Book Bingo Challenge 1: Read a Book Based on a True Story

As I mentioned in my Reading Bingo post, I am amused by the idea of using a random factor to push me out of well-worn reading habits.

I'm going to go for blacking out the entire Book Bingo board (now hanging on my fridge).

The first opportunity arose this weekend when I finished my fiction and was looking around desultorily for something else. And then I remembered. Book Bingo to the rescue!

1. A Book Based on a True Story —

What? No! I hate that sort of book!

The random factor is not so beautiful when it is pushing me out of my comfort zone, is it? Dash it all!

I looked through my "to read" list and actually found a candidate: Rabble In Arms by Kenneth Roberts. It is historical fiction about the Revolutionary War and although I love Roberts' books I haven't read this one.

Rabble in Arms was hailed by one critic as the greatest historical novel written about America upon its publication in 1933. Love, treachery, ambition, and idealism motivate an unforgettable cast of characters in a magnificent novel renowned not only for the beauty and horror of its story but also for its historical accuracy.

Roberts is second only to Samuel Shellabarger in my opinion. Both pack so much accurate history into their books it is surprising. And both tell compelling stories so that the history slips down like "a spoonful of sugar." Shellabarger's fictional style is more graceful than Roberts and Roberts stuck strictly to American history while Shellabarger roamed Europe (and Mexico in one book).

I also realized that Charles Dickens wrote one book of historical fiction, Barnaby Rudge, about the Gordon Riots (whatever they were).  Love Dickens and am very slowly working through his novels. I have an as yet unchosen Dickens novel on my 2014 challenge list also.

In the end, though, I'm going with Rabble In Arms. It's been far too long since I read any Kenneth Roberts. Luckily the library has 3 copies so one should be here soon.

 — Rabble In Arms

2. A Best Seller —

WHAT?

NOOOOOOO!

Maybe the real challenge is for me not to react that way every time a square pushes me out of my comfort zone. Which is two for two now, I'll just add.

If there is something I loathe it is a Bestseller List. I so rarely see anything on there that I'm interested in. Although I see that, had I begun this challenge a mere month earlier, I'd have been able to sweep up two entries ... The Rosie Project and The Martian. The Rosie Project was force on me by mother (who did know best) and The Martian was being mentioned everywhere I turned at the time my most recent Audible credit popped up, so I listened.

I was tempted to cheat. Hey, Great Expectations is a best seller, right? One for the ages. But that's cheating. I knew what they meant. After three times through the New York Times Bestseller List (fiction, nonfiction, hardcover), finding a few candidates ... I ran into another problem.

I am unwilling to spend hard cash on this challenge. The library has ridiculous numbers of people ahead of me for the few books I was interested in reading [such as David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (94)].

Finally, I saw something that had escaped me ... a picture book! And one with only 2 people ahead of me in the hold line.

Plus there's a blog which I can begin reading now. Because like The Rosie Project and The Martian, this looks like a bestseller I can enjoy.

— Humans of New York it is!

3. A Published This Year —

Well, well, well, Book Bingo Challenge. We meet again.

And this time you will not make me look to the Heavens, howling, "Noooooooo!"

Because I just began a book that's not even coming out until next month. Yeah, you heard me. Next month.

Is that "This Year" enough for ya?

Book Bingo Challenge, meet Jesus: A Pilgrimage by James Martin S.J.

Which I'm enjoying very much, by the way. Very much indeed.

4. A Book With a Mystery —

Now this is an easy one. I'd finished an audio book and was wanting to get back to my favorite back-up audio, something featuring Sherlock Holmes read by Derek Jacobi.

In this case, the audiobook I turned to is the last collection of Holmes short stories: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes.

Nothing could be more splendid than the way Jacobi characterizes Holmes, lightly and with a touch of playfulness ... almost like a seriously minded Bertie Wooster. It lightens up the Holmes-Watson relationship quite a bit and makes these a sheer delight. I'm on the third or fourth story and they do seem to be more of a mixed bag than the usual lot, but Jacobi's narration makes me simply enjoy the ride no matter where it takes us.

5. A Book That Is More Than 10 Years Old —

Rumpole on Trial by John Mortimer


The bingo challenge gave me another that is familiar ground.

However, I let the decision wait for a few day. Then rearranging and cleaning out books I came across my collection of Rumpole books. I hadn't picked them up for some time, being familiar with the solutions to most of the mysteries.

When dipping into them I remembered the other reason for reading these delightful short stories. John Mortimer's style and Rumpole's personality are so engaging that it really doesn't matter if one knows the solution. These stories transport you to a different time with a rumpled knight in shining armor who just wants to get on with doing the one thing he may be able to control ... his job in getting various villains (and sometimes an innocent person) off of their legal charges.

What a joy it was to pick up this book at bedtime and dip into it before dropping off to sleep.

Sochi Olympics

After missing the London Olympics opening ceremonies somehow (talk about careless), we weren't going to miss seeing the Russian ceremonies. Talk about impressive, we were blown away. Yes the looks at Russian history were highly idealized but this is their moment in the sun.

My favorite moment might have been the black and white Peter the Great sailing ship. I have to say, though, that I also really loved the highly stylized industrial revolution with the look taken from Soviet-era posters. We both thought it fascinating that you never saw an image of Stalin or Lenin, which surely would have been at the forefront in Soviet days.

My favorite people-person moment was the almost tender look that Vladislav Tretyak gave Irina Rodnina right before they lit the torch together. Somehow to me it spoke of how far they'd come, of what they'd been through as athletes from their time in Russian history.

Every time they showed Putin, I thought of what President Obama had said in an interview right before-hand ... that he always looked bored in public, as if he had to put on a bad-guy persona. Mission accomplished. He looked as if he almost couldn't be bothered, as if Hollywood had cast him to play a very powerful gangster.

As always, Olympic uniforms are the funnybone of the countries, it seems to me. Most were so boring. Or sometimes confusing. Why were the Irish wearing what looked like military camouflage design?

Favorites included the Tonga delegation, which brought the cold-weather version of Hawaiian shirts.

The Russian women's uniforms were so beautiful that we couldn't figure out what happened to the men's boring ones. Two different designers perhaps?

I really loved the Kazahkstan flag bearer's uniform and wished they'd have riffed on that traditional look a bit more for the other uniforms, which were rather average looking. It's hard to see here but you can get the idea.

But no one ... no one ... matched the U.S. for sheer, down-home, ugliness. It looked as if they'd had two hundred grandmas sit down and knit up sweaters for everyone. Sweaters that you have to wear because ... you know ... grandma knitted it for you.

Can't wait to see how this is translated for the events. Talk about giving the designers a challenge.

The Upside of Only Taking Two Weeks Off in August. N'est Ce Pas?

