Tag: faith
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Book Review: Our Lady of Kibeho by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an easy read, but it is not an easy story to read. It is told in first person by Immaculee in readily accessible language. Reading it is as though she is sitting beside you telling you her…
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Charge It Up
We are in Los Angeles visiting our daughter. It has been a lovely visit. The hotel is standard Marriott Courtyard, but the rooftop pool is very nice. I’ve been able to swim laps almost every day we have been here. Today, being Sunday, we got up, got dressed, and headed off to Mass. One of…
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Book Review: The Confession of St. Patrick
Every year I resolve to read more spiritual texts and every year I fail. This year, once again I resolved to do so and God gave me a helping hand. Last Thursday, after morning Mass, I ran into our parochial vicar outside the church. He mentioned that he was working on a research paper as…
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My Two Special Saints
On an unseasonably warm March day this year, I attended the 5:00 Vigil Mass at my parish, which was also Confirmation with Bishop Evelio Menjivar of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The large church was packed, with folding chairs lining the entire interior perimeter of the church and chairs outside the doors of the…
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Book Review: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
The Husbands (Knopf Doubleday, 2024), debut novel by Holly Gramazio, a writer and video game designer, is an interesting read. I waited for quite some time to get a copy from my local library. I read it quickly, but it’s taken me several days to decide what I want to say about it in this…
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A Very Merry Bookmas!
It’s Christmas Day! I’ve had a wonderful Advent and now Christmas season with my family and close friends. It has to be the most relaxed Christmas I’ve ever had, having retired from teaching this January 12, 2024, I came into Advent this year without reams of papers to grade, midterms to create and then grade,…
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Book Review: Something Better by Diane Parrish
Reading a debut novel is always exciting for me. Maybe it will be great and I will anxiously await the sophomore novel, and on and on, being a completist from the start! Maybe it will be very good and I can watch the author’s craft strengthen and develop from one book to the next. Maybe…
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Book Review: Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Have you ever read a book where you loved it with all your heart but you didn’t love the protagonist who is also the narrator telling her own story in first person? In this instance there is no escape from this person that you aren’t really fond of. This is the case of the novel…
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Book Review: Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple – Smell the Soup, Cool the Soup
I used to sleep like a log every night. I could drink a cup of tea or a cup of coffee and turn out my lamp and fall asleep before I was finished with my prayers. I would wake up whenever forced to, many hours later, often in the exact same position I was in…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 