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Please here about what you read in March. Comments or links are welcome!

I tried to read Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, but I just couldn't get through it. I read it for a week and a half and hadn't gotten more than one third of the way done, so I ditched it. I also read Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure: A Novel by Susan K. Marlow, which was kind of fun. It was a first reads book.

I had a great reading month in March!

Among the books I read were a beautifully illustrated book about libraries, listened to one really good audio and am in the middle of another, read two good thrillers by a new-to-me author, and finished up the month with a sweet and entertaining novel.

The first nine books on the list were the ones I read in March. My reviews are easily seen by clicking on the word VIEW to the right of the book. This is easier for me than copying and pasting the reviews

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

I had an enjoyable reading month.


ratings 0-5 scale

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell I re-read this classic. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half. It's amazing how many of the phrases from the book have become part of our modern lexicon. Rate 3+ Solid middle rating.

Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings---And 7 Steps to End Them Naturally by Neal D. Barnard A very informative book. I saw the author on PBS this month discussing his book on diabetes. The diet really is for everyone. Rate 3 +

Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott. Rate 3 I love Lamott and look forward to reading her new book, Imperfect Birds: A Novel which comes out in April.

Franny and ZooeyJ.D. Salinger Rate 3. I enjoyed the writing a lot. The plot I came to like and understand more as I discussed it with GR group- Book Nook Cafe.
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke by Patty Duke Rate 3
Interesting memoir. I heard the author on NPR being interviewed because The Miracle Worker is on Broadway. Her life wasn't a happy one. I hope she has found peace.

Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health by Rick Smith Rating 2 + I heard the author on NPR. The book is interesting but I would have liked the section on "what to do" to be longer than the "why this is bad for you" section. Still, it made me realize I shouldn't buy things with fragrance/parfum in the ingredient list. The book made me stop and look around and see how plastics have invaded our lives. I guess Dustin Hoffman was right. Plastics is the future...though it's not a good thing, imo.

My next read is The Plague by Albert Camus It's a re-read for me. It's the April group read at Book Nook Cafe.

JoAnn. I did not see a list of your books. What am I not doing?

Richiesheff wrote: "JoAnn. I did not see a list of your books. What am I not doing?"

I added the link above --- you were not doing anything wrong, it was my forgetfulness!!

Here it is again:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... - just click on VIEW on the right side of the page to see a review for that book

4679 A History of the Popes From Peter to the Present, by John W. O'Malley, S.J. (read 1 Mar 2010) On Oct 6, 2009, I read a book by O'Malley on Vatican II which I felt was very well-done, so when I saw he had a new (2010) book I knew I had to read it, even though I have read so many books on papal history--probablyabout 80 or so). This book is really well-done. It makes no attempt to say something about every Pope but relates papal history very fairly from St. Peter to now. I agreed with most of his assessments, though he says better things about, e.g., Pope Paul III than some. It is not a history filled with triumphs--O'Malley says that many Popes were not outstanding. He says good things about St Leo I the Great and St Gregory I the Great but criticized things about many other Popes. But it is clear that things have improved much over time. How fortunate the Papal States went away. John XXIII in 1961 said: "The celebration this year of the 100th anniversary of Italian unification is a cause of great joy for Italy, and both of us, on the two sides of the Tiber, share the same feeling of gratitude toward Providence for it."Bully for you, John XXIII! This is the first time I knew of that statement--Pius IX probably turned over in his grave. This has been an excellent review of the role of the Popes over the last 2000 years.

4680 Revolution 1989 The Fall of the Soviet Empire, by Victor Sebestyen (read 4 Mar 2010) This is a 2009 book of a guy born in Hungary in 1956 but living in England. It tells of the momentous events in Europe in 1989 and the events leading up to them. While it is journalistic it is full of interest. He says the Able Archer event in 1983, where Soviets believed the U.S. was going to attack Russia, really sobered up Reagan and he realized that heating up the rhetoric against Russia was dangerous and he decided he should meet with the Russians "though Caspar Weinberger and a group of his brightest and most ideological Pentagon officials, such as Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and Donald Rumsfeld. continually tried to persuade the President that the Soviets were not serious about talks." The book considers events in each of the east European countries--Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria--right up to the events of 1989 and the triumph of the anti-Communists. It is clear that Gorbachev was determined not to impede the fall of the Communist governments and that someone like Brezhnev would have stopped the revolutions by force. Geo. H. W, Bush was very hesitant about helping the revolutions, but Gorbachov seemed to want them to succeed! The story is well-told, and the account of the fall of the Wall never fails to thrill me when I read about it. A well-done book.

4681 Waiting for the Barbarians, by J. M. Coetzee (read 5 Mar 2010) This is one of the 21 "Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century" and in 1980 won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. It tells of a magistrate in apparently apartheid South Africa who is repelled by the cruelties inflicted by the police and Army. But the magistrate is an amoral person evoking no admiration from me for his stupid and immoral behavior. He sides against the forces opposing the "barbarians" and so is tortured and nearly killed. The ending is dire and the entire novel is not fun to read, and there is no admiration for the persons in the novel. I cannot say I enjoyed reading this short novel, even though it is clearly and well written. I prefer something to inspire admiration for somebody in the book.

