Tag Archives: Christianity

Of stars and saints

Posted on December 14, 2019 by smellincoffee

Two also-reads in recent weeks have been Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Solar System and Kevin Vost’s 12 Life Lessons from St. Augustine. I’m familiar with Cox from his many appearances in Symphony of Science videos (a YouTube series in  … Continue reading →

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A Plain Life

Posted on November 6, 2019 by smellincoffee

A Plain Life: Walking my Belief © 1998 Scott Savage 224 pages You have to be careful about working in a library. Sometimes books change your life.  Scott Savage and his wife were both librarians whose environmental interests put them … Continue reading →

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Becoming Mrs Lewis

Posted on February 12, 2019 by smellincoffee

Becoming Mrs Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis © 2018 Patti Callahan 415 pages Few books transfix me in the way that Becoming Mrs Lewis did; I suppose it helps to have a strong affection … Continue reading →

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Status Anxiety

Posted on February 7, 2019 by smellincoffee

Status Anxiety© 2004 Alain de Botton 306 pages Who said “comparison is the thief of joy”?  If they hadn’t, Alain de Botton would, as here he argues that most of our misery comes from the constant comparison of ourselves to others … Continue reading →

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The Hiding Place

Posted on August 10, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Hiding Place© 1971 Corrie ten Boom,  John and Elizabeth Sherrill241 PAGES You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalms 32 When Corrie ten Boom turned in her family radio … Continue reading →

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Welcome to the Orthodox Church

Posted on December 3, 2017 by smellincoffee

Welcome to the Orthodox Church © 2015 Fredrica Mathews-Green  384 pages What it means to be liturgical can’t be encapsulated in a creed; liturgy has to be practiced,  experienced.  In Welcome to Orthodoxy,  FMG creates a fictional Orthodox parish and … 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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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 , , , , , , , | 5 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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Real Music

Posted on March 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church267 pages© 2016 Anthony Esolen In his book Out of the Ashes: Restoring American Culture,  Anthony Esolen devoted an entire chapter solely to music. Here he does one better! To … Continue reading →

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