at a crucial time, when the boy has begun to lose sight of the difference between right and wrong and is sorely missing a father’s influence.  Once Pie enters the picture, Josh starts down a new path and he is forever changed.

If you’re a Red Sox fan (like yours truly), Pie might get on your nerves.  He’s a dyed-in-the-wool Yankees fan—but that’s my only complaint about him!  Besides that one glaring flaw in his make-up, he is one of the most lovable, memorable characters I have ever come across in fiction—YA or otherwise.  He does for young Josh what St. John Bosco did for so many troubled street boys in 19^th-century Turin, Italy.  (And bonus: Just as the Olivia books tell about St. Therese and her “Little Way,” through this book the reader will learn more about wonderful Don Bosco, to whom Pie Leone is very devoted.)

In a recent interview on CatholicFiction.net, Belanger was asked why she writes.  Her answer is the key to why her books are so needed in this day and age, when God has been all but banished from the classroom: “I write,” she answered, “because Catholic pre-teens are not being fed…I write for the young souls God loves so very much.  I write to show them the beauty of the One True Faith which is Catholicism.”

To that, all I can say is: mission accomplished!

In that same interview, when asked, “What one project do you daydream about accomplishing as a writer—your magnum opus?”, this gifted writer answered, “I am telling the truth when I say it was The Gate.”

Again, mission accomplished!  The Gate is indeed a magnum opus.  And although it's perfect for young male readers,  it's certainly not just for kids.  It'll knock your socks off, trust me.  The characters are fully-developed and unforgettable, and the plot draws the reader in from page one.  This novel is a celebration of faith, hope, charity, and love; it is a celebration of the Christian family; it is a celebration of the priestly vocation; and ultimately, it is a celebration of all that is good and true about the Holy Catholic Church. 

Now over to Jessica's with you!

 

WWRW: Frozen Footprints

I first read Therese Heckenkamp’s Catholic suspense novel Frozen Footprints about a year ago.  A big fan of Heckenkamp’s work (after reading her debut novel, Past Suspicion), I meant to do a review of Frozen Footprints when I finished it; but I procrastinated just long enough to realize that if I wanted to do the book justice, I would have to re-read it so that I could write about it while the details were still fresh in my mind.

I recently did read Frozen Footprints again--and boy, am I ever glad I did!  I remembered that I couldn’t stop turning the pages the first time I read it, anxious to see what was going to happen next.  And I remembered that faith played a huge role in the story.  But I actually had a deeper appreciation of Heckenkamp’s award-winning book (a recipient of the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval) the second time I read it, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen this time around.  I was struck by just how deft a storyteller she is, and just how expertly and movingly she has woven elements of the Catholic Faith into this edge-of-your-seat thriller.

The story revolves around the kidnapping of Maxwell Goodwyne Perigard III ("Max"), the teenage grandson of Maxwell Goodwyne Perigard I and the twin brother of Charlene.  The twins have been under the care of their selfish and tight-fisted grandfather since their father’s accidental death left them orphans a couple of years back. Grandfather is an extremely wealthy man who lives in a lavish mansion, complete with a chapel for Mass (although outside the doors of this chapel, he doesn’t come close to acting like a Christian); his great wealth—along with the ruthless business tactics he has employed--make him a perfect target for acts of revenge.

When Max suddenly goes missing, his grandfather assumes he’s just playing a prank and doesn’t take it seriously at all.  After all, he’s threatened to run away many times in the past.  Charlene, however, receives a frightening call from the kidnapper, with instructions for delivering a $2 million ransom, and she intuitively knows this is no joke.  When the police, over whom her grandfather has undue influence, refuse to look into the matter properly, Charlene starts doing her own detective work.  Her sleuthing leads her to Max; but unfortunately, she also ends up being taken captive by the same crazed, vengeful, violent man who kidnapped her brother.  The two siblings are locked in a cold, tomb-like hole, underneath a lonely ramshackle cabin in the middle of nowhere.  There is no phone, no electricity…and most likely, no way out.  And because it's winter and the outside world is blanketed with white, if they attempt escape they will leave easy-to-follow footprints in the snow.

Heckenkamp has created a truly terrifying character in kidnapper Abner Morrow; he is a brutal, evil man who is undoubtedly possessed by the forces of darkness.  He is utterly barbaric in his treatment of the Perigard twins--and even his younger brother Clay, who unwittingly becomes part of the kidnapping plan, is not spared the violence of his words and his fists.  She has also created one of the most resourceful and determined characters in Charlene Perigard, who is about as fully rounded-out as any character I’ve come across in my reading travels of late.  She goes through the whole gamut of emotions in the course of the story: despair at the hopelessness of their situation; hope, which keeps her working tirelessly to come up with a way to survive the ordeal; anger—at God, at the kidnappers; empathy--for Clay, who in a way is as much a victim as she and Max; and ultimately, deep faith, which sustains her in her darkest hours.

My husband, a former military man, used to repeat that well-known adage, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”  Yet it is rare in this secularized world of ours to find characters in books or movies who turn to God when they are in extremely dangerous and terrifying situations and their lives are in mortal danger.  It is rare to see them turn to prayer for comfort and refuge.  Heckenkamp’s characters aren’t all as strong in their faith as they should or could be when the story begins; but when they are thrown together into a living nightmare—a true life-or-death situation—they do turn to Him.  Sometimes, in their desperation, they wonder if He’s listening at all.  But they do pray.  And a Rosary Charlene has in her pocket when she’s taken captive proves to be a life-saver, in more ways than one.

This book really has it all, truly.  It’s a page-turning thrill ride; but it’s also an insightful character study, and there are even hints of a love story in there.  Most of all, Frozen Footprints is a testament to the Catholic Faith, and how it makes sense of the most senseless hardships and sufferings in life.  Heckenkamp shows that to believe is to know real courage in the face of fear.  The last page of this book illustrates this message so beautifully that it will bring tears to your eyes.