4682 The Hiding Place 35th Anniversary Edition by Corrie Ten Boom with Elizabeth and John Sherrill (read 6 Mar 2010) This is an autobiographical book telling mainly of the author's experience in World War II Haarlem, Holland. She was hiding Jews in her house and elsewhere when her home was raided on Aug 1, 1943. She was then in prison and in a German concentration camp till Jan 1, 1945. The account of her treatment by the Nazis is searing, but her religious faith and that of her sister, who died in the concentration camp, sustained her. a gruesome story but the author's work after the war is inspiring.

4683 The Next Pope After Pope Benedict XVI, by Anura Guruge (read 12 Mar 2010) This is a 2010 book which can be used as a reference book but I read it from the first page to the last. It is an odd book--no footnotes and a spare bibliography. I suppose the most interesting part of the book is he lists the ten most, likely to be the next Pope. His No. 1 guess is Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil. But there will be new Cardinals made before Benedict XVI dies, and it seems unlikely that the author's guess will be right. I think the next Pope will be Italian--Agostino Vellini, I'd guess. He is 70 now and will not be too old, I presume. The rest of the book is idiosyncratic and there is a lot of repetition. He spends a lot of time on the jumbled papal situation in the latter part of the first millennium, and some of what he sets out is not too interesting. E.g., an exhaustive review of rules of the conclave--it seemed to me that the rules are nitpicky. I think there should be more transparency in the election. But anyone interested in papal history will find items of interest in this book.

4684 Violet Clay, by Gail Godwin (read 15 Mar 2010) I only recently heard of this author and decided I should read something by her. This book is a 1978 novel. It is an unusual book for me to read. It tells of the eponymous character--a Southern girl raised by her Charleston, S.C., grandmother who is a painter and goes to New York. She is totally immoral, having a series of lovers, and is much taken by her uncle, whose odd life the book also relates till he kills himself. The story of Violet's efforts to be a painter at times was of little interest, but otherwise the account was of enough interest so one did not mind reading. But I prefer heroines of better morality than Violet. I doubt I'll read anything more by Gail Godwin.

4685 Idiot America How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free, by Charles P. Pierce (read 16 Mar 2010) This is a very enjoyable, often funny book about nutty rightwingers . He tells of Ignatius Donnelly. who died in 1899, and who thought he had discovered Atlantis. The book also discusses conspiracy nuts, such as those who think the Templars are still pulling strings. He also talks of nuts on radio like Rush Limbaugh, and the suit in Pennsylvania re intelligent design and the Federal judge who decided it. And wise words on thenutty Republicans who have captured that party. Andhow Bush et al. were determined to invade Iraq and saw 9/11 as a way that'd enable them to do that. There are no footnotes and scarcely bibliography but any thinking person will get a charge out of the sprightly written book poking fun and scorn at the lunatic right-wing fringe now running the GOP. There is a museum in Kentucky which touts creationism and says all those dinosaurs could get on Noah's arc because they were baby dinosaurs!


4686 The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church A History, by Joseph F. Kelly (read 21 Mar 2010) This is 2009 book by a professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland. It is very well done , although one can't rejoice too much over any council till Vatican II. He makes me feel good about Vatican II.

4687 The Track of the Cat, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark (read 24 Mar 2010) On Mar 24, 1953, when I was riding on the USS Tarawa in the Mediterranean I read The Ox-Bow Incident, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. and I thought it was a great book. In fact It was my "book of the year." (Though I only read 8 books that year!) This book is Clark's other famed book. Published in 1949. It tells of an angst-ridden family on an isolated ranch in Nevada in the late 19th century. There are three brothers, a sister, a plain-spoken witchy mother, and a drunken father. There is a pantherwho has killed some of the stock and about half of the book is about the oldest brother trying to shoot or get away from the panther. There is enough drama to make one want to keep reading, though the long account of seeking the panther eventually palls--the brotherundergoes foolhardy risks and is unbelievably enduring. The ending, which I hoped would somehow elevate the book to being an exceptional novel really did not, so I confess I felt let down by the ending. Certainly not as good a book as I hoped it would be nor as good as the one I read in 1953.

4688 American Lightning Terror, Mystery, Movie-Making, and the Crime of the Century, by Howard Blum (read 26 Mar 2010) The author himself describes this book "nonacademic history" and says footnotes are unnecessary as are sources. I much prefer academic history but as this book proceeded I couldn't help but get caught up in the account. It tells of the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building at 1 AM on Oct 1, 1910, of William Burns hunting the persons responsible, and of the McNamara brothers trial--they were defended by Clarence Darrow--and its amazing outcome, and of D. W. Griffith and his pioneer movie-making. So from at first thinking I would give the book a half star, it improved enough so I will give it 2 and a half.

4689. The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Translated from the Spanish by Sonia Soto (read 29 Mar 2010) This novel starts auspiciously enough, examining in apparently erudite detail the intricacies of experts on old books. But the book meanders and ends discussing in uninteresting detail a fictional book by a fictional character burnt at the stake in 1667. The book becomes a fantasy, and bores as most fantasy does. The book became less and less interesting as it proceeded to its end.

I have a question re. two books you read, Schmerguls. Book #4680 mentioned Wolfowitz & Rumsfeld as attempting to dissuade Reagan from meeting with Gorbachev, a fact of which i was unaware. Given their positions in Bush II's administration & the attack on Iraq, mentioned in #4685, i'm wondering if either author related their personal (or otherwise) thoughts about the tendencies of these two men to be wrong in their assessments. Now that i hear this Reagan history, it has me wondering about their abilities.

