Tag Archives: Catholicism

Of cyclists, colonial Catholics, and crappy endings

Posted on February 21, 2022 by smellincoffee

Last weekend I stayed at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, there to be evaluated for admission to their kidney transplant list. Much of my downtime was spent (how else) reading. How Cycling Can Save the World is a straightforward argument … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Sohrab Ahmari and the Unbroken Thread

Posted on September 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

Sohrab Ahmari fled Iran for the West, rejoicing in its freedoms alongside his wife, a Chinese national who had also found relief from the relentless tyranny of her own country. As they formed a family and looked to the future, … Continue reading →

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How Dante Can Save Your Life

Posted on August 13, 2020 by smellincoffee

How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Changing Wisdom of History’s Greatest Poem © 2015 Rod Dreher 322 pages Selected Quotations How Dante Can Save Your Life is one man’s account of how that Renaissance poet’s epic  tale of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Of Romans, manly saints, and the beginning of the end

Posted on September 4, 2019 by smellincoffee

I spent much of August crawling through the first volume of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  I was very careful, in making my list, that I specified “Volume I”: I  had little interest in trying … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Church of Spies

Posted on October 6, 2018 by smellincoffee

Church of Spies: The Vatican’s Secret War Against Hitler© 2015 Mark Riebling384 pages The Catholic Church was one of Hitler’s earliest enemies, barring its members from participating in the Nazi party and publicly condemning Hitler’s early actions once he had … Continue reading →

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Wisdom and Innocence

Posted on April 5, 2018 by smellincoffee

Wisdom and Innocence: A Life Of G.K. Chesterton © 1996 Joseph Pearce 540 pages “I cannot help but thinking you were England — the Merry, chivalrous, simple-hearted, fearless England that I loved.” – an old friend’s letter to Chesteron Mention … Continue reading →

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My Life with the Saints

Posted on September 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

My Life with the Saints© 2007 James Martin, SJ414 pages The church I grew up in consistently referred to Rome as the whore of Babylon, so needless to say I didn’t learn anything about saints. I knew Biblical personalities, sure, … Continue reading →

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The Irish Soldiers of Mexico

Posted on August 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Irish Soldiers of Mexico© 1997 Michael Hogan298 pages And it was there in the pueblos and the hillsidesThat I saw the mistake I had madePart of a conquering army, with the morals of a bayonet brigadeAnd amidst all these … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth

Posted on April 3, 2017 by smellincoffee

Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth:  Understanding Middle-Earth © 2002 Brad Birzer 255 pages How better to kick off Read of England than by visiting the world of Tolkien, who has enraptured readers for decade after decade now?  Tolkien is not merely an … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Benedict Option

Posted on March 23, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Benedict Option © 2017 Rod Dreher 269 pages Christendom has fallen; long live Christendom.   In The Benedict Option, Rob Dreher argues that the Christian church in the United States is at a crisis point and must now think … Continue reading →

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