Ornamental Graces is free for download on Kindle app or Kindle device Wednesday, December 28 though Friday, December 30, 2016. bit.ly/OrnamentalGraces
Leave a CommentRelevant Fiction for Body & Soul
Month: December 2016
I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for ten books I wouldn’t mind Santa leaving under my Christmas tree – paperback or ebook, I’m not picky. Quite a bit of variety here – more than usual in my reading list. Here they are in no particular order.
As 2016 comes to a close, I’ve collected reviews of the best Young Adult (YA) fiction I’ve read over the past year. Some of these titles are Christian fiction, some secular, but all are “clean” and appropriate for teens. (And for the enjoyment of old fogeys like me too.)
I did not include The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer here only because that series isn’t in need of more visibility. It’s an excellent series that fans of Star Wars or classic fairy tales will particularly enjoy. Fast-paced and tightly-written, there’s enough adventure, humor, scifi, and romance to please almost any reader.
At the end of this post, you’ll find some other YA favorites of 2016, including other books written by the authors featured below. (I stuck with one book featured per author.)
If you’re looking for more great books for teens, sign up for the B4CT (Books for Catholic Teens) newsletter!
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Keeping Sunday Special Edition
Inspired by Erin McCole Cupp‘s monthly Sabbath Rest Book Talk, I’ve been thinking about how our family does (or doesn’t) make Sunday special. I’m not too young to remember when most stores were closed on Sundays, which in itself set Sunday aside as different. These days, it’s business as usual, and I’m often surprised at how crowded the grocery stores are on Sunday mornings when we stop in to grab something.
In re-reading what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about the Sabbath, I was struck by these lines: “It is a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money.” Not much support from the culture on that one.
Here some ways we try to keep Sunday special in our house and in my home growing up.
2 CommentsWhere do our expectations come from? We’d like to think that if we do a, b, and c, d will result. If I take care of my body, I’ll remain healthy. If I work hard and make smart financial decisions, my wealth will grow. If I choose a spouse wisely and honor my vows, my marriage will flourish. If I raise my children with certain values, they will adopt them and enjoy the fruits of their virtue.
But we all know the woman who never touched a cigarette yet contracted lung cancer. The successful entrepreneur who lost everything through theft or a change in the market. A woman whose husband decided he didn’t love her anymore and left. Children who abandon their faith and every value their parents held dear.
Sometimes the equation falls apart on our end. After all, am I that certain of my righteousness or do I merely fail to see my sin? Have I accounted for the fallen nature of not only myself but of my spouse, my children, this whole gosh-darn fallen world we inhabit?
There are no guarantees in life. As I tell my children so often, life isn’t fair.
Leave a CommentWelcome to the December 2016 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart AND CatholicMom.com! Now that December has arrived, the days are…
Leave a CommentOn the first Sunday of Advent, I had the rare opportunity to attend Mass with only my older children, which meant that I could mostly pay attention without having to disentangle a child from my clothes or jewelry or retrieve fallen missals from beneath the pews. Any mind wandering was on me, and not my little cherubs.
I’ve heard the messages of Advent for decades, but despite their familiarity, their repetition seems both more urgent and more fruitful to me as I age. I love the interplay between preparing for this Christmas, this annual celebration of Jesus’s coming, and preparing for Jesus’s second coming.