I suppose what i'm really asking is whether you or anyone else here knows of an objective book which explains the history of these two men & their error-filled thinking on these two major events? For my money those are two of the biggest historical/political moments in U.S. history in my adult life and that they were mistaken in both cases has me wondering.

Regardless, thank you for the titles of the first two books. They sound interesting & fact-filled.

deborah

Bloodroot - Amy Greene. I was encouraged and excited to pick up this book because of the wonderful reviews I read, but I found it kind of long-winded and not terribly interesting. Greene is a good writer, but I just didn't get into the story. There's hardly any dialogue, but instead long unbroken pages of prose. I was willing to overlook the "magical realism" I usually avoid, but I just don't care for stories with family curses extending through generations and old mountain folks with magical powers. C

Secrets of Eden - Chris Bohjalian. On the same day she's baptized by the local minister, a woman is the victim of a murder-suicide at the hands of her husband. A good, juicy story told from various viewpoints with twists and turns which, although I knew were inevitable, I didn't figure out in advance. Better than the last few CB books I've read. B+

Devotion: A Memoir - Dani Shapiro. I'm a big fan of Dani Shapiro's fiction, and this nonfiction book did not disappoint. Her spiritual quest, while quite personal, struck a deep chord with me too and there were many passages in the book I wanted to mark and reread. She's lead a complicated life, but she writes about it beautifully. I'll probably buy this book, and for me, that's paying it a high compliment. A

Ms. Taken Identity - Dan Begley. This was the selection for my "We Never Discuss the Book" book group, chosen mainly because it isn't set it World War II and it doesn't have any Nazis in it. But to my surprise, it turned out to be a very enjoyable read! The main character is a frustrated author whose serious works have been rejected by publishers, so he tries to write a "chick-lit" novel instead, figuring it's got to be easier. It's not. This is a genuinely funny book but the humor never becomes tiresome as so often happens. And I really liked the ending. Begley, who is a local author, is joining us for our discussion next week, so it might be the first time we actually do talk about the book! A-

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - Barbara Demick. I've always been interested in what life must be like in North Korea and now I think I know a little bit. Demick interviewed six defectors who told stories that just amazed me. This book was absolutely fascinating. Riveting. Jaw-dropping. Intelligent, well-written, well-researched, informative, "unputdownable." Yeah, I liked it. I can't recommend it highly enough. A+

Summer at Tiffany - Marjorie Hart. In the summer of 1945, two University of Iowa sorority sisters took the train to New York City, hoping to find jobs in a department store. Instead they wound up being the first women hired to work at Tiffany & Co. This was a delightful memoir of an innocent time and I completely enjoyed it. They wore hats and gloves, ate at the Automat, dated midshipmen, and were in Times Square, celebrating when the war ended. What's not to like? A

Making Toast - Roger Rosenblatt. When Rosenblatt's 38-year old daughter died unexpectedly, he and his wife moved in with her family - husband and three young children - and this book is a series of vignettes and observations that he made about that painfully difficult time. There's plenty of humor, lots of tears, heartwarming and heartbreaking, sometimes in the same paragraph. I've been a big fan of Rosenblatt since he wrote "The Man in the Water" essay in Time Magazine after the Air Florida crash into the Potomac in 1982 - in fact, I've had that essay framed on my wall ever since. He has the kind of way with words that puts you in a place you'd never want to go, but once he takes you there, you're glad you went. A

I had a good reading month, particularly given the fact that i only read one book in February. It helps that i'm at my daughter's apartment & she has a stack of books i've been meaning to read but haven't. Now's the time.

The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece -- and Western Civilization by Barry Strauss. A book about a naval battle which made a huge impact on ancient Greece. I felt Strauss did a good job in informing the reader of the history leading up to the event, as well as what sources are available. I'm grateful because i have another of his books at home.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I read this YA book because this woman helped my DD when she first arrived in NYC. I found the novel to be a touching look at the life of a young woman who is in a coma, as she "decides" whether to stay or die.

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler. Need i say more? I feel Tyler does a good job regardless which sex her main character is. She illustrates that we are human & it is connections which make our lives fascinating.

Cheese Book by Carol Timperley A tall, thin book about various sorts of cheese with names, photos & info included. For some reason i didn't realize how important it is to made certain one purchases some cheeses in the correct season, otherwise the texture & taste of the cheese is different. Of course you want the best.

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer. This is the 6th installment of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. The other installments were by the late Douglas Adams, however, i feel Colfer did an admirable job in continuing the story. While i liked it, i also hope this is the last in the trilogy.

Sex and The Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown. I read it because my daughter had a copy here & i wanted to see how it stands up. Well, not so poorly. Gurley Brown attempts to persuade readers that the end goal may not be marriage but too often she forgets that herself or adds a hasty, "...if you want to marry, of course." Somehow i didn't believe her. However, she was on target as far as making a career for yourself, compromises and about healthy eating & lifestyles.

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. Some of here read this novel to follow-up the writing of the author of The Catcher in the Rye, our March book. About a young woman who appears to be having a nervous breakdown, her family attempts to help her out, at which point we learn of their contributions to her mental health.