This is great because it both pokes fun at ourselves as Americans and also says what we're all thinking deep down ... so it celebrates us as Americans.



The next times someone compares us to Europeans, watch this. I might be watching it once a week. Yeah. I get a lot of those sorts of comments.

In which we meet lose everything, bid farewell to love, and make a sacred vow to reach for the stars.

The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard begins at Forgotten Classics podcast. Enjoy!

Reading Bingo

I have buddies who do various reading challenges like reading a book from every country in the world, etc. I've never been interested since I always have more books to read than I know what to do with, many of them challenging in themselves.

But this is the sort of random book challenge I can get behind. Evidently the key to me is ... surprise. (I was going to say randomness, but let's relabel that "surprise." So much more positive.)

I'm printing these out to think about. (I'll print two of each so I can cut up the squares and draw them from a hat ... I'm talkin' about real, don't-choose-your-own-square bingo ... otherwise what kind of challenge is it?)

I'd have to start fresh. I could cross out a lot of these squares just from my past two months' worth of reading.

These are Random House's idea (see link above). Brilliant.

The Ultimate Trust Test

Everyone likes to talk about that test where someone stands behind you and then you let yourself fall back into their arms.

Will they catch you? Many a funny television bit has been based on this little test.

I've got a better one.

Say that your loved one, with his eagle ears trained by a lifetime in Texas, discerns that there could be a cockroach coming out of the air-vent that is right over your head when you are sleeping.

(Yes, this is partly a horror story. Those are the best tests of trust.)

He could only tell this by flipping the light on and off repeatedly looking for intruders as you were trying to sleep.

In brave, manly fashion, he does not reveal this until you irritatedly ask him what's going on, because he is so focused on your safety that he is straining every sense for danger. No time to talk. Must listen.

Once the danger is revealed and you have moved in one second flat across the room, wrapped in a blanket, he can act.

Cautiously, carefully, he sprays inside the vent with roach spray, springing back in readiness, the better to battle the danger. Together, you wait.

Nothing happens.

Cautiously, warning you to listen for possible encroachment, you both return to bed.

Five minutes later, when you have shrieked, "I hear it!" and bolted across the room in a blanket, your hero turns on the lights to see, emerging from the darkness, a gigantic cockroach.

Your head would have been right under it!

The danger. The horror.

"Ugh" cannot express it, but it will have to do for now.

He battles the foe in practiced style. The hounds leap about, seeking their share of the prey.

Safety plans are discussed. Sleeping on the couch. Sleeping in the guest room. All unsatisfactory. The ultimate plan, moving the bed across the room where there is no vent, is long-term and awaits the coming dawn. (Platform beds put the strongest hero's muscles to shame in the middle of the night.)

A hasty but reliable battle plan is developed. Tape the vent with packing tape.

You begin to wish that your favorite movie was not Aliens and this incident were not so reminiscent of the many plans to hold back the vile forms lurking in the darkness. The horror has taken hold in your soul. A cockroach could drop on your head while you are asleep.

Once again, less composed than usual for sleep, lights out, there is a rustle above. Your hero has heard it too and tells you that the heater is bound to cause some expansion of tape, but it is tight. No need to worry, he tells you, it's ok.

So, here it is. The moment of trust. One which you will relive throughout the night as you awake repeatedly, hearing a slight rustle overhead.

"It's the heater," you will think. "Or has something slipped through the perimeter?"

And then, it comes down to the final thought. "Do I trust what my hero did for my safety?"

Yes. Yes you do.

And you fall asleep again. Without turning on the lights to double-check his work. Without elbowing him awake to ask again if he taped it really tight.

You sleep. In safety. In trust.

What We've Been Watching: Pirates, Windmills, Stupid Celebrities, and Coffee Drinking Celebrities

COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE - Season 3

(Season Trailer)

I've talked about this before, right? Short episodes follow Jerry Seinfeld picking up a fellow comedian to go get coffee with him. Each time, Jerry, a car enthusiast, has carefully matched the car he's driving to the person he's picking up. I'm no car nut, but I love seeing all these cars and hearing his descriptions. A more mixed bag are the comedians, many of whom are wonderful to listen to in regular conversation about anything and everything. Some are more boring. But that's people for you and often it is simply interesting to see two comedians talking about their profession. 

We just remembered season 3 had begun and are enjoying working our way through the episodes. Available free on Crackle or YouTube. If you watch on Crackle you'll also see ads for the Accura, the show's sponsor. These are also often quite funny and we enjoy them a lot.

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013) ★★★★★

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

I watched this as part of my movie group's Oscar Series, based on what we can pick up on dvd before this year's Academy Awards. I'm glad this was out in time because I'd probably have avoided it for a long time, knowing I'd probably be anxious watching.

What an intense film. I didn't expect it to have such an intriguing cat and mouse game between the pirates and the crew. I also didn't expect to get so caught up in the the tactics taken by the tiny pirate boat to gain access, nor to the ways the ship tried to shake off the pursuer. It reminded me of a wolf stalking a buffalo.

The last 10 minutes of the movie were amazing. Simply amazing.

Don't miss this. Just be sure to remember to breathe.

LOST IN LA MANCHA ★★★½

This 2000 documentary shows Terry Gilliam's attempt to film an adaptation of the Don Quixote story, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Back injuries, extreme weather, delicately balanced schedules, and much more combine to kill the movie. The documentary was meant to record the film being made but when it was abandoned it was retitled Lost in La Mancha and released independently.

I have heard of this for years and finally ran a copy to ground. It is truly staggering thinking of the incredible run of bad luck that Terry Gilliam ran into trying to get this film made. It was also fascinating watching the logistics of moviemaking of any sort. Both gave us a lot to talk about in the day after we watched.

THIS IS THE END (2013) ★★

While attending a party at James Franco's house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse.

Short version: Cheech and Chong 2013. Shaun of the Dead this ain't.

Longer version: I felt as if I were watching "Be Kind, Rewind" where a group of stoners made their home movie about the apocalypse and then had enough pull to get distribution. Parts of it were funny but it would have greatly benefited from an editor who went in and removed a lot of the sloppy, self-indulgence.

Most interesting were the last 20 minutes or so when they finally returned again to telling a story. From the point where everyone is suddenly convinced it is the apocalypse, the end of days, the movie takes an unexpected turn and focus. That isn't enough to save the movie or make me want to ever see it again but it was enough to raise it slightly above other similar lewd, crude movies.

"Keep it together. Work the problem." Reviewing The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m pretty much f**ked.

That’s my considered opinion.

F**ked.

