Includes:
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April 04, 2010
April 02, 2010
April 01, 2010
2010 Orion Book Award
The winner of the 2010 Orion Book Award is Charles Bowden's Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing: Living in the Future (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
March 24, 2010
Mary Karr Interview
The Liars' Club author discusses worshipping art, getting sober, becoming Catholic, and writing Lit by Bill McGarvey
From Busted Halo,
March 22, 2010
Considering the harrowing stories of her Texas youth — plagued by the alcohol, drugs, violence and general mayhem she recounted in The Liars’ Club (1995) and Cherry (2000) — it is a minor miracle that Mary Karr lived to tell her tale. The fact that she still has more stories of tumult and survival as an adult to write about, though, really begins to edge into loaves and fishes territory.
In her third memoir, Lit, Karr moves past her “drug sodden” adolescence into her young adulthood where the joys of falling in love, getting married and becoming a mother are overwhelmed by her debilitating alcoholism, depression and family dysfunction. But Lit isn’t simply a catalog of grinding desperation and addiction. Karr combines a poet’s eye for extraordinary detail and tone — she was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry — with an earthy honesty and humor to create prose that is beautiful, unadorned and filled with a survivor’s wisdom. Lit is Karr’s testimony to the actual, ongoing miracle in her own life: her conversion from devoted cynic to devout Catholic.
In the interview that follows, Karr discusses the difficulties she encountered in writing about alcoholism, sobriety and spirituality as well as her stormy relationship with a young David Foster Wallace and some hard-won advice for spiritual seekers.
February 14, 2010
Books that Found Me
Ron Rolheiser, OMI, author of Holy Longing:The Search for a Christian Spirituality and a weekly columnist for diocesan newspapers, recommends those books that touched him the most in 2009. Books that Found Me.
February 10, 2010
Nan Merrill
NAN CRERIE MERRILL JERICHO - Nan Crerie Merrill, 78, made her journey back to her Beloved on Saturday Jan. 23, 2010, at the Vermont Respite House. Nan was born on Dec. 3, 1931, in Swampscott, Massachusetts, the daughter of Ernest and Merle Crerie. Nan was blessed with five children and their spouses: Deborah and Peter, Mark and Susan, Pamela and Danny, David and Lisa, James and Mary Ann. She was "Nana" to six grandchildren: Rachel, Elisabeth, Samantha, Austin, Martina and Madison; sister to Gail Roche; and "Auntie Nancy" to nieces and nephews: John, Jim, Kathy, Lori, Larry, and Norman. Nan touched the hearts of thousands of people through her monthly publication of Friends of Silence. She started this newsletter over 22 years ago in Detroit, Michigan. It has grown from a beginning group of about 40 members to more than six thousand subscribers world wide. Nan shared her deep spiritual insights and love of writing by authoring six books and editing numerous others. She encouraged and nurtured everyone who came into her path. Nan has led retreats, worked with inner city residents and been involved in prison ministry for many years. Nan was a friend and spiritual guide to many. She was also an avid sports fan who enjoyed watching golf, baseball, and football. A special thanks to Dr. Soultanakis and staff and to the wonderful caregivers and volunteers at Vermont Respite House. A private memorial service will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Vermont Respite House.
Published in The Burlington Free Press on January 25, 2010
January 27, 2010
January 23, 2010
January 21, 2010
Paul Dry Books
Last night I discovered Paul Dry Books. And I agree that they have a great collection. I agree that their books will awaken, delight and educate.
I ordered The Book Shopper: A Life in Review by Murray Browne. If you go to the author's webiste, www.thebookshopper. org, you can secure the discount code for 30%.
"The Book Shopper is a spirited and witty guide to the world of disheveled used bookstores and dusty basements where shelves sag under the burden of so many books. In the limitless sea of books, here's one that will make you laugh as it helps you find your way to titles and authors you'll really want to read."
To read an excerpt, Paul Dry Books.
