The Catholic Book Club discussion
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Introduce Yourself
Hello all, I've been here a while but haven't introduced myself. This is my first book club! And I'm finally reading a book alongside you (Till We Have Faces, a reread for me).I'm a Catholic homeschooling mom of five ages 12 to (soon) 30, so we're homeschooling the last, just as our 30-year old is starting to homeschool her 2 (so far) kids. All of them are readers and Goodreads members so I'm going to have to invite them here to meet y'all.
I was born and raised in the Philippines but moved to the US with my family when I was 18, met my husband here who's also Filipino. We've lived in 4 states and briefly in Italy in 2009. We are now in Ohio.
I'm currently writing a young adult novel -- about a Filipina-American and a Filipino who meet and fall in love, but have to contend with family history, religious and ideological differences, and long distance. It's pro life, pro marriage and pro family. Right now the dialogue is in Taglish but if there's good response I'll translate it to English. This is my first try at fiction and probably my last, so I don't know what I'm doing half the time, but learning. Prior to this I've been a blogger since 2005, worked for several blog networks (all gone now), briefly for Patheos, and I have a few essays up at Fathers for Good. I'm also the editor of PinayVoices, though we're inactive right now.
My favorite books are Kristin Lavransdatter (which I think every Catholic woman (and maybe even man) should read), Divine Intimacy, A Severe Mercy, The Fulfillment of All Desire, and Brideshead Revisited. Oh, and Tomie de Paola's Clown of God. And Julia Child's The Way to Cook. And All the Places to Love! Haha, I'll stop here.
When I'm not here I'm either in the kitchen cooking, or at my blog page http://fb.com/andtheseThygifts.
Thanks for having me here and looking forward to reading and learning with you!
Mod
Hello, I'm Nick! I just joined the group.I read a variety genres and topics, mostly sci-fi and fantasy, but I predominately avoid romance. I am also an aspiring writer, trying to query one book and writing two others.
Thanks for having me!
HiI'm Normand Thomas, catholic priest, Canada.
When I was ordained in 2011, I've asked the Lord what he would like to tell the people in church.
He really amazed me. Really simple to understand and always teaching with his Love, these books help us connect more easily from within the heart with Jesus Christ. Inspirations also by Popes, Therese of the Infant Jesus, Augustin... and more.
I'm my own publisher.
+ Paper Book and Kindle (Tablet) Serie: Pathways to Conversion
+ Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=Pathways+to...
Hello Nicholas and Father Thomas welcome to Catholic Book Club.
It does not Matter Father Thomas and thanks for being One of us of Catholic Book Club.
Mod
As Fonch said, welcome to the Catholic Book Club. I hope you will join us in the discussion of some great Catholic literature. During this April we are reading and discussing The Seal of Aeolus, by our own Manuel Alfonseca. Manuel has offered to provide an electronic copy to anyone who would like one here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Hi John,as you know, these days,
for a priest with many parishes,
it's difficult for me to be everywhere.
That's why my (16) books are "evangelizing"
in the hope more people find Jesus in their heart.
That's the only way I've found to get more people
on board.
The more people get evangelized, the more will
join here. More people will be active. So, in a sense,
I'm contributing in a humble way.
And "write" now I'm writing 3 more books.
I might see and get on board at one point though.
God bless.
You Will be welcome to the ship Father Normand. It is a very good book "The seal of Aelous" i am rereading It 😁👍.
Hello all, I had no idea there were groups like this on Goodreads so this is a delightful surprise. I love to read and enjoy books about my Catholic faith. I'm currently leading a group at my church through The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander (an absolute MUST read as she has such beautiful and down to earth descriptions of Our Lady and the Jesus that bring them to life for us.I am a wife and mother and am expecting our 7th child in May. My kids range from 18-7 currently. God truly surprised us with the opportunity to become parents yet again and we are THRILLED! Looking forward to having a group to discuss great books and going back to look at what you all have read and discussed. I would have loved to have read along with Till we Have Faces (I finished it last month and was really needing some help!)