Six days into what should be the greatest two months of my life, and it’s turned into a nightmare. I don’t even know who’ll read this. I guess someone will find it eventually. Maybe 100 years from now. For the record… I didn’t die on Sol 6. Certainly the rest of the crew thought I did, and I can’t blame them. Maybe there’ll be a day of national mourning for me, and my Wikipedia page will say “Mark Watney is the only human being to have died on Mars.” And it’ll be right, probably. Cause I’ll surely die here. Just not on Sol 6 when everyone thinks I did. Let’s see…where do I begin?

Astronaut Mark Watney is marooned on Mars after a freak dust storm literally blows him away from his crewmates. Thinking he's dead, the mission is scrubbed and the rest of the crew head back to Earth. Mark hopes to survive until the next NASA mission to Mars in four years.

Most of The Martian consists of Mark's log entries which read like a MacGyver episode. He keeps as lighthearted a mood as possible while recording the details of how he is attempting to grow food, find water, and so forth. It is this lighthearted element which helps keep this from being merely a manual of "how to survive on Mars." For example, Mark's selection of entertainment from among the things left behind by his crewmates yields the complete series for Three's Company. His occasional comments on the series afterwards made me laugh out loud.

Fairly early in the book, NASA's side of the story begins being interwoven with Mark's struggle for survival. Since Apollo 13 is one of my favorite movies, the comparison is inevitable and irresistible. NASA must juggle PR, competing agencies, rescue plans and more ... while we see Mark doggedly surmount one obstacle after another. It is a welcome element because an entire book of Mark's survival log was going to need some sort of additional depth to make it interesting.

Although I always felt fairly sure that Mark would survive, as the end of the book loomed near I got increasingly tense. What if these were his "found posthumously" logs? The author kept the tension up to the very end.

And at the end? I'm not ashamed to admit it. I cried.

Tears of joy? Tears of sorrow? Read the book and find out.

Or listen to it as I did. Narrator R.C. Bray did a good job of conveying Mark's sense of humor and absorption in problem solving and survival. He also was good at the various accents of the international cast comprising the rest of the crew and NASA. He had a tendency to read straight storytelling as if it were a computer manual or something else that just needed a brisk run down.

The main thing a bit at fault was Bray's German accent, which I kept mistaking for a Mexican or Indian accent. Those don't seem as if they should be that interchangeable do they? My point exactly. However, I always knew who was speaking, I felt emotions as they came across, and it was a good enough narrating job. Not enough to make me look for other books in order to hear his narrations, but good enough.

This novel is not a short story and I felt it would have benefitted from more characterization. Yes, we get to know Mark Watney and, to a lesser degree, his crewmates and the NASA crew. However, to hear Mark's story for so many days (sols) and get to know so little about him during that time ... well, after a while it got a little boring, aside from the new problems to be solved or emergencies from which to recover.

We also got occasional forays into NASA and the spaceship crew, but more about Mark would have enriched the story. It didn't have to be soul-baring and I realize he was writing a log, but after several hundred days some personalization would have crept in, one would think.

Anyway, that is not a huge factor because I enjoyed the story. But I was not surprised to see that the author is a computer programmer and it did cost the book a star.

Notes on Mark: This is My Body. This is My Blood.

The Last Supper, by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, 19th century
Click through on the link to see it larger.

MARK 14:22, 24

22 "This is my body."

Not "This stands for my body" or "This is like my body" or "This means my body." The Lord does not utter these words in the context of a parable. Mark does not use the word "parable" to explain them or in any way indicate that they were a parable. The teller of a parable uses the word "is" only to explain the parable, not to present the parable itself. If anything, Jesus at the Last Supper provides the interpretation of the Cross understood as a parable, but it is an interpretation which gives an instance, not a sign. That is to say, the last supper is a participation prospectively in the sacrifice of the Cross, just as the Mass is today retrospectively. It's as if a child hears the president announce a tax cut and asks his father what that means. The father pulls out his wallet and, knowing that he will have extra money, gives the child five dollars and says, "This is what it means." He is showing the child the meaning by giving him an instance of it.

[...]

24 "This is my blood, of the covenant..."

Not "This represents my blood" or "This is like my blood." Jesus uses the same form of words in the consecration of both the bread and the wine, indicating that the form of words matters. Otherwise he would have altered the form to indicate that the meaning, not the form, was important.

The word "covenant" means literally a disposition of goods, a testament, as in "last will and testament." The Lord, who is about to die, is transferring certain goods to others as an inheritance.

The Memoirs of St. Peter

I've heard a lot of arguments designed to remove literal meaning from "This is my body. This is my blood." but never that it was told as a parable.

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

Notes on Mark: Judas' Motivation

Remorso de Judas (Remorse of Judas),
José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior

MARK 14:10-11

10-11 So Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, departed

People feel compelled to explain Judas' betrayal. Some think he intended to force Jesus' hand in establishing his earthly kingdom. Some think he was afraid that Jesus would provoke a Roman reprisal. Some thought that when Judas grasped that Jesus was claiming to be God, he thought he should be tested or punished with death. And others think that Judas, knowing that Jesus was aware of his sinfulness, was moved by guilt to eliminate him. But it is striking that Mark offers no theory at all of Judas' motivation, as if Peter regarded Judas' actions as evil because they had no reason.

The Memoirs of St. Peter by Mark Pakaluk

I actually don't care what the reason was. For one thing, worrying about someone's motivation in the ways mentioned above is relatively modern. The fact that other gospels show Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss is bad enough for me. How can someone betray their best friend? And maybe that's why Mark offers no theory. 

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

How to Open a Bottle of Wine Without a Corkscrew

Another good video via my sis on Facebook.



Now, I couldn't help noticing that one video was from Guinness and this one is for wine. Not that I'm judging, mind you, I liked them both. But it does help me confirm this is indeed my sis and not an imposter using her name.

In which all is revealed. Well, not "all" (get your minds out of the gutter) ...

...but everything we need to finish our "half-clad Martian warrior maids invading Earth" adventure at Forgotten Classics podcast. Enjoy!

I Rarely Watch Videos But I'm Glad I Watched This

Via my sis on Facebook.

Well Said: Gentlemen, I am a Catholic ...

From my quote journal.

Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking a rosary from his pocket] is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell these beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that He has spared me the indignity of being your representative.

Hilaire Belloc, 1906 speech in Salford

He won the election. I like his moxie.

Blue Rider

Wassily Kandinsky, 1903, Blue Rider
via WikiPaintings

WikiPaintings' commentary points out something I hadn't noticed:

The painting’s intentional abstractness had led many art theorists to project their own representations onto the figure, some seeing a child in the arms of the blue rider. Allowing viewers to participate in the representations of the art was a technique that Kandinsky would use to great fruition in his many later works, which became more and more abstract as his career wore on.

This puts me in mind of a large painting my parents had which was very abstract. I looked at it idly all through my youth, sometimes seeing the inside of a cave with stalactites, sometimes seeing a river and waterfall, occasionally wondering what the painter intended and what other people saw in the painting when they looked. I'm not sure but I think it might have been titled Mirage. Why I never asked anyone else in my family what they saw in the painting, I don't know. It was an internal meditation which I never felt needed airing.

