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37th out of 100 books
—
44 voters
Changing Habits
by
Debbie Macomber (Goodreads Author)
Readers will be fascinated by the descriptions of convent life as it is experienced by these women. Their crises are deeply moving and strike at the very heart of their faith. Eventually each woman reinvents herself in the "outside" world, the world of ordinary life...and love.
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Published
April 1st 2004
by Mira Books
(first published January 1st 2003)
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Although this book was written in 2003 (or published anyway), this story line is ending in the 70's, the story line is starting in the late 50's/early 60's when there was so much change coming about in the world, let alone in the Catholic church. The world was changing, the Viet Nam war was gong on and people's attitudes were changing about many things.
I was having to go back to what that time period was like. I admit I was in school during that time, but I also remember the trying time that ma...more
I was having to go back to what that time period was like. I admit I was in school during that time, but I also remember the trying time that ma...more
Why would three vital young women choose to enter a convent and take vows of poverty and service? What would make those same three women decide to leave and reenter society? Macomber's novel explores the lives of three young women -- one who becomes a nun against her father's wishes, one who enters the convent after being jilted a month before her wedding, and one who was following the expectations of her family. Their lives intersect, but their stories are really parallel.
Each woman's story is...more
Each woman's story is...more
Angelina, Kathleen and Joanna each had very different reasons for joining St. Bridget's Sisters of the Assumption in the early 1960s. But each was devoted to her faith, and despite the strict, complex rules of the convent and the swirling controversies of the outside world, each stayed true to her call.
But one by one, each woman suffers an unexpected crisis of faith. And ultimately, all three leave the sisterhood for the exciting, confusing world outside the convent walls. It's not an easy choic...more
But one by one, each woman suffers an unexpected crisis of faith. And ultimately, all three leave the sisterhood for the exciting, confusing world outside the convent walls. It's not an easy choic...more
Story of three women and their separate journeys into, and eventually out of, the convent during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I liked each story individually, and it was also interesting to read what it may have been like to be so connected to the Catholic Church during that time of social change. I thought the 3 main characters were well developed and likeable. I really enjoyed this book.
But the VERY end sent this down from a 4 star to a 3 star rating. These stories were largely NOT intertwined, alth...more
But the VERY end sent this down from a 4 star to a 3 star rating. These stories were largely NOT intertwined, alth...more
I was particularly interested in this book because I attended a catholic school from kindergarten through high school. And even though I wasn't catholic, at one time I also wanted to be a nun. (I think it had something to do with wanting to be a teacher.) So I found the background stories of the three women in this book intriguing. I was extremely interested in why they chose to join a religious order and what their lives were like once they did.
I don't know how accurate the portrayal was, but i...more
I don't know how accurate the portrayal was, but i...more
Feb 21, 2012
Dianna
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone who wants to see how it was
Recommended to Dianna by:
I am a fan of this author
I do not know where to start this review. I already know I am probably going to get some negative feedback, but I really don't care. I am a 65 year old Catholic. I was raised in the church during the time this book is written about. This explains why this religion is almost a thing of the past. The actions of the church is why I stopped going to church and do not believe anything they preached and pounded into our heads. I firmly believe in God, but not the God that they say condemns anyone who...more
3 likes · like · see review
Continuing my Debbie Macomber book-a-thon. I think I have read this before, but I enjoyed it again. I have however think I'm in a rut, I have given way too may 4's in a row.
Anyway Debbie did well writing this novel, which has a strand of history throughout. It also challenges you to stand by your faith and support what you believe with the Bible. The story is about three young ladies who choose to become a bride of Christ and become Catholic nuns. Angelina leaves her father and Italian restauran...more
Anyway Debbie did well writing this novel, which has a strand of history throughout. It also challenges you to stand by your faith and support what you believe with the Bible. The story is about three young ladies who choose to become a bride of Christ and become Catholic nuns. Angelina leaves her father and Italian restauran...more
This was an ok book. Too much sexual reference. It was interesting to learn some things I didn't know about the Catholic Church. It's about 3 girls who become nuns for different reasons and then they later end up leaving the order. Not sure how I feel about that but can understand their desire to marry and have a family. Kind of a weird book for me.
Not sure what sort of book this is. Can't be a romance, not enough of a love story in it. There also wasn't much of the authors' normal interplay of female friendship. These three had more parallel lives than mutually supportive. The book is about 3 girls who become nuns for different reasons and then they later end up leaving the order for varying reasons. But the book seems choppy and I actually think it would've been better if it were longer. The beginning parts of the book were more develope...more
I really enjoyed the first part of the book. I learned about being a nun and even thought the transition from nun to not was interesting. It seemed like she hurried through the end though after having such a rich story in the beginning.