Some of my favorite books are: I Believe in Love, The Way of Trust and Love, (or anything) by Jacques Philippe, Catherine of Siena by Undset, & Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Hello Christina. You can still post in the “Till we have faces” thread if there is something you’d like to discuss. Discussions stay open.
Welcome Christina. The Lord continues to bless you and
your family.
Welcome Mrs. Costain to Catholic Book Club 👋. Yes the discussion about "We till have faces" was really good.
Thank you all! I’ll definitely check it out!
Hello! My name is Pedro Gabriel. I am a Portuguese oncologist and apologist. I love to read Catholic books, but I decided to join Goodreads because I am also a writer of fantasy fiction and plan to debut in the English language very soon.
My books are deeply influenced by my Catholic faith, just like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was. My books may be more explicitly Catholic than Tolkien, but they are subtler than C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
I look forward to meet and connect with other Catholic readers such as myself. Thank you for accepting me.
Pedro wrote: "Hello! My name is Pedro Gabriel. I am a Portuguese oncologist and apologist. I love to read Catholic books, but I decided to join Goodreads because I am also a writer of fantasy fiction and plan ..."
Dear Gabriel welcome to Catholic Bok Club. It is a big honor that you were a member of Catholic Book Club and i wish you find new books in this group.
Mod
I love to read Catholic books, but I decided to join Goodreads because I am also a writer of fantasy fiction and plan ..."
Welcome to the Catholic Book Club, Pedro.
Pedro wrote: "Hello! My name is Pedro Gabriel. I am a Portuguese oncologist and apologist. I love to read Catholic books, but I decided to join Goodreads because I am also a writer of fantasy fiction and plan ..."
Welcome @Pedro.
I really like Scott Hahn's books.
Normand wrote: "Pedro wrote: "Hello! My name is Pedro Gabriel. I am a Portuguese oncologist and apologist. I love to read Catholic books, but I decided to join Goodreads because I am also a writer of fantasy fic..."
I only have read one Rome sweet home cowrites with his wife Kimberly :-). Sorry now i remember that i read other refutating the Dawkin`s atheist doctrine Scott Hahn writes with Benjamin Wiker https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
Normand wrote: "Thanks Fonch."Thanks Mr. Normand :-).
I am Leah! Looking for more good spiritual books but also fiction. Kristin Lavrnsdatter is one of my all time favorite books and I now am beginning to read G K Chesterton and want to read some Newman as well.
God Bless.
Hello Leah if you like Sigrid Undset i recomend to you her novel "The Burning Bush" is my favorite novel of This writer. Concerning Saint John Henry Newman i like really much his idea of the University and Calixta Sketch of the third century.
Mod
Kristin Lavrnsdatter is one of my all time favorite books and I now am beginning to read G K Chesterton and want to read some Ne..."
Hi Leah, welcome to the Catholic Book Club. We are reading Bishop Schneider's Christus Vincit now, and will be reading Hilaire Belloc's Characters of t he Reformation in August. In mid-August we willl vote for our September BOTM. If there are some particular works by Newman that you would like to read, please feel free to stop by the Nominations thread and propose them.
Again, welcome.
Leah wrote: "I am Leah! Looking for more good spiritual books but also fiction. Good morning Leah.
My books of Catholic faith are filled with meditations and also adventure. There's always surprises.
And most of all, the focus has been put on the passages we read and meditate less in the Bible.
Hi. My name is Regina and my pen name is R Shannon. I love books that are written against the backdrop of the church or Catholicism -- except I don't like the disrespect and blasphemy that some authors and/or the media also include with the stories.I started to write Catholic/Christian novels that are stories that lace through the Catholic community and/or address modern-day moral issues from a Catholic perspective. I treat the church and the faith with, I feel, the proper amount of respect, with a little humor as well.