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer I really treasure this book, as much for the epistolary presentation as for the story of occupied Guernsey during WWII & the way the islanders survived it. Yes, i laughed & i cried!

No Way to Treat a First Lady: A Novel by Christopher Buckley An amusing satirical "mystery" novel. I've enjoyed his earlier efforts, including the travel book, Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital. Am eager to read more.


deborah

Connie, i cannot admit to an interest in what life is like in North Korea but your review has me wondering. Thanks for the title.

deborah

madrano wrote: "I suppose what i'm really asking is whether you or anyone else here knows of an objective book which explains the history of these two men & their error-filled thinking on these two major events? ..."

If you are already quantifying their thinking as "error-filled", it seems to me that you have made up your mind, so what would be the point of an "objective book"!?!?! LOL

And if you really think that #4685 is anywhere close to a "valid" look....well, there are nuts on both ends of the political spectrum. Maybe one that looks at the left-wing nuts would give you a balanced view.

Personally, I get a kick out of books and articles that poke fun at both the right-wing and the left-wing "lunatic fringe running" BOTH parties. It is a shame that some people just cannot - or refuse to see - both sides. Only then will there be some changes in our political processes.

Schmerguls wrote: "The Next Pope After Pope Benedict XVI, by Anura Guruge. I suppose the most interesting part of the book is he lists the ten most, likely to be the next Pope. ......But there will be new Cardinals made before Benedict XVI dies......."

Maybe he will not die in office. How do popes go about resigning? ---- because this one seems to be in a lot of trouble.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: Maybe he will not die in office. How do popes go about resigning? ---- because this one seems to be in a lot of trouble. "
-----------------------

I was wondering about the rules. Must he resign or can he be removed ?

Alias Reader wrote: "

I was wondering about the rules. Must he resign or can he be removed ?"

hmmm.....interesting question. Not sure how accurate this is:

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "If you are already quantifying their thinking as "error-filled", it seems to me that you have made up your mind, so what would be the point of an "objective book"!?!?! LOL

And if you really think that #4685 is anywhere close to a "valid" look....well, there are nuts on both ends of the political spectrum. Maybe one that looks at the left-wing nuts would give you a balanced view...."


JoAnn, i cannot tell if you are joking or not, but i am going to assume you misunderstood my question. I'll discuss the second point first. No, i don't think i gave the impression i thought 4685 was valid, only that it reminded me of those 2 men, particularly given the earlier book. I have enjoyed humorous (& non-) books on both sides of political issues for decades now. For me it's the best way to try to understand the thinking of those whose ideas i have a difficult time comprehending.

If there is some doubt about the error of the thinking both Rumsfeld & Wolfowitz maintained about the former USSR, i would like to hear about it. (Which is another reason i was hoping someone had an objective title to share.) As for Iraq & the thinking regarding the WMD, i wasn't aware there were those still thinking that was not erroneous. Again, it's one reason i was asking for such a book.

deborah

Alias Reader wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: Maybe he will not die in office. How do popes go about resigning? ---- because this one seems to be in a lot of trouble. "
-----------------------
I was wondering about the rules. Must he resign or can he be removed ? ..."

I remember some talk about JPII resigning, given his illness. But i've never heard of a sort of impeachment process. Of course that's not the sort of thing which would be taught in parochial school, either, so who knows? Given the fact that he is now infallible, i suspect there would be no way to remove him. If you allowed that, then the flood gates on infallibility would be open, i think.

deb

madrano wrote: "As for Iraq & the thinking regarding the WMD, i wasn't aware there were those still thinking that was not erroneous..."

I think there are probably thousands of people in the military and in the business of our national security who have thoughts about this which would not be in line with yours or mine. But....I do not even pretend to understand all of the ins and outs of foreign policy, war decisions, etc. I know that people far more informed (insiders) than us made decisions that I may or may not agree with. Who am I to say whether they were right or wrong? That would be so presumptuous of me because there is so much that I (and the public at large) have no idea about. And never will. We have a gut reaction to this stuff and really know almost nothing.

I remember someone saying that on 9-11 a box cutter was a WMD. Can't argue with that.

My main thinking in asking about a book was that i don't want to read memoirs or an autobiography by either man. I need someone who can objectively look at it all, pros & cons.

Deb, I presume you know that the Pope is only infallible when he speaks ex cathedra on faith or morals. He has done so in the last fifty-plus years, and nothing the present Pope has said or done is held out to be infallible by anyone..

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "

I was wondering about the rules. Must he resign or can he be removed ?"

hmmm.....interesting question. Not sure how accurate this is:

"
=-----------------------------

Thanks for the link, JoAnn. That also clears up another thing I had wrong. I thought the pope was only infallible regarding matters of the faith.

Schmerguls wrote: "Deb, I presume you know that the Pope is only infallible when he speaks ex cathedra on faith or morals. He has done so in the last fifty-plus years, and nothing the present Pope has said or done i..."

You are correct, i am aware of that. This is another reason i feel the present situation will not lead Catholics to feel there should be a way to "impeach", for lack of a better word, this Pope. However, i do think that that non-Catholics are not as discriminating about ex cathedra and only know about the infallibility from vague discussions, such as what has been presented lately. And in that context, i think the questioning about a Pope's infallible statements will continue to be an issue.