In that spirit, is the rider going to something or away? Are the shadows an encroaching threat or receding in the face of the light? Obviously this is a painting which could reward the viewer with something new many times.

Mark Bible Study - Index

MARK

• Sources used
• The Author and Manuscript [Updated]
• Mark the Lion
• 1:1 - The Beginning of the Good News
• 1:4 - Word Study: Repentance
• 1:9-11 - The Baptism of Jesus
• 1:12-14 - Tempted in the Wilderness
• 1:16-20 - Choosing the Disciples
• 1:21-22 - The Synagogue
• 1:21-22 - The Law
• 1:21-22 - The Scribes
• 1:21-28 - Jesus' Assault on the Powers of Darkness
• 1:40-45 - Leprosy
• 2:1-12 - The Paralyzed Man and His Four Friends
• 2:7 - Forgiveness is Active
• 2:13-14 - Matthew the Tax Collector
• 2:23-28 - About the Sabbath
• 3:1-6 - Healing on the Sabbath
• 3:13-19 - Choosing the Twelve
• 3:28-30 - Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
• 4:1 - Broadcasting Seed Upon the Soil
• 4:1-20 - Plowing the Soil
• 4:10-12 - They See But Do Not Perceive
• 4:26-29 - Parable About the Seeds
• 4:30-32 - The Mustard Seed
• 4:35-41 - The Storm
• 5:1-20 - Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac
• 5:35-39 - Witnesses and Death Customs
• 5:40-43 - Hearing Jesus' Voice
• Chapter 6 - Unbelief and Power
• 6:1-3 - Degrees of Relationship
• 6:14-16 - John the Baptist's Self-Offering
• 6:16-29 - An Evil Woman's Revenge
• 6:35-44 - Feeding the Five Thousand
• 6:45-52 - Rowing Against the Wind
• 6:53-56 - Running to Jesus
• 7:14-23 - Real Defilement Comes From Within
• 7:14-23 - What Makes a Man Unclean
• 7:24-30 - Table Scraps
• 7:32-33 - The Deaf and Dumb Man
• 8:1-10 - Understanding the Second Miracle of Loaves
• 8:14-21 - Only One Loaf
• 8:22-26 -  Gradual Journeys
• 8:34-35 - The Cost of Discipleship
• 8:38-9:1 - When the King Comes Into His Own
• 9:2-8 - Transfiguration as Suspension of Miracle
• 9:2-8 - On the Mountaintop
• 9:2-8 - Radiant Glory and the Cloud
• 9:2-8 - Transfiguration and the Disciples
• 9:2-8 - Transfiguration and Jesus
• 9:14-29 - Foreshadowing the Resurrection
• 9:32-35 - True Ambition
• 9:38-40 - He Who Is Not Against Us Is For Us
• 9:41-42 - The Millstone
• 9:42-48 - Hell
• 9:49-10:1 - Salt, Salt, and More Salt
• 10:46-52 - Healing is a Sign of the New World
• 11:11-12 - Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
• 14:10-11 - Judas' Motivation
• 14:22, 24 - This is My Body. This is My Blood.

With Design This Good I Almost Don't Care About a Story: S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

S. by J.J. Abrams, Doug Dorst



I can't rate this book yet because I just got it home from the library and took a good look at it.

That "good look" took me 15 delighted minutes.

Why so long? Because this "1949" book, perfectly designed in the style of the time, has a correspondence going on in the sides of the pages, between two biblophiles who discuss the author and learn about each other by leaving notes in the library book.

Flipping carefully through to see a few of the postcards, newspaper articles, and photographs left in the pages of the book (as part of the reading experience, of course) made me even more excited.

Based on reviews, people either love the story or find it disappointing. All give full credit for the amazing book design. Obviously, I am so hoping I'm one of the people who loves the story because the layout and design are enough to make me give it 5 stars without reading more than the title page and two pages of the introduction.

It is so authentic looking that when I showed it to one of my favorite librarians (yes, I have favorite librarians. It happens when you visit your library at least once a week for years), she opened it, saw the library stamp and the "Book for Loan" stamp and said, "When was this written?" She looked it up on her database before believing it was new.

Now, if there is one thing I know about J.J. Abrams it is that he can be more style than substance. (Yes, Lost, I gave you three seasons of my life before quitting.)

If there is a second thing I know, it is that he can tell a helluva good story sometimes (Alias, Person of Interest, Almost Human, the Star Trek reboot). All while maintaining that nice, shiny style that is so alluring.

This book is going to take a while to read, as most reviewers have remarked. But I am already intrigued enough to make this a "slow read" commitment and work my way through it.

One thing is definite. This is a love letter to books, turning pages, writing notes, and tucking reminders between the leaves. You couldn't do this with a Kindle, folks. All the postcards would fall out every time you turned it on!

Here's a video that shows the inside of the book.

Notes on Mark: Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

MARK 11:11-26
The whole incident of the cursed fig tree has never really made sense to me, seeming quite out of character for Jesus. This sheds a little light at least in terms of examining that fig tree in my own life.

Jesus' cursing of the fig tree has always been a difficult text for Bible commentators, especially in view of Mark's comment that "it was not the season for figs." It seems odd that Jesus would curse the fig tree when it was not the time to bear fruit...

The barrenness condemned by Jesus can cause us problems as well. We are called to bear fruit; Jesus wants that fruit. If we are willing to be satisfied with legalistic observances, we will remain barren. We can never plead that it is not the proper season to bear fruit, that we have no time for prayer, no need for repentance, no reason for faith. We can argue that we go to church on Sunday, that people call us Christians, that we observe certain religious rituals. God, however, wants faith that bears fruit.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

Note: the link above goes to Word Among Us's book store. For some reason it gives a security certificate warning, but when I bravely went ahead, there I was ... where I could buy a book if I liked. Be not afraid!

Happy Feast Day, St. Francis De Sales!

Scott and I read this saint's classic book for everyday people, Introduction to the Devout Life. We discussed it a year ago on his feast day on our podcast. (Coincidence? I think now!)

Today Scott sent me a couple of beautiful quotes from his notes. Naturally, these are too good to keep to myself so I'm sharing them with you:

It is an error, nay more, a very heresy, to seek to banish the devout life from the soldier’s guardroom, the mechanic’s workshop, the prince’s court, or the domestic hearth.

+ + + + + + + + +

Day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry or windy; and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe. And even so precisely is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life.

Day of the Little Way ... St. Therese and Twitter

Here's an initiative which seems like a good way to use Twitter, which I admit I largely use just for links in case anyone there is interested in what I do here with many more than 140 characters at a time.

