Books Read in the Past week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

Books are grouped by author,
and not necessarily in the order read.

"Between Heaven and Mirth"#

by James Martin, SJ

[non-fiction]

(Kindle book)

"Travelers Along the Way"
by Fr. Benedict Groeschel (RIP)
[collective biography]

"The Story of a Soul"

by St. Therese of Lisieux

"In This House Of Brede"

by Rumer Godden

[fiction]

(a great favorite of mine)

{Sunday books}

Bible books read this week:

"Isaiah"
"Joshua"

"The Gospel According to Matthew"

"The Four-Story Mistake"

{carried over from last week}
"Then There Were Five"
{carrying over into next week}
by Elizabeth Enright
[children's fiction]
in The Melendy Family
three books in one volume
(openlibrary.org loan)


"The Alpine Path

The Story of my Career" #

by L. M. Montgomery

[autobiography]
{carried over from last week}
(Kindle book) 

"The Sun is Shining on the Other Side"
by Margaret Jensen
[Christian (Protestant) nonfiction]
(stories from her earlier books)
{carried over from last week}

This Week's Fan Fiction

Unsuited to Each Other

Chapter 4 is now up.

Sad News

Fr. Anthony gave us some sad news at the start of today's Mass.  Fr. Benedict Groeschel passed away last night.
God rest his soul.

The "Elsie" Books: Mixed Feelings

I'm about to start re-reading Martha Finley's "Elsie Dinsmore"

series, and I must admit that I have mixed feelings about

the books.

Many of the incidents are really interesting; some would even

fit into a non-religious book, if the religious elements were omitted.
I like the fact that Elsie loves her Bible.  Of course, in those days many books written for a Protestant audience depicted
characters reading the Bible, a hymn book, and Pilgrim's Progress.
 Now for the things I find annoying about the books.
Of course, I have to mention the anti-Catholic element.
"Poor darling!" murmured Adelaide,
 clasping the little form more closely,
and pressing her lips to the fair brow;
"I wish I could save you from it. He
 says that if you continue obdurate, he
 has quite determined to send you to a convent to be educated."

"As Adelaide made this announcement,
she pitied the child from the bottom of
her heart; for she knew that much of
Elsie's reading had been on the subject
of Popery and Papal institutions; that she
had pored overhistories of the terrible
tortures of the Inquisition and stories of martyrs and captive nuns, until she had imbibed an intense horror and dread of everything connected with that form of
error and superstition."

I wonder if one of the books Elsie read was 

Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, or, The Hidden Secrets of a Nun’s Life in a Convent Exposed
I'm almost sure that Martha Finley, the author of the "Elsie" books, read it!
I thought for a long time that "Maria Monk" was a pseudonym, chosen to
mock Catholic beliefs; it certainly sounds like one! However, I've recently 
found out that it was her real name.

In "Elsie's Children," one of Elsie's young cousins becomes a Catholic.  Her conversion is referred to as her perversion.

[In the revised, modernized version of the "Elsie" series, "Elsie Dinsmore: A Life of Faith," the anti-Catholicism is removed.  The revision, however, is a bit anachronistic, because although it is set at the same time as the original series,
the Bible Elsie uses is the "New International Version", which was first published in the 1970s!  I had the updated books, but I lost them when I moved.] 

There are other things in the "Elsie" books that I find annoying, but they'll have to wait for another post.

So, how do I feel about the books, all in all?  Well, as I said when I started this post, I must admit that I have mixed feelings about

the books.  There are some things I really dislike, and some
things I really enjoy.

Mystery Object

I was going through some boxes, and I found something that had once been part of a larger object. I haven't been able to identify the parent object yet, but I've already added the item, whatever it came from, to my Break-Off collection.

Searching for the source through online images should be interesting, and probably challenging!

Internet Giving

One of my favorite books is "Try Giving Yourself Away," by the late David Dunn.  The author expanded the book twice; the third edition had twelve more chapters than the first.

I really wish that somebody, perhaps one of David Dunn's descendants, would write a new edition, incorporating ways of self-giving on the Internet.

I can think of a few ways myself.

1: Typing a kind, encouraging response to someone who posts about a problem he or she is having.  The words "You are in my prayers" can be very encouraging.

2: Speaking up for, and saying a few kind words to, someone who is being attacked online. 

3: Sharing/Retweeting good posts/Tweets.

4: Sharing links to good websites.

5: Being kind in an unseen way by not pointing out somebody's mistakes in grammar and/or spelling.

Little Things

[Old post, reposted]

I love this quote from my Patron Saint, Therese of Lisieux, whose feast we celebrate today:
"Pick up a pin for the love of God, and you may save a soul."
How right, how wise! We may not be called to do great things, but we can do the little, everyday tasks for the love of God, and then how great, how valuable those little tasks become.
No work is menial if it is done for the love of God.