My first series is called the Ryan Mallardi Private Investigations Series. Here is a link to see the series page on Amazon with summaries. https://amzn.to/2Ner4xK
I was invited to join the group and am looking forward to being with other Catholic books readers.
https://amzn.to/2Ner4xK
R. wrote: "Hi. My name is Regina and my pen name is R Shannon. I love books that are written against the backdrop of the church or Catholicism -- except I don't like the disrespect and blasphemy that some aut..."Hello Shanon thanks for accepting my request for being a member of Catholic Book Club. This is the best place to read the best catholic literature of the world. Also this group can be employed for promoting your own books ever that they were catholic books :-).
Hello! My name is Marie Keiser. I love reading and writing. I like nearly anything with a coherent plot, compelling characters and a sense of nobility. I especially like sci-fi, historical fiction, and YA fiction, as long as it's well-written! I also like a good non-fiction book now and then. I recently wrote a Catholic science fiction novel, Heaven's Hunter, which is available on Amazon. You can find me and a bunch of other Catholic authors at Catholicteenbooks.com.
Hello Marie is a Big honor that you meet with us. Welcome to Catholic Book Club, here there are a lot of people Who like the science fiction my friend the Comoderator Manuel Alfonseca has written excellent novels of Science fiction. This is a good place for you.
Mod
Hi Marie,
Welcome to the Catholic Book Club.
Hi there! My name is Bella, and I’m a 19 y/o Catholic who attends the Tridentine Mass!! Super excited to get to read with you all and get new book recommendations, as well as meet other Catholics
Hello and welcome Bella! Catholic who attends the Latin Mass here too:-)
Hi everyone!I am a Catholic who also just started attending Latin Mass a couple months ago, I am a leader for a Young Adult group in a different parish and was wondering if anyone knows of a book that can help us grow as a group? thanks all, God bless!
Welcome Elizabeth!It would be trickier if it is mixed boys and girls, but the Catholic Girls Guide and the Young Man's Guide by Father Lassance are really good!!
Hello! I don't think I've introduced myself yet (apologies if I have!). My name is Emmy. I'm a big fan of GK Chesterton, CS Lewis (even though he's not actually Catholic), JRR Tolkien, and Fr. Augustine Wetta. I read a lot of classics, and I'm looking forward to reading alongside the rest of you! God bless!
Emmy wrote: "Hello! I don't think I've introduced myself yet (apologies if I have!). My name is Emmy. I'm a big fan of GK Chesterton, CS Lewis (even though he's not actually Catholic), JRR Tolkien, and Fr. Augu..."Hello Emmy welcome 👋 to Catholic Book Club i am totally persuaded that This is the best place to make your Dream real to Read the best Catholic writers of the world. PD. I have ever wanted to Read The Father Wetta i think that he wrote a novel of Ulysses and Diomedes trying to escape of the inferno i am a Big fan of the Greek Mythology. If you want to know more writers i recommend to you the Joseph Pearce's book "Literary Converts in an age of unbelief" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Welcome, Emily. Because you love Tolkien and Lewis I hope sometime you get a chance to watch a You Tube video (about 15 minutes long) called On The Power Of Fiction, narrated by Timothy Keller. I am confident you’ll like it. It will enrich your knowledge of what Tolkien called ‘’fairy stories,’’ and enable you to see Lord of the Rings in a beautiful light.
Frances wrote: "Welcome, Emily. Because you love Tolkien and Lewis I hope sometime you get a chance to watch a You Tube video (about 15 minutes long) called On The Power Of Fiction, narrated by Timothy Keller. I a..."I think that i Will look This video in You Tube 😁.
Hi everyone,I'm Rhonda. I'm an author and editor at Chrism Press. Thank you, Fonch, for inviting me to the group!