The Day of the Little Way will marry the ideas behind the New Evangelization and the life changing power of St. Therese’s little way. On Feb. 4, we’re inviting Catholics everywhere to share their faith through 140 little characters on Twitter by tweeting about the ways St. Therese has impacted your faith and life and by using the hastag #LittleWay.

Will you please consider joining us for the Day of the Little Way movement and help us demonstrate the enormous power of simple faith?

Check the link above for more info.

In which we track a semi-naked woman, dodge nefarious Russians, and make a surprising discovery.

Yes, the second part of Warrior Queen of Mars awaits your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics!

Today is a Day of Prayer and Penance in the United States

Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person…even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the ‘culture of waste’ suggests!

Pope Francis, Sept. 20, 2013

Today marks the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal throughout the U.S.

Since that decision, more than 55 million children's lives have been lost to abortion. That doesn't count those who suffer the loss after they are gone.

Hence the Church's establishment of today as a national day of penance for abortion.

“In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass 'For Peace and Justice' (no. 22 of the 'Masses for Various Needs') should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.”

– General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373

My prayers are with those marching in Washington D.C. today as a visible sign . Someday I would love to be able to attend that March.

Actually, someday I'd really love to not have to have a March because our hearts have all changed enough that we value life itself for the precious thing it is, without having to "be" or "do" anything special. Just for itself.

Until that day, we work and pray.

The Dallas March for Life was this weekend and we were heartened by the huge crowds and the media coverage. Once again I cast my mind back to the first March for Life we attended when the organizers were ecstatic because they'd doubled the usual number ... to 1,000. How ashamed we were at that moment that we'd never come before. We haven't missed a March since then and have been blessed to see God's goodness reflected in the thousands who now march for life. I think there must have been something like 8,000 people there.

Whoever handles the media has stepped up their game and was able to get all the local television stations' attention, except for CBS. Extra kudos to WFAA, channel 8, for being respectful enough to call us "pro-life" marchers instead of "anti-abortion" marchers, the way the other stations did. We had lovely weather, in the 60s, unlike most of the country where it is freezing today as they march for life.

Notes on Mark: Healing is a Sign of the New World

Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus,
by Johann Heinrich Stöver, 1861

MARK 10:46-52

46 Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus

50 Throwing his cloak to the side and getting on his feet, he went to Jesus.

Mark gives his name and patronymic because he joins the disciples (verse 52) and becomes known to the Christian community in this way. This is the story of how he became a disciple. There is also an implied contrast with the unnamed rich young man, who did not follow Our Lord. This blind beggar, who had nothing to add, did. ...

Here is another of Mark's memorable "picture details," showing that this beggar, unlike the rich young man, immediately leaves behind everything that he has. He leaves his cloak behind without thought.

The Memoirs of St. Peter by Mark Pakaluk

I never thought about how the above detail fits into the whole chapter. I always just took it as part of an isolated incident as Jesus headed toward Jerusalem. Once again, this shows how Mark is telling a more complex story than he is often given credit for.

On another front, I do tend to forget this, that the healing is not an end in itself but a sign of the new world and of the internal changes taking place within us.

The healing of Bartimaeus occurs, in the structure of Mark's Gospel, in the section recounting Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. The context is important to keep in mind. Bartimaeus' healing was the last reported incident prior to Jesus' entry into the city. There, he would suffer his passion, lay down his life and take it up again. There, he would complete his ministry on earth. Just before the final act of this drama, in which Jesus accomplished the mission set by his father, we have an account of a miracle. Like all of Jesus' miracles, it is a sign that the Messiah is present. It is a sign that God saves his people...

... Faith is a gift of God. It was Bartimaeus' faith that led him to cry out to Jesus, to persist in the face of opposition, and come to Jesus when called. His faith opened him up to the work of Jesus in him, and that is an important message for us as well.

As we see the work of Jesus in Bartimaeus and in our own lives, we must remember that the healing we see is not an end or goal in itself. Rather, it is a sign of the new world that emerged from the coming of Jesus and his passion, death, and resurrection, a new world that we will know in fullness when Jesus comes again. Jesus is the door to a whole new existence for us, as he was for Bartimaeus. As great as it was for Bartimaeus to be able to see, he knew this was a sign, a call from Jesus, and he "followed him on the way" (Mark 10:52). As great as any healing is, it should be seen as a call into the new existence that Christ has won for us.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

Worth a Thousand Words: Grilled Pork, Saigon Style

Grilled Pork, Saigon Edition
from EatingAsia, taken by David Hagerman

I don't know about you but my mouth is watering. I'm so happy that the EatingAsia folks have a cookbook contract. Will I cook from it? Maybe. Hopefully. Will I read it and look at those photos over and over? Oh yeah.

Well Said: The End of Rome and the Catholic Church

I love H.V. Morton's talent for weaving his current-day travel commentary with the history of each place he visits. In this case, I was riveted by his tale of how Rome declined, the barbarians came in several waves, and the measures taken to try to shore things up. You'll know why I like this bit especially after you read it. It's a little lengthy but worth it.

Every expedient was tried by Diocletian to stave off the crash. He froze wages and prices in 301, and created a bureaucracy animated by the spirit of a century of extortion. The tax collector became the terror of the countryside. Men fled their homes rather than meet him and revenged themselves on the state by becoming brigands. Wealthy landowners, developing a technique of tax evasion, managed to exist on their estates, surrounded by serfs and armed men--a forecast of the Middle Ages--defying and bribing the Treasury.

Perhaps the worst aspect of state control was the decision to freeze men as well as prices and wages. It became illegal for a man to change his employment, and a son was obliged to follow his father's calling. All trades, occupations and professions became hereditary. A man who fled from a baker's shop, wishing to become a silversmith, would be hunted down and brought back like an escaped criminal. ...

In this grim caricature of Plato's Republic, the only place where a man ceased to be a tax-producing unit, and became a human being with an immortal soul, was the Church. The bishops were truly the shepherds of their flocks and had the courage to stand up to authority. St. Basil once offended a Praetorian Prefect by his plain words and was told that no one had ever dared to speak in such terms to him. "No doubt," replied St. Basil, "you have never met a bishop." ...

H.V. Morton, A Traveller in Rome, 1957

The Difference Between Dogs and Cats

As Deacon Greg said at his blog, which is where I saw this adorable video, it becomes obvious in how they teach their young to go down the stairs. Hilarious and adorable.



And we all knew what the cat's teaching method would be, right?

Notes on Mark: Salt, Salt, and More Salt

MARK 9:49-10:1
Salt is taken for granted in these times but not back when Jesus was speaking. Just to mention salt meant a multitude of things to the people who heard what he said.