1 like · like · see review
In this abridged audio version, the story moves along rather quickly. Two young women enter the convent, each convinced that she is where God intends her to be, each sure of her vocation. But as the years pass, other circumstances intervene to make them question their conviction to their faith. Macomber does a good job in illustrating the struggles these nuns endure as they make life-changing decisions. She also points out some of the problems that plague the Catholic church. A thought provoking...more
The time is the late 1960s and early 1970s. Three young women have taken theiir vows to become nuns. But it is a turbulent time in the world and within the Catholic church. This story follows each of the three young women, from their decisions to join an order, to their lives within the order, their growing discontent, and their decisions to rejoin the world. We see these women as individuals, seeing beyond the designation of nun. One will leave for love, one out of grief and despair, and one ou...more
This book is about 3 women who became nuns-Angelina who left her father and his Italian restaurant-Kathleen who left working at her uncle's "pub" and Joanna who was almost married to a Viet Nam veteran. Kathleen left the convent after being accused of taking money from the church. Joanna ended up taking a leave of absence to sort her feelings out. Angelina's father came one day to the convent and insisted on taking his daughter back home even though the Sister Superior was not going to allow it....more
I like my romance with some depth to it. This book could only loosely be called a romance since romance takes up little of the book. Most of the book deals with relationships, those of three young women with their church and faith and with each other and their families. I found it very informative and intriguing as it describes how these young Catholic women decide to become nuns, their lives as nuns, and their decisions to leave the order and return to mainstream life, which they have never rea...more
This was a short & delightful diversion from the Blossom Street series I just finished and the Cedar Cove series I am on now. The "Habits" in the title references the dress of nuns. The story focuses on two young women who enter the convent, both for different reasons. It chronicles their lives as they go through the training and their different professions within the convent. The women were real and interesting. It also dealt carefully with some of the controversy surrounding the Catholic c...more
I normally love/love/love Debbie Macomber.
The whole Changing Habits story revolves around three nuns,who,for whatever reasons, go to the convent-only to discover different things about their lives/loves/sacrifices/passions and values. I keep waiting for the "Thorn Birds" moment. So far, it ain't happenin' for me. Probably going to have to do something I rarely do and reread one of her better-written pieces of work. The characters are developed...the stories just aren't connecting for me. So, thi...more
The whole Changing Habits story revolves around three nuns,who,for whatever reasons, go to the convent-only to discover different things about their lives/loves/sacrifices/passions and values. I keep waiting for the "Thorn Birds" moment. So far, it ain't happenin' for me. Probably going to have to do something I rarely do and reread one of her better-written pieces of work. The characters are developed...the stories just aren't connecting for me. So, thi...more
Angelina Marcello, Kathleen O'Shaughnessy, and Joanna Baird all had different reasons for becoming nuns but all shared one thing in common - their love of God and their faith. Nothing about their journey into sisterhood is easy and it is a continual struggle for all three to remain nins in a changing world. All of them will eventually leave the sisterhood, again for different reasons and all must adjust to a world they have long been sheltered from.
“Changing Habits” is a different type of book f...more
“Changing Habits” is a different type of book f...more
Changing Habits
Debbie Macomber
Romance
365 pages
They were sisters once.
Almost forty years ago, in a more innocent time, two girls enter the convent. Angelina and Joanna come from vastly different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common -- a desire to serve, to join in the community of sisters.
Despite the relative seclusion of the convent house in Minneapolis, they're not immune to what's happening in the world around them. In 1972 Angie's involvement with a pregnant teenager triggers a cris...more
Debbie Macomber
Romance
365 pages
They were sisters once.
Almost forty years ago, in a more innocent time, two girls enter the convent. Angelina and Joanna come from vastly different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common -- a desire to serve, to join in the community of sisters.
Despite the relative seclusion of the convent house in Minneapolis, they're not immune to what's happening in the world around them. In 1972 Angie's involvement with a pregnant teenager triggers a cris...more
Yes, there are some romantic elements to this book but I wouldn't classify it as a romance. The three women, Angie, Kathleen, and Joanna, have all been nuns. This book details their lives before the convent, during their time as nuns and then after they decide to leave, each for a different reason. I am not Catholic and so I found the religious aspect fascinating and interesting. I enjoy learning more about other faiths and this book showed this particular lifestyle in a very real way.
Following the lives of young nuns from before they took their vows through the reasons they left the sisterhood, this is an interesting light read. As a former Catholic myself, I knew plenty of nuns, some of whom were important people in my lives, but like many of the women in this book, I did (and do) not agree with the Catholic church on many fronts, including birth control and the treatment of women in the church.