Highly recommended!

Now head on over to Jessica's blogging book club for more!

Okay now, before I sign off, I just want to get in a little plug for Finding Grace.  You can now purchase  a signed copy of the book here, using the yellow Pay Pal button up there on the sidebar (for $13.00, plus $3.25 for s&h).

WWRW: Catholic Books and Blogs

I finally read Kari Burke's wonderful pro-life novel, The Life I Dreamed, which I'd had stored in my Kindle library for quite some time.  I'm glad I finally got to it!  I enjoyed the book on a number of levels.

For one thing, the well-developed characters are true-to-life, as are the tough situations in which they find themselves.  You know how sometimes the plots of novels are so far-fetched you find yourself scoffing, "THAT could never happen!"  (Think wizards and vampires...)  Well, this book is quite different.  The premise is totally believable, as are the emotions and reactions of the characters involved.  It shows the very real struggles human beings go through, and how when they rely on faith and trust in God's plan for their lives, they are showered with unexpected gifts and graces.

The story centers around overworked, stressed-out, stay-at-home mother Emmy O'Brien, who has her hands full with her four small children.  As if she isn't busy enough already, suddenly her husband throws a major curve ball at her: a young girl named Kaila, who is a member of the youth group at the church where he works as a youth minister, is pregnant and alone at 16, and she needs a place to stay because she's had a falling out with her parents, who want her to abort the baby.  Emmy takes the girl in, reluctantly at first.  But will she and her husband even be able to convince Kaila to choose life for her baby, in spite of all their help?

Burke's debut novel conveys a beautiful pro-life message, without seeming at all preachy.  This is such a timely and important message, making it a book that I recommend for impressionable teen readers as well as adults.  (It has earned the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval, so parents can be assured that there is nothing in it that goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church.)

If you'd like to read more about The Life I Dreamed, here is the more in-depth Goodreads review that I posted recently.

So, I've been reading lots of books lately.  Not just this one, but also Nancy Carabio Belanger's The Gate and Therese Heckenkamp's Frozen Footprints (both awesome--and I'll be talking about those in future WWRW posts!).

But I've also been reading blogs (an addiction of mine that ranks right up there with coffee drinking these days).  And one of my favorites, Footprints on My Heart, has moved.  It is now called Cherishing Everyday Beauty.  The young gal behind it, Sarah Therese, is a recent college grad, so now she's leaving her student days behind and will be blogging about making it out there in the big, wide world.  Stop by and visit her at her new site.  She has been running a Saints Series on Saturdays, inviting other bloggers to guest post, if you'd like to contact her about contributing to that.

Okay, then.  Happy reading, everyone!  And speaking of happy reading (and getting together with other peeps who are happiest when they've got their noses in good books!), head on over to Jessica's.

WWRW: Kia Heavey's Underlake

Before I get started, let me show you two of my favorite little readers.

These are my twin granddaughters, Bonny Babe and Cutie Pie, back when they were almost a year old, cruising the furniture but not quite walking on their own yet.  They will turn three in less than two months!!  Sniff, sniff.  I haven't looked at this picture in quite a while, and it brings me back to those happy visits in their AL home.  Grammy is feeling a bit verklempt.  (After AL, we visited them in CO.  They just moved, and from now on, we'll be visiting them in MI.  In fact, we're in MI with them now, helping them settle into their new house.)

My granddaughters have good taste.  Just look what they're reading!  They love Little Golden books, which were always some of my favorite read-aloud stories when our boys were little lads.

But what about Grammy, you ask?  What am I reading? Well, I've been doing some interesting reading myself.

Recently, author Kia Heavey and I began to correspond via Goodreads (which I think of as a sort of booklover's version of Facebook).  We realized that we shared a common desire to write inspirational fiction for impressionable teenaged girls and young adults--stories that will engage and entertain them, but will ultimately (hopefully!) inspire them to swim against the tide--to fight the good fight, if you will--as they navigate the thorny path to adulthood in a confusing and dangerous world.

Heavey's second novel, Underlake, is an inspiring coming-of-age tale with a great message for teens and a paranormal twist.  Though aimed at young adult readers, it is an enjoyable read for adults as well.

In her Goodreads author profile, Heavey explains just what motivated her to write her laudable YA novel: she says, "I wrote Underlake to entertain teen girls trying make good choices in the face of tacky pop culture, peer pressure, and permissive parenting."  (That's basically what motivated me to write Finding Grace, so it appeared I'd found a writing soul mate!)  But there's more; Heavey also reveals that she loves "a captivating, creepy story that weaves a spell." (There is nothing whatsoever supernatural about my novel; but Underlake involves a handsome and otherworldly "Boy in the Lake"--and I don't want to reveal too much about him or I'll ruin it for you; but trust me, there is definitely a "captivating, creepy" element in this book!).

To say that I was intrigued--and quite anxious to read Heavey's novel--is an understatement.  The author generously provided me with a review copy.  As soon as I received it,  I opened it right up and read the dedication that underscores Heavey's deep desire to write fiction with a counter-cultural message, to give encouragement to those teenaged girls who feel they don't fit in with modern mores and fashions and are looking for deeper meaning in their lives; it reads, "For girls everywhere who are less than thrilled with the popular things."

By the time I'd turned the last page of this well-written page-turner (about a day-and-a-half after it came in the mail!), I could clearly imagine how readers in the author's target audience--to whom she lovingly dedicated this book--might be inspired to follow in the footsteps of Underlake's brave and likable young heroine.

That's just a teaser--you can read my full review here.

I'm sure you'll find plenty of other enticing titles if you head on over to Jessica's.