Salt also functions as a preservative, something that was especially important to people living in a hot, dry climate without the benefit of refrigeration. The Old Testament referred to a "covenant of salt" that the Lord made with the people of Israel as a permanent condition (Numbers 18:19). Thus, salt, the preservative, signified the everlasting contract between the Lord and his people.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai

The Bells Of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After reading A Song For Nagasaki about Takashi Nagai, I thought it would be good to at least try Nagai's first and most famous book.

It begins on the morning that the bomb is dropped on Nagasaki. I was interested to see it told not only from his point of view but also from that of various other people in the countryside and from different vantage points at the teaching hospital where Nagai was dean. After helping all those they can from the immediate university area, the small band of survivors heads to the countryside to help the many people who are being sheltered by farmers and villages.

I was surprised to find myself laughing at one point. After American planes drop leaflets informing the Japanese that they dropped an atom bomb (so surrender already), Nagai instantly whirls into thought about the implications, both scientifically and to the victims. He comes out to hear the few remaining hospital staff, doctors, and students in a fevered discussion about which scientists were involved ("Einstein?"), how it would have worked ("they couldn't have had a cyclotron on a plane" "fission! it must have been fission!" "Ahhh"), and so forth. Despite the circumstances, as Nagai himself comments after reporting this exchange, they are all scientists first and deeply interested in the development.

We were members of a research group with a great interest in nuclear physics and totally devoted to this branch of science--and ironically we ourselves had become victims of th atom bomb which was the very core of the theory we were studying. Here we lay, helpless in a dugout!

And yet it was a precious experience for us. Placed on the experimentation table, we could watch the whole process in a most intimate way. We could observe the changes that where taking place and that would take place in the future. Crushed with grief because of the defeat of Japan, filled with anger and resentment, we nevertheless felt rising within us a new drive and a new motivation in our search for truth. In this devastated atomic desert, fresh and vigorous scientific life began to flourish.

I'm really glad that I read A Song For Nagasaki first so I have the context of Nagai's life in which to put this story. I think without that it could be desperately depressing. However, there are always very human moments to which we all can relate, such as when the little team is on the road back to a farmer's house and a fart starts a series of jokes, with each person capping the next.

I'd think this would be the mandatory companion to A Song For Nagasaki because I was surprised to find how much Paul Glynn soft-pedaled Nagai's reaction to Japan's unconditional surrender. Nagai in this book tells us how stunned everyone was when the news came, how he cried for 20 minutes, and how devastated everyone felt. I completely understand Glynn's overview of Nagai's overall feeling about war in general, but it did ring very true to me that one would feel a gut-punch to learn one's country had to completely surrender. For a Japanese person it would have been such a part of their very identity that it would be very hard to take. And, the way that Nagai rallied everyone would have less impact if he hadn't honestly told of his own reactions. The conclusions he drew later would be much less powerful, such as what happens after Nagai's sense of overwhelming defeat leads him to reject a man seeking medical help.

In a flash I had a change of heart. Even one precious life was worth saving. Japan was defeated; but the wounded were still alive. The war was over; but the work of our relief team remained. Our country was destroyed; but medical science still existed. Wasn't our work only beginning? Irrespective of the rise and fall of our country, wasn't our main duty to attend to the life and death of each single person? The very basis of the Red Cross was to attend to the wounded, be they friend or foe. Precisely because we Japanese had treated human life so simply and so carelessly--precisely for this reason we were reduced to our present miserable plight. Respect for the life of every person--this must be the foundation stone on which we would built a new society.

Our people had been told that they must suffer these terrible wounds to win the war; but in fact they had suffered in order to lose. Now they were thrown into the most pitiable and desperate situation. And there was no one to console them, no one to help them except us. We must stand and come to their aid. I stood there unsteadily on my tottering legs. And then the whole group stood up beside me. Our courage came back. The determination to continue our work gave us strength and joy.

There is precious little moralizing of the sort that many might expect. In fact, I saw a review somewhere where a person refused to read the book because they found out that Nagai was Roman Catholic. Nagai rarely mentions his faith other than in passing so that person's innate prejudices stopped them from experiencing a very inspirational and thought provoking book about the innate heights to which the human spirit can soar. Highly recommended.

Lagniappe: The Worst Thing I've Ever Heard Of

That's the worst thing I've ever heard. And I've heard of Nazis.

Hannah's friend Alex

This just makes me laugh every time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Siberian Jay

Siberian Jay
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er by Elizabeth Scalia

I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er: Essays on Faith, Family and Foolishness by Elizabeth Scalia

I enjoyed this little book and read it in one evening. It is a collection of Elizabeth Scalia's favorite blog posts and columns from over the years. As such, it is a good representation of her writing, including some of my favorite pieces including the one written shortly before her brother died. I appreciated the brief introduction that Scalia gives for each piece which helped provide context for inclusion, or in my case a reminder of when I had read many of these before.

I feel about this book the way I do about her blog The Anchoress: I love the inspirational pieces, I relate to the life experience pieces (except baseball - let's face it, I'm a football lover), and I care nothing about the political pieces. This book is a good mix of all those things and I'm glad I have it on my shelf.

It made me want to go back through my own blog posts and pull some of my favorites for rereading.

Lagniappe: In this choose-your-own-adventure ...

In this choose-your-own-adventure we call life, would you rather have me dry the dishes or fold the laundry?

Rose Davis when home for Christmas this year

It's both funny and insightful. It never occurred to me to think of my daily choices as a choose-your-own-adventure story ... but that is exactly what it is.

Notes on Mark: Hell

MARK 9:42-48
Jesus talked about hell a lot more than many people realize. Here we see the associations that would have come to mind for his listeners.

Word Study
Hell

Geenna (Gk.): "Gehenna", the valley directly southwest of Jerusalem. Jesus refers to it 11 times in the Gospels as a dreadful symbol of hell. Two associations are made with Gehanna, one drawn from the OT and the other from Jesus' contemporary setting.

1. Gehenna is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew place-name "Valley of the sons of Hinnom". It was the site of a frightful Canaanite cult that worshipped the idols of Molech and Baal by burning children in sacrifice (Jer 7:30; 19:1; 32:35).
2. In the NT period, Gehenna served as a smoldering garbage dump where refuse burned continually. Jesus evokes these associations to teach us that hell is not a place of purgation or purification, but one of fiery punishment (Mt 5:22; 18:9; 23:33). In the afterlife, the bodies and souls of the wicked will suffer in hell for eternity (Mt 10:28; 25:41; 46). Other biblical passages corroborate this horrifying prospect (Is 33:14; 66:24; Jude 7; Rev 20:10).

The Gospel Of Mark
(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

Let's face it, Hell as it seems to have been traditionally taught seems old-fashioned, unrealistic, and a lot of us don't like to talk about because it is embarrassing if non-Christians are around. They hold up Hell as an indictment of a loving God.The truth is, Hell is actually God's tribute to our own free will. If we don't want to be in His company, He won't force us. Mary Healy makes it a bit clearer.