It's not about the believers in this case (as with most religions problems when seen by outsiders) but about the perception. Iirc, this was one problem when world citizens learned about actions & inactions during the Nazi rise by the men who would later become pope. Explaining the differences is a burden for many Catholics, as it's a matter of faith & what one grew up believing, not really questioning &/or understanding the exact meaning.

deborah

hi
this is the first time I've replied to a post on this site, you seem so nice I couldn't resist replying. I'm from Romford, not far from London. After re-reading Alec Guinness's diaries, he recommends reading novels by John Updike, could you recommend one?

Welcome, Alison !

I can't help you with Updike, as I've never read him. I think his "Rabbit" novels are his most famous. I'm sure others here will be able to help you.

madrano wrote: "My main thinking in asking about a book was that i don't want to read memoirs or an autobiography by either man. I need someone who can objectively look at it all, pros & cons."

I wonder if there is any author in the world who really looks at history objectively. Every author seems to have an "agenda". The only one I might trust is Doris Kearns Goodwin. She does not seem to have an ax to grind.

JoAnn, while i'm inclined to agree with you, i have read many by historians writing about pre-20th century who appear to have no bias (see below). As for living historians, i think you are probably right. While i enjoyed McCullough's John Adams i remember thinking a couple of times that he seemed to be slanting things a bit too far. Perhaps that's typical of biographies & i'm just not as aware of it as i should be.

And then there are the times when it appears to me that an author/historian is refuting some issue made within academic circles, which are beyond my knowledge. Sometimes i can ferret out the issues & realize the book has a slant that i might not otherwise have noticed.

deborah

Alison, welcome! I agree with Alias. I haven't read an Updike (John Updike) novel but if the notion struck me, i'd start with Rabbit, Run

deborah

I picked up the pace a little for March and read three books:
1. Maccomber, Debbie—One Simple Act—Discovering the Power of Generosity. Finished 3/9/10. Rating 8; non-fiction. The author discusses the benefits of generosity to the giver as well as the recipient giving ideas for generosity all from a Christian perspective. She suggests keeping several journals (gratitude, encouragement, prayer, Bible verses). I started a gratitude journal after reading about it in this book. At first, I added the suggested daily five, but it is already a hit and miss recording.
2. Wexler, Jay—Holy Hullabaloos—A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars. Finished 3/17/10. Rating 7; non-fiction. Wexler visited the sites where several major Supreme Court decisions originated. (When my dental assistant asked about the book, she commented that she didn’t think that sounded like much of a vacation.) I was especially interested in the trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin where the Wisconsin v. Yoder case originated (case ruled against compulsory education for the Amish after 8th grade) since my family had visited there in September 2004. Wexler’s tone is irreverent (he’s an atheist with a Jewish background), but does give a lot of background info on the cases and of religious freedom.
3. Pearlman, Ann—The Christmas Cookie Club. Finished 3/21/10. Rating 8; fiction. Annual Christmas cookie club told through narrator and annual hostess “cookie bitch� Marnie tells the lives of each of the twelve members. It also shares a recipe (I’ve copied three of the recipes—Pecan Butter Balls, Double-Dipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, and Peanut Clusters—that I plan to try) for each of the members who tell during the party what’s going on in her life and why the cookie was chosen. Each member brings 12 dozen cookies that cannot be on a paper plate, but in a special container for each member. Each member receives a dozen of the cookies with one dozen of each going to hospice. Each of the 12 chapters concludes with information about one of the ingredients in the recipe. The ones about vanilla and ginger were especially interesting since my sister gave my daughter some of the discussed Madagascar vanilla for her birthday and she recently gave me some crystallized ginger. The author belongs to a Christmas cookie club so used the idea for her story and based some of the people on members of her club. The cookie exchange reminded me of the time when my son went to a cookie exchange at church. He came home with the chocolate chip cookies I’d sent with him. He said that he realized that they were going to trade cookies and he thought that was stupid since he knew he already had the best cookies so he just brought them home.

Shirley

Shirley, what a cute story about your son's cookie exchange experience! I've heard of Cookie Clubs but baking 12 dozen cookies seems like more work than baking a few different batches, so i never joined. Still, i like the idea of The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman & am going to track it down.

As for the second on your list, what a concept. Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars by Jay Wexler. While i'm more inclined to agree with the dental assistant, i find the idea neat. So many of those cases are old, that we may not realize they ever went to court. Years back i read a book called The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State which mentioned that when the postal service stopped delivering on Sundays there was quite a hullabaloo on both sides. It never dawned on me that postal delivery ever was on Sunday in the first place!

ANYway, thanks for sharing the titles.

deborah

I dislike Updike so I am not one to advise what by him you should read but here is my take on the Rabbit books (Spoilers may be in some comments):

2384 Rabbit, Run by John Updike (read 14 May 1991) Since a second Rabbit book has won the Pulitzer prize for fiction I decided I should read all four Rabbit novels. The first one (this one) was published in 1960. It is just as awful as I expected. The clinical sex is profuse, even though it was written as long ago as 1960. Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is an ex-high-school-basketball player who is so dumb and obnoxious one wishes he would die. He runs away from his wife, shacks up with a whore, returns to his wife, leaves her again, she accidentally does an awful thing, and he runs away again at the cemetery, back to his pregnant whore, and then at the end is running away again. Ugh.