Yours,
Rhonda
Hello Mrs. Ortiz is a Big pleasure for me that you have accepted my offer of being a Catholic Book Club member. You know that i am a Catholic Writers Collector and i am following the Rhonda Ortiz's progress. I feel a Big impression of her when i Read her fantastic article as we can renew the Catholic Fiction https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2... I read in Catholic World Report, but i think that It was more published in other digital newspaper i think that Joshua Hren was involved in This. I was analyzing the Chrism Press and It looks very Interesting. I had the chance of reading "A Bloody Habit" by her friend Eleanor Bourg Nicholson, curiously This book was translated into spanish, something that It was wished because my beloved likes This book, and i wanted to Read It. Indeed Chrism that It is starting has published other novel "Brother werewolfe" if i am not wrong. For me It is a Big pleasure to have an editor and writer in Catholic Book Club and i think that It would be positive for the both sides. She might find Friends and allies and friends to Chrism Press https://chrismpress.com/ and new readings and she also has a Big knowledge of Catholic Book that she would share with us. It is a symbiotic relationship and i wish we can enjoy of her a lot. She has published some books among them a novel called "In pieces" that i have nominated as a possible reading.
Fonch wrote: "Hello Mrs. Ortiz is a Big pleasure for me that you have accepted my offer of being a Catholic Book Club member. You know that i am a Catholic Writers Collector and i am following the Rhonda Ortiz's..."Thank you, Fonch. Yes, Chrism recently published Eleanor Bourg Nicholson's latest, Brother Wolf, which everyone can find here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
We have several title forthcoming in 2022. Definitely check out our website and sign up for our newsletter! www.chrismpress.com.
Blessings,
Rhonda
I wish i have the chance of reading It into spanish as "A Bloody Habit" . I am very interested in the New books of Chrism Pres.
Pax vobiscum! My name is Michael Cibenko. I live in northwest New Jersey, where I was a Catholic educator for fourteen years. Prior to that, I had lived in Japan for four years, in an area that is rich with Catholic culture and history. My recent novel, Masaru, based on the events of the Shimabara Rebellion in 17th century Japan, was just released last month.
Michael wrote: "Pax vobiscum! My name is Michael Cibenko. I live in northwest New Jersey, where I was a Catholic educator for fourteen years. Prior to that, I had lived in Japan for four years, in an area that is ..."Welcome to the group Mr. Cibenko 👋🤝.
Welcome to the group, Michael. I will certainly look up your book. Are you a fan of Shusaku Endo's? It would be interesting to hear your perspective on his novel Silence, and how it is received in Japan.All the best to you.
My book was actually more influenced by a 1962 Japanese film, The Revolutionary, that depicts the events that led up to the Shimabara Rebellion. There are some elements of Silence, such as the enforcement of the fumie (stepping on bronze images of Christ), that are mentioned in Masaru.
I’m sorry to be so lacking in knowledge of the culture of Japan, Michael. The Shimabara Rebellion is new to me and I’ll have to study up on it. Coincidentally, I received the online issue of the Jesuit magazine “America” today. The featured book review is of the novel Missionaries, by Phil Klay. In your book, Masaru, you depict a Japan ‘’fractured among warrior states’’ (and it sounds like a great read). In what is now being called ‘’post-Christian America,’’ certain ideologies depict the Christian missionary as an invader or aggressor. (Recall the controversy around a statue of St. Junipero Serra in California earlier this year.)
I haven’t read Missionaries, but in the America review, I recognize the new and very different ideological perspective now being presented regarding the early Christian missionaries:
‘’A staple of the Catholic literary literary tradition. . . is that conversion is an act of violence. We are only just beginning to come to grips with the cultural violence that Christian missionaries, sometimes armed only with a Roman Missal and lacking any modern sense of inculturation, waged on Indigenous peoples all over the world. . . “ (Zac Davis, review of Missionaries by Phil Klay; America, 10/26/21)
I don’t know how a beautiful novel like Willa Cather’s Death Comes For the Archbishop would be seen in light of that viewpoint. From what I read of your book on Amazon, the Catholic missionaries seem very much to have been a force for good, welcomed and protected by the people, as were the Jesuit missionaries in Shusaku Endo’s Silence. It’s the authorities who have the problem, their issue one of power and control. Am I mistaken in reading things this way?
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