November 06, 2009
The Future Church
The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church by John L. Allen Jr. Doubleday, $28, 480 pp
April 19, 2009
The Life You Can Save
I just finished reading The Life You Can Save:Acting Now to End World Poverty by Peter Singer.
The Life You Can Save offers a seven-point plan that guides us to reflect and consider on how we can make a huge difference in the lives of others throughout the world.
Singer addresses the following topics: common objections to giving, why we don't give more, creating a culture of giving and improving aid. He recommends 5% of annual income as the new standard of giving of those who are financially comfortable, and rather more for the very rich.
For additional information visit book's website. Click here.
March 19, 2009
The Bible Speaks to You
The Bible Speaks to You by Robert McAfee Brown
March 18, 2009
An Altar in the World
An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor. Harper One
Don't Trust the Abbot
Don't Trust the Abbot: Musings from the Monastery by Abbot Jerome Kodell. Liturgical Press
March 15, 2009
The Flowing Toward Me
This Flowing Toward Me
by Marilyn Lacey, RSM
My wife Margaret found this spiritual journey a very moving and enlightning collection of stories. It clearly demonstrate both the storeis and stuggles of our everyday immigrants and refugees and the commitment of Sr. Marilyn's ministry of the past 25 years.
February 19, 2009
February 17, 2009
October 07, 2008
Bibles for Parents and Children
We at faithAlivebooks have reviewed Bibles, Bibles, and more Bibles for parents and children! We highly recommend the following four titles for parents and children to use independently as well as together. They are well written, offer colorful and eye-catching illustrations and photographs, and are available at reasonable prices.
September 16, 2008
The Heart of a Saint
To many, a saint is a person who is extremely holy, unimaginably close to God, and set apart from the world; an unattainable status for the rest of us “normal people”.
Bert Ghezzi, popular speaker and author, disagrees with that opinion in his recent book The Heart of a Saint: Ten Ways to Grow Closer to God.
Ghezzi explains that “Holiness is not the narrowly guarded privilege of a few, but rather an abundantly available opportunity for all. Here’s the point: we can become saints if we want. All we must do is choose to be holy, and the Holy Spirit will make it happen.”
As indicated in the title, the book presents ten elements of holiness, each illustrated by a saint who particularly exemplified that quality. Ghezzi captures the essence of the featured saints in short, conversational stories of their lives. Both interesting and thought provoking, the saint stories range from the well-known St. Francis of Assisi to the more obscure St. Aelred of Rievaulx.
The book is more than a volume of stories, however. Every chapter ends with a section entitled “Think, Pray, and Act.” Ghezzi offers further reflections on the chapter and also provides questions and suggestions for use in personal prayer and daily life. The concise format lends itself to practical application for the reader; an inspirational how-to for holiness. With the help of the Holy Spirit, of course.
Alissa Schafer, Student at Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, MI
www.amileinmyhikingboots.blogspot.com
www.alissajean.blogspot.com
September 15, 2008
More than a Dream
More than a Dream: How One School's Vision is Changing the World, written from the perspective of an insider, details the birth, growing pains and success of Cristo Rey, a Catholic high school created especially for poor urban youth in inner city Chicago.
G.R. Kearney’s telling of the Cristo Rey story is fair and complete. Creating a new model for an urban high school is difficult at best and while perhaps not changing the world as the subtitle suggests, this new approach is changing lives of students and the minds of thoughtful educational leaders.
The Cristo Rey model has since been duplicated in other urban cities and is based on a foundation of true caring for disadvantaged youth, listening to the needs of the youth and their families and the creation of a unique and powerful economic model designed to assure affordability and sustainability of the school.
The Cristo Rey story is a book well written and researched. It is a book designed for a wide audience and especially helpful for those who want to rethink high school education especially in urban areas.
Bert Blake
Superintendent Emeritus, Grand Rapids Public Schools
September 14, 2008
Being Catholic Now
In Being Catholic Now Kerry Kennedy has asked 37 prominent Catholics about the changes in the Church and what it means to be Catholic.
For interview of Kerry Kennedy by Deborah Solomon September 12, 2008, click here.