2385 Rabbit Redux, by John Updike (read 21 May 1991) This is the account of Rabbit in 1969. It is the most awful, obscene, boring nauseating book that there could possibly be. His wife leaves him and he takes up with Jill, an 18-year-old moron, and Skeeter, a filthy black Vietnam veteran. The language of the book is a total affront and the characters are inconceivable and impossible. The blurbs for the book, on the dust jacket, are outlandish--e.g., "it is the best thing around"--no one could possibly believe this. It "will probably change your life"--only a feeble-minded moron could be changed by the swill this book is. It has been a terrible chore to read this awful book. I shudder to think I have two more of this filthy series yet to read. I will be glad when this reading project is done.

2386 Rabbit Is Rich, by John Updike (read 27 May 1991) (Pulitzer Fiction prize in 1982) (National Book Award fiction prize in 1982) (National Book Critics Circle fiction award for 1981) Even though I have read nearly all the Pulitzer prize fiction winners, I avoided reading this one because I dreaded reading the filth Updike spews out. I have now read it, and my foreboding was right. It is full of ickiness and is so repulsive and the hero is such a pot that I cannot see how anyone in his right mind could say it is a worthwhile book. Rabbit is running his mother-in-law's Toyota agency and is finally well-off. His son Nelson is worthless and disgusting and hates his father. When Nelson's wife has his baby he runs off to Kent State to finish college, and Rabbit and Janice come back from a Caribbean vacation--the account of which reaches a new low in disgustingness--and at the end Rabbit is sitting watching the 1980 Super Bowl with his granddaughter in his arms. Now I'll have to read the last Rabbit novel and then I'll never read another word by Updike again as long as I live. [However, I did later read something more by him, but it was not as nauseating as the Rabbit books.:]
2390 Rabbit at Rest, by John Updike (read 22 Jun 1991) (Pulitzer Fiction prize in 1991) (National Book Critics Circle fiction award for 1990) This is the fourth and final of Updike's Rabbit novels. This book is just as bad as the other Rabbit novels. I can't conceive of people like he purports to depict talking as they do in front of little children. Rabbit's son in this book--which takes place in 1989 and 1990--is into drugs, goes thru rehab, and Rabbit spends time in Florida, where a lot of the book takes place, including Rabbit's apparent death at the end. I despise Rabbit and all related to him, bur there is no doubt Updike can write--I only wish he would not feel it necessary to offend anyone with any sensitivity about sex. The Toyota dealership is lost because of Nelson's drugs and Janice is becoming a realtor at the end.

Just my reactions after finihing each book. The language is flamborant and I suppose excessive, but I was just talking to myself.

Schmerguls, I was reading this weekends NY Times Book Review and I thought of you when I read the review of this book. I think it may appeal to you. The Times gave it a two page review. It's an expensive and illustrated book. It looks like it is a beautiful book as well as informative. It might even make a nice gift. Amazon has it 40% off.

CHRISTIANITY- The First Three Thousand Years

By Diarmaid MacCulloch

Illustrated. 1,161 pp. Viking. $45

NY Times Book Review article


Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch

Amazon Link:

From Publishers Weekly
Where does Christianity begin? In Athens, Jerusalem, or Rome? How did the early creeds of the church develop and differentiate? What was the impact of the Reformation and the Catholic Counterreformation? How have vital Christian communities emerged in Asia, Africa, and India since the 18th century? Award-winning historian MacCulloch (The Reformation) attempts to answer these questions and many more in this elegantly written, magisterial history of Christianity. MacCulloch diligently traces the origins and development of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianities, and he provides a more in-depth look at the development of Christianity in Asia and Africa than standard histories of Christianity. He offers sketches of Christian thinkers from Augustine and Luther to Desmond Tutu and Patriarch Bartholomew I. Three appendixes contain a list of popes, Orthodox patriarchs, and a collection of Christian texts. Assuming no previous knowledge on the part of readers about Christian traditions, MacCulloch traces in breathtaking detail the often contentious arguments within Christianity for the past 3,000 years. His monumental achievement will not soon be surpassed

x-posted at M/T Reading Friends

Hi everyone,

Between work and basketball (downtown Indy is hopping) I did not get a whole lot of actual reading on the page done. Thank goodness for audios.

Top Read


Ceremony
Robert B. Parker
Classic Parker. Spencer is back in Boston with Susan (who has yet to become annoying) and Hawk doing what he does best. The previous book in the series (A Savage Place) was my least favorite but this one was among the best. Listened to the audio version read by the competent if slightly boring Michael Prichard

Good Reads


The Eyre Affair
Jasper Fforde
The author certainly has quite the imagination. A bit to long (and some of the jokes were driven into the ground) but pretty entertaining and the audio reader Susan Duerden was very good.


The Ghost: A Novel
Robert Harris
Now a major motion picture. Not quite as good as the other books by the author that I've read but a pretty good modern conspiracy tale. The narration was really good though, by a new to me narrator Roger Rees.


All My Enemies
Barry Maitland
Solid English police procedural.


Reaper Man
Terry Pratchett
The Discworld is thrown into chaos when DEATH is made to go on a leave of absence. Audio read by Nigel Planer.


Our Hearts Were Young and Gay
Cornelia Otis Skinner
A Readers & Reading recommendation. Two young women travel to Europe sometime after World War 1. Bunny called this a Happy Book and I agree. Listened to the audio version read by Celeste Lawson.