I don't know that this would be for everyone, but I found it an enjoyable read.
I don't know that this would be for everyone, but I found it an enjoyable read.
Not normally a book I would pick up to read but my mom recommended it to me so I read it.
A story of 3 teenagers from different areas that join to become nuns for different reasons that end up at the same place and leave the order for different reasons. The author wrote this after a birthday party that she went to for her cousin and was the only one that never was a nun. This book was wonderfully researched and written. I had it read within half a day.
A story of 3 teenagers from different areas that join to become nuns for different reasons that end up at the same place and leave the order for different reasons. The author wrote this after a birthday party that she went to for her cousin and was the only one that never was a nun. This book was wonderfully researched and written. I had it read within half a day.
Absolutely beautiful! Macomber is such a great storyteller. They way she wove 3 womens lives was wonderful. I wouldn't have thought I would like a "nun" novel but I did. I loved hearing about the church, a nuns life and just the way things were then. There were accurate accounts and it almost felt like a true story. In a weird way this book brought me closer to Jesus. Sometimes the norm, and rituals are not what God requires of us. He requires obiedience and a willing heart. Once again, Debbie M...more
One of Macombers earlier books - I found this style to not be at all like her others that I had read. The storyline follows three young women as they each decided to become nuns and how the changes within the early 70's influenced their departure from the convent and back into the real world. Not a page turner by any means but still a little interesting for those that may not understand very much about Catholicism.
While not a "Blossom Street Book", this book was still a "feel-good" one for me. As the title states, it is about four women changing their habits. I won't tell you more, as that could ruin part of the surprise; but, if you read the jacket cover you will pick up more of the gist of the book.
If you are a fan of Debbie Macomber, or just want to escape your own problems for a little while, I highly recommend this book.
If you are a fan of Debbie Macomber, or just want to escape your own problems for a little while, I highly recommend this book.
This is the story of 3 young girls who joined a Catholic convent in the late 1960's. Within 10 years, one by one the nuns leave the order ... due to circumstances occurring within the Catholic Church and within their own secluded lives. The author took alot of time and effort pulling the reader into each of the girl's lives. Great story ... and I even learned a little bit (coming from a former Catholic turned Baptist)!
1 like · like · see review
Who woulda thunk it. I enjoyed a novel about three nuns. A wonderful story of three teens and their decisions to become nuns and their lives in the convent. Also a small history about the changes within the Church during the 1960s and 70s and some of the corruption happening. The nuns eventually decide to leave the Church and we get a glimp to their struggles to adjust in a rapidly changing modern world.
This a story of three women who joined the convent for the usual coventional reason, unlucky in love, brainwashed by parents and the pull of a real calling to the service of the church. In th e end they all left for better reasons all having to do with personal decisions.
What I found intriguing about the story was the fact that it took place in the era of dawning feminism and the women's lives change in many ways for that reason. It also spotlights some of the reasons there is a crisis in the Ca...more
What I found intriguing about the story was the fact that it took place in the era of dawning feminism and the women's lives change in many ways for that reason. It also spotlights some of the reasons there is a crisis in the Ca...more
An excellent book about 3 girls who make the decision to join an order of nuns, their lives touching, and their leaving for the secular world. Each chapter is about one of the girls and their lives. The book starts in childhood, goes through their nun-years, and, ultimately, their time outside of religious life. It's a well-written book and the characters are developed nicely. I highly recommend this book.
Spanning years from 1958 - 2002, this is an interesting story of three women, Angelina, Joanna, and Kathleen. All three, at different times, enter the order of St. Bridget Sisters of the Assumption.The book covers their adjustment to convent life and then, eventually, their adjustments to leaving the religious order. Very interesting story which delves into the years in which there was so much change going on in the Catholic church.
I have read quite a few of Debbie Macomber's books, usually when I'm in the mood for some light reading. This book was a little different from most of her books as it wasn't as quite light hearted as her others. It is a story of three young girls who become nuns all for different reasons. It was still a "light" read but it was fascinating to me to read about the life of a nun.
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With more than 140 million copies of her books in print, Debbie Macomber is one of today's most popular authors.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author is best known for her ability to create compelling characters and bring their stories to life in her books. Drawing on her own experiences and observations, Debbie writes heartwarming tales about small-town life, home and family, enduring friends...more
More about Debbie Macomber...
The #1 New York Times bestselling author is best known for her ability to create compelling characters and bring their stories to life in her books. Drawing on her own experiences and observations, Debbie writes heartwarming tales about small-town life, home and family, enduring friends...more
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Feb 21, 2012 05:55pm