Some may be struggling with the question of how a good god could send someone to hell. But the truth conveyed in jesus' teaching is that we choose our own destiny. With every decision and action over the course of a lifetime we orient ourselves either to heaven or to hell, and at the moment of death we embrace what has truly become our choice. C.S. Lewis expresses it well: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' all that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell." But God never ceases to hold out his unfathomable mercy, even at the very moment when a person steps over the threshold into eternity.

Mary Healy,
The Gospel of Mark:
Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

Note to Google: You're Not Helping Google Plus. You're Hurting Google.

I swung by YouTube yesterday to look at something. A rare occurrence.

So when they asked if I wanted to sign in as Happy Catholic or Julie Davis, I didn't think about it. Happy Catholic. What difference did it make?

I certainly didn't think about it when they asked if this was how I always wanted to sign in. At YouTube? Sure. Why not?

I didn't realize they meant ... sign in everywhere, for everyplace Google had its little fingers in a pie, even with different passwords.

So this morning, sending off an email to Denmark, from our office's Google email, having it come from "Happy Catholic" really undercut the whole business tone I was trying to set.

Whisking off to my profile settings, I see they offer me more ways than ever to enjoy Google Plus, but ... surprise, surprise ... I can't change my profile to the way it was just yesterday.

Look, Google, I know you're desperate. It's little stunts like this that illustrate the point.

I want to love you but you're making it harder and harder.

Cut it out.

In which we encounter Iceland, an immortal doctor, a 6'4" frozen female, and mysterious memory loss.

Warrior Queen of Mars begins at Forgotten Classics. Get your pulp-fiction goodness now!

Well Said: Love can be hated when it challenges us

From my quote journal.

God is love. But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves. It is not a romantic "good feeling." Redemption is not "wellness," it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment in self-absorption. This liberation comes at a price: the anguish of the Cross. The prophecy of light and that of the Cross belong together.

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI),

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

This is the continual struggle, at least for me. I can't express how much I appreciate Christ putting up with my continual back-sliding into laziness and self-indulgence.

We're Not Sure What "Funky" Is, But We Know It When We Hear It.

Muscle Shoals: The Movie is a terrific documentary about music, creativity, and life, and it's the subject of Episode 74 at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

What's It All Mean? - Patron Saints and Patron Saints for the Year

When I review a book, I don't just post it here. I share the wealth by putting it at Goodreads, over at Patheos, and to just about anywhere I've got access. Which is a lot of places, now that I think of it.

At any rate my review of A Song For Nagasaki brought up some questions over at Goodreads. I had casually mentioned that Takashi Nagai was my selected patron for 2014 and that I'd chosen J.R.R. Tolkien for 2013 (click through on the review for more).

I may have equally bewildered folks here. Just in case, I thought I'd share that conversation. Keep in mind that questions are always welcome and that these answers weren't meant to be a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

What does taking someone as your patron for the year mean?

A patron saint in general is someone who you choose to guide or support or protect you. Catholics choose a patron saint when they are confirmed into the Church. It is often because one relates to the saint's life in some way or they are examples of something one likes. I chose my patron, St. Martha, because she's the patron saint of homemakers and cooks. I like both of those things. Turned out that when I was learning more about her life that we are a lot alike in personality, both in strengths and weaknesses. It's kind of like having a best friend who's ahead of you in school and who helps you through some of the hard or confusing bits. (This may all be really obvious info but better to have too much background than too little...)

Choosing a special patron saint for a new year is an old custom that has found favor again in some spots. It can be a name drawn from a hat of potential saints (one is really leaning on divine inspiration at that point) and there are several Catholic blogs out there that facilitate such choices. The idea is that one is being directed (with help) to become more aware of specific areas in life where special guidance might be necessary. Last year I took the choice into my own hands, asking J.R.R. Tolkien to give me a hand, based on the spiritual insights I received from rereading The Hobbit. I think the choice was inspired because it was so amazing for me.

We'll see how this year turns out with Takashi Nagai helping guide me ... but so far I have already been greatly assisted with a couple of areas in my life where I've needed extra awareness.

Very interesting! So was this one out of a hat then? :)

And does a patron saint for the year have to be Catholic? Or even a saint? Was Tolkien Catholic?

Easiest answer first ... Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He was a major influence on C.S. Lewis's discarding his atheism for Christianity, but was always frustrated that he didn't become Catholic.

Neither Tolkien nor Nagai are saints as recognized by the Church, although I read in a few places that Nagai is given the title Servant of God, which is the first step on the road to canonization. However, I felt that both were inspirational enough Catholics (because of their lives and works) that they could give me good, solid guidance during the year. That certainly proved to be the case with Tolkien and, as I mentioned, Nagai has definitely inspired me already this year.

The Church canonizes saints but she readily acknowledges that there are many, many saints of which she knows nothing. The ones that are recognized enough for canonization are the really big, obvious ones such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. There are many, such as my grandfather, whose saintly qualities were recognized by all those who knew him but who expressed them through living a very normal life. My grandfather wasn't Catholic, though he was Christian, but he was definitely saintly and beloved by all.

We are all called to become saints. That, in fact, is our calling in life if one is Catholic. It seems like an impossible goal but if we are all doing God's will to our utmost in daily life then that is all that is required. ("All" ... haha!). Mothers, fathers, children, business men and women, can all be saintly wherever they are put. God put us where we are to bring Him into the world in all parts of life.

Neither Tolkien or Nagai were out of a hat. I chose both based on particular circumstances of my life at the time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Palau Baro de Quadras

Palau Baro de Quadras
taken by Carlos Lorenzo

Do go to Barcelona Photoblog for more information about this gorgeous example of Catalan modernisme. Be sure to check out the photo for the full size and glory of the original photo.

The Faithful Traveler ... in the Holy Land!

Longtime readers may recall that I'm a big fan of Diana von Glahn's The Faithful Traveler Catholic travel show to shrines around the U.S.

Her new series is in the Holy Land. They visit the holy sites and explain their history, talk about the art, architecture, and so forth. Each episode is 30-minutes, so they aren't meant to be in-depth theological looks, but instead, fun and breezy introductions. The goal is to give people the knowledge they need to either go there themselves and know what they're looking at or enable them to be entertained and educated armchair travelers.

Check out a sample here.

There is more info at The Faithful Traveler site where you can see samples of the first series and this upcoming show.

And put it on your calendar ... it begins February 17.

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

In celebration, eat second breakfast. Then elevensies.

via ThinkGeek's Facebook page

Filets Mignons with Mushrooms

How we started the New Year ... get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

My 2014 Book Challenge List

My 2013 book challenge was so rewarding, making me pick up books I would just keep skipping over in favor of lighter reading. I'm doing it again for the third year in a row.