OK Reads


Rogue Male
Geoffrey Household
Heard about this book at Bouchercon. Thriller author David Morrell touted it the Thrillers: 100 must reads panel. Did not really do much for me though. Not a lot a character development. Pretty much just straight action.


Death Without Tenure: A Karen Pelletier Mystery
Joanne Dobson
A bit of a disappointment. I really enjoyed the previous books in this academic mystery series. The author seemingly wanted to take on social networking, the stress of tenure, the drawbacks of being a Muslim at a small college, and identity politics but forgot to weave it all together into a compelling mystery plot. I do really like the characters though and hope that the author continues with the series.

Thanks, Alias Reader. I read John W. O'Malley's review of MacCulloch's book in this week's issue of America. He (O'Malley) ends up saying: "In my opinion one of the greatest problems in Catholicism today is its breadth and diverstiy which results in a dangerously truncated view of what it means to be a 'faithful' Catholic. "Christianity" is an excellent antidote for that scourge. Thank you, Dr. MacCullogh!"

1184 pages is a lot, especially since I think there'd be a lot of things in the book I might not agree with since the author is himself not a Christian any more.

Schmurguls: 1184 pages is a lot

------------

The book is also illustrated. So I am not sure how much is text. The $45 price tag made me think the book would be made on a high quality paper and quite a few color photos. The color photo in the Book Review led me to believe that some are photos of famous paintings. But I am not sure. If I see the book in stores, I'll let you know.

Did anyone see the report on canonizing saints this morning on CBS Sunday Morning? The previous pope, John Paul II created well over 400 saints - a shocking number to me. Apparently he was trying to achieve diversity!!!! Therefore, many of those made saints were women, Asians, and Africans.

Somehow, I do not think diversity should even enter into this process.

JoAnn, are you suggesting this is a political move? It does to me. Pope Paul VI who "demoted" some saints, meaning their names were removed from the official Church calendar. At the time i was still Catholic & the priests explained to us that this was to "make way" for different/new saints to become part of the calendar (days to honor saints). There are still qualifying events for which those whose sainthood is considered must meet, such as a certain number of miracles attributed to that person (i think it's 3 & i also believe that's one of the last steps).

My point is that it's been a slow process. As the Church spreads to Asia & Africa, it doesn't surprise me that this is happening. The same thing happened a few decades ago with American saints, which is how "Mother Seton" became St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Mexican Juan Diego (miracle of the roses/Our Lady of Guadalupe) became St. Juan Diego.

In fairness, i'm still not sure i would call it diversity. It's seems an effort to prove sainthood more inclusive. How many centuries was the Catholic Church all about Europe? Imo, it's past time for them to anoint and acclaim more non-Europeans saints.

Can you tell i'm of mixed emotions about it? It probably is a political decision--go with your new base--but it is also one i feel is too slow in coming.

deborah

madrano wrote: "JoAnn, are you suggesting this is a political move?..."

yep, and that is what the expert on canonization this morning seemed to be saying. She used the word "diversity". It seems like religious affirmative action to me. I am a firm believer in making it on one's own merits, not because of any attempt at diversity.

I think the Catholic Church just changes the rules to go with the flow, and to me, that smacks of pandering.

Dear Alias Reader:
Thanks you for posting that article from The NY Times Book Review on the start of the Christian Church. I was going to bring in the hard copy to my rector and c-rector on Thursday when I take a bible class with the co-rector. You allowed me to get this to them sooner! I like fellow Episcopalian,Jon Meacham. I see him on talk shows sometimes and he is the voice of polite sanity...something that is really needed out there today!

You're quite welcome, R. :)

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: " I think the Catholic Church just changes the rules to go with the flow, and to me, that smacks of pandering...."

In some ways this isn't new to the Church. Many of the holiday rites & ceremonies practiced by them derive from adopting pagan rituals so the "new religion" would be somewhat familiar to the converts. It's a clever ploy & worked on some levels.

Then there are the Irish (& who knows how many others?) who miniaturized their deities, creating leprechauns. So, they had both old & new religious ideas & could abide by both.

deborah

yep, and pandering is pandering. Just because the church has done it for a long time does not make it right...nor do I have to approve. Not that the church asked me for my opinion. LOL

Ditto!

If this many priests all over the world had been stealing from the till a swift justice would have been dealt.


The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa compared criticisms of the pope to anti-Semitism.
ALESSANDRA TARANTINO/ Associated Press
The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa compared criticisms of the pope to anti-Semitism.
READER FEEDBACK
Post a comment
Posted on Tue, Apr. 6, 2010


Commentary
Anti-Catholic bias irrelevant to scandal
The faith suffered bigotry, but it isn't the issue now.

By Jonathan Zimmerman

In 2005, a Philadelphia grand jury concluded that at least 63 priests in the city's archdiocese had sexually abused hundreds of children. The victims included an 11-year-old girl raped by her priest, who later took her to get an abortion; a fifth grader molested inside a confessional booth; and a 12-year-old boy who was told that his mother had consented to a priest's abuse of him.

But to the archdiocese, it was the victim. In a scathing 70-page response, officials called the grand jury report "a vile, mean-spirited diatribe" that was comparable to the "rampant Know-Nothingisms of the 1840s."

