Tag Archives: religion

The Lost Gospel of Mary

Posted on December 21, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Lost Gospel of Mary:  The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts © 2012 Frederica Mathewes-Green 178 pages   We are presently in the season of Advent,  an ideal time to take a look at a question of mine: … Continue reading →

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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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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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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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Surprised by Joy

Posted on March 20, 2017 by smellincoffee

Surprised by Joy© 1955 C.S. Lewis252 pages “When I first read Chesterton, I did not know what I was in for. God is, if I may say it,  quite unscrupulous.” Mention the name C.S. Lewis and the image of a … Continue reading →

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China: An Introduction

Posted on March 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

China: An Introduction© 1984 Lucian W. Pye400 pages Lucien Pye was born in China and later returned there to advise the US government. China: An Introduction is written in that spirit, being a review of the making of Communist China and … 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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Heretics and Heroes

Posted on November 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

Heretics and Heroes: How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World© 2013 Thomas Cahill368 pages It seems the more I read of Cahill, the less I enjoy his cavalier histories, which at this point border on gossipy. Part of … Continue reading →

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