Some books are carried over from last year and some I dropped because ... well, I'm not married to these lists. If am inspired at all to reach higher than before, that's good enough for me.

As before, I may not get through all of them in a year, but I will be trying always read one of them despite other distractions. In no particular order.

Fiction

1. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
   This was on my 2013 list and having begun it about a week ago, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Unabridged. Of course.
   
   Result: oh the agony! I loved the first bit about the bishop. Then I was gratified to see that the general plot had been well represented in the musical. However, the constant meandering here and there drove me crazy. I'm not usually a "don't bore us, get to the chorus" reader but Hugo beat me. Quitting this book.
2. Rabble in Arms - Kenneth Roberts
   My second favorite historical fiction author. This is a big 'un I overlooked somehow about the Revolutionary War.
   
   UPDATE: This book wound up overlapping with my Book Bingo Challenge as A Book Based on a True Story. It kind of saved me because I really hate books based on real stories usually. But it don't get much realer than the Revolutionary War. Especially the way Kenneth Roberts tells his stories.
3. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra —
   One of Rose's favorites which she's been pushing on me for a long time. Also, Scott from Good Story said he was interested in reading it this year. They were too much for my weak will.
   
   UPDATE: This will be one of Scott's choices for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast for 2015 - so I don't need to keep it on a challenge list.
4. Charles Dickens novel
   Not sure which one yet. I'm wavering between Our Mutual Friend and Nicholas Nickleby.
   
   Result:  Ok, this was decided when a kind friend gave me Simon Prebble's reading of Great Expectations. Not the book I'd have chosen, but it is Dickens and that's good enough for me.
   
   I struggled my way through Great Expectations (chronicled here). Later I picked up The Pickwick Papers with the idea of something light, Dickens-wise. I raced through it in about a week, really enjoying it (as chronicled here). I'm now very slowly enjoying the novel from the other end of Dickens' timeline, Our Mutual Friend.
5. Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis
   I've had this pushed at me by everyone and his brother. Never been able to get past the first few chapters of Silent Planet but recently I tried the audio. That did the trick so I have begun. I'll give myself a year. That should be long enough.
   
   Out of the Silent Planet: Thanks goodness for the audio version or I'd never have made it. As it was I went in and out of being interested in the story, primarily because I was much more interested in the world development and exploration than in Ransom's dealings with his fellow Earthmen. Lewis was fantastically inventive about what the planet and living beings were like. I didn't know he had it in him! The scientist's final letter to the author really caught my attention. In particular, his comments about death among the Hrossa were mind-blowing in their implications about our own life here on fallen Earth. I also really liked the use for "bent" instead of "evil," showing just how we are turned from what we were meant to be. However, this does seem very obviously aimed at those who have Christian interests or mindsets, just as The Screwtape Letters was. I wonder if non-Christians enjoy this book.
   
   Perelandra: Just as with Out of the Silent Planet, I found the beginning of the book fairly uninviting. However, also just as in that book, having the audio helped me past that to the point. This book is so different from Out of the Silent Planet and yet we see C.S. Lewis's vivid and inspiring imagination just as clearly. I am simply blown away by his vision of creation on Venus. For me at one point, close to the end, I kept thinking that these are almost glimpses of the sort of creativity and inspiration that we will see in Heaven. Amazing insights as to battling evil, the dance of God's creation and plan, and our part in it. I find Lewis's style rather heavy-handed. What I'd change I'm not sure. I think it is simply that these books would go on the theology shelf in my library while something like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings would go in more general reading. It is not Lewis's fault, and in fact I now want print copies of these books for rereading, but I prefer the purer fiction style to this one.
   
   That Hideous Strength: As with the other two books in C.S. Lewis's "space trilogy" I found this one difficult to get into and, yet, once I got past the indefinable point where it was no longer a struggle, I couldn't read it fast enough. Consequently this was a 24-hour book for me. It is a testament to Lewis's imagination and writing skill as to how different all three of the books are in this trilogy, while simultaneously all carrying out the same basic theme. No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien loved them.
   
   Speaking of Tolkien, I was stunned to see Numinor mentioned twice and Middle Earth once in this book. I never dreamed there was such a deliberate, direct connection between this book and the Lord of the Rings, which was not yet published in its entirety when this book came out as Lewis says in the introduction. One can see the way these books and LOTR go hand in hand with similar themes, although expressed differently through the authors' different styles.
   
   This book itself was really terrific and left me striving to be a better person, to be truer to myself, as did the other two. Not many other books really leave one feeling that way.

Nonfiction

1. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien — this will move to the 2015 book challenge
   I chose Tolkien as my 2013 saint last year (admittedly not a recognized saint, but at the very least as an inspiring Catholic I wanted to help me on my heaven). It was an amazing year filled with lessons that have definitely helped me. I want to know Tolkien's thoughts in his own words now instead of just reading his fiction.
2. A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb - Paul Glynn
   Takashi Nagai isn't recognized by the Church as a saint but in my eyes he's qualified. I find him extremely inspiring and am going to spend 2014 in his company, as I did last year with Tolkien. I've begun this and it is really fascinating.
   
   Result: Superb and inspirational. My review is here.
3. Art: A New History - Paul Johnson — I'm about halfway through. This will move to my 2015 book challenge
   It's been on my coffee table for about a year. I've very slowly read some and loved it. This may help me read it more dedicatedly.
4. America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom - William J. Bennett
   I really enjoyed the first volume last year. This is on my book stack and, as with Art, I hope this will get me to crack it open. That's all it will take, I have a feeling, to hook me.
   
   UPDATE: still sitting on my shelf. I'll get to it but not as a book challenge.
5. The Scarlet and the Black: The True Story of Monsignor Hugh O Flaherty, Hero of the Vatican Underground - J.P Gallagher
   This also was on last year's list. I am really enjoying Song For Nagasaki and hope I'll also enjoy this true story of faith under crisis just as much.
   
   Result - The story itself is fascinating. The writing is less impressive with everything strung together so fast that it can be hard to keep track of events. The book could have done with just a touch of breathing space.
   
   That said, this is still very worth reading. One realizes that although the Vatican's official neutrality had to be maintained (as did that of others highlighted in the book), there was a lot of frantic activity below the surface to save lives in Rome right under the Gestapo's nose.
6. Something that Takashi Nagai wrote. Since he wrote over 40 books I'd like to see what one of those was like. After reading A Song for Nagasaki, that is.
   
   Result: I read The Bells of Nagasaki which was really amazing. I'm glad that I read Glynn's book first and, yet, also very glad that I didn't let it rest there as Nagai's own words corrected a few things that Glynn had glossed over. My review is here.