I thought of this exchange as I read about the church's reaction to the latest allegations of sexual abuse by priests. On Good Friday, a Vatican priest compared the accusations against the church to anti-Semitism. A few days before that, after newspapers suggested Pope Benedict XVI had known about a pedophile priest who was allowed to remain in the ministry, one of Benedict's advisers bemoaned a "conspiracy" against the church.

Closer to home, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan told a Palm Sunday service that Benedict was the victim of "inaccuracy, bias, and hyperbole." Indeed, Dolan maintained, the pope is "suffering from the same unjust accusation and shouts of the mob as Jesus did."

If all of this sounds like a bit much, that's because it is. As the church's defenders note, America has a long, hideous history of anti-Catholic bigotry. But whereas earlier attacks on Catholics were based on fantasy, the abuse scandal is altogether real. By ignoring the difference, church apologists end up diminishing the real discrimination that Catholics suffered in the past.

Start with our pilgrim forefathers, who barred priests from the Massachusetts colony and required officeholders to take an oath denouncing the pope. Even the New England Primer, the era's most popular schoolbook, trafficked in anti-papal diatribes, introducing the letter A with the phrase, "Abhor that abhorrent Whore of Rome."

To the author of the Declaration of Independence, meanwhile, Catholics represented a profound threat to the fledgling American republic. "History furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government," Thomas Jefferson wrote. "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty."

Anti-Catholicism reached a zenith during the so-called nunnery riots of the 1830s, when rumors spread that priests were raping nuns. Unlike today's accusations of child abuse, these charges were almost entirely false. But many believed them, and Protestant mobs set fire to several convents across the country.

Then came the era of "Know-Nothingism," as the Philadelphia Archdiocese called it, in the 1840s and '50s. The Know-Nothings, who organized as a political party, demanded "the exclusion of all foreigners, and Roman Catholics in particular." The party won 75 congressional seats in 1854, and it controlled several statehouses before it disintegrated in the late 1850s.

Anti-Catholic sentiment would flare up again after the Civil War. In one of his best-known cartoons, "The American River Ganges" (1871), Thomas Nast depicted Catholic bishops as crocodiles menacing America's most sacred institution: the public schools. Forty years later, the Georgia segregationist Tom Watson condemned priests - alongside blacks - as mortal threats to the body politic.

"Remember that the priest is often a powerfully sexed man, who lives on rich food, drinks red wine, and does no manual labor," Watson wrote, echoing the rhetoric of the nunnery riots. "He is alone with a beautiful, well-shaped young woman who tells him that she is tormented by carnal desire. She will never tell what he says or does."

Accusations of sexual abuse and corruption also marked the anti-Catholic attacks of the Ku Klux Klan, which peaked in the 1920s. There were whispers of similar ideas right into the 1960s, when John F. Kennedy had to make a speech denying that he would take orders from the pope if elected.

So do the contemporary sexual abuse charges reflect this long and ignoble anti-Catholic tradition? Hardly. First of all, nobody seriously disputes the charges themselves. Across the country, hundreds of priests have molested and raped thousands of children. That's not fantasy; it's fact.

Second, the most vehement critics of the abuse - and of the church's inadequate response to it - have often been Catholics. In a Temple University survey after the 2005 grand jury report in Philadelphia, 40 percent of Catholics described themselves as "very dissatisfied" with the way the archdiocese handled the issue. An even greater share of Catholics - 77 percent - said bishops or cardinals should be removed from office if they knowingly reassigned abusive priests without notifying the police.

I agree with that. And saying so doesn't make me anti-Catholic - any more than criticizing the president makes me anti-American. Shame on the pope and his apologists for invoking a sordid history to escape their own responsibility

R. wrote: "If this many priests all over the world had been stealing from the till a swift justice would have been dealt.."


AMEN ----> in the most secular sense of the word

Thank you, R. for the article. I feel it made excellent points. A few years ago (within the last 10 years) i heard an elderly Catholic woman blame the sexually abused victims for the problems in the Catholic church. She felt they should have come forward at the time, otherwise, keep quiet. I'm sure it was just "coincidental" that her church was being sold (this was in Boston), ostensibly to pay the victims court-ordered money. How's that for playing victim?

deborah

The diocese in which I live declared bankruptcy!!!

I see from the bottom of the article that there are several cities whose diocese took that action.

deborah

madrano wrote: "I see from the bottom of the article that there are several cities whose diocese took that action.

deborah"

yep, and that article is months' old.

Schmerguls, since you read a lot of history, I would guess you've read a lot of the works by Stephen Ambrose. If so, I think you will find the April 26th issue of The New Yorker article quite interesting, if not shocking. It's about Stephen Ambrose and his apparent fabrication of "interviews" that he cited in his books with Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Here is a link to the article.

Well, that's a shame, as it calls into question everything he wrote about Eisenhower. I don't think many of us realize how detailed later president's calendars are. DH found out in an online search that his grandfather met with Truman. Apparently no one in the family bothered mentioning it until DH asked. The info was on a website which published details of HST's Presidential calendar.

Ambrose's story should stand as a warning to would-be historians who want to lay claims to precious times with Presidents. I've only read one Ambrose book, Undaunted Courage, which i really liked. This info doesn't change my feeling about that book. However, if i'd read his Ike bio, i might feel differently.

It appears that people are questioning contents of what Ambrose later said Eisenhower said about issues, too. This muddies the water for future historians as well, which is a real pity.

deborah